[1x1] Fight the Dead, Fear the Living

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Are you sure you don't want to help?" Lia asked Olivia, moving closer to the fire. She sat her box of frogs to the side and pulled her backpack close so she could search through it. She took out a knife which she planned to use in preparing the frogs. "If you follow my instructions step by step they'll turn out just as if I had done it myself." She ran her knife over the fire once or twice to kill any bacteria on it.


While Lia spoke to Olivia, Jenna glanced over at Aidan. "Are we going to cook anything else to go along with the frogs? If I'm going to be eating your food the least I can do is help prepare it." Jenna wished she could do more to help somehow. They had allowed her to stay with them when they could have just told her to leave and she greatly appreciated that.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"Well, the frogs might not be enough for everyone, so we can prepare a can of beans, as well. Split it up between whoever is still hungry..." Aidan shrugged, pulling a tin can from one of their bags and smiling slightly. "It won't be much, but if we ration everything carefully, the food could last maybe a month..." he paused, looking over at Renegade. "Maybe a little less. But we know how to scout and raid, at least."


Olivia watched Lia for a few moments, before nodding hesitantly. "Well, okay. So long as you lead the way..." she nodded, sitting up and inching a little closer to her.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"I think you could make it last longer than a month," replied Jenna, mumbling. She felt in her heart that people often died during these times, especially when their groups started to grow. She had a feeling one of the four of them was going to die eventually. When it happened, she knew the supplies they had would last them more than a month.


Lia began to instruct Olivia on how to cut the frogs, taking Olivia's hand in hers. She wrapped Olivia's fingers around the knife and guided her hand. Renegade, being jealous of the attention Lia was giving Olivia, crawled up behind Olivia and began to lick the back of her arm repeatedly before nudging her on the back with his nose. Lia glanced back with a frown as she realized what her dog was doing and tried to shoo him away. "Don't let Renegade move any closer or he might take off with one of our frogs."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, glancing over at Lia and Olivia. He inched over when Lia said Renegade had to be kept back, planning on distracting the dog. After a moment, he reached over to the dog in an attempt to pet him, looking back at Jenna briefly.


"We'll do what we can to preserve food. Ration everything, monitor everything. Speaking of which, Olivia, you up for taking inventory tonight?" he asked, looking over at his sister.


She nodded, not looking up from the frog she was cutting. "Yeah, I'll write everything down after supper, and figure out how much we can have in a meal."


"Thanks." Aidan said, looking back at Renegade.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Seeing Aidan move over to him, Renegade turned to him and began to bombard him with a few slobbery kisses. He was happy to see so many people around when it had just been Lia and himself before. Jenna smiled watching the dog and moved moved beside him. Feeling comfortable after seeing how friendly he was, she ran a hand through the dog's brown fur. "You two take inventory even though there's only two of you?" she questioned, curious.


"It isn't a bad idea," Lia chimed in, continuing to cook the frogs with Olivia. "It's better to be safe than sorry." She turned her full attention to cooking until the frogs were finally just about done. "Aidan, you may want to start cooking the rest of the food now if you want it to be done in time to eat with the frogs. They're almost ready."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, moving to start cooking the can of beans. "Yeah, we always take inventory of what we have. So many bullets, so much food, this much lighter fluid and these many matches, and so on. Have to make sure everything's monitored, so we know what we're doing." he said, glancing back a them briefly as the beans started to cook. "Now, we have to do a bit more math than before... you said you brought a bit of food?" he asked, looking over at Lia.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

(( I apologize for not replying yesterday! I was sick in bed with a fever and didn't feel well enough to write a reply. Here's one today though! ))


After she had finished tending to the frogs with Olivia, Lia wiped out the box she had kept then in before and then placed them back inside. She glanced back at Aidan. "I do have some food. It's about a weeks ration for one person, I believe. At least that's what it was last I checked. I actually don't take inventory as much as you two did," she admitted.


"And why is that?" Jenna asked her, curious.


"It's because I didn't like looking in my bag constantly being reminded of how little food I really had," Lia replied. It was probably a dangerous thing to do, but she still did sometimes. "Anyhow, do you think frogs and beans is good enough for dinner, Aidan? I don't really have any cans of food to offer except one." She paused to take a can out of her back with a picture of a dog on the front of it. "Unless you guys like dog food."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"I think it should be enough." he said with a nod. "Not enough to eat until we're full, sadly, but enough to keep going..." when he thought about it, he hardly remembered the feeling of being full. He shifted a bit, eying the can of beans. "Uh, anyways, this should be just about done cooking..." he said, sitting back a bit.


