Starting Over [Archangel] [Discontinued]

Floozer

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Oct 1, 2015
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The year was 2060 when human beings had finally peaked their prowess. Technology was better by the month, most if not all diseases and viruses had been eradicated including the infamous cancer in all of its forms. Truly this was the peak of human power, as all the advancements were finally leading to a, admittedly fragile, state of peace almost world wide.

Sadly, this time of peace and prosperity was not very long lasting as not two years later did a new challenge present itself to the human race. A retrovirus suddenly starting popping up all over the world seemingly over night and every kind of treatment bounced off of it. Victims of the virus would experience symptoms of nearly every other kind of disease that was previous abolished over the years and more disturbing than that... they would change. Skin color, hair color, eye color... their very physical make up was being altered!

Fangs, claws, teeth, hair, body structure... nothing was safe and it was near impossible to tell how it would change each person. In just a years time this virus has the human race scrambling in a world wide effort to try and put it down... and they were loosing faster and faster. Five years after initial discovery was a state of world wide panic declared as this horrid infection had an estimated eighty percent fatality rate and people around the world were dropping like flies. In a total of a mere seven years was the human race ravaged, society fell and it seemed like the earth held still.

The year is now 2140, 80 years since the peak of human power and things finally seem stable again. The earth has taken this time to heal after the excessive burden of human life and now the giant sprawling cities of the humans lie mostly in ruin and are over grown with fresh wild plant life and animals. The surviving humans now scramble to try and make a living for themselves while a bold few try to revive what once was.

It is during this time that we find an unlikely survivor of the Retrovirus, Kaizen, a regular human male, standing at about 5'7" tall. He's got green eyes and messy brown hair, coupled with tanned skin and thin lips. He has a large, ragged beard, since he was never able to cut it. His body is lean and muscled thanks to years of living out in the wild growth of the earth. It is there that he finds himself now, ever on the hunt for food to keep not only himself healthy, but his younger brother Maxwell as well!
 
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Archangel99

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Kaizen slowly crawls forward, keeping his body hidden in the long grass. His eyes are fixed on a deer a few meters away. Once, they quickly flick to Maxwell, or Max for short, giving him the signal. Then, he bursts out of the grass opposite him, yodelling like an idiot to scare the deer into Maxwell's direction.
 

Floozer

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The deer screeches in terror and turns to run away from Kaizen which leads it directly at Max. With a jump he lunges at it with his make shift spear which is really just a sharp rock on a long stick. All the same it does the job and he lands the spear right in its shoulder, the momentum of his jump sending them both onto the ground. Not wanting the animal to suffer he quickly grabs it's head, giving it a sudden twist with a loud snap as it falls limp.

"Got it Kai! I got it!" He calls over to him, waving his hands so he can see him over the tall grass.
 

Archangel99

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Kaizen chuckles and walks over, before patting Max on the head. "Good job. This'll keep us fed for quite a while, huh? Smoke and salt it like mum and dad showed us, and it should be good for weeks. Come on now. Skin it. Show me what you've learned." He says as he squats down next to the deer.
 

Floozer

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Max took heavily after your mother and even now with all the physical work the two of your do, he hardly has any muscle tone despite being fairly strong. He is two years younger than you with blue eyes and the same brown hair that sits in a mess on his head. His skin is tan but he can't grow a beard to save his life. "Aww man, I had doing this part... it's gross." He says before pulling out the skinning knife, the only piece of real craftsmanship that the two of you have. The steel blade is in fantastic condition and despite how useful it could be for other tasks, you both agreed to save it only for working the food.

With a resigned sigh he starts to skin the deer as best he can, clearly not enjoying the act and even with plenty of practice he makes a few screw ups that cost them some scraps of meat.
 

Archangel99

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"Well... At least you're getting better at it. Remember, you'll need these skills to survive if ever I'm gone, Max." He murmurs, looking at him with fondness in his eyes, and a smile on his face.
 

Floozer

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"Don't.... don't talk like that. I already lost mom and dad, and I don't plan on losing you at any time either! Now help me carry these pieces back home." He says while grabbing some freshly cleaned venison and wrapping in in some huge green leaves they use as make shift pouches.
 

Archangel99

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"I said if, Max. I'm planning to stick around for quite a long while." He says, chuckling and picking up the rest of the meat before walking next to Max. "Let's head home. Nothing else to do today, right?" He asks, putting an arm around his shoulder.
 

Floozer

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"I don't think so... guess we can spend all day getting this meat preserved so we can keep it for longer. I just hope this isn't another fish incident... that was gross." He says with a shudder while remembering the horrible nightmare of that time you two tried to smoke a fish.

