[1x1] Fight the Dead, Fear the Living

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan walked alongside them, Olivia following just a few paces behind. "I feel just fine." he said with a shrug, glancing around. "Kind of wish we could take some time to just relax, but I don't think that's possible. So, other than the urge to be lazy for a couple hours, I feel alright." he said, glancing back at his sister briefly.


"Same. I don't like having to carry these bags around like a pack mule. At least I got the lighter stuff." she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I wanna take a shower, too. Doubt there'd be any running water at the farm, though..." she paused, in thought for a few long moments. "Hey, idea... what if we made something that uses rain water? It's still pretty warm out, so we could use the sun to heat it up. Even if it's just lukewarm, it'd still be good to clean ourselves with, right?"

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia walked along, nodding when the siblings spoke. "Being lazy sure would be nice, but I doubt that's a luxury we'll be able to have for a while. Unless we take turns being lazy while one of us stands guard," she said with a shrug. "As for the pack mule comment, I think after Jenna gets better, if we have to move again, next time we'll have Lucky here to carry our things." At least, Lia hoped they would. Their world was already a dangerous one for humans to live in, but even more so for animals like horses who were skittish and had no way of protecting themselves.


"Are you sure about collecting rain water though?" Lia asked. "Isn't it a bit dirty?" She glanced over at Jenna for a moment while she waited for a reply, thinking she had fallen asleep. She didn't, however, because she replied to Lia's question.


"Boil it," Jenna mumbled, eyes closed and body slumped forward on the horse. Lia nodded in agreement.


"She's right, we could boil the water to clean it and then it would be good to use for anything. We can keep that in mind when we need water to use for bathing."


(They're probably about a 20 minute walk away from the farm, but if you run out of things for them to talk about or events to happen, you're welcome to just make them arrive. Or else I'll have them arrive soon. ^^)

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

((Alright. I'm fine with them arriving at any time, really.))


Olivia nodded, walking alongside them quietly. "Yeah, boiling the water would work. Me and my brother collected rainwater before, but I don't think we've done it lately. It's good for when you're running out of water, at least." she said with a shrug, looking over at Lucky for a moment. "You think he won't mind carrying our crap much? He looks like a strong horse, anyways. Well, kinda... he probably wouldn't mind carrying our food and water, at least."


"I think he'll be fine. If I can carry this stuff, a horse can." Aidan said with a shrug, glancing up at the sky briefly. "Let's just hope he doesn't run off with all of our supplies. I can't say that'd be too lucky."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Honestly, I don't think Lucky would mind carrying our things one bit. Horses like this guy are used to carrying people around. If Lucky can handle the weight of a whole person, I'm sure he'll be able to handle a few of our belongings," Lia replied as she continued walking alongside Lucky. "But Aidan is right; we wouldn't want our hourse to be startled by something and run off with everything we have. One of us might want to ride him while he's carrying our things, just to be safe."


For now, they had Jenna on top of the horse, so she wasn't really worried about him running off. But speaking of Jenna, Lia realized she wasn't speaking much. Was she still navigating for them? Her eyes were closed again...


"Hey, Jenna, are you still with us?" Lia asked after a moment, giving her shoulder a tap.


The young woman opened her eyes, groaning slightly. "Yeah, I'm still here. Sorry. Not feeling too well," she replied, voice cracking slightly. "We're almost there. Just keep going straight from here."


Unsure if she believed Jenna's directions while she was seemingly so ill, Lia still listened to her. If she appeared to be wrong, after a while they could stop and try to figure out something different. But for now, the least they could do was give their idea a try.


And try they did. Their group walked along for a little while longer, and thankfully they were not disappointed. Lia flinched hearing the sound of corpses groaning in the distance, but sighed in relief upon realizing they were inside of a barn--the same barn Jenna had told them about. A few steps further and they could see a farmhouse in the distance. It had a large field, well, and the most glorious thing of all: a generator.