Olivia smiled, sitting up a bit as Aidan placed the opened can of beans and a few spoons down. "Well, I'm hungry, so whatever food is fine with me."


"And we'd better clean up our hands. We grabbed some, uh, hand sanitizer a while back, there should be some left. We take some whenever possible..." he said, digging through one of the bags.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia nodded and put her can of dog food down. Seeing the can reminded her that she needed to feed Renegade too. Beans and cooked frogs probably wouldn't be the best thing for him, so she decided to open one of her cans. She went to her back to search for a can opener while Jenna went over to retrieve some hand sanitizer from Aidan. "Are you going to come and eat with us?" she asked Lia, waiting beside Aidan.


"I will in just a minute," Lia said, working to open her can of dog food. Renegade moved over to her, wagging his tail as he recognized the smell of his food. "I just have to make sure my buddy here gets something to eat too." After she had opened her can she took a small dish out and poured some of the food into it. Renegade immediately when to eat, while Lia moved to gather around the other three people in her group.


"The food smells pretty good. Let's divide the portions and chow down," said Lia.


Jenna nodded. "Yeah, and maybe while we're eating, we can talk. That way we can learn a little about each other."


Lia frowned. Sharing information about her life wasn't exactly Lia's favorite thing to do when it came to people she didn't know so well. The blonde knew she would have to think carefully about what did or did not share with them.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, counting the legs and sitting back. "Alright, we get three legs each. Anyone who's still hungry gets to split the can of beans, and that's how we'll do it."


"Sounds good to me..." Olivia nodded, cleaning her hands quickly before picking up a frog leg and taking a bite.


"Anyways, about telling each other about ourselves..." Aidan said, glancing around at them. "Uh, who wants to start? I can, if you guys are too shy." he said, taking a frog leg and sitting up a bit.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

((I'm finally back and feeling a bit better! I got the reply out a little later than I had hoped, but I still managed one in today. I'll start replying more now. ))


"I'll pass on talking about myself for the moment," Lia said, waving a hand. "I'll also pass on the can of beans. I think whoever is more hungry should eat some of it."


Jenna smiled, wondering why Lia was so guarded about her life. She didn't think there was much that needed to be hidden these days. Nobody needed passwords, bank account numbers, or ID numers anymore. All a person really had to tell these days was about their past, and she didn't see any harm in that. "I'd actually like some of the beans, if all of you don't mind. I'm very hungry. Also, I don't mind talking a little about myself, unless Aidan would like to go first. I still think we should all take turns talking about ourselves, even you," she said, gesturing to Lia.


Lia frowned. "My name isn't you it's Lia. And as for talking more about myself, we'll just have to see how everything goes, okay?" She wasn't going to make any promises. She didn't really like the idea of them getting to know each other. She knew it would just make it harder on them if one from their group died.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, passing her the can of beans and taking a few bites of one of the frog legs. "Well, I can start. Cover both mine and Olivia's turn, if she doesn't mind..."


His sister, who was eating quietly, just waved a hand dismissively.


"Alright. Um, where do I begin...?" he tilted his head a little as he thought, before nodding. "Well, my sister and I come from the city. We lived with our mom, had a pretty good life..." he shrugged, sitting back. "Then, when the whole... end of the world thing happened, I took them out of the city and into the country. Uh, we've mostly been wandering around now... gained a few members, lost a few members..." he shrugged, looking over at his sister. "I was going to study in law school, before this whole thing. I had everything planned out..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Law school, huh?" Jenna questioned, taking the can of beans from Aidan. She began to munch on the beans first, before turning her attention to the frog legs. She bit into them, surprised that they were pretty good. "I guess things don't always turn out the way we plan. Like these frog legs, for example. I didn't think they would be as good as they are, but they're great! Were you going to be a chef, Lia?"


Lia shook her head. "Actually, I wasn't. And don't forget, Olivia helped make them too." She began to eat her frog legs, watching her dog eat while she did. "But you don't really have us to thank for cooking them, you should be thanking the frogs. They're the ones who gave up their lives to feed us. Plus, they were a pretty healthy batch. A good batch usually tastes a lot like chicken, and these do. But anyhow, don't let me interrupt the conversation. Anything else to add, Aidan? Maybe Olivia could tell us what she wanted to be before the world went crazy."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan shrugged, looking over at his sister.


