Sara awoke, her hand stretching across the bed to where she half-expected Ashley to be. She'd learned to wake early in the years on the farm, but she'd never really gotten used to it. She got up, going to her dresser, and getting out her clothes for the day. She put on her jeans, and a long-sleeve shirt. She'd never lost her taste for light dresses, but that was almost never an option any-more, except perhaps during the summer, if they went into the city.<br/><br/>She went to the safe that they kept on their dresser, and unlocked it. Inside, her gun waited, an FN Five-Seven (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/FN5701.jpg). It was already in its holster, which she clipped to her belt. She hadn't been a gun-owner, or even had much occasion to ever touch a gun before the disappearance. Afterwards, though, and living on the farm, it had seemed important. She'd used guns on set, before the disappearance, but really, it was Ashley that taught her to shoot properly. She'd picked the Five-Seven because it had a large clip, and it was fairly light. It had also been well-stocked with ammunition from the gun-stores in the city, not that she had much occasion to use much. Wolves and wild-dogs were an ever present threat, though, given the huge number of animals, on farms that were suddenly without protected. For the past few years, it was a predator's dream. Few humans, and huge herds of cattle, roaming where they pleased.<br/><br/>Sarah pulled her curly red hair back and put a clip in it, and looked into the mirror, smiling at herself. The disappearance had been a tragedy, at least for those still around, but she had always tried to make the best of it. Having Ashley had been a major part of that, but taking care of Ryan, having him around, had been important to. His birthday always felt to her like a good day. They'd do something special for him, and they'd all feel like a kind of family when they did. Or, that was how she felt, anyway.<br/><br/>She made her way downstairs, seeing that, as usual, Ashley and Ryan had made it down before her.<br/><br/>"Happy brithday!" she said, smiling at Ryan. She crossed the distance to Ashley, and put an arm around her back, and leant in for a good-morning kiss on the cheek.<br/><br/>"Morning," she said to Ashley. She went to the fridge, and got orange juice to pour herself a glass. She'd never really realized what she'd had until it was all gone. Fresh orange juice was just one of those things. On the other hand, they had the equivalent of a grocery store's worth of frozen orange juice concentrate, which cut down on 'shopping' trips.