Realistic or Modern the end of it all

[amberskies]

Nellie shrugged a little, not agreeing with his initial statement so much. "As common as it might be, i'm sure it's still a tough thing to go through." She told him either way. Some people she knew in high school were the type to always compare situations. Though Milo did not seem to be that way, she generally did not like comparing traumas to diminish the importance of one's past. She had absolutely no idea what it was like to experience divorce, since her mother was not present for a large portion of her life, but she was sure it hurt quite a lot.

As he pulled out a seat for her, Nellie carefully sat down, her back a little slouched. She definitely did not have the best posture in the world, but she tried to look somewhat normal while sitting, her elbow resting on the table beside her.

Hobbies. Did she really have any? During her free time she mainly smoked spliffs with her friends and played silly little video games. Crime was definitely one of her hobbies, as she adored watching various shows on the telly, but she was worried that given the current context, it may be a slightly unsettling thing to mention. But what else could she say then?

"Other than the occasional spliff, I guess i'm most interested in crime shows. Like Criminal Minds, Sherlock and stuff. Would occasionally read up on unsolved crimes." She added. That was probably her one true passion, though she doubted she'd ever be able to pursue further education to get into that field. "Just out of interest, I promise i'm not a serial killer." Nellie added afterwards with a small laugh, before her eyes moved down to look at the half-carved block of wood held between his veiny hands. He had nice hands, she couldn't help but note. With the current topic of conversation in mind, that was definitely an odd thing to think. But she meant it in the aesthetic way, how most girls had a thing for veiny, pale and skinny hands.

"What are you carving?" She asked him, her small hands moving to clasp together across her lap.

 

[demonology]

Milo scoffed at her little addition. “And to think- I could’ve been sitting with the next Ted Bundy.” He smiled at his little joke, though the idea of someone as sweet-looking as Nellie could be a stone cold killer made him shiver a little. It occurred to him that she had murdered someone, but then again so had he. Really, he was a serial killer if anything. If one considered zombie hunting a form of murder. He tried not to, even tried to make it a game. He kept a mental count of every one he killed, though it was fairly morbid to do so. At least he knew how responsible he has for the demise of the human race.

“That’s pretty cool though, about the true crime stuff. My best friend Piper used to do stuff like that.” She had made him watch a few episodes of NCIS once, and they ended up finishing the first season whilst she was sick with the flu (which he ultimately got, resulting in them watching the second season together). While she didn’t necessarily keep track of recent crimes, she liked telling Milo all about her favorite killers and the gruesome acts they committed. She could’ve been a detective, the way she studied a serial killer’s profile. It was funny to watch her light up talking about cannibalism.

He cut a big chunk off, just nearly fucking up big time. He almost ruined it. “It’s a weird dragon sorta thing. It’s a new hobby, so I’m not quite sure what I’m doin’.” Adding a small laugh, he hoped that his explanation would safe guard looking like an idiot in front of Nell. It’s not that it would change her decision to team up with him, but still. He didn’t want her to see him as a joke or a dumbass.

 

[amberskies]

Nellie let out a small laugh. To be quite fair, the two of them weren't too far from being murderers. Technically, they were pretty much serial killers at this point. If Nellie had to give an estimate of how many zombies she had killed thus far, it would definitely be over 50 which was.. a lot. Was it worth it to kill so many people and prevent them from ever getting saved by some kind of cure for the sake of her own life? It seemed like a huge cost, and Nellie avoided thinking about it.

If criminology was a subject in school, Nellie would surely have an A star as an average grade. She knew far too many details about gruesome serial killers and kidnappers. Though she could not imagine herself doing those things to real living humans, there was something about the criminal mind that really interested her. Perhaps if she was in a higher social class, she would have been able to put that knowledge to use in the future. Regardless of her being a lower-class individual with family that worked blue-collar jobs, the apocalypse fucked up anyone's chances of attaining a university degree anytime soon either way.

