Same Crap Different Day

[Aaron Voegele]

"Right you are, you know, it's funny. The world didn't end with a bang, it ended with a whimper," He felt he was right about that; humanity really didn't put up a fight, it was as if the majority had asked for what had happened. In a world of such loathing, you needed wolves, not sheep and most were sheep it seemed, as they lied down and accepted their fates. Aaron felt that he was destined for something different, he was a Wolf. "Now, we are painters and we must make this mess that we live in a masterpiece. Here even the strongest fall to their knees and frankly I refuse to lay down." He told her, he really couldn't afford to, there was to much at stake, the world was at stake.

Aaron listened as she agreed with him about helping each other out. "People now are only interested in what they can do for themselves, not really much different than how it was before, but now they are willing to kill for it. I have found that in peoples desperation they turn to things they don't fully understand, and that really just fucks shit up. There blinding ignorance is almost laughable," he had to let out a chuckle because of how true what he was saying actually was. "Your father seems like he was a smart man, I would have like to meet him."

Then he saw the sadness in her eyes after he had asked his question, she was looking for her brother, what a coincidence, but in Aaron's experience there was no such thing as coincidence, they had met for a reason. Maybe that reason was they were meant to find each other, maybe they met because in time they would need each other, making life worth living, even in this Dead World. "I am fine with that, its better to have someone else to talk to if you stay up late." he replied.

He looked at her when she asked him his plans, "Well its strange...I happen to be looking for my brother also and I also have no idea if he is still alive, if he is I don't know where he could be, but I am going to continue looking, though I learned early on that hope can either make or break you."

Suddenly there was a loud bang, it was a gunshot. "Hear that?" Quickly Aaron grabbed his gun from the side of the couch and ran to the door and unlocked it. "Moment of truth, hopefully its Johnny." It was like clockwork after he said that Johnny came rushing in the door panting. "Aaron? What the hell are you doing here?" he asked in surprise. Aaron laughed "Well I was looking for you. Why is this a bad time?" Johnny just sighed and nodded, "Well shut the damn door before more of those things come!" He exclaimed, and Aaron obliged, he locked up the door and went back to the couch. "By the way Johnny, this is my friend Kaci. Kaci this is Johnny." He said introducing the two, the grizzled old man straightened to his full height of 5'11" and beamed her with with his green hues. "Nice to meet you," He stuck a hand out for a shake, "Watch out for him, he can be quite the handful, if you know what I mean," He said smiling winking at Kaci.

[Kaci Denvers]

Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked over at Aaron with a nod of her head, “Its surprising, the human race puts up enough of a stink as it is, but this comes at us and we just lay down and let it happen” She shook her head, a slight form of disgust crossing her features as she let out a breath. She had seen the worse of the worse when it came to the human race, and she had seen the best of the best as well, and she had seen fight, she had seen them stand up and take a stand and she seen them never back down. Something though that they didn’t understand came at them and they just gave up, they didn’t even try and stop it. Aaron was right, the human race didn’t go out on a bang the way it was meant to, but with a cowards whimper.

Nodding her head at him she let out a deep breath, her eyes twinkling “Only the strong will survive and all that crap. Make this world into something it wasn’t before” Shrugging her shoulders ever so slightly she let out a slow breath. Heaving in a breath she slowly nodded her head “Its depressing if you ask me. We should be helping each other, not risking everything to get one up. If we helped each other, maybe more people would be alive” Sighing to herself she shook her head slightly. Maybe then people she cared about would still be alive, maybe other people would still be alive.

“He was. He was pretty damn amazing” She smiled, not quiet reaching her eyes and she shifted her attention somewhere over his shoulders so she could ensure her mask was firmly back in place. She wasn’t going to let emotion cloud her vision, she wasn’t about to break down in front of this man. No, she was going to be strong because tears at the end of the world didn’t change anything. It didn’t bring your loved ones back. It didn’t chance anything. Letting out a deep breath she brought her gaze back to Aaron.