"We made it," Lia said, trying to contain the excitement in her voice. She was more than excited. Lia was absolutely thrilled to see this place. But she didn't want to get everyone's hopes up just yet. The farmhouse could be full of corpses, the generator could be empty of gas, and the well could be empty. Although these unfortunate circumstances could be possible, the chance that these situations could be good instead of bad was also possible. Luck had been in favor when they had found the horse. She hoped it would be in their favor again.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

At the sound of distant corpses, Aidan hesitated, though his pace quickened again when he spotted the farmhouse. He grinned, looking down at Olivia for a moment. "Think this place looks like a good settlement? Maybe we can even have our own rooms." he said, running a hand through his hair as the grin faded somewhat. "But we're going to have to figure out a way to get rid of those corpses. Or make sure they stay sealed in. I'm not too keen on the idea of them breaking into the farmhouse in the middle of the night..."


"Lighten up, would you?" Olivia elbowed him lightly in the side. "It's got a generator! We might finally get electricity again." she smiled, adjusting the bag. "And the well, that's great, too. We don't have to worry about running outta water now!"


"Unless it's dried up. And maybe we should boil the water, just to be safe... what if this stuff is waterborne, right?"


Olivia rolled her eyes. "Can we celebrate this just for a minute? Like, without you stressing about this stuff? Be happy about it, and then start worrying over zombies and water."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

"Yes, the possibility of having electricty again is great. I mean, what even is electricity? It feels like it's been so long that I've seen it that I can hardly remember what it was like to have it." Lia chuckled hearing Olivia and Aidan bicker slightly about their new farmhouse. "To be honest, I agree with both of you a little. We should be cautious about everything we do in this new environment, but we shouldn't be so cautious that we can't enjoy anything, you know?" she said with a smile. Her smile, however, quickly changed into a frown when Renegade rushed from her side and ran up to the shed that was filled up with corpses. He didn't get too close to it, but he barked several times, clearly upset by what was inside.


"And the thing I agree with you most of all, Aidan, is that we really need to figure out what we're going to do about all of those corpses in that shed. We either need to get rid of them or make sure they're secure so they can't escape and cause us problems in the future. But for now, we need to get in the house and find Jenna a place to rest. With everything we do, we need to take it one step at a time," said Lia. She glanced at Jenna attop the horse, frowning. She was pretty quiet again. It must have sucked being sick like that. Lia hadn't ever gotten sick since the start of the apocolypse, and hoped that she never would.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan frowned and nodded, glancing over at Jenna briefly. "Yeah, sure. Maybe I should lead the way inside, make sure there aren't any corpses or anything..." he said, grabbing his axe off of his back as they approached the farmhouse. He looked back at Olivia for a moment, frowning. "You guys help her off the horse. I'll just check the front entrance... assuming the door's not locked." he said, pausing in before the front door and eying it for a moment.


Olivia sighed and nodded, moving to help Jenna off the horse. "You feeling alright?" she asked, eying the woman for a moment. "You're gonna get a nice bed to sleep in, at least. I'm glad we're getting a few luxuries back."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

After hearing Aidan's voice speak out to her, Jenna opened her eyes to look out at the farm. It was just how she remembered it to be. Except this time she wasn't being toted around by the maniac farmer who tried locking her in the shed to feed her to his "family." She glanced over at Aidan after a moment and smiled weakly. "I'm feeling okay, but could be better. I'm looking forward to sleeping in that bed," Jenna replied before closing her eyes.


When she heard Aidan request that they help Jenna off the horse while he went ahead, Lia glanced at him. "Are you sure you don't want help checking out the house? You might need someone to watch your back," she offered. "I should come with you, or at least take Renegade. He'll grown if someone else or something else is inside."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan hesitated for a moment, before nodding, trying the door. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he pulled the door open slowly, though immediately tensed up again as he peered inside. Glancing back at the group, he smiled weakly. "Maybe it would be good to bring someone with me. It doesn't matter much to me if it's you or your dog, to be honest." he said with a shrug, taking a couple steps inside, glancing around quickly.


