Cole let out a small chuckle and nodded his head as he began prepping a section for Peony to get comfortable in.<br/><br/>"Indeed lass. After a while I got tired of runnin' and figured I'd take a break and set up a little vacation home up in the trees 'ere." Cole sat down with his arm over his knee, pointing at all the trees around them.<br/><br/>"At first I wasn't sure how I was goin' to pull it off. But I managed to climb this big bastard 'ere and set up some pulley's. After a few weeks I gathered enough wood and started hoisting everything up here." He turned and reached into a small wooden box that was off to the side and pulled out two twinkies, tossing one to Peony.<br/><br/>"I know what yer thinkin'.<span style="font-style: italic">How did I keep them away</span>right?" Cole grined and took a decent bite off of the twinkie.<br/><br/>"Radios. I found little boom-boxes from around the neighborhoods and batteries I had stashed away for flashlights n' such. I set them up a good mile all around the parameter. Let them all play until the batteries died. During that time I worked my arse off. Hammerin', drillin' n' screwing away." Cole finished off the twinkie then stood up and began setting up his sleeping bag. He laid his head down on his hands and looked up at the sky. Cole felt it hanging in the air. The typical banter of "so what did you do before...you know..." and he knew Peony was holding that back as well. For the time being, they both knew this wasn't the time yet for those depressing discussions.<br/><br/>"Doesn't look like rain tonight. That should help keep our spirits lively eh? Little victories lass....little victories"