[PurpleBox]

“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.

[sylvanSpider]

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.”

When he was done creating the slides, he pulled out his own cans of food. Ravioli today. Cold ravioli. But it was fine either way, and when he was finished with all of the pasta, he scooped out the sauce and ate that too, knowing that one couldn't really afford to waste anything outside of the walls. He didn't complain about the lack of a fire. He knew better.

=-=-=-=-=

Aren slept fitfully, but the scenes playing out behind his eyelids were ones that never escaped his lips. The rest he got was going to be no different than what he'd be getting in the city regardless. He didn't grumble when he was woken to take his turn; he simply grabbed his gun and nodded to his companion. While the infected were active at all times, they were particularly lethal at night, and he understood the importance of silence. His watch was silent, save for the troubles Ian had in his sleep.

He made it to Ian's side, his brow furrowed with worry when Ian sat upright, and he placed his hand on Ian's shoulder, “You alright, man? You were tossin' in your sleep.”

[PurpleBox]

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...

[sylvanSpider]

“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.”

Aren didn't stretch. He knew how at one point, but his brother had given up on taking him with on his daily workouts long ago, so he simply waited patiently while Ian went through his morning routine, careful where he kept his eyes as he did so. Serj always suspected him of being queer, so it was likely others would draw the same conclusion so he was hyper conscious of where he could rest his eyes. They did, however, follow when Ian drew attention to his inked forearms and gulped as he looked at the tattoos, mentally taking in the numbers in the case of an emergency.

The pair began to make their way back to the city when Aren sighed, seeing that the man had followed them. He was far enough away that he didn't see the building that they left, so he posed literally no threat. “Well, now we know Maverik has stuff in that tunnel. Thanks for the intel,” Aren shot back, not bothering to disclose why they went to the tunnel themselves.

Aren leaned in close, just out of arm's reach and grinned, now feeling the same bit of animosity that Ian showed. Maverik was a legitimately shitty person, and now Aren was aware of that. “It's a pity he forgot about you. You're gonna die out here, and for what? Someone that doesn't give two shits about you.”

[PurpleBox]

“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.

[sylvanSpider]

“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.

Aren closed his eyes as if that would shut out the man's voice. But they could, and they would leave him. He saw their faces and he had something he could hold against them if he made it out. Which is why he wasn't going to make it out. Aren was past the point of caring. “It makes sense. No wonder no one's come for him yet. Mavrik probably had too many eyes and needed to get rid of a pair or two and got rid of this guy in the easiest way he knew how – have him essentially kill himself by just being out of the city.”

Aren noticed the faster pace but kept up just fine, taking in as much of the plantlife as he could before being relegated back to the city walls. Once inside, he sighed and nodded. “Thank you for this. I take it I can meet you guys on the roof to set up lesson times?”

[PurpleBox]

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.

[sylvanSpider]

“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.”

> > >

Check-in was the same shit it always was. Aren found his place in line and bowed his head to avoid conversation with anyone. He'd changed clothes since coming down, if only to be sure that there were no spores clinging to his garments. The woman in charge of getting the proper signatures saw Aren and smiled wide, instantly deflating when she realized Serj was not going to be there. She'd been sweet on Serj toward the end of his life, and Aren suspected that his death affected her even more than it had him. “How are you holding up, Aren?”

“Same shit, different day, right? I appreciate you asking though. How are you holding up, Celia?” Aren tried to keep any animosity out of his voice. She didn't know what Serj was really like; she couldn't be faulted. She'd always treated Aren really well, and even snuck him extra rations when she thought she could get away with it.

“Same shit different day,” she said with a small smile, echoing his words back to him, “I miss him as much as I'm sure only you could understand. You know, he was proud of you. He might not have shown it much, but he loved you. Here's your rations for the day,” here, she leaned forward and whispered, “With a little extra. Enjoy the candy, it's not often we get a lot of that in.”

Aren gave her one of his rare and fleeting smiles, “Thanks, Celia. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, same time.”

> > >

Aren made his way to the area that the men showered, got clean as quickly as he could, returned in time to look into his bag of rations to see the array of canned goods he received for the day, chose one, wolfed it down, grabbed a stack of books from when he first started reading, and bolted to the roof.

[PurpleBox]

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.

[sylvanSpider]

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.”

After taking a moment to regain his breath, he pulled out a chalkboard with a box of new chalk. These were other treats his brother brought back for him, back when Aren was still a kid just learning to read and a couple of children's books. “So Tristan,” Aren said straightening and handing over the easiest of the books, “Your brother tells me you're in need of a teacher.”

[PurpleBox]

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.

[sylvanSpider]

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.”

For the briefest of moments, Aren was ready to pack up and turn tail when Tristan showed a bit of interest in what he had to offer. He gave the younger brother a warm smile and held out the small stack of books under his arm,[b] “Most of these aren't comics, though I do have one issue in here. These are books that were made for kids to help with reading. The story won't be as good, but it'll help with your letters. He sat down, back propped up against the wall and set the books down, patting the spot next to him. From the stack of books, he pulled out one that was thin, had paper covers, and was embedded safely in a plastic sleeve. “I did bring up one comic though. This was my brother's as a kid. The title says Adventures of the X-Men. Have you heard of the X-Men?”

[PurpleBox]

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...

[sylvanSpider]

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.

“Okay, so if you tried to sound this word out, it would sound like calk or something like right? But check it, when a 'c' is with an 'h' it makes a 'ch' sound. So what does this word say knowing what you know now?” Aren was beaming when Tristan read the word correctly on the first try. “Good sh---stuff, my man!” Aren said, altering his language realizing that Tristan was still a kid for all intents and purposes.

He stood up, tilting his head not needing him to point out the smoke, “Something in another district? Should we go check it out?”

[PurpleBox]

“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.

[sylvanSpider]

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."

Aren put a shielding hand above his eyes to protect them from the afternoon sun to get a better glance. "Looks like a bad omen if I ever saw one. I hope we don't lose an entire district...Here I thought this city was relatively safe."

He sighed hearing the sirens and scooped up his books, "Do you guys wanna continue the lesson in your apartment? If not, that's cool, but the offer stands."