[1x1] Fight the Dead, Fear the Living

[sleeplessCartoonist]

He nodded, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, sure. Let's split it." he said, stretching his legs and realizing how heavy they felt. Over the course of a year, he had learned to get used to aching muscles, as that had become the norm for him. He sat back a bit, glancing around briefly. "The farm might be filled with corpses, though. The guy's family. We might have to clear it out, first, to be safe..." Aidan frowned, running a hand through his hair as he thought. "I kind of pity him, in a way. I mean, yeah, what he did was terrible, but... I can understand someone going crazy in times like these."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia nodded and turned to her backpack. She unzipped it and began fishing around inside it to look for the energy drink. "You actually felt sorry for the guy? When he attacked me and tried to bring me back to his place so I could be lunch for his family, I didn't exactly feel sorry for him myself." After finding the energy drink, she opened it up and handed it to Aidan so he could sip on it first. "In fact, I don't think I felt anything. You really are a lot better at showing kindness than me," she said, picking up a twig on the ground to draw circles in the dirt with. "I didn't always feel like this though. I actually used to work at a pet shop before all of this happened." The blonde had to admit it took heart to work at a place with a lot of cute little animals. She only wondered when she had started to lose that heart somewhere along the line.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan took a long sip of the energy drink, sighing and passing it to her. "Well, I mean... I was a bit brutal when I killed him, wasn't I? But I intended on it being a one-hit kill, you know? Just put the guy out of his misery..." he shrugged, sitting up a bit. "I mean, the guy lost his family. What if he had a wife, kids...? I'd think seeing that happen would be enough to drive anyone off the deep end..." he ran a hand through his hair, eying her. "Pet shop, eh? Must have been fun. When you weren't cleaning up animal crap, I mean." he smiled slightly. "I've always liked pets. Had a dog a few years back..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

After Aidan sipped the energy drink, she took it from him when it was offered to her. She sipped it herself before replying to him. "Yeah, it was brutal, but like you said, you didn't mean it to be that way. The man had it coming. Anyone who loses their humanity that much deserves to be put out of their misery because they're no better than... the walking dead themselves."


She sipped the energy drink again before handing it back to Aidan. "Oh it wasn't the animal crap that bothered me, it was the smell that bothered me." She smirked. "Yeah, I do love pets myself. You can see that by the fact my traveling companion was a dog and not a person. Renegade was actually my birthday present." Lia remembered how he was a young puppy when she got him. It was a pain keeping him alive during the start of the apocalypse. "Anyhow, what was your dog like?" she asked, adjusting herself where she sat to try and get more comfortable.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan listened quietly, taking a sip of the energy drink when it was handed to him. "Birthday present? That's one way to get a companion I suppose..." he shifted a bit, in thought for a moment. "My dog was... energetic. Very affectionate. He was a lap dog, despite being a Saint Bernard..." he took another sip of the energy drink before handing it to her. "I got him when I was five. He was just a puppy, then. But, he got old, as things do." he shrugged, running a hand through his hair.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"I see," Lia replied after hearing his story about the dog. "I was almost worried you were going to say he was killed by a corpse instead of old age. I hate to say it, but you're lucky he died before all of this started. It's really hard to keep a dog alive and safe during these times, trust me." She glanced over to Renegade, worried for him. He was a strong dog, and fast too, but if he ever got sick there wasn't really anything she could do for him. "Anyhow, does the energy drink seem to be helping you at all?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. In all honesty, Lia wasn't sure if it was helping her much. If it didn't start, she guessed she would end up having to go to sleep after all.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan sat back a bit and shrugged, stifling a yawn. "I suppose a little bit, but I'm not too sure..." he said with a sigh, stretching his legs for a moment before sitting up. "How about you? If you're still tired, you can sleep. It's no problem." he said with a small, friendly smile, running a hand through his hair. He kept his eyes moving, scanning the campsite and forest, more to keep himself awake than anything. For a moment, his eyes fell on Jenna, and he shifted a bit. "Think we should see if she's still alive?" Aidan asked after a moment.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Stretching her arms, Lia sat up straight again. "I hate to leave you, but yeah I think I might have to sleep a little. Besides, if I go to sleep you can drink the rest of the energy drink yourself. I think it will work better if one person drinks a whole one rather that two people splitting one." When Aidan questioned about Jenna, Lia glanced back at the girl. "We should probably keep checking on her through the night. I suggest checking to make sure she's still breathing, and touching her forehead to see how warm she feels. But if she is infected, you wouldn't want to touch her directly without gloves. If you don't have gloves, at least clean your hands off. The last thing we need is for you to catch a bug. You have your sister to look out for," she said, giving his arm a gentle punch before standing up.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