"I dunno what I wanted in life." she shrugged. "I was thinking, like... a biologist or something, but I dunno." she shrugged, taking a few more bites of the frog legs. "I mean, it's not like we'll be doing much nowadays... find resources and get eaten, mostly. So I guess school didn't help me out too much."


"Well, so long as we're careful, the latter shouldn't happen." Aidan said, eating a bit of his food. "We just need to be smart." he paused, looking over at Jenna. "And, uh, what about you?"

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Me?" Jenna questioned, munching on a frog leg as she thought over what she would tell them. "Well I had a dad and a younger brother. My mom died in a car accident when I was in middle school. So I mostly took care of my brother while my father worked. I did manage to graduate high school and get accepted into a college, but I would have had to move across the country. I was hesitant to go, but my dad encouraged me to so I did. I was at college for about two weeks before the dead started walking around. I held up the dorm rooms of my college sort of like a fort along with some of my others students, but one thing led to another and here I am with no place to live again. My latest misfortune was meeting the loony farmer in these woods who tried to feed me to his family, but thank goodness he failed."


Lia drifted in and out of thought, half-listening to Jenna's story. "What did you start studying to be at college?" she questioned, as if she had been listening the entire time.


Jenna rubbed the back of her head. "Ironically, I was in a four year program for mortuary science."


Lia snickered. "So you were going to put to rest dead bodies for a living. Little did you know you would be spending your life running from them instead," she replied, taking another bite of her frog afterwards.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, listening along quietly as Jenna spoke, eating his frog leg as he did so. "It's a shame, really. We were all going somewhere, and now... we're here, eating canned beans and frog legs, hiding from corpses and raiders..." he shifted a bit, in thought. "Think we can ever bounce back?" he paused for a moment. "Humanity, I mean. I wouldn't doubt there being a way to stop the dead, but... I've got a feeling agrarian societies might make a big comeback. Who knows, maybe we can find and join a little sanctuary at some point..."


"Two big jobs; farmer and guard." Olivia said, finishing her last frog leg. "Sounds like a plan. Looks like all those years of school were for nothing."


"Yeah..." he sighed, looking over at Lia with a raised eyebrow. "How about you? What's your story?"

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"That's a good question," Lia replied, musing to herself quietly for a moment afterwards. Could their society ever rise again? Humans had always been the dominate force in the world. Were they going to let a few walking corpses change that? She wasn't sure. All she knew was that every group she had stayed with had been taken down so far.


"With a better setup, it could be possible for a sanctuary to rise up. As long as whatever germ started all this doesn't start spreading in the air or tainting our food I think we have a chance. Humans are tough. I did read a sign around by the train tracks saying there was a sanctuary at the end of the tracks earlier today. I'm not sure if it's still around or not though," Lia added.


Jenna smiled. "A sanctuary does sound like a nice thought. It's something nice to hope for in the future. But anyhow, what is your story, Lia? I'm curious too."


Lia sighed. "My story isn't much different. I had a family. I left them for a little trip and never could make it back home because of the world turning into Hades." She was vague about her life for the moment. There was more she could say, but she decided to wait.


Jenna raised an eyebrow. "That's really all you have to say?"


"Yeah, sorry," the blonde muttered, "I'm not really the open book type." Not until she got to know all of them better, at least.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"Fair enough." Aidan nodded, in thought for a little while. "Sign by the railroad tracks...? I think we've seen that one before. I was always a bit too afraid to take Olivia there, seeing as it might be a, um... trap..." he sighed, finishing his last frog leg as well and sitting back a little. "But maybe there's hope. Still, first thing we're doing tomorrow is going out to that barn and getting some supplies. Since there's four of us here, we can leave two behind and have two go scout ahead. I suggest that the dog goes with the scouting group, which probably means you'll be going." he said, gesturing at Lia. "We'll need to know how to get there, though..." he looked over at Jenna.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"I was actually going to go to that settlement the sign talked about," Lia admitted, wiping her hands off on her pants after she had finished eating all of her frogs. "But Renegade here had other plans. He heard you two siblings in the woods and refused to leave when he saw you guys had food. So that's how I ended up here with you two." It almost seemed like that event had happened long ago, but it had only been that morning. A lot really had happened in one day. "But anyhow, your plan having to do with scouting out that barn tomorrow sounds good," Lia agreed. She wasn't looking forward to walking with them on her ankle, but a little pain in her ankle was worth dealing with if it would give them some extra supplies.


