Colette was mildly surprised she had survived so long as well. Sure, she was an excellent shot, but not all of her needs were obtainable through the earth. Good material and clean water was a hard find as of late, plus nutritious meals came around rarely. The zombies were definitely not the only things one had to worry about.
Collie rolled her eyes as he just said he called all women love. She knew that, but it was still the fact of the matter. "I know you do. It's definitely not going to get to my head, I just don't care for it," she told him with a generous amount of irritation as she brushed some hair from her face. Even though it was being used as a general name, it still felt too personal for her likings. Not every man would have the privilege of calling her anything aside from her name. Being from France, she knew the customs of speech quite well around the surrounding areas. He wasn't the only person she'd told not to call her such names, but she did hold a specific grudge against the words coming from his mouth.
As much as Colette couldn't stand the man at times, she trusted him to a degree. It's why she knew he could get the power working, as long as she did was required that was. She was bad at expressing gratitude, but she was always decent at giving words of encouragement or affirmation. She had been working on herself a lot since she and Rhory split. Their breakup had of course caused her to be full of rage and spite, but it also opened her eyes once she got on her own. She knew she had faults, but she didn't like to admit. Most people don't. The only thing that sucked was the fact she lost the majority of her good work when the apocalypse broke out. It brought out the absolute worst in most people.
Colette paid attention the best she could as Rhory began explaining everything and what he needed her to do. "Should be simple enough.." she murmured as she pointed the parts out in the same order that he had. She didn't want to mess up as it would likely spur an argument between the two. Rhory was usually pretty decent at avoiding causing an argument, which was likely why he never responded to her words on leaving. She knew it was harsh, but she didn't know how to put it any other way for the time being.
Collie waited on Rhory to give her the go, but sharp laugh left her lips at his response to her last comment. "I know you'd like to think leaving and moving on is easy, but it's not. Might be for you, but I don't do well alone and we both know it," she said, her green eyes staring into Rhory. She rarely admitted that out loud, but she couldn't help expressing that things actually sucked being alone.
Colette looked away as he finally motioned for her to open up the valve and told her to shift the rod in 45 second. She flipped the valve open and started counting in her head. Exactly 45 seconds. The count down seemed to take forever in her mind, but as she hit 45, she swiftly shifted the rod to the left. "I'm ready to turn the ignition when you are, Rho," she said, doing her best to focus on the task at hand. Rhory being around always clouded her mind. It wasn't all bad, but he was distracting without even trying to say the least.

Rhory wasn’t sure what it was about hearing Colette’s irritation with him, but it did make him fight the urge of an impish grin. Sometimes it was a bit too easy to poke and prod at the French woman, but he could always count on the fact that she would defend herself. Collie always had something to say, after all. Once upon a time he would grow greatly alarmed to ever hear her being completely silent for a long period of time, but even those instances were few and far between. Regardless, her bout of irritation was a little funny to him, however he did well with hiding the smile that threatened to upturn at his lips.

After the break up, Rhory’s ideal way of coping was working more than he did before; if that was even possible. As long as he kept his mind busy, it was fine. Everything is fine as long as Rhory has something to fill his time. It spurred many sleepless nights as he slaved away to his burden of being a workaholic, but he was happy. Not once did he acknowledge any of the sting that came with the separation, and it’s not as if he knew what to do with those silly feelings, so he channeled it all into projects. And he was working on ground breaking technologies before the zombies came, ruining his work of a lifetime. But it didn’t matter now, not much did, other than making it to the next day.

At the very least, Rhory trusted Collie’s competence to follow his instructions. He supposed it's one perk of knowing the person he was stuck with for the meantime; he knew what Collie was and was not capable of. With the entirety of the apocalypse so far, Rhory has taken on being a prominent lone wolf. He couldn’t bring himself to trust anyone else with his life, he couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t be crossed in some way or another, but he knew he could count on himself. Colette’s laugh, and her response incited the mild clenching of Rhory’s jaw. Collie was right though, he would like to think a lot of things. Such as moving on being easy. Pretending reality is whatever Rhory decides is something he’s greatly guilty of, but if he believed it… it’s true. “I know.” He mumbled, he knew it very well. A common topic of their arguments stemmed from the fact that she felt she never received the attention she deserved from him, which inadvertently made her vulnerable to the truth that she struggled with solitude. She never had to say it out loud for Rhory to know, he always knew.