Olivia, looking back at him with a frown, cleared her throat. "Careful in there. I don't really want to deal with someone being bitten by anything." she said, running a hand through her hair.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Feeling as if Aidan's comment about the dog was timed perfectly for her to tease him slightly, Lia placed her hands on her hips and eyed him up with a jokingly offended expression. "So it makes no difference if you have me or a dog with you. Well, I suppose that shows what your opinion of me is." Lia wasn't the best at joking, and her dry humor often came off as being serious, but sometimes she still attempted it when she was in a better mood. And right now, she most certainly was in a better mood after having found the house.


"I'll go with you," Lia finally said after a moment, stepping forward. "I know I'm not much different than my dog, but I'm a little bit better than taking down corpses than he is, so it would be better if I went with you." She stepped into the doorway and peered into the dark house, frowning when she couldn't see anything at first. The darkness made her tempted to look in her backpack for the old flashlight she had to see if it still worked.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan smiled at her for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind having you with me." he glanced over at Olivia. "You guys can keep guard out here. I trust you'll keep an eye out if anyone comes this way."


"Like anyone will." Olivia rolled her eyes. "But, yeah, keep guard. Good luck in there, I guess."


He nodded, glancing inside the house again. He thought for a few moments. "Do we have a flashlight we can use? I think I have a head-mounted one with all the tools. It's not too powerful, but it might get the job done..." he shrugged, looking over at Lia. "Unless you've got anything you want to use? I don't think we should split up anytime soon..."

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

After rifling through her bag for a few minutes, Lia eventually felt her fingers brush over a tiny flashlight she had towards the bottom. She took it out and showed it to Aidan quickly; it was a small red flashlight with chipped red paint and a key ring on the end of it. "This isn't the greatest flashlight, but it should he helpful. It's tiny, but powerful. You should still probably bring your head-mounted light too though. The more light the better." Lia clicked her flashlight on and shined it inside the house, only illuminating a small portion inside the doorway. "Ladies first? Or would you like to do the honors?" she asked.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan dug around one of the bags for a minute, pulling out the head-mounted flashlight and putting it on, standing again with his axe. "I'll lead the way in, if you don't mind. I've got my axe in case there's anything in there we didn't hear."


"And my bow." Olivia said with a smirk, glancing over at them for a moment.


"You're so funny." he flicked on the head-mounted flashlight, stepping inside the house and glancing around quickly, before sighing. "Looks clear to me..." he muttered, glancing back at Lia for a moment. "I suggest we don't leave each others' sight, to be safe." he shrugged, adjusting the flashlight for a moment.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia nodded and waited for Aidan to go first into the house. When he mentioned it was clear, she stepped inside and began to walk around to look. "Good, but just because the main area of the house is clear doesn't mean that the rooms to the side are. Let's be cautious," she said, walking along.


Upon entering the house, there were two stairways which could be seen. The first stairway went upstairs and the second one went downstairs. Strait ahead was the kitchen and living room, but thanks to Aidan checking the two of them knew those rooms were clear.


"Let's go upstairs first," said Lia, shining her little light up there. "If it's too dangerous downstairs we could always block it off with something, but it would be harder to block off the upstairs. So we should check it out first," she suggested.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, quietly approaching the stairs. "Yeah... it's best if we do that." he sighed, adjusting his flashlight again, before glancing back at her. "I'll go up first. I don't hear anything up there, not that there's no reason to be careful..." he said, slowly walking up the stairs. He paused at the top, glancing around quickly, his grip on his axe still tight. After a moment, he looked back down at Lia, nodding towards one of the rooms. If they were lucky, they'd find nothing more than supplies in the rooms, but he wasn't especially optimistic. He quietly walked towards the room he nodded towards, hesitating to open the door briefly.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

“All right, just be careful,” Lia replied to Aidan, watching as he walked up the stairs and made it to the top. She kept her eyes on him, not moving an inch until Aidan nodded toward one of the rooms as if gesturing for her to come check something out with him. Nodding, Lia walked after him, being as quiet and careful as possible.


The hallway upstairs was dark, so Lia was more grateful than ever that she had a flashlight. When the two of them walked up to the closed door, she almost didn’t hesitate to open it. She only stopped when she heard some faint movement coming from inside the room.


