chasing refuge (Patricia)

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At the sudden sight of a healthy German Shephard sprinting from one of the apartments he turned the dangerous edge of the blade downwards in a gesture to calm the snarling canine. He hardly expected to see the young girl that followed, he would have like to believe the innocent charm to her gaze was authentic but even with the world gone to shit in only two months, evil dominated even more than the simple idea of monsters eating the living. People gave in to dark temptations they hardly ever dared think of when the world was still whole and only inching towards the edge of chaos.



He stepped back just a bit but he didn’t want to risk putting away his defense, even if he was confident he could wrestle her makeshift weapon from her if it came down to a struggle. His biggest worry was having control over a situation when there was a risk of getting his flesh torn apart by sharp canines. “It doesn’t matter, I’m just passing through”, he didn’t’ want to confess the dire need to rest his tired, red tinted eyes in the hopes of feeling better than he had for the majority of nearly two weeks. Sleep was hard to come by because safety was a rare gift that barely anyone knew anymore.



“Yeah I’ll have to pass thanks, I don’t need your help”, Ethan didn’t want to be indebted to anyone and a kind stranger in some random building was no exception. He was on his way to veering back the way he came when the heavy impact of exhaustion settled over his shoulders and he found his gaze lingering on an open door to his right. Ethan wasn’t sure why he didn’t fear the girl but he truly didn’t think she had it in her to murder him in his sleep.



“On second thought, I could really use some shut eye”, he calmly slipped the knife back into it’s simple sheath and held his hands in an open gesture of surrender. “Could you please tell your friend to calm down?”, he nodded his head to Ace worried if he used his palms I would be seen as a sign of attack and he hardly had the energy to fight of a snarling dog. He checked the end of the hallway behind her slightly paranoid, every second felt like it would develop into a chaotic mess of the undead stumbling in to devour them. He hated the world for what it had become, hated the way it forced him too distrust when he never turned away from a single person in need.



“Listen, I’m not going to kill you for your food or whatever else you have tucked in there. I just need a place to rest, I’ll be out of your hair by noon tomorrow”, he still intended to sleep lightly with one eye open in the hopes of being safe despite his hopes of having no assaults from the young girl he ran in to.

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Ethan could admit to feeling somewhat comfortable at the subtle sight of the girl lowering her aimed weapon and quick ease down the length of the door frame. He wasn’t always this rude, two months ago he’d worriedly be fussing over any stranger in need and soon enough the lack of humanity left in the survivors of the human race left him skeptic and suspicious. He hated that the apocalyptic chaos was eating away at the person he was, at the kindness that made him a rare find in a world corrupt with sin. He nodded thoughtfully eyeing the door opposite hers with a tired sigh, somehow he instinctively wanted to be close enough to aid if there was not other choice but far enough to drown in the solitude of his own tired thoughts.



Ace, he’d remember the pup’s name in case he found himself staring down snarling canines in the middle of the night. His brows knit together at the odd and slightly humorous sight of Ace slipping his snout to the air and turning away from him. Ethan leaned his shoulder against the door with skeptic curiosity and gestured to Ace with a nonchalant shrug, “Did your dog just give me the cold shoulder?”. He was genuinely amazed, even before the outbreak, at how complex animals really were and he almost chuckled comfortably like the true essence of him seeped through but he settled for a stiff grin instead.



Ethan easily made his way to the open door opposite the girl, he found himself smiling out of sight at the mention of her name. for a second his lips pursed together in deep thought, he debated whether it was really ideal to tell her his name but with lack of a promised future he decided to shove doubts aside and at least give the girl a name to call should she be in trouble.



“Ethan, my name’s Ethan”, he didn’t have the confidence to pull of nonchalant disregard in the face of someone who seemed kind and generous and instead slipped inside the small apartment. He viewed the bland interior with a blatant lack of interest. His fingers quickly dug through the cupboards for anything edible, when he found nothing he decided he’d push of eating for another day. His own supplies were running low and he wasn’t doing too bad yet, he knew if he pushed it he could push of eating until the next afternoon at least. That way he saved his own supplies, if he made it that far anyway.



Without much else to do he slumped into a comfortable chair with his pack next to him and his weapons still securely on his person. He left the front door open for the time being, he still didn’t fully trust the girl and that way he could keep an eye on her. At least regarding any advances that should worry him. he was debating whether it was really safe to settle down for a well needed rest when there was a stranger and her do sporting a very obvious attitude, besides, just because there weren’t any of those things visible didn’t mean they wouldn’t find him eventually. Ethan was tired of the new world, he hated every single second of it and he feared what that was doing to the humanity and kindness inside him.