Continuing his cranking, slowly but surely he could feel the greasing of the generator’s parts from the precise actions both he and Colette were taking. When she spoke again, Rhory quietly counted down from 10 before he said the magic words, “turn it.” He instructed, and afterwards, Rhory gave it a few more cranks before he removed the manual cranker and watched the machine sputter to life. It was a violent start to its life; its gurgling on the acid, the shudder from the heat it was now experiencing, and the pained groans only a machine could make as parts of it that had been idle for so long finally began to turn. And in a matter of seconds, a roaring sound from the machine sent a surge of electricity to the hub, and Rhory watched as the first bulb of light outside of the building turned on. Shooting up on his feet and raising his hands in victory, Rhory gave a shout of excitement. “I did it!” He yelled, as if there was a crowd behind him cheering him on. “This is great! Oh, this really gets the ball rolling… yes, lots of potential here.” Rhory said, resorting to conversation with himself as he studied the building while running a hand through his curly blond locks.

After a second of thought, he clicked back into the reality that Collie was still an entity nearby. “Well, now you can get that rest and such you need,” Rhory said, audibly dialing back in his excitement, “what work is it that you need to do anyway?” He further inquired, gesturing with his head for her to follow him in. It had been Rhory’s space for quite a while now; he called it home. Inside was a typical office space, although modified more for Rhory’s use. He had various boxes filled with pieces and parts he’s found, an attempt at a bed using two modified seats from a car, and enough tools to make Bob the Builder jealous. “Down that corridor is a washroom, it’s not luxury considering this was an electrical company’s main hub, but it’s something…” Rhory trailed off with a shrug, but if he could live with it, so could Collie. “I’d give it a few minutes before the water is warm though.” He added, more as a warning, as he knew the machine was still slowly coming back to life.

After her anger from their breakups had passed, Colette would slip into a state of longing and sorrow for what she had lost. Sure, she knew that it was for the best, but she couldn't deny the fact that she had loved him. Love does not just leave overnight which is why it was always so hard for her to move on. No matter how upset she was, she still wanted to be with him. At least she used to. Perhaps the problem is as that she was much to prideful to admit she had done anything wrong or that she wanted to come back? It would be a likely explanation.
It didn't matter anymore though. She had came to terms with the fact that she wouldn't be seeing anyone she knew or once loved again. It spurred a small wave of depression, which was eventually overcome by getting rid of all emotion. She knew her one goal was survive, no matter how hard or how lonely. "It's not your fault I can't cope with it.. It's just a lot harder to let go of something you wanted for so long," she said, sighing softly. Of course she didn't mean that it was Rhory that she wanted. She had longed for company for so long, and she thought she finally had that. Walking away would be the best decision in the long run as it would save them both a lot of hurt and irritation. They stayed on each others nerves and at least if she left, neither of them would have to possibly see the other die. No matter how much she hated him sometimes, she didn't wish death upon anyone.
Colette listened for him to instruct her to turn the ignition, which she did before backing off and holding her breath. As the machine came alive, she had a lot of hope for everything to succeed. Not just because she could reap the benefits, but for the fact it was a big accomplishment for Rhory and his current place of living. It was a lot better than most of any place out there. Collie finally let go of the breath she was holding as she heard his excitement in the fact he had indeed did it. She couldn't even imagine what else he could have instore to work on next, but she knew it wouldn't be long before he started on yet another project.
Collie looked away slightly as Rhory spoke, "Yes indeed.. I haven't stayed anywhere decent in a long time." She had resorted to sleeping in the most odd of places. Whether it was the highest part of a chapel in the church, or a single bathroom with an industrial sized lock and door. "I've got to up my ammo stock. I have plenty of gun powder and casing and such, but I've got to put everything together so I can actually have bullets," she said as an answer to his next question. She had collected gun powder for a good while either from chemical labs or damaged bullets. Colette followed him inside as he motioned for her to follow. It was a decent set up that he had. At least it was somewhere he could call his or home. Colette moved around a lot and she had passed through so many cities in Texas, but no where had been a good enough place to stay.
Collie listened as he told her where the washroom was and gave a warning to let the water heat up. "Noted, thanks... This really is a nice place to have discovered. It's much better than staying in churches or bathrooms for the night," she said with a small laugh. Of course she didn't mind not having a place, but every once in a while it was nice to not need to move around or be out all day. Colette took her backpack off and unzipped it before pulling out a tin with metal bullet casings and one that she had taped with gun powder inside. "Best thing I could have ever started collecting," she said, though more to herself than anything. Who would have known that almost every store would be completely ransacked of bullets?