Cursing under her breath, Lia took a step back. “We never have good luck with these kinds of things, do we? Do you have a knife with you incase there’s a corpse behind the door? It might be better to kill it as quietly as possible rather than with a loud gunshot. If there are others, we don’t want to draw them out.” No, it would be much safer to stealthily sneak around and kill them.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan froze at the sound of shuffling behind the door, and he lifted his axe for Lia to see. "I've got this." he whispered, taking a step back from the door. He was silent for a few moments, listening for the movement again in an attempt to figure out how close whoever was inside was to the door. Glancing back at Lia for a moment, he nodded.


"Stand clear." he said, gripping the axe tightly as he adjusted his flashlight, before reaching over to wrap his hand around the doorknob. Taking a few deep breaths, he quickly and quietly pulled the door open, stopping it with his foot and raising his axe, ready to swing in case anything was directly in front of the door.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

Lia nodded and stood back when Aidan said he could handle this, but still kept her guard up. She quickly moved her hand to her side, looking for either a gun or a knife she could use. Depending on how many bodies were in there she would choose which weapon was best.


When Aidan opened the door, immediatly three mice ran out of the room under their feet. Lia let out a yelp and jumped back, not because she was afraid of mice but because they startled her. Seconds after the mice ran out, a cat came running out next to chase the mice.


Lia stepped back, leaning against a wall and breathing deeply. "Looks like the room is all clear," she mumbled. "Unless rodents count as a threat."

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

As three mice suddenly scurried past his feet, he nearly dropped the axe. Watching the cat run out, he sighed quietly, lowering it and breathing a quiet huff of relieved laughter. Shining his light into the room, he glanced around, relieved to find nothing else was moving around in the room.


"They shouldn't be too much of a problem." he said with a shrug. "Assuming they aren't carrying any disease. But we've got a cat to take care of them." he sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing around. "Guess we'd better clear out the rest of these rooms, anyways. Let's hope we don't find anything more than mice and cats here." he took a few steps away from the door, figuring he'd leave it open.


Quietly, he made his way through the hallway, peering into a partly-open door that led to a bathroom. Glancing around, he sighed. "I think we might need to clean this place up a bit. Dust everything off. Plus, I don't doubt those animals left a mess." he said, looking back at her for a moment.

 

[Klutzy Ninja Kitty]

After regaining her composure and taking in a deep breath, Lia replied, "Yeah, let's clear out the rooms and get back downstairs to the others. Ugh, how the heck did a cat get in this room anyway? Maybe the crazy man in the woods kept it as a pet?" Lia glanced toward the cat, watching it run down the stairs with a frown. "Renegade isn't going to be too happy seeing a cat. I hope he doesn't get out of control and chase it everywhere. The last thing we need is him barking so loud he attracts every dead corpse within a mile to this house."


Lia followed Aidan, peering into a couple of the other rooms that seemed to be clear. "You're right. We should dust the rooms, especially the one Jenna will be resting in. She'll need a pretty sterile environment. It'll help with her recovery. Anyhow, this place looks pretty secure. Why don't you start cleaning up and I'll go down and tell the others they can come inside? Minus the mice, this place should work out just fine to stay at for a while." The only thing Lia wasn't sure about was what she would do with the horse. According to the crazy man from the woods and Jenna, the barn was full of rotters. She would need to find somewhere different for the horse to stay.

 

[sleeplessCartoonist]

Aidan nodded, heading into one of the rooms, which was a modest . Glancing around, he paused for a moment to wipe some dust off the windowsill at the far end of the room. "Yeah, might as well. I'll check out the basement in a bit." he said, glancing back at Lia. "Olivia and I can probably share this room. Just need to clean it up." he said, wiping some of the dust off his hand. He peered out the window which he stood by for a moment, before pausing to think.


"We're going to have to keep that horse somewhere, you know. Think it might be possible to clear that barn of any dead?" he asked, walking back towards the door. "'Course, I'll have to figure out how to do it safely and quietly..." he said, in thought for a few moments.