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[M] Outbreak [PB+Spider]
[this is a rp between myself and slyvanSpider, feel free to read but please do not post unless you are either of us. This rp is going to use some similar settings and other things from The Last of Us, not necessarily in the same universe. Enjoy ^-^] -------------------------- Most of the people nowadays don’t really remember what the world was like before the outbreak, before the fungal infection changed everything. Turned family and friends into mindless monsters that attacked everything and spread the infection. Ian had only been 6 at the time of the outbreak, he had faint memories of the nice house he and his parents had lived in, now it was just he and his little brother in a cramped one room apartment in a city district under the thumb of the military's strike law. That didn’t mean that Ian stayed inside the ‘safe’ walls of the city, the ginger haired man of 22 year old often went outside the walls to gather supplies for he and his brother, and to kill any infected runners he found. Runners where those in the first stages of infection, recently bitten or exposed to the deadly spores that caused the world to collapse. The military had done a good enough job so far keeping the Runners and other infect out of this City… Ian still didn’t trust them, as frequently there were food and water shortages, at least for those who were not enlisted in the military now. Currently Ian was standing on top of the building that housed him and hundreds of other people, all crammed together in small apartments with spotty power. The freckled ginger man had tattoos on his arms, and a few on his legs as well, though those ones where hidden under the skin tight pants he wore as he stretched in the early morning sun.One needed to stay in shape if they wanted to live a day outside the walls. Ian did everything in his power to make sure his little brother didn't have to venture outside the walls of the city...his little brother would soon be celebrating his 11th birthday. Tristan was born after the fall of society… and had a different father than Ian, didn’t matter to the ginger haired man, the blond haired pixie was his blood, his only family left after their mother passed away from a nasty sickness, oddly enough not related to the fungal outbreak at all. The poor nutrition they received had hit their mother the hardest it seemed… Shaking his head, ginger hair bouncing around his head as the sun rose fully, light making the ginger strands almost glow, and the light did indeed make Ian’s green eyes sparkle with life. Grabbing his shirt from where he’d set it down Ian made his way back inside the building and down a few flights of stairs till he reached his apartment. Inside the stale, cramped and rundown looking space lay a young boy with blond curls on his head, the only real color in the drab room, he was laying on the couch with a ratty blanket thrown over him haphazardly. Ian found himself grinning at that, Tristan was always a deep sleeper… a bad thing when they’d been on the run outside the walls… trying to move from one city to another after their mother passed. “Hope he gets more sleep...still growing the little pup is.” He yawned as he spoke gently to himself, locking the door behind him as he moved into the apartment proper. On the poor excuse of a counter was a travel backpack… the same one Ian strapped to his back when he went outside of the walls, he had one gun, he maintained it and always looked for more bullets for it, he also had a large hunting knife with a wicked serrated edge to it tucked into a side pocket of the backpack. Going over to his bag he made sure he had everything inside that would last him a few days. Ian had a smuggling job to do today, nothing big, but it needed him to move the product outside the wall to another sector of the city, away from the prying eyes of the military guards that were at each checkpoint that separated the district of the city now. Just another way the military tried to control the people inside the walls…. It made Ian a little sick but this was life now. |
Sixteen years. Sixteen impossibly long years. Aren was four. Life before the Reckoning went unremembered; the faces of his sisters, his mother, and father began to fade, only their names etched in stone. He owed his life to Serj, his oldest brother, and he knew that. When the Reckoning hit (as he called it), like the others his age, he'd needed to survive somehow and they were all there either through dumb luck or, like Aren, with a savior of some sort. He grew up knowledgeable of the outside dangers, paying attention when something new was found out about the fungus. Generally, he stayed within the city gates reading, reading, reading. He knew all about fungus and the fungus, and he genuinely thought once that they could change it, that they could revert those infected back. That things could go back to normal, back like life before the Reckoning.
“It won't bring them back, Aren. Stop fucking trying, would you? Even if by some fucking miracle you managed to find some cure or a way to get the shit out, they aren't coming back. I brained them, okay? I did it to save you. They were infected. There wasn't a choice...They had to die so that you could live...†Serj had said when Aren came to him with his dreams. Those words stung, pricking his skin and burrowing themselves in his heart. Aren stayed silent after that, but he never forgot. His insistence on finding a cure wouldn't fade like the faces of his family. So they weren't coming back. That didn't mean there weren't others that could be saved. The city was full of kids with stories just like his, as full as it was of adults with stories just like Serj's. But unlike them, there would be hope for some of them. If he could see just one family, or even one couple, reunited because of research that he'd done, he could rest knowing that he helped. Serj didn't share that optimism. The worst had already come, and there was no righting it. He'd been distant for as long as Aren could remember. With that explanation, it was easy to see why. Maybe things had been different before the Reckoning. Maybe he'd been excited when their mother told him that he was going to have a new baby brother. Maybe once he gave Aren a piggy back ride, or tried to teach him letters or maybe how to count. Maybe he gripped his tiny fingers, holding Aren up, during those first few steps of life. But those maybes were only wistful thinking, and as it was Serj left him with little but cold memories. Serj did have his moments though, those brief moments of warmth where he would open up to his little brother. He would tell him of his father's strength, his mother's beauty, his sisters' pranks. The twins were beautiful, he was told. “You look just like them,†he'd said then. It was true, too, at least, so far as keeping a fairly androgynous appearance went. Aren had an angular frame and full lips, his long knotted hair and nose ring didn't help and where the few other nineteen year old boys had filled out and turned to men, Aren stayed lanky, but tall. While this wasn't intentional, it earned his brother's ire nonetheless and those few tender moments he had with him dissipated into accusations of being queer and a good-for-nothing bookworm. [i]“Smarts gets you nowhere without braun. You should be working on filling out. You think those books are going to fucking help you? Look what it got your sisters...â€[i] His sisters were ten at the time of the Reckoning, and the time of their death. In those few moments of warmth Serj would tell him with pride that they were the top of their class, and the fastest in P.E. (apparently a class held in something called “school†pre-Reckoning days), only for those precious facts to be torn down and used against Aren later. Aren stood now, looking at the empty apartment. Most of the items in there were Aren's. A variety of books pilfered from the library and stacked in neat little piles lining the walls, kitchen appliances he'd gone to trade for, an easel with a finished painting on it but no new canvases, and a sketchbook. There were posters too, mostly Serj's, that he'd picked up at various parts of the city that weren't under lockdown. They'd go unlooked at now that he was gone. He didn't know how to feel when he was told that the apartment would only be his now, that his brother had gone out with the guard and would never be coming back. His memories with his brother were mostly bad, and yet, he found himself dreading coming home to an apartment that would forever be empty save for himself. He had no family left to speak of, so until they got a new boy around his age, there wouldn't be any new roommates. Aren needed to breathe. He sighed, turning his back on the tiny apartment that felt so vast in that moment and headed for the roof. He could get some fresh air there. [[[Eeeeehm, I didn't know how to search for actual people to use, so I looked up specific hair and came across this gem. He's the top pic]]] |
Ian and Tristan had never gone to school….well Ian had been to kindergarten, learning all the colors numbers and shapes… he never got farther than that, the outbreak, or the Reckoning as some had taken to calling it happened the summer before he was to start grade 1. Their mother had done her best to teach then, she had been a teacher after all before the end of the world, Tristan’s father had done his best to teach the boys how to keep in shape to stay alive in this new cruel world. The young ginger man had a routine he kept to unless he was planning on going outside the brick walls of the city.
