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They had arrived just on dark and Ianto lifted the flower pot in amongst the myriad of pots, the one with his own handprint on it from when he was a child. The key was where it always was and he opened the door to let them in, looking back in the direction they had come to see something that terrified him.

The glow.

London was on fire?

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Ianto knew he needed more wood so he put that on today's list of To Dos and pulled a warm jacket on, hesitating as he felt in the pocket and removed a woodman's hat.

Grandy.

He looked at the hat for a few moments, taking the time to remember the old man shoving it on his head in play and then with a lump in his throat he placed the hat of his dead grandfather on his own head, hoping some warmth might come from within as well. He opened the door and Crypto exploded out with glee, racing to pee like he had been trapped for hours. Mad bastard.

Ianto felt snow coming, knew he had little time before the winter was here so he walked briskly to the barn where the ATV waited with its trailer unit attached. He checked the fuel even though he knew it would be full, the old man always refilled it after use, and then he fired it up. Crypto jumped onto the trailer like he was surfing, barking as Ianto drove out into the light and along the track to the trees where several downed trunks were already in various stages of being cut up for the fire.

Grandy had cut them into large rounds, like cutting bread into slices and he knew that since his Grandy had been dead nigh on a year this had been last fall's prep. He started carrying the huge rounds to the trailer and stacking them while leaving room for the mad dog's surfing then whistled for said mad bastard when he was done, sweaty and dirty. Hungry.

They powered home and he drove to the back of the house where he stood on the trailer to push the rounds off, each one making a satisfying thunk that told him they were not rotten, nice and dry. Ready for splitting.

Only problem was, it meant using that getting that axe still imbedded in the staircase inside.

Damn.

He had forgotten about that.

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Lisa was unpacking the food from their packs as Ianto checked the pantry, glad to see most of it all still there. He had asked their neighbours to come take what they needed when she had died of course. All the perishables gone and he was glad it had been taken, they elderly couple keeping an eye on the pace from time to time and he made a mental note to go visit them tomorrow to let them know he was there, for now he was glad his hunch was right and they had enough to last a while. Nainny was good at hoarding food, her crazy Zombie Apocalypse beliefs a comfort now.

"Ianto?"

He revisited the urge to snap, turning to find her holding a container of his favourite blend, "I thought we agreed no caffeine this weekend?"

He counted in his head before answering, "No. You said so, I decided no. I want my coffee."

She snorted and started to walk towards the sink and he git a sudden notion of her intent so he surged forward to seize her wrist, "You tip that out and I will fucking kill you. I swear to god I will cleave your skull. I can take a lot form you but that is a step too far."

"Ianto" she breathed with shock, "Sorry, I was just playing."

"Playing" he repeated, "Something is going down, something our pagers would have probably called us in for if we were close enough for cell coverage and you want to fucking play?""

"Come on, it's another exercise. You know how she is" Lisa sighed, "Let go."

"One day Lisa I will let go and it will not be nice, please stop. You push and push and…" Ianto stopped talking as he turned to walk away and she placed the container down as she watched him go.

"Ianto" she called out, "Come on."

Ianto raised a hand to show her how long his middle finger was and he stood on the porch watching that faint glow with a sickening reality. It was definitely still burning. How long did it take?

Had it happened?

He glanced inside and then furtively pulled his pager from his pocket to look at the distress number on it.

It made a satisfying crunch under the heel of his boot, then he went in to find hers. Removing the battery might do it.

They were not going back.

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Hi Guest. No I am not bored with my other stories, I sometimes get a block where I have a chapter where I want a story to go but those bridging chaps are almost imposible to create to make it all flow. Instead of doing nothing but chewing on it, I will start another project to release the tension, then go back and see where I was going wrong. This is a therapy story, one where i can ignore the story that is pissing me off. Why I also intend doing it in short bursts. Hope this entertains everyone as much as it shakes my cobwebs loose. I actiallu have three segments alrey written, this something i have been doing on occasion while trying to get Kara Verse to work. I get a bit excited about the action then had to work out why she was beating the snot out of someone LOL