Tales Of The Fairly Undead

Chapter 7: A Cow

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Adam lent against the back fence of their temporary home as Red swung her axe at the base of a tall pine tree.

"Why do you have to be so bossy?" she grunted as the axe connected with the tree producing a loud thunk.

"Will you just let me.."

"I told you, I got this" she cut him off wiggling the axe to free it from the wood. "you just keep a look out so that we don't get jumped any shufflers."

"If you say so," Adam turned away from her a smile on his face as he crossed his arms.

They hadn't spoken all day. Until Adam finally broke their silence by asking to borrow her axe.

Which of course she did not let him use.

"You know what happened last nights got to stop," Adam probed carefully.

"Your really going to do this now?" Red continued chopping at the tree without even glancing at him.

"Next time can you at least tell me what your doing?"

"Why so you can tell me if I can or cant do it? I don't need your permission to do anything," she grunted as she continued to swing the axe. Finally finding a rhythm.

"No, so I can help you because whether you like it or not I care if you die." he turned his head back to her.

"Why?" she shrugged between swings.

She herself didn't even care about her miserable existence. She wasn't scared to die, not anymore.

"Because you remind me of someone," he spoke gently and brought one of his hands up to grip his beard.

"Of your daughter?" Red shook her head coldly and let out a hard laugh "I'm not her,"

"No," Adam turned his entire body back to her now "you remind me of myself."

She stopped swinging the axe and looked him in the eye for a long moment.

"Alright," she lowered the head of the axe to the ground "next time I promise I will let you in on the plan" she stuck her pinky out to him. But jerked it back slightly as Adam reached his out to meet it. "This doesn't mean that I need you though," she added "this is for your benefit not mine."

"If you say so," Adam grinned moving his hand forward the rest of the way and linking their fingers together.

He could see right through her hard exterior and into the soft childlike center of her personality.

She needed him, just like he needed her. But unlike him she was yet to admit it to herself.

They broke apart and with a nod Red went back to chopping at the tree. It took her at least another twenty minutes of chopping before it finally began to crack loudly.

Adam giving it a sideways shove as it fell to ensure it wouldn't crush the girl.

Satan whinnied in fright and skittered off around the corner as the tree erupted a wave of dust and Pine needles from the ground.

"Told you I could do it," Red puffed triumphantly. Standing proudly for a moment before balancing herself on the fallen tree and beginning to chop between her feet.

"Yeah, yeah good job." Adam rolled his eyes knowing that he could have brought the tree to the ground much faster. "You know if you.." She raised an eyebrow at him and he stopped deciding to raise his hands in defense rather than finish his sentence.

"You know some water would be nice," Red commented blowing a stray piece of hair from her eyes as she continued to hack at the tree beneath her.

"You know some water would be nice" Adam mimicked in a high pitch voice wobbling his head from side to side before heading inside.