After he had woken Tristan up to start the routine the brothers had a small breakfast before taking the stairs up to the roof for some exercise, stretches and some yoga from a book that Ian had found after their mother had passed away. Then it would be laps around the rooftop, Ian on the outer rim, the ginger would never put his younger brother in danger like that… though he had to admit that Tristan was rather bendy and quick for his age. Skinny too… though who wasn’t nowadays. The siblings paused when they got to the roof, seeing another person from the apartments there already, and Ian knew that this man had not been here just an hour ago. A faint memory from a few days ago came to time… someone who had gone out with the soldiers had not come back… leaving their apartment with only one occupant… a younger brother, that made a small pain lance into Ian’s heart….One of the reasons he never went out under military watch was because they tended to overlook the normal citizens that came out with them… favoring their own over those they were supposed to protect. The young man before them was a stark difference to the two brothers, where Ian and Tristan where pale and lightly colored, Tristan more then Ian as the ginger man had a very light tan form his time outside. The man before them was dark skinned with knotted hair...dreadlocks was the name that came to mind. “Sorry, we didn’t think anyone else would be up here yet.” Ian said calmly, his accent was not common that was for sure, Ian’s mother and father had been scottish, Tristan’s was weaker as he’d had less time with their mother who used to sing old scottish lullabies to the two brothers. It was a little known fact in the apartment that Ian could get outside the walls...could get his freckled hands on things that the military counted as contraband, old books, guns, and he sometimes smuggled things out to drop points in the wild space outside the city now. As he could do all this and didn’t charge a arm and a leg, the apartment residents don't tattle on his to the military. The McLocke brothers kept to themselves as best they could while being friendly without making actually friends, favors yes, but not friends. Ian had a jagged scar over his hip that was from the last ‘friend’ the brother’s had… Ian’s old partner that had left Ian for dead after attacking him. The only place Ian refused jobs from was sector 8, the sector his old partner resided… in this city… it boiled the ginger’s blood when he had to even get close to sector 8. “Just a couple more Tris, that’s it come on, only 5 more.” Ian was spotting his younger brother who was shakily doing some pull ups on a over hanging pipe on the roof, Ian never pushed his brother to always be fit… just enough to stay healthy as he knew his little brother was more into the old comic books that Ian managed to bring back every time he ventured outside the walls. Green eyes would occasionally move over to the other man on the roof, always cautious about people he didn’t know. Tristan was panting and his face a little blotchy by the time he was done. “D-Do yo-you thin-think i’ll be able to come with you soon Ian?” Tristan panted out and Ian paused in his own stretching up for the pull up pipe. It was a touchy subject between the brothers now that they had been in this city for a while now. “Not yet Pup, don’t give me that look, I don’t like you out there… remember the raiders?” Ian said as he began his own pull ups, about 20 more than he’d given Tristan to do. Tristan was pouting as he sat cross legged on the roof, carefully stretching his arms to ease the ache of pulling himself up on the pipe. Bright blue eyes looking over towards the darker skinned man with knotted hair curiously. |
Aren jumped hearing voices where he'd expected silence. For the most part, the apartment complex was quiet as the grave in the moments before the sun came up, and just after. He'd expected the rooftop to be void of activity, but he was wrong. There were others in the complex, it seemed, that were motivated. |
“We try to do it when the weather’s good.” Tristan said a friendly smile on his face before they’d set to working out. The younger brother was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, something that Ian was starting to get covered in as well when Aren spoke to them again.
The brothers stopped talking for a moment to look at Aren, the youngers' blue eyes looking worriedly at the green eyes of his older brother. It was against the rules set in place to go outside the walls without the military escorts… but people still did, many died from not knowing what the heck was out there any more. “The less people that know how to get out the better, less chance of the military dogs blocking up all the exits….why do you wanna get out any way?” Ian asked, his voice a little gruff as he was holding himself up in his pull up with ease, slowly lowering himself before pulling up again, he wouldn't stop his work out just to talk, he could do both at the same time. “To survive out there you need to know how to shoot, and shoot well, you can’t miss a single shot if you don’t want to get bitten and turned into a Runner.” Ian said with a huff as he pulled himself back up , then down, up and down, the motions came easy to the ginger haired man. He normally kept quiet about his knowledge about outside the wall… because the military might impression him as punishment if they knew that he’d been outside the walls regularly since he and his brother became citizens of this city. The ginger haired man would have to do unpaid hard labor… and then Tristan wouldn't have any support…. That would be his punishment...part of Ian really wanted to just take all they had in their small apartment and leave, find their own place and set up shop….there were tons of abandoned towns that had not been picked clean… Looking over at Aren, Ian got the feeling that the boy was a bookworm… he fainted remembered grabbing books for a older man that looked similar to the young man in front of them...Ian never asked questioned about his jobs unless something didn't feel right… then he’d question it till the cows come home… a strange saying that he’d givin up trying to explain to Tristan. |
Aren nodded to Tristan, but he couldn't return that friendly smile even if he wanted to. It felt as if those muscles didn't work anymore, if they ever did. He was at a loss for words as well, so accustomed to having no one but his brother for company, and well, he wasn't exactly the most talkative fellow to ever grace the face of the planet. Instead of anything of substance, he responded with a simple, “Motivation is good, I suppose.†It was something he wished he had when his brother was alive. Or, at least, motivation towards physical fitness. He had motivation, just not the right kind, apparently. |
Green eyes blinked. “Mushrooms….” He didn’t sound like he believed it… Blue eyes looked curiously between Ian and Aren. “Have you ever been outside the walls? You look like you’d have been a toddler or a baby when this whole fungus shite came down on us….” Ian hissed out he pulled himself up to hard on his last lift, he lowered himself with a sigh and sat himself down and began his cool down stretches
“You shouldn’t go out with out someone who has been outside the walls before….and not the military…” Ian huffed out as he stood up, stretching lean pale freckled skin as he moved to stand in front of Aren. “You seem like a good kid….not that you look much younger then me….meet me in the storage room after lunch if you really want to get outside the walls.” Ian said before he motioned with his head for Tristan to start walking to the stairs. The young blond did just that, looking over his shoulder one last time before his blond curls disappeared. Ian wasn’t far behind as he followed his younger brother. Once inside their apartment Tristan spun on Ian with a grin on his face. “So you gonna help him?” the blond boys voice was bubbly and Ian sighed. He rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the scruff of ginger hair on his jaw and chin, he could go a few more days before attempting to shave again. “I think so… his brother was the one had died in the last military run i think….I just hope he does know how to shoot…. I really hate escort missions where the person in with can’t hit a barn door with a shotgun.” Ian sighed as he felt to his track pack to pack his supplies for at least a day or two, you never know if you’ll be stuck outside the walls, he looked around their apartment for the set of walkie talkies he had managed to scavenge a few years back. Going back to Tristan who was sitting cross legged in front of the couch with some paper in front of him, leaflets from different places, Tristan was teaching himself to read with these. “You know the drill Pup, if I’m gonna be longer than a day I’ll radio in to let you know.” He handed one of the walkies to Tristan who nodded. Noon came soon enough and Ian rested against the wall close to the storage closet, not going in yet, if the other man brought anyone else with him Ian would just leave, he didn’t like others tagging along unless they were there originally when the ‘deal’ was struck… to many bad turns with this old partner. Ian had a feeling that the man they met on the roof wanted to study the fungi that seemed to grow over the head bodies of Runners and Growths… Growths where the worst to kill, the fungal growths that covered their faces made the blind so their hearing was sharp and on point and you had to be careful to not breath in to many of the spores that they emited when stabbed or shot. Oddly enough a few spores wasn't enough to turn you, just make you sick for a few days with a high fever…. The fever might kill you if it's your first time being exposed… Ian had breathed in his fare share… it still shocked him that he was still human, he just prayed that he stayed human… so he could come home to his little brother. |
Aren could see the disbelief on the smaller one's face and his brown eyes assessed him briefly before he gave a brief shrug and a nod, “I was four when it happened, but I been out once or twice with my older bro a few years back. Those paths are all closed now and he didn't show me any of the new ones. We stuck close to the walls, so we were never in any serious danger, but I got to see actual living trees, so that was cool.†The morning air was brisk and crisp, and Aren was thankful that he'd thought to wear a hoodie. It was amazing that the two others were out here in their fitness gear, but then, they were active and obviously weren't bothered with the temperature. |
When Ian spotted Aren, alone, the ginger man relaxed, he wore a grey tank top under a faded green flannel shirt with only a few buttons done up to keep the shirt in place, ragged jeans covered his legs, the close shows signs of wear and tear…. More than the workout clothes he’d been seen in this morning. He had his hunting knife strapped to his thigh as he scanned hsi green eyes up and down Aren after the young man introduced himself.
