[IC] Among the Ashes

[Tenma Tendo]

If anyone were to ask Nino how long he had been moving, he would only answer in silence. Most of the time that had passed since the plague spread outside of Italy was mostly a blur. Minutes, hours, heck even days could have passed and Nino would be entirely clueless. Had it not been for his brother's encouraging words and Nino keeping a physical grasp on him, Nino probably would've keeled over by now. His legs protested, his mind was stuck in a fever induced haze as all he could do was blindly follow his brother to where he was taking them. It's not like he had to worry though. Nino would follow Giovanni anywhere in the world.

Nino watched almost curiously as they walked down a row of occupied houses, his vision swimming uneasily as he clutched onto Giovanni's sleeve with clammy hands. He watched as they passed one house, two houses, three, four, five, six houses before finally stopping at an isolated one a little bit away. He couldn't quite tell if someone had been living there or not, but it looked like his brother decided that they would crash here judging by how close they got to said building. Pulling away to let Giovanni do his thing, Nino watched with half lidded eyes and quiet breaths as the older male proceeded to leisurely walk into the door, knocking it down with ease.

---

Catrina, better known as Na since she could never say her full name as a kid, sat quietly at the kitchen table, biting her nails as if it was the only thing left to eat in the world. She'd been in such a state for quite a while actually as four days had past and she only really moved if Al or herself needed something. There was a lot of things she wanted to do. Cry was probably one of the first things, right before grabbing Alistair and forcing him to stay within arm length. But right now, her mind could barely think straight. They were currently separated from not only their parents, but even the rest of the possible survivors as their parents thought it would a 'good idea' to have their little space during this 'holiday vacation'. Looks like in this case it could seen as a blessing and a curse.

Frowning intensely as she started biting down on her fingers, Na could really only think of their parents and what they were doing now. Probably still at the airport. She specifically remembered them telling her to look out for Al and that they should head back to the house for safety reasons. Why couldn't they all just come back together? It would have been far better for the sake of Na's sanity, but unfortunately, here they were, worrying about some plague that the Italians couldn't keep from spreading. She knew she wasn't cut out for this, nor did she think something like this could even happen in the real world, but here she was now...

Expecting Alistair to push her out of her thoughts like he normally did - and vice versa, which tended to happen more often - she was instead startled by the front door crashing to the floor with a loud and resounding thud.
"S-Stay put, Al!" She whisper yelled as she immediately grabbed a butter knife - it was all she could find and she was panicking okay - for self defense as she steadily tiptoed to the now gaping hole in their house. "H-Hello?" She whispered in English, causing her accent to be more pronounced because of it.

While she expected someone to jump out and try to attack her, she was instead met with a pair of boys sitting in the living couch as if they belonged there. The...they couldn't be serious, right? Furrowing her brows in slight annoyance seeing as they didn't look to be too much of a threat, Na waved her hand in the air.
"Um, excuse you? Why did you do that?!" She yelled, noting that her voice startled the ombre haired one with the red face. What was up with him?

[Rabidporcupine]

"GYAAAH!" Giovanni shrieked, springing from the couch in horror. For a moment, he considered trying to climb out of the chimney, having subconsciously thrown himself into the empty fireplace to try and hide. However, a mere moment later, he realised Nino wouldn't be able to deal with all that ash and soot.

"Don't scare me like that!" He said, pushing himself out of the fireplace and trying to calm himself down. "There's this thing called manners you know, people tend to use them when they first meet people to make a good first impression!"

He turned to Nino, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Some people, am I right Nino?" He asked, his tone no doubt extremely irritating and abrasive to anyone who didn't know him better. "No idea of how to be polite… Still, I'd say I'm a gracious host, so I'll forgive your rude introduction, on the condition that you apologise. After that, you can feel free to live here in my home. I'm not a monster, after all."

A mere moment later, a loud, high-pitched voice rang out from the next room over.

"Get away from my big sister, ya pasta-munching shits!"

This was quickly followed by something Giovanni hadn't quite been expecting just yet out here in the "clean" countries, a lengthy, apparently homemade javelin. And despite the throwers lack of practise, the weapon managed to imbed itself in the wall just a few inches from Joe's face.

For a moment, his face remained stony and expressionless, giving off the impression that he was completely unfazed by the weapon that had nearly killed him.

And then his face went pale, morphing into an expression of openmouthed horror and completely undoing anything that might have made him look even slightly cool.

"Hey… Hey hey HEY! What the hell was that?! You hide away in someones new home, scare them half to death when they try to move in, and then try to murder them?! Let me tell you, you're lucky societies in the process of collapsing, because if there were still police to go to, you'd better believe I'd be calling them on you thugs!"

