As Aries looked through the shattered and serrated window panes of the old wood cabin she took harbor in, she could not only see the electrifying light show taking place, she could also hear its rattling strike. She muttered a not-so-polite curse under her breath before turning and looking away. Last time there was a storm this big, the roof of the old place not only began to leak more, but the old haggard trees started falling one after another. The place she had taken refuge in for over three months, she now deemed too unsafe to live in, as she was afraid trees would start falling onto the house, causing some of the pieces of wood that the lodge was built of to end up falling on her, that in return, kills her.
The elderly cabin was about an hour away from London, and was surrounded by a dark green forest. How she found this place, was by pure luck. She had gone to go hunting from more animal meat, when in the woods she stumbled upon a man made trail. She had nothing to go on but optimism from what was to appear at the end of it, but she followed her intuition and trudged along it. About an hour later, she stumbled upon the formerly family owned abode. Deciding to stay there was a rapid and painless verdict. When she entered the log cabin, there was no indication of any carcasses. It was a secure bet to say that it was unlikely she would be contaminated by the disease here; then again she didn’t really care if she caught it or not.
Aires considers herself a walking opposition. She fears both existence and death, but then at the same time she couldn’t care less if she lived or died. Yet, it was always like that even before that grave disease starting wiping out mankind as if it were a pesky fly. She was always a sadder child. She wasn’t depressed, but she had always felt neglected by her peers and parents. She was a very anti-social person, the only person she would ever actually find herself talking to was her baby brother Luka. She protected him from the world, as her parents did not. The Wolfe family wasn’t essentially a wealthy family but they were pretty well off, as Aires parents were pretty established business people. So established they had no time for their kids. Her brother had Cystic Fibrosis, a disease where fluid would jam up the lungs making it complicated for the person to breath. His case wasn’t as dreadful as for him to have to carry around an oxygen tank as some others did, but he was always hopped up to some type of medicine, and always had some sort of tube on him whenever he slept. His life expectancy was around twenty years of age, but he died when he was ten when he was one of the first people In London to seize the illness. It struck him pretty hard and fast too, as he could catch any bug within a matter of seconds with his immune system being so poor. When her parents had figured out what he had caught, they didn’t even second guess what course of action they would take. They kicked him out of the house. Aires fought, screamed, swore, and thrashed at her parents, and ended up leaving the house trying to find him. She didn’t come back until a couple of days later, after searching the whole city without getting a wink of sleep trying to find his body. It was about a month after that, that he parents died of the virus. Aries from that point found it hard to find anyone alive, as she moved from place to place in London. All she carried around with her was a couple of carved arrows and a carved bow, a patched and torn backpack filled with a couple of random things she figures might come in handy that she took from abandoned houses, her beaten up acoustic guitar, and a dagger she has on a small sheath on her right thigh. She just goes by now, trying to survive. Yet she’s not careful at the same time. If she were to get the disease at this point, whether it be from eating a bad piece of meat, or attaining it from a corpse, she wouldn’t care as she is already so broken and torn to give a damn.
Picking up her bag off the floor, she slung it on her back, adjusting the straps so it hung a little looser so she could also sling her bow across her back without it being too uncomfortable, in which she did also. Making her way into the kitchen, she opened up the cupboards where she grabbed the last bit of fresh meat she had from her last hunting excursion, and a couple of harmless berries she had found. Packing them up with the rest of her little belongings, she pulled the hood of her thick, but torn, army green coat over her head and pushed back her long shadowy brunette hair. Walking towards the broken hinged, swinging door, she scooped up her guitar in her hand, and made her way out of the cabin. The ground beneath her feet was turned to marsh, as she made her way into the forest area, where she soon found the muddy trail. She sauntered along, looking out for any animals that could try an attack her, but they must have all gone away, trying to shelter themselves from the storm. Aries sustained on, the heavy rain and cackling thunder becoming a sort of soundtrack to her boring hour long journey to the forsaken city that she used to call home.
She was glad that in the woods area it was extremely rare to find a dead body, as it disturbed her utterly. Not because that it was a decaying mass of what used to be a living, breathing individual, but of the fact that she always had a spark of hope that the body might be her brothers. The truth is, Aries when she sleeps, has extremely gore filled, disturbing nightmares about her brother and his death, that all ends up being on her hands. She tries going days on end without sleeping, just to avoid the dreams, and in return, she ends up being very sleep deprived most of the time, and that doesn’t help her energy levels.
A yawn escaped her mouth, and if trying to occupy herself to thrive on, she started humming a small tune under her soft breath, and as if almost by cue, she found herself stepping off the trail, and onto a dirt road. “About fifteen more minutes until the city.” She groaned tiredly under her breath, before continuing along, glad by the knowledge that soon she’d find a new place, hopefully one that’s not leaking.
Aries stopped humming as her large soled boots scuffed a cracked concrete paved road, signalling her that she finally arrived in London. That wasn’t the only signal though, as she was suddenly overwhelmed by the sight and smell of rotting body’s. “I have to get off the main road.” She slurred to herself, knowing that if she did so, she would run into less off the body’s. Aries brought herself to a small jog, still clutching her guitar for dear life in her hand. As she hit a street block, she slowed down and continued walking, trying to find a good place of shelter to settle in to.
As she walked along, her brown eyes caught hold of a large, abandoned looking warehouse. It was rather small, and not fenced off so it was pretty accessible. Walking into the warehouse, she knew it was only good for a temporary stay inside, but figured it would be best to get out of the rain for now. Dropping her bag beside her and pushing the hood off her head, she sat down, still keeping her bow slung on her back. As she settled down, she sighed in relief, and began strumming her guitar quietly, humming softly along to the tune.