Letting out a deep breath she smiled chuckling slightly “I haven’t seen him since I was 14. Honestly I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look. He sent me a couple of lets here and then when I moved in with my father” She snapped her mouth closed, got she couldn’t believe she was spilling so much information to a man that she hardly knew. She never opened up to someone and if this guy was smart he was going to start connecting dots very soon and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want anyone connecting the dots, cus that brought forward questions.

Her blue hues lifted and she looked him squarely in the eye, “If we don’t have hope Aaron what else is going to keep us alive” She whispered softly, a slight curve of her lips as she looked over at him. The moment was broken by the sound of a gunshot echoing through the building. Snapping her gaze to the side, her hand was on her weapon in seconds and she was moving behind him as he opened the door. An oldish man rushed into the room and she let out a breath, slowly lowering her weapon and returning it to where it had been moments before. Taking his hand she offered him a firm handshake, “Pleasure….heard a lot about you” She stated with a smile.

Looking over at Aaron she shook her head slightly “Ill leave you guys to talk or whatever, im gonna go get cleaned up” Stepping in the direction of the bathroom she locked herself in for a moment, her back pressing against the door. She came out ten minuets later, her hair slightly damp, she wasn’t foolish enough to have a full bath so she should had done what she could. Shifting her gaze over from Aaron and then to Johnny she let out a breath and moved to lean against a wall.

[Aaron Voegele]

"You are completely right, more of us would be alive if that were the case...Alas it is not. It says in the Book; 'Do more for others than you do for yourself' people lost that philosophy long ago, and yes it is quite depressing. Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were taken, for the dust that we are... and to the dust we shall return. I would say this scourge makes that true, we will all eventually die, and if these lands are dominated by ghouls and no human remains, they will wither into dust. Though the time for hoping and praying is long past, it is time to act." He didn't try to go all scripture on Kaci but he couldn't help it, it fit so well in these times.

Aaron saw her turn away when replying about her father. He let out a smirk, "You aren't as hard as you let off are you?" He chuckled, he thought that her cold exterior was just a mask, though he had seen nothing to validate it. He listened to her talk about her brother, and he met her gaze, "Are you angry at him?" He asked, hoping he didn't overstep his bounds.

After Johnny had made it to the room and they had all met, Kaci rushed out of the room to leave them to their business. "You sure have found a pretty one there Aaron, how did you meet her?" Johnny prodded nosily. He told Johnny about the bar in Westport and how they had just met, Johnny told Aaron to be wary of the newcomer and recollected some of Aaron's past experiences with the ladies. Then the talk got more serious than just friendly banter and catching up.

"I need to know something Johnny," Aaron stated flatly, Johnny gave him a questionable look. "What? What do you need to know?" "Johnny, I need to know if you have seen Cameron." Aaron told him, Johnny dug in his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "This is from him, he said he was going to Tulsa, I guess you have family there? Anyway he told me to give this to you if I saw you," the excitement flowed out of Aaron so much that he snatched the paper and read what it said 'Aaron, if you are reading this then obviously you are still alive, I went to Tulsa, where the wild things are.' Aaron thought for a second. Where the wild things are? It clicked almost as soon as he thought about it, he was talking about a magic mushroom farm his family had, he knew where he was going. "Thanks Johnny, thank you so much, by the way, I owe you a table." he said, then running to find Kaci. "Kaci I know where I'm going! I know where my brother is!" He exclaimed, he only hoped that they wouldn't have to part ways because of her having to find her brother also.

[Kaci Denvers]

Kaci was never one for the scripture. She wasn’t a believer like her father had been. She picked up a thing or two, little things here and there, nothing to fancy, but she knew what Aaron was speaking of. “Some people will do good to remember that” She stated, shrugging a shoulder ever so slightly. Sighing to herself she shook her head. “Funny we were warned about this, all those religious nut jobs out there you would have thought they’d have prepared for a time like this. Kind of makes you wonder if they didn’t have as much faith as we were led to believe” She stated looking over at him, her blue eyes sparkling as another sigh fell from her lips. It was odd, all of this and shit like that, and no one was prepared not one person.

