[IC] Death In The Air

[Nikki Moonlight]

Sarah huffed when Charles left and she locked the door, seeing the sun was slowly going toward the West.

[Oliver]

Ivan made his way a bit down the road, feeling rather upset after his last fruitless encounter. It had been two days, maybe three since he'd had any food, and what little water he had wasn't clean and was probably already starting to make him sick. He passed by building after building, unable to read the signs (As bad as his English was, he could speak it far better than he could read it). He checked every window for signs that there might be food inside, but they all seemed locked up and empty. Then, through a door that was cracked open slightly he could just barely hear people talking. может быть, они бы мне помочь He thought hopefully, thinking for a moment before hesitantly walking up to the door only to find it barricaded. "Damn!" He swore, using the only English curse word he knew. Having had enough of failing to find food, he weakly kicked the door in frustration, sinking to his knees and letting out a defeated sob.

[LordofthePies]

"I will cook for us, yes." Gabriel screwed in another vent.

"No one will buy broken pieces," he sat down next to his jar and attempted to unscrew it. He was unable. Gabriel sighed at the jar.

"Will you please open this cholerny jar?" he handed it to Aaron, slightly disappointed in himself.

@DriveEMOut @MissCapnCrunch

[DriveEMOut]

Aaron did it almost effortlessly, then handed it to Gabriel. "I should get on guard duty. Do you mind starting dinner?" He grabbed his rifle where it lay. "We have plenty of ingredients you can use." He walked upstairs, and dragged a stool to the window. He looked through the scope of his sniper rifle, spying a boy who looked to be somewhere around his age, and a younger boy. They were locked out, but they would make it for dinner. If he let them in. "Who are you two?" Aaron asked coldly. "And don't try to hurt me, or I'll put a bullet in your brain." He called out, rifle raised.
@LordofthePies@MissCapnCrunch@Oliver@Vortex

[Oliver]

"Aaah!!"
Ivan stumbled to his feet, looking around frantically until his eyes came to the window. A young man holding a sniper rifle was visible. 'I-I... vasn't, P-Ple-please, I-I mean no hurt!" Ivan started to hyperventilate, stumbling over his words and blanking on his English. He threw his shotgun to the ground, raising his hands in the air for only a moment before doubling over and clutching them to his chest, coughing and gasping. He'd always been asthmatic, and panic tended to trigger his attacks. Which, unfortunately, meant they occurred at the worst of times. Thankfully this particular one didn't seem to be serious. He'd likely be fine with a little rest and some food and water.
He managed to steady himself enough to stay on his feet, staring up at the boy in the window with fearful brown eyes. 'Do not... do not p-point gun on me! I go now!"

[DriveEMOut]

Aaron's eyes grew wide with panic as the boy had trouble breathing. "Kid, I'm so sorry. Here, come inside. I have inhalers I the pharmacy section." He lowered a small ladder that only a kid could climb on. "We'll have dinner ready in a bit, but you can have a snack before then. Now come on!" He turned the rifle towards the other boy. "And who are you?"
@Oliver@Vortex@LordofthePies@MissCapnCrunch

[Nikki Moonlight]

Sarah got started on dinner. They grew their own food inside their house, which was large and in the back of the store. She chopped up the food and she put it in a pot, boiling it.

[Oliver]

Dinner...
That was exactly the word Ivan had been hoping to hear out of this stranger. A wave of relief ran through him, and he carefully scaled the ladder. Ivan had never liked heights, so he forced himself to keep his eyes on the window as he struggled to climb up. He hoisted himself through the window, slipping on his way through and tumbling to the floor unceremoniously. His cough had begun to worsen, but he was able to stand himself up and cough out a "sorry."

@DriveEMOut

[LordofthePies]

Gabriel munched on a pickle while making dinner. He was fairly alright at making food, but he was best at making soup. So that's what he was doing, using some potatoes, canned cream of chicken soup, and what greens he could find. He hoped they would like it, very suddenly eager to impress. Gabriel didn't know how much they ate, so he planned on making at least eight servings. He splashed a little pepper into the hot soup while wondering if they were allergic to anything. Hopefully not. Gabe smiled to himself, he was no longer on the streets. All it took was an apocalypse.

A few minutes later he was finished. He capped the large pot, closed the pickle jar, adorned oven mitts, and carried out the soup into the mackshift dining area.

He called out, "Food is done!" and took off his mitts and set them on the table. He had set out three bowls and spoons, definitely not expecting another.

@DriveEMOut @MissCapnCrunch @Oliver @Vortex

[DriveEMOut]

@Oliver@LordofthePies@Vortex@MissCapnCrunch
"Hey, go to the cleared out area we made. Gabriel's serving dinner there. Tell him I'll be there in a bit." He continued to aim the gun at the other boy. "Who are you?"