He moved over to Nino, grabbing him by the shoulders in an affectionate manner.

"I mean honestly, what kind of monsters would assault a man just trying to protect his poor, sickly little brother? How low can you get? Are you truly that evil? Shame on you!"

As Giovanni continued on his rant, Alistair approached his sister, a completely unamused expression on his face.

"Hey, sis. If society is really collapsing, it's ok to hit this guy until he stops talking, right?"

[Tenma Tendo]

Catrina didn't mean to flinch back at the taller male's shriek, but she did anyways, dropping the butter knife in the process. If this had been any other pair of people, Na would have scrambled to grab her 'weapon' for safety, but watching the brown haired man wrongfully rant at her for not letting them freely intrude her family's home made her think the guy was just some nutjob that needed some help.

"Don't scare me like that! There's this thing called manners you know, people tend to use them when they first meet people to make a good first impression! Some people, am I right Nino?" Na directed her attention to the other boy, who nodded sleepily before letting his head rest back on the couch. Judging from both of their actions, it didn't look like they were going to leave any time soon... "Uh...sorry? But you do realize that you've walked into ou--" Before the redhead even had a chance to voice the rest of her thoughts, she was cut off by the man's unnecessary rambling.

"No idea of how to be polite… Still, I'd say I'm a gracious host, so I'll forgive your rude introduction, on the condition that you apologize. After that, you can feel free to live here in my home. I'm not a monster, after all." This guy couldn't be serious, could he? While this wasn't actually her home, she's been living here longer than him! What did she need to apologize for?! She opened her mouth again to counter the deranged male, but an awfully familiar cry had her look over curiously. "Get away from my big sister, ya pasta-munching shits!"

The girl could only watch as the oh so familiar javelin she remembered seeing upstairs flew through the air and into the wall a few inches away from the brown haired man's face. Although it was quite comical seeing the other freak out from the weapon coming out of nowhere, Na couldn't help but facepalm at her little brother's language. While her parents were perfectly fine with Alistair cursing, it always made the redhead a little uncomfortable.
"Language, Al! And didn't I say to stay put?" She called out over the man's whining, seeing the boy had yet to make himself seen. She only looked back at the intruders when the older one mentioned that he was only trying to help his brother, which she could admit looked like he wanted to puke. Poor boy...having such a weird guy for a brother.

Speaking of brothers, Na looked down as Alstair approached with the most uninterested face she's ever seen. It was quite adorable, if she did say so herself.
"Hey, sis. If society is really collapsing, it's ok to hit this guy until he stops talking, right?"

"Normally it would be, yes, but they look like they need some help...well at least that boy around your age does." She smiled, ruffling the boy's messy crimson locks before making her way to the two brothers. Okay, you, stop talking. You're making it hard for me to want to help you. Actually, could you go and fix the door? Leave the kid to me, alright?" Catrina frowned as she tried to separate the two before placing a hand on the boy's sweaty forehead, frowning at how warm he was. Glancing back at the brown haired man, Na spoke up again. "Is he infected? You touched him earlier so I wouldn't think so..." She questioned before asking Alistair to raid the medicine cabinet for something.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Wow, how rude." Giovanni said. "You think I'd leave my adorable little brother in the hands of people who just tried to murder me? You'r-"

However, before he could continue, he heard a sound which caused him to go pale once more, and ran to the door.

Barking.

He could hear the sound of barking.

It wasn't just the one dog, either. From the sounds of it, there were at least five, and it sounded like they weren't too far off, either.

"Hey hey hey, seriously?" He asked, nervousness entering his voice, before he ran to the javelin and pulled it out of the wall, chucking it to the girl. "Alright, you wanna help us out and live in our house? Help Nino upstairs. I'll try and get the door back in place, but you guys have to get off the ground floor now. Also, keep away from the windows, and try not to make too much noise. Also, I'm calling dibs on the room with the double bed, so keep out of it. A house like this one is sure to have had a brat or two living in it at some point, so use theirs."

He began to run over to the doorway, before turning around again.

"And for your other question, he hasn't got the plague. Most other things, but not that. And if anything bad happens to him, you're out of here, got it?"

And then he continued to the door. Thankfully, he hadn't accidentally knocked it off it's hinges, so it wouldn't require too much in the way of nails or anything. However, it was broken enough for him to know it wouldn't stay closed if he just tried to do it the normal way. Looking around for a moment, he saw a pretty large coffee table/counter… thing… and pulled it in front of the door. That would keep it closed for now, but he'd probably want to put something bigger and heavier in front of it later on.