There were many things Rhory would admit to should he be asked to comment, but there was one thing in particular he would keep to himself. And that was failing the very thing he should have strived to fix; his relationship. Maybe he didn’t try harder because it was the one thing he didn’t know how to patch up or repair, or maybe he felt like he couldn’t breathe when faced with the decision of dedicating more time to Collie, or his work. As much as he had loved Collie, with a burning passion, the one steady thing he’s had in his life was his diligence with projects… and he just couldn’t give it up. Not that it matters now. His entire life’s work vanished in the blink of an eye, and those years of grueling, meticulous devotions didn’t pay off. It crushed Rhory much deeper than he’s ever allowed himself to consider, and it killed a part of him. How could it have not though? He poured his blood, sweat, and tears into everything he’s ever done. So losing everything he had worked so hard for meant losing a piece of himself too.

Which made Collie’s next words all the more understandable to the internally weary Rhory. “Trust me, Collie, I know exactly what you mean.” Was all he had quietly muttered, and he wasn’t keen on elaborating on that. It was easier for Rhory to make peace with the loss of people, because he didn’t have very many “special” people in his life. Colette was the only person he had considered special, and when they fell apart… he had machines, tools, and himself. Just like the old days, he would joke with himself, when he was tinkering away like a miniature mad scientist in his parent’s shed. Plus, if he’s thinking about things he’s never gained… technically that would put his parent’s approval on the list of ‘Things Rhory Wanted’, however he doubted out of all things, he was going to run into his mother and father and their songs of praise.

Getting this generator working was indeed just the beginning of things Rhory had planned to get going, and with Colette here now, Rhory would probably start on his next project within the next few hours. Just because her presence was a bit stressful; he didn’t know how to address the past that loomed over them, nor did he know how to not feel a suppressed sense of bitterness he had failed to cope with after the break up. The internal vault of Rhory’s feelings could only hold so much for so long, but it’s been doing a rather great job for years at tightly containing his silly emotions… but since the apocalypse especially, he was starting to feel cracks beginning to line that closely guarded vault.

He wasn’t oblivious to the way Collie looked away after his question, but he listened silently nonetheless. He couldn’t argue that finding decent dwelling places was rough, but he had only managed to come across this place because only he knew what to do with the resources here. Anyone else would have been hammering away at the generator with a rock like monkey, hoping it would work. As Colette continued, Rhory placed a hand on his hip and nodded along. “I’m pretty low on ammo here, but I’ve managed to dance my way out of trouble quite often so far,” he shrugged, “just a little tidbit of advice though… keep all explosives away from the shed behind this hub, eh? I have a very small stockpile of fermented mercury in there, and if something sparks it, everything in the immediate area goes ‘kaboom’." Rhory explained, going so far as to make the explosion sound effect while demonstrating it with his hands.

Once inside, and after he had explained what he needed to, Rhory tilted his head a bit to the side at what Collie responded with. “Churches… why didn’t I think of that? The pews, the wood… that could come in handy,” he mumbled, righting his head and clicking back into the conversation. “Well, I don’t mean to toot my horn or anything, but I did manage to survive in a moderately used porta-potty for 16 or so hours. And considering today’s standards of living? I’d say that was quite an accomplishment on my part.” Rhory smiled, feigning to reveal just how traumatizing those 16 hours were to him though. It was so gross… so terribly horrid. Rhory observed Collie’s next actions curiously, but quite honestly it didn’t take much to rouse Rhory’s sense of curiosity. It was just keeping him entertained that was the problem. Ah, her bullet casings and gunpowder. If he combined the items he had stored, and Colette’s, he would have quite the bomb on his hands. But he figured it wasn’t abundantly safe to hoard bombs… no matter how tempting.

“Give me a shout when you’re heading for the shower, you’ll probably want clothes suitable enough to keep you warm. I’ve done a bit of thrift shopping you know, mostly masculine clothes, but who knows, maybe I have a pair of Hello Kitty sweatpants lying around here somewhere.” Rhory spoke, the smirk evident in his tone. If she had clothes stashed in that bag of hers, it wasn’t nearly enough. And Rhory had plenty to spare from his trips, but hey, the wagon came in handy. After that, Rhory disappeared into a smaller room and closed the door behind him. There was nothing special in the room, except for the radio… the radio that was connected to the hub, and the one Rhory was going to fix. Because if he could broadcast a message, or seek anything being played from beyond this pitiful Texas town, then that would be something.