"Were you interested in any other TV show genre?" She asked, quickly assuming based on his statement that he only watched it because of his friend. Her friends weren't too interested in crime stuff, and would occasionally call Nellie 'possessed' for liking those things (always as a joke), so they would usually watch something like Friends or That 70s Show. They weren't her favourite, but they were enjoyable with friends, weed, and alcohol.

"Oh, that's cool. Looks kinda hard." She admitted, her eyes fixed on the cut up block of wood once more. "I think the only new hobby I got from this apocalypse is reading comics." Nellie added. She had a few sitting in her bag. She would usually discard the ones she already read, though she would keep the few that she particularly enjoyed. She didn't care whether she came off as a nerd to him. She didn't care that much about what people thought of her, as long as it wasn't something too negative or bad.

 

[demonology]

He fiddled with the piece of wood a while longer. Looking up at her, he stopped to stare at her hair and how it fell in her face. It made him was to brush it back. Thankfully, Milo didn't. "I'm more of a dramedy type of guy. And anything featuring a dystopian future, ironically enough." He laughed a little. "Though, to be fair, my favorite show is Handmaid's Tale, so at least I wasn't vibing to the Walking Dead." He paused for a moment. "I might've been better prepared for this shit if I had, though." He let out a laugh of dry humor. He knew perhaps now was not the time for jokes, but he couldn't help it. It was true.

Milo cut off another piece of wood before setting it down upon hearing about comic books. "Wait- which series have you read?" His eyes lit up, and he was tempted to go grab his comics. "Do you have any favorites so far? That you've read?" It was then that he became mildly aware of the pot boiling in the background. However, he was focused on Nell and her response. It was far more important than saving the chilli from boiling over.

 

[amberskies]

Nellie hadn't heard of the first TV show he mentioned, but she did watch a few seasons of The Walking Dead in the past. Perhaps she had learned a few basic things from that show, but unfortunately many of the things from the show did not apply to their situation; for example, covering yourself with 'walker' guts wouldn't cause you to blend in with the zombies. Well, Nellie didn't know that actually, but she somewhat doubted it would work and she wasn't interested in risking her life trying to test it.

"To be fair The Walking Dead didn't do an incredible job at protecting me." She told him. "Everyone suddenly knows how to use a gun and aim well, but I can't shoot one at all. Then again, it's set in America.." She contemplated for a second, admitting she did not know how to work a gun. No one in her family owned one, so there was absolutely no way she'd ever learn how to shoot one. Nellie had come across a gun once, but she left it behind because she was a little scared of trying it, in case she'd mess up and end up getting herself hurt. Melee weapons seemed to work fine for her anyway.

She noted the way his body reacted to her bringing up comics. Though he already seemed interested in the conversation, the topic of comics seemed to only pique it. "I really enjoyed Dylan Dog. Hellblazer was nice too. There's a few others that I came across but I can't remember the titles." Nellie started. "What are your favourites?" She asked, wanting to hear his side. It was obvious he had an interest, since she doubted he would have asked that question if he wasn't into comics.

 

[demonology]

He smiled, getting up to go stir the pot. "Yeah, I suppose unless you grew up with an uncle who hunted recreationally, you wouldn't really have much use for guns these days." Milo took a little taste of the chilli. It was starting to thicken up, though it needed to cook a little longer. Additionally, he added a little bit more onion powder to the dish, just because he didn't feel like cutting up anymore fresh veggies. Briefly glancing at the shotgun still sitting next to the door, he walked over and put the safety on. Then, he placed it on the shelf right by the door to the cellar.

He paused himself from answering, walking into the living room. He picked up his comic books before returning. Sitting back down, Milo glanced at the clock. It was around 5 p.m., so he knew to check on it at around 5:05. Pushing the knife to his whittling aside, Milo observed his comics. Where would he begin? He picked up the first one in the stack, showing her briefly the cover. Mildly aware that he was geeking out right now, he didn't want to bore Nellie. "Well, personally, I love the original X-Men." The cover showed the title: "Dark Phoenix Saga." It was a well-worn copy, and he obviously had given it lots of TLC. He moved onto the next worn one in his stack- a copy of "Batman: The Killing Joke."