“Ian McLocke...I have three simple rules for outside the walls kid….” Ian held up one finger. “Stick close to me, be my shadow if you need to.” He held up a second finger. “If you hear anything clicking stand still and hold your breath till I give the all clear.” He held up the final third finger. “And finally, don’t hesitate to shoot. Not for anything or anyone.” Ian kept eye contact with Aren as he spoke, his own gun rested in a pocket in his pack, easily accessed if you knew where it was. Once that was settled Ian lead the way INTO the storage closet, to the far back where the light was shotty and there seemed to be a few things laying up against the wall, with a grunt Ian moved a flimsy wooden panel, revealing a hole in the wall that was a short drop downward. “There are unused sub areas all over the city, military doesn't think to seal them up properly…” Ian explained as they dropped down, Ian could always pull himself up easily form the short height on the way back. The ginger haired man turned on the flashlight on his shoulder to light their way. It took then a good 30 minutes of walking in underground tunnels before they heard the chirping of birds, and the rays of sunlight filtered through the floor of a old clothing store a good distance outside the city. Once outside Ian took a big breath os more clean air then they had in the city. Plants had overtaken the streets, not the fungia thankfully, just normal plant life, the ones that provide clean and breathable air. The shop face they had left said H&M on it, Ian just remembered that it was a popular clothing store when he had been little… not much else… and there were still cloths, lightly dusted and weathers on the racks around them. Cars where left abandoned in the streets and somewhere over turned and Ian fished a hidden gun out from the back seat of one of the cars, it was more a rifle then his little pistol, he and a few of the other smugglers had a unspoken code where they left some things outside the walls for other smugglers to use. “Ok…. we’re outside the walls, I get the feeling you’re not interested in plain old mushrooms….I hope you have some sort of mask filter thing on ya cuz there are gonna be tones of spores where we’re going.” Ian said looking down the sites of the rifle, checking the magazine and bullet count before nodded to himself. Looking back at Aren for confirmation or denial of that the younger man wanted to look for. |
Aren wore on his person the uniform of a city dweller, give or take the oddities of the P-96 on his hip and a hardcover copy of The Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World tucked under his arm standing out from the expected sagging and torn in places hoodie and jeans barely clinging to his hips. The two looked like they couldn't have come from more different worlds, yet they were drawn into the same space with what was undoubtedly an all too similar story. It seemed that story was one shared by most since the Reckoning; few led lives void of tragedy now. |
“All i remember before the shit hit the fan is that every spring i’d sneeze my face off so hard my nose was permanently red till the end of july.” Ian said, he didn't know the science terms and stuff for the fungi...but he knew that the spores and a infected bite where two of the most common ways to get infected… contaminated water could be boiled down to a safe heat to get rid of anything in the water… and the spores and fungus didn’t seams to infect any food stores… mostly because all the best food now was canned… hardly ever anything fresh…. There were a few wild apple trees outside the walls, Ian made a mental note to grab a bunch to bring back for his brother.
Ian hummed lightly. “I had to clear it out to get some cargo moved last month… so it should only have the dead bodies of the Runners… and that means spores… even so early in the infection they still make them damned spores after death….just keep your wits about you… it’s the Growths and Clickers we really need to watch out for….the Runners might have the numbers but the other two are more deadly.” Ian said before they started to move. Birds flitted past them from building to building, at one point they had to go into old office building to get around a roadblock made of piled up cars covered in moss. Ian pulled himself up to a slightly to high ledge before reaching his hand down to haul Aren up easily. The old office building was creaking slightly form age and time, Ian looked out of different windows to keep track of their progress. Between the office building and the a few others the piles of cals had build up and rusted together over the years… and had formed a small putril looking lake in the once dry streets. Ian paused and held his breath when he saw a dead body, one of the military, the man had a gun laying loosely in one fallen hand, his helmet had been set aside and the soldiers brains colored the walls with a sicking color and smell. Thankfully the man wasn’t growing anything… so he must have shot himself before he fully turned, not giving the fungal infection a chance to reproduce in him. “Find peace mate.” Ian said to the dead body slowly, as much as he hated the military…. No one deserves to have to choose between biting the bullet themselves or turning into a mindless frantic Runner. “It’s down the next street and back into the underground where this stuff grows… and sadly the underground if the saver route then topside...the runners and Growths don’t seem to like to be around the fungus once they’re infected… pro’bly cos they’re meant to spread it… to stay around it.” Ian shrugged as they had to use a old fire escape to leave the office building. Ian didn't stop once to search for things as he’d picked this area over and over before… and he liked to leave SOME things for others to find… mostly the useless junk that he couldn't craft with. Ian held up a hand when he heard something clatter in the alley in front of them, he raised the rifle with ease and rested it in a shooting position. Finger lightly over the trigger, the clattering got louder and Ian held his breath for a moment, finger getting ready to squeeze the trigger when a ragged man came around the corner panting, he looked worse for wear but no visible signs of bites or infection, his eyes where clear when he looked up at them. “Fin-Finally found people….I’ve been out here for days! DAYS! I tell you!” the man said with a small hysterical laugh that had Ian tensing his muscles. “Mavrik said he’d be sending people out to help me move stuff, didn’t think it would take literal days…..”The man rambled on and Ian stopped at the name Mavrik before he cocked the rifle and aimed at the mans head. “We’re not with Mavrik buddy. Just out looking for supplies…. How about you step to the side so things don’t get bloody.” Ian’s accent was thick as he emotions with his eyes trained on the man who froze in his rambling to stare at them again. “Y-You’re not Mavrik’s guys??I-If you’re not with him then you must be thieves trying to take the goods!” The man ranted , going for a knife in his pocket before Ian fired a single shot that disabled the man's arm with a yelp of pain. “I don’t want anything to DO with whatever that bastard is wrapped up in now, just looking for supplies like I said, now move or my next shot will be your head.” Ian said evenly, not even phased by having just shot a man. The man shakily stumbled to the far wall of the alley, leaving them ample room to pass, Ian had himself and his gun between the man and Aren. The ginger man didn’t relax until about half a block past the alley, all tension just… draining out of the gingers shoulders. |
The outside world was void of voices, replaced by the sound of twittering songbirds and the various insects that made their home on the western coast of Canada. The chitter chatter of the city felt so far behind them, though Aren could see the wall from where they were standing. They were in a completely different world than the one Aren had grown up witnessing. Human remnants remained in the form of ruins; moss-covered cars and crumbling buildings stood as a decaying testament to Nature's victory over man. |
Ian kept his grip on his gen steady as they moved, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure they were not being followed. “Mavrik,’ Ian spat on the ground like the name made his sick ‘ Was once my partner… taught me somethings about the outside world...we worked smuggling's together and where part of a crew that would escort people between the cities… all under the radar course….Few times he stiffed me on my payments… didn’t think much of it as first as he always paid up eventually… then I catch wind of his planning to SELL my brother to raiders because he owed them a debt.” Ian was gripping his rifle tighter now before he took a breath to relax himself.