Meanwhile, Alistair ran into the room his sister and the sleepy italian were in, his arms wrapped around the medical kit his parents always insisted on carrying around.

"Hey sis, whaddaya need?" He asked. "I've got all kinds of stu-…"

And then he noticed that, rather than being in the same room as them like he'd seemingly intended to be, the other italian, the stupid one, was pushing furniture in front of the door, a panicky expression on his face.

"Sis, whats that idiot doing?" He asked bluntly, staring at Giovanni with a look that landed somewhere between bored and utter disdain. "Does he really think something like that will stop someone busting in? And even if it did, wouldn't they just come in through the windows?"

"Hey! I get that you brats might be more interested in gossiping, but maybe you should try doing that upstairs!" Giovanni shouted to them, not actually hearing Al's words, but hearing the sound of him talking. Come on! Chop chop!"

In response, Al simply continued to stare for a few more moments, before turning to his sister again.

"Hey Na, pass me the javelin. I don't think I'll miss this time."

[Tenma Tendo]

Gosh this guy was getting really annoying, almost to the point that she wished Alistair hadn't missed the first time. This guy really thought he was in the right in all of this? Get real...however, if it helped get him to shut up then Na would roll with it. Just as she was getting use to his voice and having it act as white noise as she checked over the other boy, the sound of barking had her look over quickly. She was never a fan of dogs, or any animal, in the slightest, often relying on Al to drive them away of grab their attention so that she could be at peace.

Meeting eyes with the older man, Catrina could see the familiar sense of dread that normally came off of her when any animals were involved. Catching the javelin with ease and holding it with both hands tightly, Na furrowed her brows as she watched the man move over to the collapsed door in attempts to fix it. He was still going on about how this was his home now and that he got to choose where he slept and would let them stay if they brought Nino upstairs. It took all of Na's self restraint not to scoff and kick this guy out, but seeing that he was willing to comply under rules that didn't mean much and that kicking him out would probably mean she'd have to kick out the sick boy too, Na nodded quickly, knowing he'd have to talk to this guys once they were out of any danger.
"Yeah, sure, just hurry up okay?" There were three bedrooms in this house, that being their parents room which could go to this guy for now, and two smaller rooms that went to both herself and Al. She would give her room to the sick kid and just sleep in Al's room on the floor like she has been ever since the outbreak occurred.

Turning her attention back to said sick boy, Nino was his name apparently, Catrina pressed the javelin between her arm and her side before pressing both hands on his cheeks to have him look at her.
"Hey, can you hear me? We need to go upstairs, can you walk on your own?" She questioned, trying to get the boy to pay attention what she was saying. Instead, she got a dazed look and a slow nodded that wasn't very convincing.

Bringing her attention to Alistair who approached with the medicine kit, Na's eyes immediately moved to what the older man was doing to keep the door up.
"Sis, whats that idiot doing? Does he really think something like that will stop someone busting in? And even if it did, wouldn't they just come in through the windows?" He had a point, blocking the door with something like that wouldn't stop anyone from just bursting through. "...You're right Al, but blocking off all the windows would impossible at this point. We got his brother so let's put at least a little bit of faith in him, yeah?" She tried to explain while coaxing Nino to stand up, cringing faintly at how badly he was hallucinating, mumbling nonsense about not wanting jelly on his nonexistent sandwich.

They were almost immediately cut off by the older man telling them to hurry up.
"This is a lot harder than it looks, you know." She groaned as she wrapped her free arm around his waist and slowly began their walk to the stairs across the hall. Al's next statement had her halt her steps, bringing Nino back with her. "Let's trade. And don't be mean, he's trying to help." She scolded lightly before handing out the javelin and grabbing the medicine kit in the process. "Hold this." She prompted Nino, who managed to follow the directions. Not having enough time to worry about being sanitary, Catrina pulled out the thermometer and shoved it into the boy's mouth, mumbling quickly to keep his mouth shut before taking the kit back into her hand.

And with that, Na began the steady trek with Nino up the stairs and into her room.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Yeah, I'm sure it's quite the struggle." Giovanni grunted, as dragged the houses dining table up to the door. "Helping someone who can walk and listen to you up the stairs. It must be so much harder than dragging all these heavy inanimate objects around. You're welcome, by the way."

"Oh my god, do you ever shut up?" Al asked, exasperation in his voice as he followed his sister up the stairs.

"I don't know, do you ever do something?!" Joe shot back. "Wait, don't answer that, just shut up."