His cheeks got a little pink again. "If you can't tell, I have a soft spot for D.C. stuff." It took everything in him not to show her the next book in the stack - a copy of his favorite issue of The Amazing Spiderman. Spiderman and all its iterations was the only Marvel comic series he bothered to read. Though, that wasn't because he despised Marvel. It was merely because of his preference for the villains D.C. offers and the communal energy of the- Well, it didn't matter. There were a lot of comic book politics to sift through, especially because of his love for American comics, but once more Milo was aware of his capacity to bore her. Instead of carrying on, he worked his way around back to what she mentioned. "I really enjoy Dylan Dog. It's not my favorite, but that's just because I have trash opinions when it comes to comics. It's probably one of the best, most underappreciated serieses out there." He paused, opting to pick up his whittling to do something with his hands.

He laughed. "Hellblazer, however, is probably amongst my top ten. I like horror comics like that." He put down his project momentarily to see if he had remembered to grab his copy of the first issue where he appears. Sifting through, Milo found his copy of "Saga of the Swamp Thing #37" and handed it over to Nell. "You don't have to look at it or read it, by any means. I'm just a big fan of anything Alan Moore likes so I get a little excited." Smiling, he tried to lean back in his chair and not seem like an overly-excited puppy dog.

 

[amberskies]

Nellie enjoyed listening to people talk, especially when it came to their passions and hobbies. It wasn't something that could ever irritate her. It helped her understand the person more, and what they like. She tilted her head slightly to the left as she inspected the colourful cover of the comic he was holding up, her eyes scanning over the title. Honestly, she didn't read that many comics; it wasn't something she did prior to the apocalypse, but since Netflix was quite obviously down and it was impossible for her to play video games of any kind at this point in time, she turned to different ways of passing the time. It wasn't something she had ever considered getting into, but on a fateful day toward the start of the outbreak, she resided the night in a family house and located one of the children's bedrooms with comics sprawled across the carpeted floor. Well, maybe it wasn't a child considering the genre of the comics.

"Oh I watched a few of the X-Men movies." She noted, she knew the overall theme and characters but couldn't recall some details. She sat there and listened to him, her eyes watching his hands as they would pick up a different comic. From the way his large, veiny hands handled the thin comic books as if they on the verge of shattering, she could tell how much they meant to him.

"DC movies are pretty cool. I was more of a movie person, pre zombie apocalypse or whatever.." She admitted. Once again, horror movies were her favourite, even the cheesy ones like Scream. She leaned back into the couch as he began talking about the comics she had brought up earlier, listening to his opinion on them. She was relieved to hear he approved of those comics, Nellie had no clue whether they were a series people actually enjoyed or shat on all the time. She had absolutely no knowledge on who was the Ed Sheeran of comics.

As a comic was handed over in her direction, she gently took it from him and inspected the cover. She had never heard of this comic to be honest, but the bright yellow cover with a slimy monster at the front captured her attention. She took a mental note of the title, though she was sure after looking at the cover she could recognise it based on that. "This looks cool, whats it about?" She asked, curious to hear more about it. She looked up at him as she awaited a response, the comic book sitting on her lap.

 

[demonology]

Milo nodded at Nellie as she discussed her preference for movies pre-end of times. It wasn't something that surprised him, given the accessability of TV. Plus, he knew that his little collection made him nerdy as hell, so it was mostly just nice to have someone to talk to about the little booklets of paper and ink. He loved his friends, especially now since most of them were probably dead, but he always hid this part of himself. Or at least he tried to.

"Comic book movie adaptations are always a bit iffy, but honestly it's fun to see the heroism on the big screen," he joked with a small smile.