“We parted way…. With little blood shed….. He stays in his sector and I stay in mine….Now he’s a big boss man for a big group of thugs… you know how Sector 2 is a shit hole? The reason is he forced the civilians to pay him protection ‘money’" Air quotes where used for the work Money, a old bunch of coins and paper bills that were pretty useless now. “Tristan dun’t know about the bastards plot that involved him… just thinks we had a big fall out….” Ian muttered, not mentioning how he and Mavrik had been closer then partners….and for the ginger man to find out that his ‘lover’ at the time would sell Ian’s only family, knowing what family meant to Ian...yeah there where still times Ian wished he’d shoot the bastard in the head. Soon the ground became more covered in a soft dark green natural carpet of moss and Ian held up his hand to stop them again. He fished his mask out and strap it on, as they rounded the corner, spores would be seen lightly floating in the air, they seemed to grow the deeper Aren and Ian moved into the city. Soon they came to a staircase that lead underground, some fungi where growing along the walls. “This is the place. Don't know why the military hasn’t burnt the place out yet cos they know about it… but then again they wouldn't be able to control the city if they got rid of a source. There’s more potent stuff in the forests… along the highways deeper in to the country. Used to live in a part that was wide and flat….Don’t remember the name…” Ian said as he rolled his shoulders and held his rifle steady. The pair passed downed bodies of runners and one Growth, a shiv still sticking out of the things neck from Ian having to stab at it when it got to close. Already out of the Growth’s body more fungal fruit was being born, thankfully it hadn't burst of flowers yet so it was a ways off from making more spores. “If we go any deeper we’ll need to turn on the torches… flashlights….”Ian said… he sometimes forgot that he still used terminology that his mum had used from her homeland. “There’s another stretch of tunnels down here that are like the ones we used to get out of the city… they stretch on for a while… a couple days at least…” Ian said with a shrug. Ian looked comfortable in this environment, even with his guarded stance as he checked around corners and listened well to see if any more runners had migrated down here. Thankfully none had, so it was just the two humans and the fungai. “Setting up a lab out here would be risky because if anything looks newly set up looters will come crawling out to take take take.” Ian said with a thoughtful look. “It would have to be tricky or risky to reach each time to help sway looters away….” Ian spoke softly, the mask making his voice sound raspy as it filters the spores, the air was thick with them now that the pair were in a ‘hot zone’. The ginger male stood guard while Aren did his science stuff. Ian knew his basics about this stuff. Enough to survive, he was more physically focused in his training, to be able to outrun a Runner, something that was vital if you want out of bullets, or molotov cocktail…. Those Ian tried to save for if he was dealing with two or more Growths... |
Aren's fingers still held onto the gun with a tight grip until they were well away from the danger where he finally relaxed and put the gun back in its holster. He looked down as if to watch his step, though it worked to enable him to avoid eye contact as his guide spilled his gut wrenching story. “Christ. I see why Serj moved us. We were in a different part of the city initially, but he moved our asses out of there as soon as he could. Got the clearance papers and everything. My brother and I had our...issues...but shit, he would've never allowed something like that to happen and wouldn't wanna be around that shit either.†Aren reached up and pat Ian on the back, “It's alright though now. You didn't hurt his guy and they're in a different sector. Your brother's safe.†|
“Those are big words that i only get the general idea about there Aren.” Ian said evenly, his green eyes wide behind the mask, he’d never heard so many big words… but the Cordyceps word sounded familiar enough that he knew what it meant… and it made sense with how it acted with the human body now. “I’d still wear gloves handling any of this shite.” Ian said, he had put on some old worn leather gloves after he’d put on his mask. He’d been down here without the gloves before and his hands itched for days after...
Ian made a thoughtful noise at the idea… that could work actually… he knew a few spots that looked like complete dumps on the outside enough that no one bothered to check them any more. One place even had a old safe, one that Ian had found the old combo for… and then reset it to one he would know by heart. “Do you have enough samples? Cause it will take a bit to actually get to a place I have in mind for your little lab.” His words were not spoken in a way that looked down on the other’s brains… since the lab space would be small the words seemed appropriate to the ginger male. Ian began to lead the way back up into the light, the shadows where growing long and Ian knew that they’d be spending the night at the place he had in mind for this lab setup. “We’ll spend the night at the location I have in mind...but we need to hurry before the army patrols roll out… they always start when the sun in low.” Ian said before they went the opposite direction of the way they’d come. Through two more rundown buildings and Ian having to use a long metal rod to gently move a bear trap that had been left in the street out of their path, slow and cautious as to not trigger the thing. Ian walked up to the old store front of a abandoned store, its name was faded but inside there were shelves of old things, books, dolls, cloths, it was a small shop, and Ian lead the way to the back room that looked cleaner then the rest of the place. Ian closed the door behind Aren and rolled his shoulders, relaxing a heck ton more then he’d been outside. “This is one of my ‘safe’ houses. I only use it when i know I’ll be spending the night outside the wall…. It’s off the grid enough that the patrols avoid it and the other scavengers have picked it over enough that they know there is nothing left….” Ian shrugged off his backpack and carefully paid it and the rifle against a wall. There were old tall candles around the back room, ones that Ian had used before instead of a generator. Ian pulled off the walkie talkie he had and used it. The static filled voice of his brother crackled to life. “Ian hey you staying out?” Tristan asked with a sleeping note to this voice and Ian smiled. “Yeah… my walk went longer than i thought it would so I’m staying with a friend. Sleep well Pup… and keep an eye out for Gustav in the east tunnel….” Ian said and Tristan made a affirmative noise before Ian put the small device away. |
Aren nodded, glad that the general idea was at least conveyed. It was stuff that Ian didn't necessarily need to know anyway, but it would be enough to prove that his intentions for coming out into the wilds were pure. “Sorry about that, I ah, sorta almost always have my head buried in a book. And since I was always reading, I wanted to learn about something that'd actually be sorta useful. Though, I've been told that this shit ain't useful either, but we'll see about that.†He gave a brief shrug and held up his gloved hands, “Already got that covered. Besides, antibacterial soap is hard to come by these days, and we'd be kinda fucked if we didn't.†|
“It’s fine...I’m trying to get my brother to read more…” Ian didn’t mention how he himself barely knew how to read… he could recognize the letters and numbers… but the bigger words always gave him trouble when he heart them or saw them. “My mum always called that stuff Germ Soap…….there’s a old store on one of the big streets that looks like it sold that stuff by the bar. Not sure much if left after so long.” The fit man shrugged as he set up his own sleeping pallet and pulled some called food out of his backpack.
The ginger man had long since gotten used to the taste of cold canned foods. Some of the canned food needed to be heated again… so Ian had stolked up on those that didn’t need to be heated… if you didn’t make a fire then you had less chance of being found… plus this room didn’t have a window to vent the smoke from a fire out of. A brow rose when the other began to make the slides… Ian had little idea what they were for other than looking really closely at something….it sounded interesting but Ian didn’t think much of it. As he un canned the fruit he’d brought, siping the juice and using his fingers to pick out pieces of fruit the ginger haired man kept as quiet as he could. HIs thought that Aren‘s brother was the one lost had been right then… if the others use of past tense was right….and Ian had another idea of exactly how Aren knew when the patrols where started each night. He wasn’t going to say anything, the kid hadn't lead the military to him …. So he would keep this going for now. It was kind of nice to leave the wall without a job waiting for him on the other side. ----------------- Ian ended up taking first watch, and barricading the door a bit to let the other male sleep more when it was supposed to be his turn. The ginger man had strange dreams, nothing unusual for him after the past couple of years…. This time it was just him staring at himself in a mirror…. And his reflection began to change… into a runner, wild and crazed eyes...bloodshot and always twitching, then it was him turning into a Growth….blind and clicking his way to his victims…. One of which was his brother and that image had Ian bolting up right from his pallet and he was panting. A fine sweat running down his brow form the dream. |
Aren stuck to slicing up the more solid samples, the pieces that wouldn't release the spores. Those, he kept tightly sealed. He'd finally made it out of the walls and he wasn't about to muss up his chance by infecting his guide and himself. He stayed hunched over, taking a scalpel carefully to a stalk, slicing it into impossibly thin slices before pressing it between two small pieces of glass. “Y'know, I can help with that. Can pick up a white board and markers and I can teach him to read. That way you're not risking your neck for free. Y'know, service for service.†|
Ian hummed again and thought about it… it would be a good trade...Ian wanted a better life for Tristan then what he had… and he wanted his brother to be able to be schooled without being put into a military school where they basically turned the kids against the average civilian…. “That sounds like a good trade...I’m not around a lot to teach him what I know…” Ian said with a shrug as he finished up his canned food, carefully dulling the sharp edges on the can before placing it back into his backpack and settled in for the night.