He nodded, in thought for a few moments. "I do have some gloves, but they're cloth, so I'm not sure if I can tell her temperature from that..." he shifted a little, taking a long sip of the energy drink. "Enjoy your sleep, by the way..." he said, placing the drink aside and digging through one of the bags. He pulled out a pair of gloves, slipping them on and getting to his feet. He paused to stretch once he was standing, before hesitantly approaching Jenna, watching her carefully as he did. Aidan knelt beside her, hesitating for a few moments, watching to see if she was still breathing.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Oh well, maybe tomorrow when we check out the farm we'll be able to find something better," Lia replied, moving away from him after a moment. She walked over next to Jenna, looking at her when Aidan did. Jenna's chest moved up and down, indicating that she was still breathing. "Well it looks like she's still here with us. If she can make it through the night, it will be a lot easier for us to take care of her tomorrow. For now, don't worry about her too much. Just keep an eye on her. That's all you can do." Lia headed for the tent and knelt down to crawl inside, attempting to be careful so she wouldn't wake up Olivia. "Goodnight, enjoy the energy drink. If you need anything, feel free to wake me up," she said to Aidan before crawling the rest of the way back inside her tent.


((You're welcome to timeskip to the morning if you want, unless you have any other ideas for the night.))

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

((Skipping sounds good to me.))


Aidan nodded, watching Lia as she climbed into the tent. He turned back to Jenna, hesitating, before sitting down by the tent. He sipped at the energy quietly, struggling to stay awake for the next few hours. As the sun began to rise, he poked his head inside the tent, pausing to stifle a yawn.


"Morning. Think I can get a quick nap in before breakfast?" he asked, sitting back a bit.


Olivia sat up slowly, rubbing at her eyes, before stretching. "Sounds good to me. I gotta change. What're we doing today?" she asked as she climbed out of the tent.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

When the sun rose the next morning, Lia could feel it warm her face and the light invade her eyelids. She ignored the light, however, and continued to sleep until Aidan poked his head in the tent. The blonde sat up, hair sticking up all over the place. She rubbed her eyes before speaking. "Hey, good morning. Yeah, feel free to climb in the tent and get some rest. Oliva and I will work on breakfast and check on Jenna." Assuming the woman was still alive because Aidan hadn't said otherwise.


Turning to Olivia once they were outside the tent she replied, "Today we're going to pack up our things and head to that farm to see what it has for us. If it doesn't have anything worthwhile and is filled with too many corpses, we'll probably just come back to this spot." Which reminded Lia that they should probably mark their spot again somehow in case they needed to make their way back to it.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Olivia nodded, sitting down by the fire pit and looking over at Jenna. She frowned slightly, in thought for a few moments. "She okay?" she asked, sitting up a little. "Probably tired, right? It must've been a long night..." she stifled a yawn.


"I'll help take down the tent in a bit." Aidan said, stifling as he crawled inside. "Be careful when you check on Jenna, by the way..."


"Is she sick? Infected?" she asked with a frown, glancing down at Jenna. "Do we need to quarantine her?"


"Probably not quarantine, but be careful... hospital mask, hand sanitizer and gloves are recommended..." Aidan zipped the tent up slightly.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Your brother's right," Lia replied, wandering away from the tent with Olivia. "She's sick and we aren't exactly sure what's wrong with her yet, so we need to be extremely careful around her. Take as many precautions as you possibly can. In fact, why don't you stay away from her all together? I'll check on her to make sure she's still okay." The blonde went and knelt before her backpack, searching inside it to see what she could find to help Jenna. "While I check up on her, do you want to get a headstart on breakfast? How about we split a can of peaches?" she offered, taking out a can of peaches she had gotten during one of her raids and offering it to Olivia. Lia liked to have fruit for breakfast, but was sad to say she was starting to run out of it in her own supply.