"Oh, that's i-" Al began, before he too finally heard the dogs barking. His eyes widened, as he realised just how close the barking was, and he considered just how this might all go down. Surely, dogs wouldn't be feral yet, right? Things had only collapsed in the area recently! Dogs wouldn't be hungry enough to turn on people yet!

Still, he gripped the javelin tight enough for his knuckles to turn white, frozen in place as he stared at the door.

"Maybe you weren't listening brat." Joe said, standing by the door with a terrified smile on his face. "Get. Up. Stairs."

And then he had to slam his hand over his mouth to stifle another high pitched scream, as he heard the sound of light scratching at the door, followed by the sounds of a dog whining. However, it looked like the tables were able to hold, and he slowly backed away. After doing his best to act stealthy, he made it to the stairs and crawled up them. The fact that he was humming some stupid, unrecognisable tune in a shaky voice as he crept around probably didn't help for that, but damn it, it helped him feel less afraid! Finally, he reached the top of the stairs, at which point he entered a full on dash until he reached the room the others were in, Al included.

Once he entered, he quickly shut the door, before slumping against it and letting out all of his pent up fear in a single, massive groan, sliding down to the floor.

"Haaaah… Why'd it have to be dogs that became so mean?" He sighed, before looking up to Nino and the others with tired eyes. "Hey strangers, hows it going up here? How's Nino going?"

[Tenma Tendo]

"OHMYGODBOTHOFYOUJUSTSTOPTALKING!! ANDALISTAIRGETYOURBUTTUPHERE!!!" The Irish girl snapped, her expression clearly annoyed with the both Al and the other man that her words began to slur together. This was a serious situation and both of them were being too silly for their own good; with Alistair she totally expected it, but this other guy had to at least be her age if not old and he was acting like a little kid! Fortunately, both Catrina and Nino were high enough up the stairs that neither could hear the barking coming from the lower floor. Also being a good thing was that her bedroom door had been wide open and out of use for quiet a while, so she simply slid in and let Nino lay down on top of the sheets.

Removing the thermometer from his mouth, Na could only frown at the temperature before setting it on the dresser next to the bed. She quickly got to work and began searching for the fever reducing pills, only to stop once she thought about it. She didn't know if water would be safe to drink on its own right now and the time it would take to boil would probably make Nino's fever worsen. Shaking her head a little, Na continued to look through the kit, sighing in relief at the sight of a drinkable fever reducer.

Na was grateful that Nino happened to be extremely compliant and take the medicine without even making a face, but the moment was short lived as both Alistair and the other guy hurried into the room just as she was putting away the medicine.
"Dogs have always been mean little beasts..." She murmured before moving on to more pressing matters. "Uh, fine I think. I gave him a fever reducer so he should be good after a while...oh, and it's not 'strangers' mind you. I'm Catrina and that's my little bro Alistair. This is OUR vacation home." She put emphasis in her words before narrowing her eyes. "Did the though ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe, someone lived in this house and you could knock on the door like a normal person? If anything I should kick you out right now!" Catrina ranted with an angry scowl. "What are you even doing in this area in the first place? Shouldn't you have gone to, oh I don't know, a hospital?" She then questioned, pointing to Nino, who had been looking at looking at Giovanni, noting the tired look in his eyes.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Jeez sis, languge…" Al said, a smug grin on his face. This was quickly followed by Giovanni, sitting against the door with droopy, uninterested eyes.

"Yeah sis, language." He said, a tired tone to his voice. "You can't be saying rude words live 'butts' when there are children present…"

"Hey, don't call me a damn kid!" Alistair snapped back, glaring at Joe. "I'm already twelve years old, ya dumb lump of superfluous fleshy waste!"

"Wait, seriously?" Joe asked. "I thought you were at least a teenager…"

"Oh, you son of a b-"

"ANYWAY…" Joe loudly interrupted the boy. "I always liked dogs. I'd never own one of the little monsters, but when someone else is doing all the work, they're alright."

He paused while the girl, who's name was apparently Na of all things, explained that, through some crazy leap of logic, he was the one in the wrong. Not that he didn't already know that they were probably the original owners, but damn it, it had looked uninhabited at the time, and it was such a nice house! How could he have passed it up?

He almost began to say something in response, but then she asked him why he didn't take Nino to a hospital, his mind suddenly went blank.

