The time was early morning and as was usual Joel was woken by the sound of the alarm that sat upon his bedside table which was swiftly turned off. Sluggishly he got out of bed and dragged himself downstairs towards the kitchen flicking the switch that caused the lights to slowly flicker to life and then proceeded about making breakfast for the group as it was Joel's turn today. After grabbing some ingredients from the fridge and a quick flurry of pans he had managed to accomplish what vaguely appeared edible food.
With a yawn Joel set down the plates on the table and made his way into the hallway an area of the house which seemed to magnify anyone's voice and after taking a breath shouted.
"Sarah, Tommy Breakfast's ready!"
The only reply Joel received was the sound of a door creaking as it opened and a shadow being cast against the wall as Tommy appeared intrigued by the smell that had arisen from the kitchen. Tommy walked past Joel and into the kitchen as Joel ascended the stairs to check on Sarah, After knocking on the door he proceeded to enter.
"Come on Sarah breakfast is ready"
"Just a few more minutes" Sarah replied rolling over pulling the blanket to one side
"I think you have slept long enough" said Joel as he moved towards the curtains taking one in each arm threw them open causing the room to become illuminated in a blinding light casing a quick yelp from Sarah much to Joel's amusement.
"Come on breakfast's getting cold"
"Oh no you didn't try cooking again did you" Sarah replied lightning the mood
"Just be down in minute or you will be late" Joel replied as he left the room
Returning to the kitchen he found Tommy tucking into the food that lay in front of him before pausing to strike up a conversation.
"Where do you think they will have us working today then" asked Tommy
"I think they said something about the market" replied Joel as he took his seat
Several moments later Sarah appeared and the group began to talk about what the day might have in store before getting ready to go. After finishing breakfast the plates were placed to one side and everyone disappeared to grab their gear all meeting again in the hallway before strolling outside.
"Right now have a good day" said Joel as he gave Sarah's head a quick ruffle
"You too" Replied Sarah as she began to set off in the direction of the school
After following the same directions as she usually did the school was in sight it was a simple building with only two floors with a car park turned meeting area out front and a large field out back surrounded by wire fences with the occasional armed patrol passing by. Inside not much was out of place as if this was one of the only buildings that was properly maintained but then again it is difficult to contemplate what was going on so familiar surroundings bring a sense of normality back to the world. Poster boards were mainly populated with flyers about how to keep safe and the basic rules of the school. Soon a bell rang out and everyone began making their way into the classrooms including Sarah who found her seat then the teacher entered taking a few steps positioned herself in the middle of the class and calmly stated
"Today we will be doing a math test"
This was met with sighs from the class and Sarah temporarily sinking her head into her folded arms before reaching for a pen to begin.
Meanwhile Joel and Tommy had done several small jobs around the local area before arriving at the market to do some repairs at what appeared to be the scene of an accident, a small pool of blood lay in the middle of the street whilst a stall had its main support broke most likely from the person now dead
"God I wonder what happened here" mumbled Tommy
"From what I hear a couple of guys stole some food and the military didn't take to kind to that" said a man that overheard Tommy
"Anyway we gotta a job to do hear so let's get moving" said Joel trying to steer the conversation away
"Yeah yeah I guess your right" said Tommy snapping out of his trance
As Joel and Tommy set about the job Joel realised how the job could be done without wasting so many materials repairing the main support post so he began to cut away what wasn't needed and talk Tommy through his plan.
An impressed onlooker simply said "Wow that was quick how do ya do that"
"We use to use building materials like this all the time" Joel replied
Joel decided he would go show the contractor his handiwork he had made for the job after he had cleaned up but Tommy insisted that he would do it and Joel should go on without him.
Whilst Tommy collected the bits of debris from cutting the wood a familiar face appeared
"So you're a carpenter then"
As Tommy looked up he saw the same woman who showed them around a few days previous.