--------------- When he’d bolted up he’d reached for his small pistol that he kept under his head, he didn't move his hand from the weapon and it stayed tucked under his backpack. “Nightmares….” Was all Ian managed to get out, his voice thick and heavy with his accent. Running his free hand through his sweaty ginger locks he sighed. “What time is it?” while his voice was rough and dry it was still quite enough that it wouldn't attract attention form outside this little room. There was some light streaming in from under the barricaded door, so that indicated that it was early morning at least. Ian stretched his arms over his head, there wasn't enough room up here for him to do his morning stretching but he would still try his best to work on some of them before they moved out. Once he packed all his stuff up Ian began to stretch as best he could , touching his toes and limbering up his arms and legs for a day of walking and possibly fighting. “There’s a safe here for your microscope thing to be kept safe in I changed the combination form what ti first was when i found this place…” Ian tapped his forearm where a bunch of Tattoos where and among them were a set of numbers, the day, month and ‘year’ that his baby brother had been born, a very important date to Ian… his mother's date of death was tattooed on his lower leg...another important date but since his living sibling was his life it was the most important. “We should probably head out soon… want to be back in the city before check in happen.” The ginger man suggested and soon the pair of men were packed up and leaving the run down shop, Ian grabbing one of the left over shirts,it was a big size but he needed to find something for his brothers birthday… he could watch this and put a few of the apples from the tree near their exit from the city as a present. Tristan always said he didn't need to get him anything… that Ian just needed to come home safe… Ian always tried at at least get his brother the fresh apples every year since moving to this city and he found that tree. When they approached the road where the bare trap had been hidden Ian stopped, the long grass it was hidden in was moving and Ian heard a groan of pain… a human groan of pain… there was no other movement and Ian’s mind was working quickly he held his rifle tight to his shoulder as they approached….it was the slightly crazed man from yesterday, he’d tried to follow them and had gotten his foot caught in the trap. He was extremely pale and there was a puddle of blood under his wounded leg. Ian glared at the man. “Knew I shoulda just shot ‘im in da head.” Ian said with a rumble when they approached, the man stopped his squirming and his wide eyes looked at them. “Y-y-yo-you t-two! I knew you were after Mavik’s stuff, why else would ya go down into those damn spore filled tunnels!?” The man shouted, birds flew away and Ian winced, leveling his aim to the mans head. Mavrik had stuff hidden in the tunnels? What the man insane… oh wait… yes he was. “Keep your voice down eejit.” Ian growled softly. Green eyes darting around to make sure nothing was running towards them at the man loud voice. Ian always did a good job of clearing his routes… but you never known when someone would try to leave on their own and get turned...add to the horde that the runners could become. “YOU SET THIS TRAP YOU GINGER FUCKING BIT-” at this Ian just hit the man with the butt of his rifle to quiet him and glared down at him. “Learn the lay of the land better you wanker.” Ian spat on the ground, it was clear he wasn’t going to help the man as he moved to pass the wounded man trapped in the bare trap that Ian had NOT lain out, he had found it there and always carefully moved it each time, like a repurposed trap… or protection... |
“But that's all they are,†Aren said, giving Ian's shoulder a slight squeeze, “This is the real world. Tristan's still alive back in the town, and so are you. Here, this might help wake you up.†He handed the redhead a water bottle and stood to start packing his own belongings. “It's late enough the sun is out. I decided to let you sleep, but check in is at ten, so we should probably get our asses on the road.†|
“I know…. I’ve always hated the nightmares though….” Ian drank from the bottle giving a nod of thanks. Since Aren knew when check in was exactly it confirmed Ian’s thoughts that the other had once had connections to the military that ran their city,
The man in the bear trap made a desperate sound when he realized his mistake, his head wound slightly bleeding form how rough Ian had hit him. “You can’t just leave me here!” his voice faded as they moved further away. “You don’t store things in those tunnels… whatever you store would be over run with the fungus….If he did store something…. It must be something he doesn't care about…. Or he just wanted to get rid of that guy without pulling the trigger himself….” Ian was grumbling to himself as they moved. Ian set a slightly faster pace than yesterday, they passed the entrance to the tunnels with the fungia swiftly and quietly, you never know if someone had been infected overnight. It took less time once they went back up the fire escape in the alley they had first encountered that man in Ian hoisting Aren up with ease as they moved through the office building. Ian wondered if the other man was getting enough to eat… before he shook his head, reminding himself that he had his brother to look after… no time to think about anyone else. Soon enough they were back at the car that Ian had gotten his rifle from and he carefully placed it back, grabbed some of the apples from the tree and then he and Aren where back inside the old clothing store and Ian was moving the floor boards that lead to the tunnel that would take them back to the apartment. Ian poked his head out of the hole before he pulled himself up and then helped Aren up, looking at the old but still working clock on the wall in the storage closet and saw that they had about 20 minutes till the check in. “We’re clear…. Cutting it to close…” Ian said as he dusted himself off and pushed his ginger colored locks out of his face. |
“Man, nightmares ain't never fun. Too many of us get 'em these days, and they're all about the same thing. The infected or getting infected. Correct me if I'm wrong,†Aren said, holding out his arm to help him up. He knew that he'd be groggy still from sleep, but they needed to get moving if they were going to make check in. |
Ian didn’t correct him, as it was true. The ginger haired man also nodded in agreement to why the man had been left out here. “Probably blindfolded and brought out… walked around in circles to confuse ‘im.” He muttered with a sour look on his face.
“Come up to the roof after the check in...You can only miss so many before they get suspicious yeah?” Ian said as he cracked his neck. Jogging up the stairs he made it to his and Tristan’s small apartment to find his brother still sleeping on the couch. Taking off his backpack and hiding his weapons away Ian gently shook his brother. “Tris… Tristan… come on Pup time for Check In.” Ian shook his brother awake who let out a tired and sad sound as he curled in on himself… Ian looked up and noticed that the cupboards didn’t look disturbed which meant that Tristan had skipped a meal… again… Pulling one of the apples out of his backpack he shook his brother again, biting into the apple so the juice ran down it before he held it under Tristan’s nose. That got the sleepy and hungry blond up. As Ian went about changing his clothes Tristan eat the apple with a half asleep expression. The young blond skipped meals sometimes and it bothered Ian that his brother did that… eat like they were still outside the walls and didn’t know where their next meal came from… The check ins where twice a week where rations of food and drinking water were handed out. There where cominual showers for men and women as the apartments and housings didn’t have working water. At least nothing you’d want to shower in. The McLocke siblings were changed in some average looking clothes, worn and dirty as they headed towards this Sector’s check in area. A small park that at one point had been beautiful and full of life, was now drab and grey, sure some trees remained but they were wilting, dying more and more each year. Ian made sure he had his and Tristan’s papers ready for scanning and checking when they got there. “Sure you don’t want to sign him up for the school? There’s always openings.” A female soldier said with a even smile. Ian shook his head. “I’m sure… Tris is shy… doesn't like to get out much...wouldn't be any good for our protectors.” Ian knew what to say… Tris wasn’t that shy… but the blond boy knew to act like it, sticking to his brothers side and smiling shyly at the right time. Soon enough the brothers were carrying their two bags of rations back to their apartment, it was dried foods and bottles of water that had been cleaned. It seemed they got the lucky bag as the one with the food contained a chocolate bar. The sight made Ian’s mouth water… but he knew he’d let Tristan have it. Knowing his brother he’d share it with the youngest kids in the apartment. “Eat and run again Pup, got a surprise for ya on the roof...bring your pamphlets…” Ian said and Tristan looked both confused and curious. After scarfing down their food the brothers joged up to the roof, Tristan holding the pages he’d been teaching himself with close to his chest. |
“I'm just having a hard time believing that someone could that to his own men, but then, after what you told me, I wouldn't but fuckin' anything past him,†Aren muttered, scratching the back of his head. “I'll be there. Give me time to eat and bathe though. Can't be smelling too much like nature or they'll know and I've no intention on getting either of us in trouble,†Aren added. “I can't miss check in anyway. Missed rations are missed meals, and missed meals aren't good for the brain.†|
Since the siblings had gotten to the roof first Ian and Tristan did a few warm up stretches and a lap or two around the roof to work on cardio, being able to run long and quickly was essential to survival. At least Ian always said so as sprinting for all it was worth had saved his arse more then once.