"A hospital." He said dumbly, staring at her in an 'are-you-serious' kind of way. "With everything that's going on, you still think I'd even consider going to a hospital? Any hospital that isn't filled with plague victims, not to mention most of 'em that are, are goddamn hellholes now. I said before, didn't I? Society is collapsing, and it's started with all the places that kept it up to begin with! Hospitals, gone. Police stations, gone. Fire stations, gone. All the fancy restaurants, shopping centres, airports, docks, and train stations, all gone."

"What?" Al asked, his eyes slowly widening. "What did you just say?"

"Yeah, weird right? No idea why people'd go for the fire stations… I mean, I get police stations, because how are you gonna spread anarchy with the police in the way, but fire stations just seem kind of like overk-"

"Oh my god, you're a fucking idiot." Alistair said, sighing into his hand. "The airport. The fucking AIRPORT! You said something happened at the airport!"

They were still there.

Mum and dad were still there.

They said they'd wait there until they could figure out which flight would be best to take, which places might be safest to travel to, and then come and get them as soon as they came to a decision.

After a moment, Giovanni's eyes widened too. He knew that look. He'd seen those eyes quite a bit over the first two weeks back in italy.

"Um, yeah…" He said slowly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Nino and I walked past an airport yesterday. It… It was bad…"

He looked as if he was planning to say more, but eventually just looked at the pair, the expression on his face saying more than words ever could.

"I'm sorry." He said finally.

[Tenma Tendo]

"...I hate the both of you." Catrina said to the two able boys in the room, her tone more playful in Al's case while it being more serious in regards to Giovanni. She was, however, grateful when the later quickly put an end to the bickering, showing that he could at least act his age when he wanted to.

"Nuh-uh, nope, all animals are spooky in some way and you know it." She chided with a small nod before she was promptly given a run down of what the outside world was looking like. Ever since they separated from their parents, Catrina made a strong effort for them not to leave the house unless it was an emergency or with their parents. So hearing that so much has already gone to shit was extremely unnerving. Giovanni had every right to tell her off at this point; he and his brother knew a lot more then she could ever...

It wasn't until's Al's little outburst that it finally dawned on Na what probably transpired. What felt like invisible weights began pushing down on her shoulders, forcing her chest to tighten involuntarily. All she needed was one look from Giovanni to know what to expect. Complete crestfallen, mixed with an indescribable despairing look, Na began biting on her fingers, almost as if she couldn't control it. It hurt like hell, but it definitely felt better to feel pain then to feel whatever she was a few seconds prior.
"We...w-we need to find some p-place s-safer. W-We c-can't live here on o-our own. B-But...we c-can't...I-I c-can't..." Na couldn't hide the now heavy stutter in her words as heart began to beat wildly in her ears, knowing that what she was saying is pretty impossible if Giovanni observations were true; heck, they probably wouldn't even be here if he was wrong.

At this point Catrina was biting on her fingers so hard, they began to bruise and draw a bit of blood, tears quickly welling in her eyes, but she didn't seem to care. The only thing on her mind was how she was gonna take care of Alistair by herself. She could babysit, yeah, but take care of a human being on her own? She'd have to try for her brother's sake.
"Wh-What about Italy? H-How bad was...i-is it?" Catrina questioned, her eyes hidden by her bangs as she stared hard at the ground, forcing Al to sit next to her once she looked back up.

[Rabidporcupine]

Giovanni didn't speak for a moment, staring out the window with a distant expression.

"How bad was Italy?" He finally asked, a bitter smile on his face. "Why do you think I dragged my sick little brother through the alps? That place, I don't think it could even be called Italy anymore. It'd be more accurate to say… I guess the best name is just Hell. It's Hell."

He got up and walked to the window, looking outside at the surrounding area.

"You're pretty smart for home invaders." He sighed, staring in the direction of the city. Already, he could see the smoke rising. "From the ground, this place looked pretty good, but now I think we might still be too close to the city. But we can't leave today. The sun'll set soon, and we don't wanna be outside in the dark with those dogs around. We'll leave tomorrow. As soon as the suns up. Until then, we should probably prepare. Get the curtains closed, and then collect as much food as we can. When it gets too dark, use candles for light. Hopefully it should make it easier to keep light from getting through the curtains."

And then he squinted for a moment, looking downwards, before sighing again, this time in apparent relief.

"Alright, I can see the dogs. They're heading away from here, so we should be alright for now. Do you two have any backpacks here? And sewing stuff?"

As Giovanni spoke, Al simply sat in place, staring blankly into space.

They were really gone? Like, forever? How? They might have made some dumb decisions from time to time, but surely they would've escaped before… Before…

As he thought, he noticed his vision grow blurry, and quickly stood up.