Before she could completely hand the can over, Renegade--often hyper in the mornings--snatched the can away from Lia in his jaws, running around with it like it was a chew toy. "No! Bad dog! That's breakfast, not a toy!" Lia called out, scolding her riled dog.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Olivia's face lit up when Lia offered the can of peaches, sitting down and reaching over to take it. When Renegade snatched the can, she flinched, moving back a bit. "Oh! Should I go get that?" she got to her feet, frowning slightly. She paused for a moment to stretch, before following Renegade. "No offense, but it looks like your dog has a habit of stealing stuff." she said, looking back at Lia for a moment. "Also, what's the plan when we get to the farm? Scout, right?"

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"He does have a habit of stealing things, doesn't he?" replied Lia, frowning. "I think he just has a fascination with cans. The first time you saw him he went after the bean can either you or your brother had been eating from." She followed after her dog, scolding him a bit more. "Leave it, Renegade." Wagging his tail, Renegade ran around with the can a bit more. He was really intent on wanting to play. Lia sighed. "Yeah, you should probably try and get the can from him. I need to go check on Jenna anyhow."


Walking over to Jenna, Lia decided to use her bare hands to check her for now. She winced realizing her ankle was still aching from yesterday, but ignored it for now. "Yeah, we are going to scout when we get to the farm," Lia said, replying to Olivia's question. "We're going to see if we can find any supplies and if it's a suitable place to stay for a while. But if it's too crowded with it's previous owner's dead family we might not be able to stay and just have to come back to this spot to continue camping."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"Sounds good to me," Olivia said, running after Renegade. "I hope there are good beds. My back's starting to hurt after sleeping on the ground for a whole year..." she said, slowing her pace a little and stifling a yawn. "Why's your dog such a morning person? I wish I had so much energy this early..." she sped up again, attempting to cut the dog off and grab the can of peaches. "Is Jenna okay, by the way? She's not-- she's not, like, dead or anything, right? Because my brother doesn't like leaving dead people uncovered, 'cause it's disrespectful and might draw the corpses..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Me too," Lia replied, slowly going over to Jenna. "I've been sleeping on dirt ground most of the time, moving from place to place and not sleeping in any beds. I think the last time I slept in a bed was a few weeks ago in an abandoned furniture store." The blonde had always dreamed of sleeping in a furniture store's beds, but never imagined she would get to do that.


Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Olivia trying to get the can of peaches from Renegade. "Oh, it's just because he's very young and energetic. Someday he'll calm down, but for now he's just going to be hyper in the mornings." Lia realized she would have to pick up on his training again soon. She didn't want Renegade to get in the habit of running of with their canned food.


Leaning down next to Jenna, Lia began to check her over. "She's not dead; I can see her still breathing. It might do her some good to eat a few of our peaches, so I might wake her up in a moment." Jenna wasn't dead, but her face felt very hot. They would have to get her fever down otherwise death would be in her future.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Olivia nodded, jumping for the can of peaches and tugging it out of the dog's jaws. "Got it!" she said, raising the can victoriously. She jogged back to the small camp, sitting down by the fire pit. "Furniture store? Sounds fun." she smiled, finding a can opener and sitting back a bit. "I mean, a bit grim when you think about it, but you've got, like fifty awesome beds to choose from. Must've been a bit out in the open, though." she opened the can, grinning down at the peaches. "I love it when I get to eat fruit. We mostly just have beans, pasta, some canned veggies..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Whining, Renegade rushed after Olivia once she took the can from him. He stared at her, tail wagging, as he hoped she would throw the can for him like some kind of toy for him to play with. When she didn't, he whined again and lied his head down on her feet.