His eyes widened at Nell's encouragement to continue. He hadn't been asked about Swamp Thing before, considering it was a bit of a silly concept. "Well it's the first issue Hellblazer appears in. His real name is John Constantine, and he doesn't exactly appear as Hellblazer. Still, it's a pretty good comic and considered one of the best of the Swam Thing series." Clearing his throat, he fiddled with his special edition copy of Watchmen as he continued, "It follows Swamp Thing, who recently 'died' and is regenerating, and his wife, Abby, is tending to the little plant he's growing from. It's wonky to watch, especially because John Constantine is going around hearing all these doomsday predictions, so the tension is certainly high. There's other stuff that happens, but let's just say that Hellblazer and Swamp Thing don't get along." He laughed a little, saying, "Abby is by far the best character in the issue, and probably one of my favorites in the universe." It might be a weird choice, but he didn't care. She was cool, and he wished she got more independence and time in the spotlight.

Tenderly, he put one comic book on top of one another, letting Nell hold the issue as long as she wished. Milo slid the pile towards the middle of the table. "Anyways, enough about my stupid stuff. What are some of your favorite movies?"

 

[amberskies]

This was the most Nellie had seen Milo talk about anything, it was definitely a good thing, and she couldn't help the little smile from taking over her features. The way he was so passionate about comic books was just.. adorable. She couldn't think of any other word to describe him. She sat there and listened, her eyes fixed on him the entire time, even in the moments he would look away. In this moment, it didn't feel like she was in an apocalypse anymore. It felt like normal life.

After the conversation shifted to the topic of movies and he mentioned his 'stupid' stuff, she tilted her head to the side and her brows lowered into a furrow.

"Your stuff isn't stupid, I like it. I'll read Swamp Thing sometime." She told him, nudging his shoulder with her body as she spoke to him. She was all about no judgement and each to their own. Then, she allowed to conversation topic to change.

"Gosh.. I love horror. Sleepy Hollow, the one with Johnny Depp. Best movie ever." She told him. She would do just about anything to be able to re-watch that movie, it was definitely her comfort movie. She had parts of the script memorised just because she had watched it so many darn times. "Anything Tim Burton, really. I hate the guy but his imagination is wild. Do you like any of his movies?" She asked him. Nellie then remembered she was still holding onto the comic book and carefully placed it on top of the pile, unsure if that was where it was supposed to go or if it had a protective cover of some sort. She was clearly no comic book connoisseur, you could give her the only known copy of a rare comic book in the world and she wouldn't know.

 

[demonology]

Milo would be lying if he said that Nellie didn't make his face turn a little red when she nudged his shoulder. He like the way she didn't judge him. Setting his comics aside, he looked her over as she spoke about her favorite movies. He got up and continued to look over the pot of chili on the stove. He deemed it good enough to eat, and set out two bowls and filled them to the brim. He nodded as she spoke about Sleepy Hollow. He plopped a bowl in front of her before taking his seat next to her once more.

"I wouldn't call myself the biggest Tim fan, but he's fantastic at world building. I love his movies for that reason alone, especially Nightmare Before Christmas." Milo smiled before taking a bite of his chilli.

Wiping his hands on his pants, he moved his stack of comics so that they wouldn't get splashes of chili on them. He grabbed the clothes at the end of the table, handing on to Nell. "Personally, I'm really into action flicks and a few indie productions here and there." He smiled as he took another bite. "Though, I'm no film buff. If you can't tell, comics are more my speed."

He started to eat, letting himself go silent to do so. He was extremely hungry, and the sound of his slurps represented that well. He was busy eating and staring at Nellie to speak.

 

[amberskies]

Nellie's eyes followed him as he stood up from the couch and approached the stovetop, where the pot of chilli was still simmering. The smell was hitting her nostrils hard as he brought over the two bowls of chilli, her mouth watering and her stomach threatening to rumble at any given moment. The idea of eating a warm meal was astounding to her. She had grown used to bland food with a long-shelf life, like those military ration packs she'd occasionally come across or canned food like beans and ravioli. She felt as though she was living the college experience in terms of food.