"Sorry sis, I've gotta do some stuff in my room. Alone. I'll be back a little later, ok?"

And then he abruptly left the room, heading down the corridor to his own, and broke down, sobbing into his pillow.

Meanwhile, back in Catrina's room, Joe watched the boy leave, and quickly turned back to her.

"Hey, I reckon I know what you're thinking, but don't follow him." He said. "He's at that difficult age where boys will spend hours in their rooms doing god knows what, and I'm sure he won't want his sister to barge in on him while he's doing it. So just let him get it out of his system now, while he's still got a room to do it in."

[Tenma Tendo]

Despite thinking Giovanni was such a sleaze upon the first encounter, seeing where he came from and putting his brother in such such a dangerous position, she couldn't help but congratulate the guy for making the right call. Even imagining what Italy was like in her state of mind was hard to do...how could she imagine a place like Hell, let alone living in it?

Catrina suppressed a scoff bubbling in her chest when Giovanni compliments their choice of housing, but before she could comment on his words, what he had to say next had the redhead look up with wide, teary eyes.
"W-We..?" She whispered, her tone shocked and hushed. "You'll s-stay with us? R-Really?" She continued before nodding dumbly at the rest of his questions. Knowing her parents, there had to be at least a few backpacks and a sewing kit lying around in case someone's clothes teared.

The redhead was startled when suddenly Alistair stood up, claiming he needed to do something alone before hurrying off without a response in return.
"Wait, A-Al..." Na slowly shuffled up to her knees in attempts to hurry after the boy, but before she could get to her feet, Giovanni stopped her. It sounded like he was talking from experience whether it be him or someone else.

Shaking her head quickly to try and focus, Catrina hurried out of her room, murmuring that she'd look for everything he asked for. As she passed any windows, Na shakily pulled at the curtains. She wasted no time collecting four medium sized backpacks, a sewing kit, non-perishable foods, and even some blankets. What had her stumped was the meat, protein and other perishable foods that would go to waste if they just left it all here. Her eyes moved to the stove wearily before looking back at the open fridge.

Meanwhile, Nino remained rested on his back, looking at Giovanni with a small frown.
"...You should go help her." He sighed out, pulling his hoodie collar up to wipe the sweat forming on his face.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Yeah, well, it's probably for the best if we do." Joe said. "Safety in numbers and all that. More chance Nino and I will survive with two extra targets. One in four versus one in two. Also more eyes, and more hands to work with."

When she left, he returned to watching Nino. He frowned when Nino told him to help Na, before grabbing Nino's hand.

"Whoa, wait!" He said. "Don't use your hoodie. The qualities too good for that."

And then he walked over to the draw, pulled out a shirt that clearly belonged to Catrina, and handed it to Nino.

"Here, use this. It's not as nice, and it looks like it could soak the sweat up better. And alright, but be careful. If anyone knocks on the door, tell them to go away."

Then he walked out and down to the kitchen, seeing Catrina.

"Alright." He said, clapping his hands together as he walked over to the fridge. "What've we got? More importantly, how much meat! I hunger, and I suggest, nay, demand a feast made with the food we can't carry."

[Tenma Tendo]

Nino unconsciously flinched when Giovanni forced his hand to a grinding halt and told him not to wipe his face off with the inside of his hood. He tried to give the other the most questionable look a sick person could when he was instead given a female's shirt to wipe down his face. Knowing he had no room to argue and that if he didn't do it then Giovanni would probably do it himself, Nino nodded guiltily, patting down his forehead and cheeks with an embarrassed frown. Hopefully Catrina wouldn't mind...

Glad that Joe was compliant in helping their new allies, Nino watched as he took his leave, nodding silently to his words before closing his eyes and attempting to get at least a hour or so of sleep before they were forced to move on.

---

Still looking at the contents of the fridge, Catrina placed a hand under her chin, apparently deep in thought. This moment of concentration was quickly lost when she looked over at the sound of clapping.
"I thought you were gonna stay with Nino." She mused before hearing out what he had in mind. Was a feast really the right way to go? They're in the middle of a pretty bad situation, and received pretty bad news a few minutes prior...a feast just felt too festive. However, they would be wasting a lot of food otherwise.

"Um...sure. I think there's enough to make meatloaf and I guess a stew on the side? There's also some eggs too we could hard boil?" She said, scooting over slightly so that Giovanni to have a look inside the fridge. "B-But I don't know how to make any of it by myself. Usually my mo--" Na cut herself off before lowering her head, a shaky sigh escaping her mouth before she silently proceeded to pull out all the ingredients they could probably use.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Whoa whoa, what?" Joe asked, a condescending expression on his face. "You wanna boil the eggs tonight? You're a madwoman. We'll stick the eggs in the freezer, take 'em out in the morning, and I'll make an insulated bag we can keep 'em in. I might also be able to make some jerky in the oven, but I'm gonna need soy sauce, paprika, and aluminium foil. In fact, I'll need that to make the bag too."