Ian managed to get his brother to eat another apple that the ginger man had snuck in from the outside, bright blue eyes where full of a happy feeling as the younger male munched on the red fruit, it was sweet and slightly bitter, the crisp skin and chewing was good for his teeth. At least Ian knew that fruit was good for his growing brother, who was still to small for Ian’s peace of mind. “So what’s this surprise Ian?” Tristan asked around a mouthful of apple as the young boy wiped his chin with his hands. Ian smiled endearingly at his brother as eh ruffled the blond curls atop his brothers head. “You’ll see… it goes along well with the reading thing you’ve been doing lately.” Ian grinned more as Tristan’s blue eyes widened in wonder. Oh what could Ian have ‘gotten’ him… more comics? If so why hadn't his older brother brought them up with them? The blond boy turned his head when he heard the door to the roof open, blue eyes curious about who was coming up. |
Aren made it to the roof armed to the teeth with the written word and out of breath; he'd sprinted after cleaning off. He knew he was late, but teaching on a hungry stomach didn't sound like much fun for either party. Bracing himself with his hands on his knees he wheezed, “Didn't.. want...you to...think that...I forgot about you.†|
Tristan’s blue eyes were wide in surprise, he looked between his brother and Aren. “Uh…. i guess?” The boy’s voice cracked a bit. Ian just gently put a hand on his brothers shoulder. The gesture seemed to calm the boy.
“I can’t help much with your reading….” Ian didn’t need to tell Tristan why… his brother knew why as Ian had already taught Tristan all he knew… it wasn't a lot but it had been enough for the boy to get a little farther on his own. The younger brother looked between the two men again before his eyes locked onto the books that Aren carried. “What type of comics are those?” He asked… he didn't know about children's books… he knew of comics from Ian always using them and the words that his brother knew to make stories to help a much younger Tristan sleep. Ian let Aren and his brother huddle up for the lesson. Ian himself began to do some yoga poses that he’d seen in a book, he’d followed the picture instructions in the past… not perfect but it worked for the tanned ginger haired man. |
Aren stood there for a moment, feeling the tension of the moment's awkwardness weighing heavy on his shoulders. He, like the boy it seemed, were both painfully shy and averse to anyone except for their brothers. The main difference between the two was that Aren's older brother was dead. “If you don't wanna, I understand. Not everyone sees the merit to reading these days so I get it, but it's a skill I can offer in exchange for Ian takin' me out to collect samples.†|
Tristan was quite for a moment before speaking. “If Ian say’s you can help then I’m all for it. My brother doesn't trust many people… it’s nice to see him branching out.” Tristan was grinning and his shy aura vanished like it had never been there to begin with. Ian felt his face heat up… if only Tris knew WHY he didn’t trust many people any more… but no… he never wanted his brother to find out why.
“I got one comic with X and Men in the title...and a blue furry guy with yellow eyes on the cover.” Tristan found it swiftly and held it up. It was a comic dealing with Nightcrawler, or Kurt Wagner. The edges of the pages where faded but otherwise it looked in ok condition. Tristan was a eager student, he didn’t seem to get frustrated with himself when he couldn't get something done right the first time… he was paitchent and quick thinking. His writing was hard to understand… that was for sure… he'd just been copying letters as best he could when he made up his own stories to continue the comics he had, sentences where choppy and he had little grasp in the ways of grammar. The effort was there though. While all this was going on Ian did a few laps around the roof, did stretches and yoga, working his body in a way that was relaxing to the older ginger man. Close to supper time he caught sight of some smoke rising in a distant district… that wasn't good. “I think somethings happens…. Look.” Ian called over to the other two on the roof, the smoke was getting darker which could mean something was burning hotter than when it started….sometimes things like this happened when the people fought back against the military… or a district leader, known or a mob boss like Mavrik, was trying to send a message to the people... |
The scene was picturesque. The sun was shining and Aren had come prepared and set the chalkboard between them. They took turns copying letters and trying again. “Okay, we'll worry about grammar and stuff for later lessons, alright? Let's focus on word construction. You seem t'know most of the letters and their sounds, but did you know they can make different sounds in specific words based on the letters around it? Here, I'll give you an example.†He took the chalkboard and wrote the word 'chalk' on its surface. |
“Huh… i always thought Chalk was Chawlk… with W ...neat.” The young boy grinned. He’d heard swearing form his brother and his brothers old partner so it was refreshing to meet someone who held back the cussing a bit. It didn’t bother Tristan at all, but sometimes people that were different were better.
Blue eyes glanced towards the smoke and Tristan bit his lip… he hoped that this city didn’t end up going to the dogs like the last city he and Ian had lived in… things were being set alight all over the place and Ian had just scooped a 4 year old Tristan up and grabbed their backpacks.. No food and very little supplies… they’d roughted it for a week before finding this place. “ No… that’s Sector 3 if I’m not mistaken… that place was riddle with people who were sick… so either they’ve finally had enough with not getting the care they need or the military….” Ian trailed off as he bit his lip, as much as he hated their guts… he didn’t want to voice his thought that the military were burning out the sick… there were perfectly healthy people in that district… but the sick outnumbered the well…. Ian flinched slightly and Tristan jumped a foot off the ground when the sirens started… those where the lock down sirens… “Well looks like we have no choice but to go back to the apartments to be locked in till this is ‘handled’.” Ian clearly detested the idea. |
Aren brightened, "Hey, that means that you already know that an 'a' and a 'w' make an 'aw' sound; that's great! Yeah, English is weird because sometimes the letters don't make the noises they look like they should. It's just something you tend to learn the more you read." Aren tapped his temple, "And you tend to be able to just store it up in your noggin." |
Tristan nodded he knew that you always remembered things you picked up over the years… like his and Ian’s accents… Tristan’s own not being as strong as Ian’s. “I’m not ready for this lesson to be over.” The young boy declared and Ian sighed, a slight smile on his face.
“Why don’t you join us of our place yeah? No place is truly safe anymore unless you set it up yourself.” Ian muttered the last part. He’d always had a dream to set up his own community in the wilderness. No military… just human decency and manners to rule them… but it was just a dream… he had no resources for a project that big and he didn’t trust enough people to live with them in close quarters like that. The trio made their way down from the roof and to the siblings apartment, it was small, the kitchen and living room where connected and there were only two other doors, one was the bathroom, rarely used, and the other was the bedroom/ store room. Ian and Tristan took turns sleeping on the bed and on the couch. “It’s not much but it’s home.” Tristan was grinning, his own comics and papers in his arms as he walked over to the couch and plopped down on it , setting the paper things onto the floor. Ian moved to the kitchen and took out some bottles of water, the fridge was one of the cleaner things in here. As the city did have power, baring the blackouts in the summer, the fridge saw use of keeping the water cool for the inhabitants. “Here” Ian touched one to Aren’s shoulder, grinning at the slight jump at the cold touch before handing the bottle to the man, then tossing the other to Tristan who caught it. Ian leaned against the counter and cracked open his own and sipped at it sparingly. |
Aren readily accepted, not yet ready to return to his own bleak apartment. Granted, he had work that he could be doing there. He'd managed to bring back one of the best sealed samples (from the stalk rather than the spores, reducing risk of infection) but he could work on that in evening after the lockdown was over). He followed the brothers to their place, which, not quite unexpectedly, was a mirror image of his own, at least, so far as the layout went. They'd built it for two people and must have been assigned to the same general living quarters. It helped that they lived in the same building. |
Ian had always tried his best to make any space he and Tristan where in feel homey and lived in. ‘Make sure he grows up knowing how to smile.’ their mother had told Ian with some of her last breaths... and Ian had done just that, going out of his way to see his baby brother smile and laugh.