"Yeah definitely, I love the worlds he creates. His filmography is just beautiful, too." Nellie agreed with him with a nod. She knew nothing about film studies, but she liked the colour palettes Tim Burton usually went for. She thought they were absolutely beautiful, there was something peaceful about his movies despite the dark themes they portrayed.

As the hot bowl was set down in front of her, she pulled it closer toward her and as much as she wanted to wait for it to cool down, she simply could not wait that long anymore. Scooping up a fair amount with her spoon, she sat there slouched as she blew air onto the spoonful of chilli, staring at it as she waited for it to slowly cool down. Only after a few blows did she finally give it a taste, and she let out a satisfied sigh as she did so, the topic they were talking about completely leaving her mind as her taste buds exploded due to the flavour. She was happy.

"Wow. This is amazing. I haven't had a hot meal since everything started." She told him, proceeding to pick up the bowl and placing it on her lap, feeling the heat radiate through her pants and onto the skin of her legs.

 

[demonology]

Milo gave Nellie all of his attention as they ate together. It felt like watching a creature in the wild, like a bear or a lion discover a new food source. Except she didn't pounce on it like a lion would, though she practically did the human equivalent as she dove into the chili almost immediately. When she noted that she hadn't eaten anything fresh since the end of times, he nodded. It made sense, given her reaction. He couldn't help but smile. It felt like a job well done. He'd accomplished providing someone with something, other than bullets. It made him think of when he had friends and family to take care of. It warmed Milo up to realize how much he had missed humanity.

He scooped a bit into his mouth, smiling as he did so. "I try. I'm not the world's best chef, but I make do." He was trying to be humble, even if he thought the recipe was the best ever. Then again, he didn't make it. His grandma did.

"God it's hard thinking of stuff to talk about when you haven't talked to anyone except yourself in so long," Milo said with a small laugh. "It's not like there's a new movie trailer or viral video to talk about."

He felt the warmth of the bowl in his hands. "Favorite color?" He asked with another chuckle.

 

[amberskies]

Milo's chilli beat practically anything she had eaten since the start of the apocalypse. Sure, crisps and junk food were absolutely amazing, but she eventually got sick of them. Besides, they actually didn't have much of a nutritional value, which was something important considering how much she walked every single day to get to.. wherever the hell she was going. She had no plan; Nellie was simply moving forward, trying to find something worth living for.

She nodded in agreement as he mentioned the lack of topics for them to talk about that didn't involve the apocalypse. Her personal life wasn't something she was interested in delving into, since it was rather depressing and horrid. She was slowly getting used to talking to someone other than herself. It was nice to hear someone else, and the unpredictable things that could leave his lips.

"Black. And maroon. You?" She answered the question without a second thought before she returned it to him with a slight laugh. It was a ridiculous question, but she figured there wasn't much else for them to talk about. The apocalypse was definitely not a fun topic.

"Oh, does your wound still hurt?" Nellie remembered all of a sudden, her eyes lowering to stop at his shoulder for a split second before returning to the bowl of chilli, sitting there and blowing onto the spoon as she waited for it to cool, not wanting to burn her tongue.

 

[demonology]

He smiled when she asked the question in return. Her little laugh felt like a blessing, as though he'd just been baptized into the Church of Nellie. Perhaps its was simply his social anxiety kicking in, especially after not speaking to another living soul in so long. "Good choices. I like green, if you can't tell." He pointed to the sweater sitting draped across the back of the chair parallel to him. Milo gave another smile, finding the laugh still irresistible.

Looking at his shoulder for a moment, he shook his head. "Nah, I haven't really thought about it much. It just stings when I move it. Nothing too major." He had been in a scrap or two, and moshing always took a lot out of him. Being stabbed wasn't exactly the same thing, but it wasn't as though pain was unfamiliar to him.

He played with the edge of his shirt, gently touching the covering. "Thanks again for patchin' me up. You're the perfect nurse for the apocalypse," He joked. Though Nell was far more than just that, even if he had known her for only a handful of hours.