“Im harder than I let people believe” She stated as she looked over at him with a twinkle in her eye, the corners of her lips quirking into a smile. A deep sigh fell from her lips and the smile fell from her lips. Slowly letting out a deep breath she nodded her head. “Yea, yea I am” She stated gently. She didn’t often think of her brother, nor her anger towards her brother, but it was there, and it had always been there. “He left when I was 14, joined the military. He should have er” She scrubbed the back of her neck letting out a deep breath, “Took me with him, done something else but he left me there” She muttered lowering her gaze away from him. She snapped her attention over to the door as his friend Johnny came in, and she was quickly excusing herself.

Returning from the bathroom she snapped her gaze over to Aaron smiling brightly “That’s….thats great” She muttered with a smile. Letting out a deep breath and licking her lips she smiled “Seriously Aaron that is fantastic” She stated gently. Heaving in a breath she looked around the room, her gaze shifting over towards Johnny before turning her gaze back over towards Aaron. “So when you are leaving?” She questioned with a raise of her brow. Wait was that a hint of sadness. No that was damn impossible because she didn’t do sadness, didn’t do regret, nor hope.

Licking her lips slightly she brushed a hand through her hair, nodding her head ever so slightly “I hope you find him Aaron.” She muttered with a smile. Snapping her gaze over towards the front door her brow furrowed ever so slightly, “You guys hear that?” She questioned gently her fingers reaching for her gun. Pulling it out of the waist band of her jeans and slowly moving towards the door. “We got company”

[Aaron Voegele]

"Well I am going to leave soon, you aren't coming with me? I am going to need someone to go with, Johnny will end up staying here, I will help you find your brother, hell, who knows maybe we find him on the way." Aaron didn't want to go alone, he didn't think he could, he figured he would end up dying. Kaci heard something at the door, it was infected, "Yeah I heard it."

Johnny was already at the door gun in hand, standing by the door. The infected had already smashed in the door and were working their way in, Aaron could see their hands reaching out for something to grab. "Hey Johnny do you have a shot gun?" Aaron asked with an idea, he was going to put the barrel of the gun through the hole in the door and unload a few shells to the group of zombies outside. "Yeah I have one," he said pointing to the couch. Aaron lifted up a cushion and saw a .12 gauge pump action shotgun nested under it.

Aaron grabbed the shotgun, putting the barrel through the door he fired, there was many ghouls outside but he hit a few in the face. He fired again and killed two, it also stopped them from busting down the door and rushing in. Aaron put the gun on the couch and grabbed his carbine. "You two need to get out of here now!" Yelled Johnny, a hand reached through the door and scratched his neck. "Johnny!" exclaimed Aaron. "Go! I'm done for, they scratched me, and Ill be damned if they get to also, now get the fuck out of here!" Sadness struck Aaron's heart but he knew there was no helping Johnny so he turned to Kaci. "He's right we have to get out of here, and it looks like you have no choice but to go with me." He said walking to the window with the lightly set wood planks.

[Kaci Denvers]

Blue eyes lifted to meet that of Aaron her brow quirking ever so slightly. She shouldn’t have been putting so much faith in the male before her. There was so much chance that he could die. If she got to close? Losing him would be too much to bare. She had taken out her own father, her sister was gone, and her brother was god knows where. She didn’t think she could bare getting attached to someone else and then losing them as well. “Didn’t think you’d want me along” She muttered with a small shrug of her shoulders. They were after all strangers. He had helped save her life though by pushing her back in that bar. He had led her here, he had kept the infected of her, but strangers none the less. The idea of finding her brother though, of possibly finding his brother, it was something she needed to do, it was the one thing that kept her going these days. It was hope. They needed that, they needed hope. If they didn’t have hope they didn’t have anything.

Noise draw her attention, and she snapped her gaze to the side, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. Looked like they just couldn’t catch a break. Johnny was already on it though, rushing over to the door, and all hell broke loose, and everything went to the shit. The door splintered enough for the infected to get their hands in “Johnny move it” She yelled her hand pulling fourth her weapon, the safety of in seconds and she was pointing at the door, but with Johnny in the way there was no way she would be able to get a clean shot at any of the infected. Muttering a curse her gaze snapped over towards Aaron, god she hated feeling so useless but they all seemed to have things under hand.