"Hello there" replied Tommy in a friendly manner
"So how are you" asked Marlene
"Good" replied Tommy and thinking of nothing else to say continued "did you hear what happened here"
"Yes I did a huge misuse of power" Marlene replied
"Gunned down in the streets" Tommy stated
"Hopefully one day we will all return to the world we once knew" stated Marlene
"I godamm hope so" snapped Tommy
Seeing a bit of fire to this man Marlene simply said "Take a walk with me" to which Tommy complied and the two walked off down through the market.
Back at the contractor's hut Joel was able to speak to a man named Gus who looked over Joel's converted building materials.
"These look pretty good, good standard, sturdy hell you could probably make a business outta selling these" Gus blurted out
This computed within Joel's head had he found something worth starting a business after all he wanted to set one up he had the books back at his home before the outbreak.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea" said Joel in an uplifted mood
"Ha good luck you would need one of those people good with numbers what do they call them ah math-magicians or what not and they got most of the good ones working elsewhere no one would risk working for a start up no matter how good." Replied Gus
And like a hot knife through butter Joel's ambitions were sliced down.
A few hours had passed and later Joel found himself back at home grabbing a drink before putting his feat up and beginning a long thought process he barely noticed that Tommy was absent or the door which had been so loud slam shut as Sarah poked her head in the door she walked up to Joel with a with a grin and presented him with a bit of paper.
"I got a B on a Math test" Sarah said as she took a seat beside him
"A B? Pretty soon you will know more than me" Said Joel as a smirk formed upon his face
Sarah still excited asked
"So where is Uncle Tommy?"
In order to keep things calm Joel replied "He's working late" but in truth where had Tommy gone off too Joel could only wonder...
Tommy returned a couple of hours later
"Where the hell have you been" asked Joel
"I've been talking with Marlene you know the woman that showed us around when we first got here" Tommy replied
"Any particular reason you were gone that long" Joel bluntly stated
"Well you know how I feel about how the military is running things I joined this group the fireflies" Tommy said in a calm and yet slightly happy manner
"The fireflies what the hell kinda a name is that" Joel asked in a less than amused manner
"It's a name they chose I think it symbolises the light of what once was you just need to go and get it I guess" replied Tommy
"I guess so long as you keep yourself outta trouble, now then I have been thinking about starting a business right now I thought we can still do that here" said Joel
"Isn't that a little risky if it goes wrong then we may end up with nothing" Tommy began in a more serious tone
"Alright we know what everyone needs and we know where to get the materials from we could make the building materials that people actually want to use you know the simple stuff" Joel stated as he produced a few mad scribbling on several bits of paper
"Yeah and just who's gonna come work for us a start up is almost suicide you need me and you just to have someone making the product as the other delivers not to mention someone competent in numbers we just can't do all that" Tommy said as he began punching holes through Joel's idea
Sarah bounded into the room still in a good mood
"Uncle Tommy guess what" said Sarah looking over towards Tommy
"Okay what is it" Tommy asked
"I got a B in a math test today" Sarah replied
"That's good bound to be more than I got back then" Tommy joked as he turned his attention back to the paper strewn about the table.
"Wait a minute what if Sarah did the number crunching" suggested Tommy
"What she wouldn't want to do that" replied Joel
"Do what" asked Sarah who overheard
Joel took a moment to collect his thoughts and when ready took a deep breath and said
"Well you know back home I wanted to start my own business, well I may have found one to start up here but doing so would need someone to do some numbers for us and we won't have the time"
"Yeah I could do them" Sarah replied
"Seriously" was Joel instant reply
"Yeah curfew's at 6pm right so that means there's nothing to do till I go to sleep and anyway if you started a business just the three of us then I would get a third of the profits" replied Sarah
Joel began choking on the drink he just consumed
"You see good at math there's no slipping this one past her" Tommy jokingly mocked
"A third oh come on your killing me here how about we see how good you are then decide" Joel instantly replied
And so a large debate ensued which consumed the evening with many snide remarks and jokes threw at one another as the idea of starting a business began to take form...