Newington Estate was a mess of vile moss and shop signage. Still, it was the only place to find Johnny Appleseed. Legend has it that when everything went south he lost his mind and thought he was the storybook character. He went around planting seeds, taking care of them. By some miracle, he actually managed to get things to grow. After he took a nasty beating, he regained some sense of who he was and what he was doing. He secluded himself here, Newington Estate.
If our colony is to succeed in regaining some form of society, we'll need him. We can't survive on just scavenging food forever. We'll need to have something stored for the winter. Nobody ventures here without a group, but I chose to come along. Nobody else believed he would come, but I've got faith. He'll come with us, even for a while and teach us to grow.
"Why are you here," a voice asks. "Don't turn around."
"I'm looking for Johnny Appleseed. We're starting a community. We want him to join us."
"Whoever told you to come was wrong. Go home," I feel the barrel of a rifle in my back and sense the anger spilling over.
"Are you Johnny Appleseed?"
"John E. Applegate," he seems annoyed.
"Well John, I need your help."
"I need you to fuck off."
"I can't do that. You'll make me out to be a liar."
"I ain't no fucking Johnny Appleseed."
"And I ain't no fucking liar."
I'm doing everything I can to keep my bladder under control and try to remain as calm as possible. On the inside, I'm ready to run but I know that just means he might put a hole through my back. I'm just hoping he has something he wants in return. Then again, if I can get him away from his gun, I could probably just tie him and take him with me. Then again that wouldn't be setting up for a good alliance.
"Get out of here, while you still can," I feel the gun lower.
"Not without you," I spin around on my heels.
I expected an old man with white hair and pale skin. The man is surprisingly muscular with dusty colored hair, not much older than myself. How young was he when he started running around as Johnny Appleseed? I can use that.
"I'm not interested."
"You haven't even asked what I have to offer."
"Not interested."
"You wasted your youth wandering around alone, and now you're wasting it stuck in this crumbling mansion out in the middle of nowhere. I'm offering you a chance to be part of a family for once."
"Being part of a community doesn't make you family."
"I'll treat you like my own brother."
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