Back home is simply a twenty minute walk before you reach the set of vines that serve as the ladder to your house. Max climbs up first and soon the two of your are on the flat wood boards of your little tree house. Your father built this years ago while trying to stay safe and it has worked like a charm. Wide enough to have some walking room while small enough to be hidden in the dense foliage of the tree tops. He even got some between the branches above to stop the rain.
 

Archangel99

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"Ugh... Yeah... That one time... We left the house stinking for days." He mutters, before sighing. "I did tell you that it was only supposed to be salted, but you didn't wanna listen!" He says, shrugging and laughing and he walks to the smoking pit and lays the venison down.
 

Floozer

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"Yea yea, but you were the one who told me to leave it on longer! Face it, we both screwed up that day!" he says with a laugh before opening up the leaves and starting to salt the meat "One of these days we are just going to have steaks rather than having to preserve everything. Don't get me wrong, I like salt, but this is begins to grind after a while."
 

Archangel99

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"Weeeelll... That's kinda true. But whatever. We learned from experience!" He says, laughing as he starts salting the meat too.
 

Floozer

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The silence drags on as they get the meat salted and then onto the smoker which Max gets started after a few failed attempts. "Hey... Kai? Are we gonna be like this forever? Ya know, just hunting and surviving rather than actually living like the stories dad told us about?"
 

Archangel99

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"Most probably, kid. Most probably. I mean... That was back when we humans numbered in the billions, with huge cities and stuff. Right now... We can't even form a proper settlement without someone getting infected. And then it spreads to the rest of the colony, and... The rest is history." He murmurs.
 

Floozer

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"Well yea but... does it HAVE to be that way? Couldn't it be more? I see the ruins in the distance some times... maybe there is more to this than we know out here in the wilds?"
 

Archangel99

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Kaizen sighs. "There probably is... But do you really want to risk it all just to look for a settlement? Running around out there? With all those monsters? You remember what dad said, right? What his dad told him had happened during the initial outbreak? People were turning into wild, feral animals. They were ripping people to shreds right in the open." He murmurs, before sitting back against the wall. "I'm not going to let that happen to you. They told me to take care of you, and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
 

Floozer

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"But that was years go! We hardly get a peep out here these days... surelyt hings have settled down right?"
 

Archangel99

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"Maybe, Max. Out here, yeah, things have settled down. But... Near the cities... It's dangerous, mate." He murmurs, shaking his head. "On top of that, we don't have weapons with which to defend ourselves."
 

Floozer

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"We have that spear! and... and we could always make some more weapons! I am just so tired of being here all the time... I wanna go see what we can find... things from the past!"
 

Archangel99

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Kaizen gives his brother a long, long look.
"Max. I had the same thoughts when I was your age. And I ran off. You know what happened? I came right back. It's fucking scary out there. You can't even sleep at night, because you'll have to keep an eye out for any of those infected people. They want to come into contact with us, but... We get infected with the slightest scratch." He murmurs.

[I'm making this sound like a zombie apocalypse. XD]
 

Floozer

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[It... kind of is... in some ways. But more on that later.]

"Oh come ooooooooooooooooooon Kai... it has to be better than that by now! Please! I am going crazy up in this tree!" He says with a whine.
 

Archangel99

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"I said no, Max. And that's my final decision." He says sternly, giving him the glare.
 

Floozer

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"Uuuuuuuuuuugh, that is so boring! I'm going to go crazy from boredom!"
 

Archangel99

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"Sure. But at least you'll be safe. And human." He says, smacking the back of his head. "Unless you want to turn into some monster and run around eating humans."
 

Floozer

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He blows a raspberry at him before going over to use the bathroom bucket "Whatever, clearly you are more stubborn than a boulder about this."
 

Archangel99

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"Obviously, Max. I'm the one who's been out there before. I didn't even get close to the city." He says, turning his back to give him some privacy.
 

Floozer

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The day drags on as they smoke the meat over hours and hours before finally taking the dried up salty meat off the flames and snuffing it out. The sun has gone down and Max is already laying down on his pile of leaves he calls a bed.
 

Archangel99

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Kaizen moves over to the entrance of the hut to keep his watch, as has always been the routine. Three hours of his, and three hours of Max's. He keeps his rusty machete by his side, just in case something unforseen was to happen.
 

Floozer

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The night passes slowly and soon it is time to switch the guard. MAx is already waking up on his own with a yawn. "Damn... is it switch time already?"
 

Archangel99

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"Yeah. Stay awake this time, or I'm going to kick your ass out of the tree." He warns, before lying down in his bed and falling asleep almost instantly.