He also looked into the fridge.

"Oh… my god… You were gonna turn lamb shanks into meatloaf? You people are animals! Which is why, as of now, I'll be calling you Cat. Also because I think it will be funny. Anyway, I'm gonna sort all this out, and you… You take some time to calm down. Actually help me find the stuff I asked for, and then take a break. Because your brother's in his room, and mines in yours, you can borrow my room. I'll call you after this… oh, probably two to three hour timeskip is over, so in the meantime, just keep out of the kitchen. Please. I'm legitimately terrified of what you may create. Bad at cooking is your newest character trait as of today. I'm calling it now. Now let's get started!"

[Tenma Tendo]

Catrina glared at Giovanni, her expression showing how much she really cared about what they did with the eggs or not.
"Sure, I guess." She mumbled, knowing she didn't know any better when it came to these things. As she let the other gaze into the fridge, Na felt her face turn red out of embarrassment. Was it really that bad to make a meatloaf out of those things? "C-Cat?" She spluttered, the audacity of this man becoming a little too much for her. Just as the thought crossed her mind to go and grab the javelin in her room, Na was halted when Giovanni told her to go and relax. She proceeded to grab the things he asked for while he spoke, cringing at how nice and rude he could be at the same time.

"Geez, do you realize how insufferable you are? Insufferable is your newest character trait as of today. I'm calling it now." She mocked the other towards the end as she made her way out of the kitchen. He did have a point about her terrible cooking skills, but she would never say something like that out loud.

Seeing that she only had to stay out of the kitchen and going into her parents room wouldn't be good for her sanity, Na moved to the living room and plopped herself down, forcing herself to sleep despite her proactive mind fighting against it.

[Rabidporcupine]

"You see, here I am, making you a feast, and you turn around and bite the literal hand that feeds you." Joe said with an exaggerated sigh. "It's a sad day when the youth is so rude... And also you're too late, Nino called it years ago!"

As he gathered up all the ingredients he planned to use for his feast, he looked up, remembering something else.

"Hey, if you feel better later, you should grab any plastic bottles you find, or just any bottle that has a lid! We'll wanna keep a good supply while we're traveling! And close the curtains in every room you enter! We don't wanna be targeted yet!"

And with that said, he got to work.

---

THREE HOURS LATER

After a solid three hours of working, Giovanni had finished cooking the lamb, and he did a rather wonderful job, if he did say so himself. He'd also roasted some of the other, more perishable vegetables at the same time, so all in all, it seemed like morale could be high when they left!

Pleased with his work, he found Na.

"Ok, foods ready." He said, a lazy grin on his face. "Take a shank and some vegetables for you and the imp that was following you around, and then go upstairs. It's probably safer up there. I'll grab two for Nino and I, so there's one for each of you. Just don't get used to it, because this is probably the last you'll see of food like this for a while."

And then he filled up a pair of plates and carried them upstairs. Pushing the door open with his foot, he walked in and placed one of them next to his pale stepbrother.

"Hey Nino, are you ready for some actual food?" He asked.

[Tenma Tendo]

After only managing to get an hour of light sleep before being roused by the noises in the kitchen, Na was up and moving again, closing curtains and shuffling around for bottles of varying sizes and shapes. Most of them were in the kitchen, and since she 'wasn't allowed to go in until he was finished', she put all the bottles in the living room. Her last stop before being called down by Giovanni, was her own room.

Knocking quietly on the door and waiting patiently for a few seconds in case there was some kind of response, Catrina pulled the door open and took a peek inside. Nino was still laying on his back eyes closed. There was some type of cloth in one of his hands, but the girl didn't pay any mind to it as she quietly moved over to her closet and took out a few pairs of clothing; not enough to be excessive, but just something in case she needed to change. She was soon halted by Giovanni who told her that the food was ready and proceeded to follow him back downstairs.
"Yeah, I understand. Oh and my little brother wouldn't take kindly to being called an 'imp', unless you want to become a shish kebab." She mused going through the motions and inwardly praising the brown haired man for his culinary skills before following Giovanni upstairs, stopping in front of Alistair's room with a frown.