"Actually, I don't think two of us need to stay behind," Jenna chimed in. "I think we should all go. From what I saw when that man dragged me into his main farm house, it was empty. It appears to be safe over there. There are a lot of corpses in his barn, but as long as we avoid that, we should be just fine."


Lia rubbed the back of her head, thinking over Jenna's words. "I don't know, what do you think, Aidan?" she asked, looking to the older of the two siblings. Jenna sounded like she knew what she was talking about, but there was always the chance that she was wrong.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"That makes sense. More firepower, and less chance that people will come across only two of us. That means we have to pack up all of our things in the morning, though." he glanced around briefly, frowning slightly. "Should be easier now, actually. I mean, we had to carry, what, four big bags between the two of us? Now it'll be way easier." he said with a nod, before stifling a yawn. "I suggest we get to sleep. Sleep schedule goes as follows; Jenna and I sleep for a few hours -- until two, does that sound okay? Then we switch, and Olivia and Lia get to sleep in the tent until... not until sunrise, how about until seven?" he asked, glancing around at the others.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia nodded in agreement with Aidan's instructions. "I think that sounds like a plan. I actually have a watch you can use to time everything if you want," the blonde said, pointing to a silver but tarnished wristwatch she was wearing. "Oh and if you two could keep an eye on Renegade when it's your turn I'd appreciate it. Come wake me up if he seems like he's starting to feel any worse with his leg." She moved over to Renegade and stroked his back gently, checking to make sure he seemed all right for the moment.


"Sure, we'll make sure he's okay," Jenna replied with a nod. "Let's go to bed then, Aidan. Good night you two." She moved over to the tent, waiting for Aidan to go in first.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, pausing to slip off his shoes and leaving them ready outside the tent, in case he had to put them on in a hurry. "You two can put out the fire at any time, if you'd like." he said as he climbed into the tent. He then unzipped his sleeping bag, climbing inside and sighing, staring at the roof of the tent quietly.


"Hope you don't talk or kick in your sleep," he said, smiling slightly at Jenna when she entered the tent. "I wasn't a very light sleeper until now. But now, just about any noise can wake me up... it's come in handy."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Sure, we'll probably put it out in a little while," Lia agreed with a nod. She turned to Olivia with a smile. "There are always positives and negatives to having a fire going. If you have it going it helps keep the bugs away, but if you keep it going for too long it can attract unwanted attention like bad people." Lia hated getting bug bites, but after having been outside for so long she was starting to get used to them.


"To tell you the truth, I used to turn a lot in my sleep, but I don't anymore. I've had to sleep outside a lot, and the sound of corpses and worry about danger caused me to become tense while sleeping. Now I'm always tense and still when I sleep. Sometimes I even wake up with a stiff neck," Jenna admitted with a sigh. She took her own shoes off and sat them outside the tent as well, before crawling further into the tent.


((Should we do a timeskip to the next morning after Aidan and Jenna go to sleep? Or should we have something happen during the night? ))

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

((I don't really have anything planned, so we can do a timeskip if you don't have any ideas.))


Olivia nodded, looking over at the tent for a few long moments, before nodding, inching a little closer to the fire and sighing. "I used to love campfires when I was younger. Before all of this... but now it's kind of just... a normal thing." she shrugged. "Almost every night, but sometimes we'll find other ways to cook our food. Or eat food that doesn't need to be cooked." Olivia ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "You know, I really miss showers. Like, proper showers, with hot water and good soap and shampoo..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

((Okay, we can timeskip to the next morning in a moment then after Lia and Olivia wrap up their conversation. I had more ideas for the morning anyhow. lol and I'm sure after the crazy day our characters had, they wouldn't mind an uneventful night. ))


"Tell me about it," Lia replied with a sigh. "I'd give almost anything now for a good shower. I've been traveling for a while now, and what I'd love to find is an old house with a generator. They we could at least have a few things like electricity, a refrigerator, and possibly even music if someone had left a CD player behind." Even if she found found a CD player Lia knew she would have to play the music low or it would end up attracting corpses or other unwanted guests. It was a shame that in this new world, they had to be so cautious.


"But anyhow, if you want something to do while we wait up, I have a couple old books in my bag you could read by the fire for a little while before we put it out for the night." Lia went to her bag and took out two old books and offered them to Olivia. One was Alice in Wonderland and the other was actually an old wildlife magazine. They were old, but better than not having any entertainment.