[Oliver]

Ivan nodded, though he hadn't quite parsed the sentence. что 'cleared'? He wondered, biting into his lower lip as he wandered downstairs. He found the table and Gabriel within a few minutes of searching. "I am Ivan." He introduced himself quietly, waving shyly. "Boy with tall gun sent me. You have food?" He blushed a bit, feeling the pain in his empty stomach as the scent of the soup caught his attention. "Please, share with me. I repay you, I promise."

@LordOfThePies @DriveEMOut

[LordofthePies]

Gabriel's confusion was short lived. He grabbed a bowl for the little boy and filled it full of soup. He didn't know what to say. In his time on the streets he never really cared for others, and only bothered to feed himself. Although, on occasion, he would give the town's abandoned and homeless children something to eat. Gabriel wasn't entirely selfish.

He plopped a spoon into the child's bowl and set it on the table, in front of one of the empty seats.

"Sit. Eat. Carefully though, it's probably hot."

@DriveEMOut @MissCapnCrunch @Oliver @Vortex

[Oliver]

"Thank you!" Sighed Ivan, sitting down at the table. At least 50 hours had passed since he'd last seen food, let alone something so fresh as this. It actually brought tears to his dark brown eyes just looking at it. He took a tentative sip from the spoon, as if he were worried it weren't wholly real, then quickly wolfed it down as if he'd never see food again. Because, for all he knew, he wouldn't.

[LordofthePies]

Gabriel watched Ivan wolf down his soup while he slowly ate his own.

"Do you want more? Or like, a Tupperware for when you leave?" Gabe raised his eyebrows, feeling a pang of pity for Ivan. The little Russian reminded him of himself when he was first thrown out onto the streets. He was starving, cold, and alone.

"Maybe a blanket?"

@Oliver

[Oliver]

"I would very like a blanket." Said Ivan, drying off his mouth with the edge of his sleeve. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to not be starving, and now with that problem out of the way it only brought more of his focus onto the others. His lungs still hurt and he was a bit wheezy, he was tired, and he felt a bit dizzy and overwhelmed. "Could I stay for night? I promise I leave at dawn."
@LordOfThePies

[LordofthePies]

"Uh, I guess so?" Gabriel stood up and mentioned for the kid to follow him. He left the small area and began looking around for blankets and maybe a spare bedroom. Gabe was fine with sleeping on the floor, it would be better than sleeping out there in the cold.

After a couple minutes of looking, he found a box full of spare blankets. Gabriel picked out a large quilt for the boy. If he couldn't find a bedroom he could make them both beds out of the blankets in the box.

"Now to find some pillows."

@Oliver

[Oliver]

Ivan obediently followed Gabriel. He too was perfectly fine with sleeping on the floor. He was used to sleeping in cold alleyways, so almost anything that could be offered him would be an improvement.

@LordOFThePies

[Nikki Moonlight]

Sarah had sat down to eat with her adopted parents, a thick broth with some canned alligator meat and home grown potatoes.

[Drakeonis]

Malik breathed a sigh as he watched he setting sun slowly descend into the horizon. He was running out of time. He turned his attention back to the trail of blood he had been following since he left his grandfather's cabin. Malik was a excellent shot with a bow, it wasn't even a matter of bragging it was simply a fact but his hunting skills were still less than desired. If he wasn't as skilled a shot as he was, he probably wouldn't have even manged to hit the spooked animal at all, the only solace he took in the situation.

The trail was growing thinner and thinner near the edge of the property. The good news, the animal was probably dead or close to right now. The bad news, it was now in town. He hadn't been into town since the virus started, he didn't even know if there were people alive there and if there were would they be friendly? He composed himself. If anything happened he would deal with when it came. He needed to retrieve the animal and the sun would be setting soon. He didn't have time to worry about it. Determined, he slung his bow back over his shoulder and followed the fading blood trail into town.

[MissCapnCrunch]

It seemed like all at once, Audrey's brother and her had become the local orphanage. On one hand she had been happy to help and protect these children who didn't have anywhere to go. It meant saving another life in this day and age. It meant feeding a hungry stomach, or cleaning a dirty face. Through out the time she stood by and watched these two boys, studying them. She wanted to make sure that they were not using the siblings for food and shelter and then steal from them while they slept, or worst yet kill them. Audrey spoke low to Aaron as they sat at the dinner table, "They seem to be genuine." she admitted, "It would be good to have the extra hands here, we don't need it, but it would be nice." she said. Her greyish green eyes peering up at the two new comers: Gabriel and Ivan.

Audrey took a sip of the soup and was welcomed with a warm embrace of flavor. It was something she hadn't had in a long time and for a moment she felt at home. She let out an audible moan of delight as she continued to eat the food. Swallowing she looked up at the two young boys, "You two can stay, but if I see any funny business.." she looked at them stern, as a mother would her children. "I don't give second chances in that respect." she said, her stern face growing into a smile. "But it is nice to have new faces around here."

@DriveEMOut@LordofthePies@Oliver