“Mr Wallace’s place is like a storage unit… like he had a set path that is always there and everything else is covered in boxes and gear…” Tristan said absentmindedly as he carefully accepted the book form Aren. “Ian made up most of the ones he told me…. Would get inspiration from something we’d seen earlier that day and have a story by the time i was sleepy… never got the same story twice.” He added with a small smile when he heard Ian scoff. “That old coot is the guy to go to if you need you cloths and things like that Tris… so of course his place would be piled high with stuff. Got your shoes from his last year remember?” Ian said with a smile as he sipped at his water. With reading out loud Tristan read a little to fast… he tried to slow himself down a few times but the sounds slipped out too quickly to catch most times. An house later a loud knock on their door, the sound made Tristan jump and Ian frown as he schooled his features into a neutral set. Opening the door revealed two military soldiers in full gear, one with a clipboard and a list. “Ian and Tristan McLocke?....and?” The one with the list read off, seeing the ginger haired man and the blonde, looking down the list to find Aren’s name. |
[indent]Aren grew up on the bare essentials. Home was to Aren simply a space to exist in. There was no need for a home when one brother was never home and the other spent his days lost in a world of written words. Smiling was left to the happy and Aren was more than content to conserve the energy. “I don't know that there's much stuff though. It's a storage unit to the bare minimum it might take for one survive. And check it; I'm still here for better or for worse.†Aren's hands fidgeted in his lap, not used to actually having people to talk to. After his brother died, it took him three days to say even one word – the first being uttered to Celia, if only because she didn't deserve his silence.
“It sounds like Ian would have made a pretty good pre-Reckoning writer. Comics aren't the only books that exist with damn good stories, you know?†Aren found himself more and more impressed with the boy's tenacity and willingness to learn. His reading fast was actually quite impressive, and it was obvious that Aren hadn't taught him his first, and that he'd been practicing. “And Aren Reizian,†Aren finished for the officer, “Of apartment 311. You'll find that one empty...sir.†|
Ian snorted out a laugh as the pair on the floor talked about the pre Reckoning days… Ian had never thought about what he’d wanted to be… he’d just been a young kid… and then he’d had to focus on protecting his mum… even after his step dad entered the picture and gave them Tristan…. Ian felt cold at the memory that always came up when his step father was in his mind…
They’d been in a sewer drain, hiding from some Growths that did not want to give up on them. Mum was rocking a very small baby Tristan to keep his quite and the man that was the blonds father was holding a rifle in his hands, nursing a wound on his shoulder…. Ian could tell it was a bite…. And by this time he knew that it took at most two days for a person to give into the bite…. “Ian… Ian I need you to do something for me...get your mom and brother somewhere safe… the further from here the better….” The man pressed a hand to his mouth to smother a cough that accompanied his hushed words. Behind then his mother was already gathering her bag, her eyes red from unshed tears that had been silent. She had known what the man was going to ask of her oldest son, she and her man had said their goodbyes already. Once his mother had been moved to a safer place, far enough away that any big noses would draw the Growths and Runners away from her and her baby. The man face Ian again, his skin pale and sunken, the bite already looking like it was festering. “Now son…. I want you to be brave for your mom and brother… he’ll need someone strong to protect him in this world… here.” The man handed Ian a pistol, the same one Ian still had now, and closed the ginger lads pale hands over the gun and had those hands point the gun at his head. “You know what I’m asking Ian…. I don’t want to become one of those things...and my shooting arm is no good…. I hate to ask this….” At his side his useless arm hung, the bite to the shoulder having already deadend the arm, spreading in the man's tissue. “I can’t do that you to!” Ian hissed out, while young he was still smart enough to not actually shout. The man gave him a strained smile. “You have to son… you can’t hesitate…. I can feel it taking over my mind….if not for me then for your mom...don’t let her last memories of me be turned into one of those mindless things…. Please.” HIs voice was going soft, like he was losing his use of it as his eyes began to cloud over, his dead arm began to twitch…. This was moving faster than any of the other bites the young Ian had seen. With shaking hands Ian held the pistol level with the forehead of his step father… the man who was basically his dad after his own had died in the initial outbreak…. Closing his eyes and looking away, he pulled the trigger as he heard the gurgled struggled to make sound. The shot of the gun echoing in the storm drain…. And the recoil of the small pistol shaking Ian’s hands and wrists. Without looking at the body that hit the ground Ian turned and ran. Ran back to his mum, ran back to his baby brother, the two of them safely up in a wooden tower with a retractable ladder as the only entrance of exit. That night he’d sobbed into his mother bossum as Tristan fed from their mom as well. Shaking his head to bring himself back to the present Ian kept his face neutral and so did Tristan. “Ah yes here’s your name...yes, good this floor and the third all accounted for then.” The soldier said checking things off on his clipboard. “Mr Reizian, since there is a empty opening in your unit, we would like to house a youth with you…. There has been a decrease of livable space…. We are looking for any citizens willing to take in one or two people into their units for a few months.” The other soldier said, this guy looked more official and like he had never set foot outside the walls. Ian grit his teeth together… Aren’s brother had passed recently and they were already trying to foist another person into his space…. It made Ian sick… but he held back his words… without really waiting for a confirmation or a denie to their ‘request’ the pair of soldiers left. Ian only spoke after the sound of their footsteps faded. “Well… it seems that the fire, whoever started it… destroyed valuable housing… there’s so little still usable… well… you’re welcome here any time…. Weather I’m here or not…” Ian said finishing off his water. Ian knew he’d have other jobs besides this one… and with summer coming up, he’d be in high demand for this sector to try and find goods that the military hung onto tightly. |
Aren cocked an eyebrow to the older brother, “What's so funny? I mean it. Most of good writing is being able to come up with a good story. The rest is all words and you can be as poetic or forward as you want. Take Hemingway, man. He was considered a classic once upon a time and his shi---stuff is so dry it makes my eyes water.†Pulling from the bottom of his little stack of books, Aren handed Tristan the thickest of the books. “Based on what you've shown me today, I think you're ready for this.†The book, while thick, had fairly large print, an invigorating story-line, and simple words. Technically, this one was geared towards middlle schoolers and Aren had long graduated from this level of reading. It was time to pass this on to someone else.
Aren faced the men in uniform with a face of stoicism that was in direct odds with everything in his heart. He'd been called “Mr. Reizian†a grand total of two times: the present moment and once two weeks ago. The memory was as fresh as it was yesterday, but then, it was quite recent. “Mr. Reizian? Am I correct?†the man's voice said, gentle, full of pity. Aren could remember the pit that had fallen in his stomach; he could do nothing but nod meekly, pressing his lips into a thin line in an attempt to steel himself against the oncoming news. He already knew why they were here. Serj was gone for three days on an expedition – he was supposed to be gone for two. The man cleared his throat, “I understand that you are assigned to these quarters with your brother Serj Reizian.†Again, Aren nodded once, gulping. “Y-yeah that's--†before Aren could finish the word “fine†the men left. Aren sighed and looked at Ian, hoping his face was as stoic as he was attempting. Hoping his eyes weren't as red-tinged as they had been the day that he found out the brother he barely knew was now gone. “Thanks man, I appreciate it,†Aren said, finally, “Once the lockdown is done I'm going to have to prepare for my new roommate, but it was fun hanging out. I can teach you at any time. And I have materials you can use to get better.†Here, Aren attempted a smile, but it was weak at best and could barely be recognized as genuine. |
Blue eyes had been bright and wide at the new book, he’d never seen a book so thick, mostly because Ian himself never held onto any textbooks he found on the scavengers. That bright look vanished when the soldiers had come to the door, replaced with a cold impassivity. It was strange for someone to see a blank face on Tristan who was normally so bright and smiling, even if he came off as shy to the soldiers.