Na stood there for about thirty seconds before finally willing herself on to hitting her foot on the door as both hands were occupied.
"Al? You awake in there, dear?" She questioned before quickly continuing. "I got some food here, come out so that we can go and eat with the others." Na couldn't hide how worried she sounded, but still stepped back and patiently waited for the younger boy to come out.

---

Nino had been fast asleep until the sound of the door opening and the smell of food got his attention. Bleary eyes opened sleepily as he let out and involuntary yawn, stretching in the process. Too dazed to respond to what his brother had said, Nino forced himself up to a sitting position before giving the other a dopey smile.
"You made something? Th-That's cool..." His throat was clearly dry judging by his cracking voice, but that didn't stop him from continuing to speak. "I hope it didn't take too long to make. What time is it anyways?" He blinked, his body and mind still half asleep as he looked around curiously. Judging by his complexion, it looked like that medicine did the trick, as Nino's originally rosy face shift back to its normal pale complexion. Looking back at Giovanni, the ombre haired teen smiled gratefully before take taking quiet pecks here and there of his lamb shank.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Don't call me 'dear'." Al said, lying on his bed and staring up at the roof. "It makes you sound like you're trying to be mum, and none of us want to go down that route."

He grimaced when he heard she had food.

"Yeah, I think I'll give it a skip. I'd rather not die young, and no offence, but your food's a fast track to becoming a statistic in all this."

However, he paused when he noticed that, against all odds, whatever she was holding actually smelled kind of... good. Slowly, almost suspiciously, he opened the door, staring down at the plates in her hand.

"What... What is this? How did you do this? Did it really take the world ending to make you better at cooking?"

---

"Nah, not too long at all." Joe said, sitting beside him on the bed. "I mean, as long as you don't consider three hours too long. And it's about... I didn't look at the clock, so I'm just gonna say evening. It's about evening."

His brow creased slightly in worry.

"You want me to get you some water?"

[Tenma Tendo]

Catrina relaxed her shoulders when she heard the oh so familiar voice muffled slightly by the door, only to tense back up at what he said. Dear? Really? Clearly unaware that she let something like that slip out, Na was about to apologize, but she was eventually silenced when Al proceeded to bash her cooking. Well...at least he was sounding like himself again Na took the blow to her self esteem with pride as she watched the other cautiously open the door, almost as if a bomb was going to explode if he did it too quickly.

Taking a few more hits to her pride, Na lowered her gaze before handing him a plate, her eyes stealing a quick glance to her room before looking back at Al.
"Believe it or not, but he made it. Honestly, do you really think I could have made something like this even with what's going on?" She frowned almost immediately after, realizing she just bashed her own cooking. "Just eat it. It'll probably be the last good meal we have for a while..." She mumbled before letting out a defeated sigh and made her way to her room.

---

Nino looked over at Giovanni with an incredulous look.
"...That's a really long time, B-Brother." He croaked out. Judging by his tone, he probably wanted to imply that he was yelling this out, but who knows. Now taking bigger bites, realizing how much work Giovanni must have put into this, Nino simply nodded when the other mentioned it was evening. He couldn't tell how long he had been sleeping, but if was still evening that that meant a few more hours in this bed, which was always a good thing.

Nino visibly flinched away when Giovanni mentioned getting him some water.
"I-I'm good, don't w-worry about i-it..." He said, almost too quickly. He remembered back at home what it was like when he wanted anything to drink during the beginnings of the outbreak, and what if the water was going bad? That would just give Giovanni another reason to worry about him, that's what. Immediately losing his appetite as the thought crossed his mind, Nino set his plate beside him, rubbing together his trembling hands as thoughts and memories of the past tried to enter his mind.

[Rabidporcupine]

"Hey hey, what're you doing?" Joe asked, his concerned expression growing a little heavier when Nino pushed the food away. "Don't stop eating. This is the best we'll get for a while, so you need to eat this."

He sighed, placing a hand on his stepbrothers shoulder.

"Listen, if you're not eating because you're worried about getting sick or something, don't be. Just think how much sicker you might get if your body doesn't have enough nutrients. And if that's why you're worried about the water, don't be. They had some bottled water in the fridge."

---

Meanwhile, Al stared suspiciously at his sister.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with not." He said. "I'd much rather think that you've suddenly gotten good at cooking than that that idiot ever was."

Still, he ended up stepping out of the room, glaring down at the dash as if it had insulted him.

"Anyway, whaddaya even mean by this being the last decent meal for a while?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Its not like he gets to stay and we have to leave, just kick him out and we'll hunker down! Hell, his brother can even stay, so long as he stays quiet!"