“Johnny?” His name fell from her lips in a gasp as the blood gushed from the wound that the infected had created, shaking her head she muttered a curse. There was no helping Johnny any more, and there was no way those infected were staying out of the apartment. Shaking her head ever so slightly she nodded her head at Aaron and was already rushed over towards the window. Using her fingers to pry apart the wood that covered the windows, she pushed the window up and was pulling herself out of the window.

Infected, everywhere. Muttering another silent curse she shifted into a stance, and took aim, three shots fired, three infected dead. Her gaze shifted over towards Aaron, letting out a deep breath she fired once again another infected hitting the floor. “Any idea where the hell we’re heading?” She questioned over her shoulder.

[Aaron Voegele]

Aaron laughed at her comment, "Well you have proven to be trustable, capable, and overall a great companion. Plus I'm sure you don't want to go it alone again do you? I sure as hell don't want to." He couldn't feel stronger about that, in this world being alone was one of the worst possible things you could be.

After everything transpired: Johnny's death, Aaron's sadness, and them trying to leave, Kaci asked Aaron if they knew where they were going. "Thankfully I do know where we are going, we need to stick to the freeway, Highway 71 to be exact, I know some country back roads that can take us to where we need to go." He said, though they were in Westport it was quite far from Tulsa Oklahoma, but it with Aaron knowing the shortest way there it should be an easy ride. Well, considering the standards set before them nothing was easy, but this journey should be easier than most. He ran from the apartment to the safest place he could find, it was an old abandoned apartment building. Aaron knew it hadn't seen use is some years so it should be zombie free. He decided to break in and sure enough it was, nothing was there but dust and spiders.

"I know how to navigate from here to Tulsa, its going to be a far journey, but, I know the quickest route and hopefully its not filled with zombies, though I doubt it will be because it was one of the less traveled roads, most people use the highways, but I used back roads, it will dump us in Collinsville; 10 miles from Tulsa. Due to its low level of usage we will be able to use a vehicle most of the way if we can find one. Considering all the abandoned cars on the highways we shouldn't have much of a problem." He explained, it would be a long journey and they would have to find more supplies but if they could get everything together they would survive this.

[Kaci Denvers]

Aaron was right, she didn’t want to be alone anymore. Kaci wasn’t the type of person who wanted, nor needed to rely on anyone else. She was the type of person who took care of herself, because she knew no one else would. Kaci was the type of person who took the hard hits, and dealt the hard hits. This world wasn’t the world she had grown up in, this wasn’t the world filled with people you couldn’t trust, people that hurt you. No this was a world filled with undead humans, who were trying to kill you, infected who couldn’t stay dead. Humans were trying to survive day to day, some worked with others, others tried to take you out just so they could survive. It wasn’t a life she wanted to be apart of, but she was, but it didn’t mean she had to do it alone. Blue eyes sparkled as she looked at Aaron and she offered him a tight smile.

When things went south then went that way quickly and whether she was going with him or not, she was leaving with him now. Jumping out of the window she had no choice to follow him. Well she did, but she wasn’t turning and leaving him. Right now they needed each other and they were going to stick together. Looking over at him she nodded her head “Im sure we’ll find some supplies somewhere” She stated as she followed him to the apartment building. It was empty, thankfully, and it seemed they were far enough from the main part so that none of the infected were going to find them.

“I think we should stick here for the night” She stated gently looking over towards him. She hadn’t known Johnny, but knowing he had sacrificed himself so that the pair of them could get out of the apartment building. That was something. Aaron though, they had known each other for a long time, watching your friend go out like that? There was nothing like it. She had watched her own friend, and her father go out like that, she had a hand in their deaths, it weighed heavily on her every single day, and watching that brought it back to the forefront of her mind.

Securing the front door she slowly lowered her bag to the ground, bent over and pulled out the glasses. She placed the first one directly in front of the door, and then the next two a little further away. Anyone came through that door the glass was going to shatter and it was going to wake her the hell up. That was if she got any sleep. If they were going to be travelling they were going to need it. Heaving in a deep breath she picked up the bag once more and headed back over towards Aaron. “How you holding up?” She questioned softly, her hand reaching out and smoothing over his arm. Blue eyes lifted to look at him, “You should really go rest, ill take the first watch” She whispered softly.