Ian waited a moment longer after the echoes of booted feet left. “Self important arse holes….” Ian grumbled. “I hope they don’t room you with a nosey person….” Ian said this for a few reasons...someone new coming into the apartment was always stressful, would they just settle in and not cause waves or would they try to become a big thing in the complex…. The ginger scavenger didn’t need something new prying into his business… more so if they were loyal to the military… though considering the district that had gone up in flames… they likely were not… but Ian was always careful and protective over what he considered his…. “I wonder if it will be a girl? They haven’t housed a girl with a guy outside of couples for a while right? To try and control the population?” Tristan piped in after a moment blue eyes bright once again after the soldiers had left. Ian nodded in thought. “Feel free to come over any time you want… Tristan could use a friend…. And I have a feeling I’ll be out on jobs for a while now…. Whenever something changes people always want more things from the outside…” Ian said rubbing the back of his head with a sigh. ----------------- Sooner than they expected the lock down lifted, it was still light out and not to late in the evening, smoke still rising form the burnt husk buildings in the sick district. Ian and Tristan thanked Aren again, the young blond enthusiastic about reading more and planning to practice his reading out loud when he could. Ian was pulling out some canned goods and squinting at the labels, fruit and some sort of pasta and cause… he opened the two and handed the pasta and sauce one to Tristan, taking the fruit for himself this time. Not even a hour after this a knock sounded at their apartment, a soft knock so Ian had a idea about who it was. At the door was a small boy, smaller than Tristan, he lived on the ground floor in a bigger apartment with many other children with his parents. “Mama wanted to ask you if you could get some toys?” He asked with a squeaky voice that probably wouldn't ever go away. Ian just nodded. “More kids are being sent to Mama and Papa…. Mama wants to make them smile… but we already have our own toys… so Mama wants more to give to the new kids.” The boy added and Ian just smiled slightly. “Sure thing Cooper, when are they getting here?” Ian asked, the little boy looked at his fingers squinting. “Papa said sometimes tomorrow….” Ian sighed to himself… looks like he would be doing a night run to get the toys from the rundown store, it had been left alone as most people didn't think to use the toys for parts in other things… Soon night fell and Ian was pulling on his pack to go out. Tristan was worrying his lip again. “ Why can’t you just go early tomorrow?” The boy clearly didn't want to be alone again so soon. Hugging his younger brother Ian sighed. “I’d risk running into the morning patrollers… they are always the most alert, no clue how… but it’s best I get this done now...cram my pack full of toys and at least make it back to the tunnels.” Ian said soothing a hand over the blond curls on his brothers head. Walking as quietly as he could down the stairs was a art now, Ian made no noise as he moved to the storage room, swiftly went in and moved the fake wall to drop himself down. Moving in the tunnels with his torch lit on his shoulder was also something he was used to and used to his advantage. |
The look on the young man's face was enough to make the edges of Aren's lips curl upward, ever so slightly. “Use it as long as you need. I'll ask you what you think of it once you finish,†he said.
Aren stood still for a moment, absorbing the fact that he was no longer going to be living alone. It felt like he'd always dreaded that empty apartment. Perhaps a roommate would be good for him.Perhaps a roommate could help fill the empty void that he felt every time he came home to no one. Perhaps a roommate could help the apartment feel like more of a home. “For my sake, I hope you're right. I ain't got much to hide, but I do have could get me locked up or killed – and I ain't talkin' about my gun,†he murmured scratching the back of his head. “A girl?†Aren asked, cocking an eyebrow, “They wouldn't, would they? Someone would fight that, I'm pretty sure. The last thing this city needs is more mouths to feed. I mean, I knew they'd pair me with someone eventually, or move me to one of the single rooms. Maybe this'll be good, yeah? When I meet him, I'll let ya'll know if he's good. And Ian? You don't gotta worry about me sayin' nothin'. Secret's safe with me.†> > > Back at the apartment, Aren set to work organizing the few things he had. Stacks of books were condensed and posters were moved. Leftover unexpiring rations were hidden under his bed under a sheet, and the samples safely sealed the slides by this point wrapped in a thin cloth and tucked up in a crevice under the bed. The first he'd been intentionally saving for out of the city expeditions, the latter was his most recent object of study that Ian helped him acquire. The work was mindlessly simple for most of it, and he was finished in under an hour, leaving stretches of off-white walls a blank canvas, half of the room's storage and space for furniture left empty and ready to taken up by a new roommate. Having finished with seemingly ample time, he picked up one of his books about mushrooms, specifically one with detailed pictures of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. He plopped down on the bed, back resting against the wall. He barely began to thumb through the pages when he heard a click and the door opened. He jumped, not knowing why he was expecting a knock on the door from someone who was going to be living there. The second surprise came with the figure itself. The first thing he noticed was the size. Couldn't have been taller than 5'3, and Aren would have stood a good foot over them. The second was that his new roommate was a...was a she. Specifically, she was a scowling she, one with choppy shoulder-length brown hair framing an Asiatic face with large brown eyes, a wide-set nose, and lips pressed in the firm line of one who was at the end of her rope – if that rope was a noose. She was clad in torn jeans that pooled about the ankles, a black shirt, a black hoodie, and as if to complete the look, she'd even managed to find the nail polish to turn her nails black. A backpack's strap was slung over her shoulder, though the bag didn't appear to be completely full. Aren was on his feet immediately, shaking his head, “Ma'am, look, this ain't your room. I think they gave ya the wrong key.†The woman's facial expression didn't change as she looked down at a little slip of paper, “Aren Reizian? That you?†Aren was silent for a moment, his jaw set. “Yeah, he said after a moment, “That's me.†The woman pocketed the sheet of paper and held out her hand. “I'm your new roommate Takahata Saito. Can't have kids so they paired me with whoever, and that whoever happens to be you. You got complaint you can take it up with the city. Trust me, I don't wanna be here either.†Her voice was cool and collected, but Aren could see the red tinges to her nose, that same red a tint in glassy eyes. Again, Aren let the silence grow between them. He'd never been this long alone in a room with a girl before and he shifted on his feet and held out his hand, “Then I guess I'm Aren. I take it something happened in your district?†Takahata who was previously maintaining eye contact now looked away, inhaling deep through her nose, exhaling through slightly parted lips, “Yeah. Heard the sirens, did you? It's fucked up that that's what it took to get here. I've been applying for a transfer for months. Took my place burning down for them to accept, but here I am with nothing but this and a change of clothes, so I won I guess.†“Shit, I'm sorry. Take it you haven't been in the city long if it was District 3 you were kept in. That place is run by gangs isn't it?†Aren asked, sitting back down, moving his closed book over to the side. If this was going to be his new roommate, he might as well learn to be somewhat comfortable around her. “Two years. Traveled with a group of nomads before that. Compared to that life? This is fucking hell,†she said with a snort, sitting on her own bed, tossing her backpack to the side. “And gangs? No. That shithole is run by Mavrick and Mavrick alone. He and his goons rule the place, and if you're not with them, they sorta do whatever the fuck they want with you. He was the one that set fire to our building. Men, women, and children were all inside. He just didn't give a fuck.†By the time she got to her last sentence, she began trembling, fists clenched. He'd done something to her and she was holding a grudge. Just like Ian. Aren swallowed and crossed his legs, “Well, District 1 doesn't have him. At least not yet,†Aren said, trying to comfort, “Just try to keep your chin up and keep an eye out, yeah? Pretty much all we can do cooped up in this city like this.†“Tch. I'm not staying. At least not all the time. I'll find a way out to breathe. I had my ways in District 3; I'll find new ways here,†Takahata said tossing her hair, “And you won't breathe a word to anyone, got it?†Aren liked her. He could tell that right away. They were going to get along just fine. But she would have to earn her trust in time, and he likely hers, “Hey, hell no I won't. Especially if you're willing to pick some shit up for me when you go out. Or take me with you.†|
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