32) Put it on the card

Johanson had gotten his captain to sponsor my shopping trip.

“He will cover everything you’re actually going to use out of his own pocket, and volentold me and Kal to help, in return for half of whatever you produce.”

I thought that over.

“That I produce out of what I plant this year on my current property, until the end of the year. I’m not agreeing to anything in perpetuity, or that I plant elsewhere.”

He nodded and got his phone back out while looking over at his friend. "Get him started on loading some stuff up, even if the captain doesn't agree Mr. Bright is still going to get some things here."

I asked a puffy eyed Sally for a plastic bag and filled it up with a bunch of two for a dollar packets of seeds. Going for a large variety of things to try out.

Even feeling at the packages and trying to use my ‘Hermit’ senses didn’t tell me anything about them.

Glancing at Ficus gave me more than I wanted to know about it, but the seeds in the packet gave me nothing.

It must have been either because they were hidden from direct sight by being in the paper envelope, or the information thing only worked on living plants, not seeds.

I guess I’d find out when I tore one open later on. It wasn’t like I cared all that much. What worked, worked.

Then I began piling in trays of small sprouting plants. Cucumbers, carrots, and green beans. Pulling some stuff from the trays and swapping them out with stuff from others.

Who knows what would grow well from the extra Life Essence? Wild plants may do better than bred ones. Plus if I did 'Awaken' more plants, it might be interesting to see what a cabbage would give me over asparagus.

Lord knows I won’t eat either one.

Johanson wandered back up. “Captain Alder agreed, he’s on his way over with his credit card.”

I smiled. "Get another cart." After all, we were going to have another vehicle to fill up.

Besides stuff to eat, I found some stuff that kept bugs away. At least the ones that I wanted to keep away. I guess I would need bees or something for pollinating.

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Could I awaken a hive? That sounded more useful than an asparagus grove or a cabbage patch kid.

Johanson waved a hand out a few feet in front of me. “Please tell me you mean honey bees, not wasps or anything like that.”

“Wasps huh? I’m sure you don’t need to worry. The coyotes seem to get along fine with you two. I’m sure anything else I turn into people will too. Heck Acey didn’t even bean you in the heads with an apple, and those cops turned out to be alright.”

I left them behind as I spotted some half grown tomato plants, I was pretty sure the metal loop things for them hadn’t rusted too badly out in the shed.

Heading for the automatic door that led into the store next to the cashier's desk, I was thinking some stuff like potatoes I might be better off buying whole and cutting up, I noticed a fat guy chewing out the girl who had given me the water and eyeballing my furry minions.

"Problem…" I looked at her apron to read her name. "Sally?"

The fat guy looked confused. “Her name’s Kelly…”

Sally rolled her eyes. "I'm still on my starting period Mr. Schade. I'm using a leftover apron."

He frowned at her, then turned to me and hesitated at Johanson and his friend came up behind me. Johanson more or less barked at the guy. “I believe Mr Remick asked you a question ‘Sir.’”

The fat guy looked back and forth between us. "I… I needed to talk about him bringing dogs into the store, and the water he drank…"

He looked past me at the Captain and several fully armed soldiers walking through the garden center entrance. The Captain gave him a narrow eyed stare and held eye contact as he spoke quietly to another older guy with patches on his shoulders that I think meant he was a Sargent or something.

The big shoulder patch guy started sending army guys to round up more carts and grabbing entire trays of plants as the captain walked over to us. Reaching into his pocket as he walked over to 'not' Sally he handed over his credit card.

"I will be making a large purchase today, possibly several thousand dollars worth of gardening supplies." He gave the fat man a dark look. "That is if there aren't any issues. There are other places we can go."

The fat man backed off with his hand raised in surrender as he assured us there weren't any problems. But I wasn’t really paying attention anymore as I looked around at everything that was being carted up.

“Ah, my property isn’t all that big. Even if I wanted to plant stuff in the front yard, which I don’t. I put in too much work resodding it… a whole lot of years back.”

The Captain nodded at that. “I drove by this morning. The land around you isn’t growing as much, but the plant life is visibly healthier and growing faster up to thirty feet away from the edges of your property.”

He turned and pulled out three six packs of bottled water from a glass fronted fridge. “I figure even if you end up getting the land to either side you won’t give me too much trouble if I claim half of whatever me and my men plant there. And if even if the stuff just ends up being normal vegetables…”

The Captain gave not Sally a side glance, and me a knowing nod. "Who knows what we might end up needing when everything plays out?”

I nodded back at him in return. A stable quick growing source of food, even normal plants, might help if transportation fell apart. And if the veggies did something, like hold a trace of Life Essence, it could help people get back on their feet faster if they got hurt, or help keep them from getting hurt in the first place.

Paying attention, I realized the Captain was getting a list of what gardening stuff I had from Johanson and his friend who had gotten a look into my shed when they helped me with my lawn.

I wondered why he didn’t just ask me, but then I realized he expected me to not be helpful.

But really, like I was going to hold out on him just to be difficult when more free labor was on the line… Shoot I would do that. At least enough to waste some of his money.

But really, what good would it do… "Hoses. Yeah, you would need a few to reach out fifty feet from both sides of my lot. But I'm not paying for all that water."

The Captain opened his mouth, then closed it with a snap before giving me an evil grin. “I got a guy. There is no reason to be concerned Mr. Bright. I will take care of the water at no cost to you.”

He did add as he wandered away, loud enough to make sure that all the soldiers could hear him. "I do hope you will allow me to toss these bottles into your fridge for the men working on your land Mr. Bright.”

I hissed out a, "Of 'course,'" back at him.

If I have any say in the matter, someone was going to take an apple to the head today.