"Yeah, it was a bit out in the open, but I chose a bed in the back of the store so it wasn't too bad. It was strange though. There were no other people in there, and no sales people chasing you down like they usually did in one of those places," Lia replied with a laugh. She checked Jenna's pulse for a moment before deciding she was stable, and went back over to sit by Olivia. "Yeah, it's rare to find fruit. I found that can a while ago and I've been saving it. I figure since there's a few of us here to enjoy it, now might be a good time to eat it." She glanced at the can, inhaling the sweet scent of the peaches for a moment. "You know, if that farm is a safe place to stay, we might be able to grow some of our own fruit there. That would be nice." Although with the chances a wild animal could get into any food they might have grown, it being trampled over by dead, or stolen by other people, she didn't really picture them having a lot of food by the time it was ready to pick. Still, she could dream, couldn't she?

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

She smiled and nodded, finding a couple spoons in one of the bags. "There are a couple plastic spoons, too. So we can give one to Jenna, if she wants some peaches. Make sure nothing spreads." Olivia said with a shrug. She handed Lia a spoon, scooping up a couple slices of peach and sticking them in her mouth. Sitting back a little, she paused to savour the sweetness of the fruit, grinning. "Oh, that's really good. Next time we go raiding, I'm keeping an eye out for fruit..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Yeah, canned fruit is one of the best things you can find. All other fruit has spoiled by now, but the canned stuff will last a really long time," replied Lia, taking the spoon from Olivia when it was offered to her. She scooped up a couple slices of peaches, popping them into her mouth. "Sadly, this can will barely be enough for us three girls. It's a shame we can't share any with your brother." Lia realized Aidan would probably have to eat something else for breakfast. She continued to eat until she heard a shifting behind her. She flinched, almost thinking it was a dead until she realized it was Jenna. The blonde glanced behind her, staying frozen until Jenna spoke.


"I feel like garbage," Jenna muttered, sounding muffled.


"No offense, but you look like garbage. If you wouldn't have said anything, I would have thought you were a dead and attacked you." Lia motioned for Jenna to move away from them. "You'd better stay at a distance. You look sick and we wouldn't want to catch anything from you."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

"But, when we've had our share, you can have some peaches." Olivia said, eying the woman for a moment. "To be safe, we can wear some hospital masks that my brother grabbed." she looked back at Lia, scooping a few more slices of peach into her mouth. "Maybe there'll be canned food at the farm. I hope so. Maybe some soap, or shampoo, or even running water..." she sighed wistfully, sitting back a little. "We'll have to start packing up soon. Now that there's more people, I won't have to carry as much. Thank god, because it was killing my back..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Yeah, in a little while we really should start packing. We don't know if the farm will be safe for us to stay at for sure, but I really hope it is. I'm sure we all should give our bodies a break from so much traveling, plus with Jenna sick and my ankle sprained, rest really would be welcomed," Lia added. She took a few more bites of peaches before surrendering the can to Olivia. If she ate much more, she knew Jenna wouldn't get any."You know what, Olivia, why don't you go ahead and start packing a little once you're done eating. Just point me to where you have the medical masks at and I'll take care of Jenna and see if I can help her eat a little bit."


"Y-You don't really have to take care of me," Jenna muttered. "I'm not a baby."


"I know that, but you do need some help. I suggest you take it, because without it you could get much worse." Lia stood up and made sure a couple of her own things were put away before turning to Olivia so she could point her in the direction of the hospital masks.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Olivia scooped a few more slices into her mouth, peering down into the can to count how much was left. She glanced up at Lia, before pointing to one of the bags with a spoon. "Second front pocket, with the hand sanitizer." she said, eating another slice. Sitting back a little, she looked over at Jenna, lifting the can slightly. "I'm done." she said, pausing to lick her spoon. "We'll have to wash that spoon off soon. We've got a plastic one, too, by the way." she placed the can a little near Jenna, grabbing the plastic spoon and sticking it in the can. "So there's no risk of that... probably-flu spreading."


She then stood, stretching for a moment, before approaching one of the bags. She pulled out a fairly clean pair of pants, eying it for a moment. "I'm gonna go change quickly. This is our last chance to clean our clothes in that little stream over there -- it's a bit over a foot deep, I'd say maybe a foot 'n' a half. We have a couple soaps we grabbed that work. It's kind of also a way to wash your hands, so... hey, two birds with one stone, right? Then, we lay 'em out in the sun to dry, but it won't be the end of the world if it's still damp when we pack it back up..."