End of the World Angel
1: The End
Song recommendation: House that Built Me by Miranda Lampert
Survival was the first program God wired into the human brain. It kept people from sinking under the water's surface, or succumbing to hunger. As humans
developed, they learned not only to survive, but to thrive to the point that the survival instinct was being under appreciated. Maybe the infection that's destroyed their civilization was the brain's idea of revenge. Maybe as it killed itself it laughed, and when it awoke with minimal function it smirked. It showed others just what the survival instinct can do; create extreme creatures who live but to feed and repopulate, and creatures who fight to outlive them.
Skylar stared intently at the Blue Jay that had built his home next to hers. She looked back to her sketch pad to detail the Jay's tail feathers with the color pencils she'd scavenged last month. Ever since her new neighbor made his nest she'd watched it grow more colorful as he found bits of string and grass to weave into it. Not wanting to miss out on capturing the finished work on paper, Skylar had taken to sketching him out at different angles. His nest reminded her of her own home, which was also once plain and empty.
When Skylar first discovered the sizable tree house on the edge on a farm property she thought she had struck gold. It must have belonged to boys who used it for hunting as they grew older according to the empty shells on the floor and the camo window covers. It took her a few days to clean out and renovate, pulling out the ladder that was nailed to the tree and replacing it with a retractable rope ladder. On the outside it looked completely vacant and run down to deter visitors. A façade made from dark canvas and dead leaves covered three sides of the house, leaving only the entrance fairly visible. On the inside, however, Skylar's tree house came to life. Unable to continue living in constant fear and desolation, she decorated this space as her sanctuary. While scavenging homes Skylar would take not only the necessities but anything she could fashion into something beautiful for the tree. She took everything from bits of fabric, which she turned into a collage on one wall, to the wind chimes she made out of sliver wear and broken glass. It was a piece of her old life that she could still hold on to and embrace: art. Pre mass infection Skylar was a tattoo artist, creating beautiful pieces on a living canvas. Her tanned skin told the stories of her life and her passion, tattoos gracing her body all designed by herself.
As the Blue Jay flew off, Sky put her sketch pad aside with the small amount of books she had collected, her other pads, the tool box full of color pencils, brushes, and water colors . It wouldn't be too long before she had to find something else to hold her drawings at the rate she was pumping them out. 'Not like there's much else to do,' She thought. In the corner by her bed, made of a twin sized mattress that she fought to pull up into the tree, Captain perked up as she stood. Sky's faithful Beagle never left her side though this mess.
As the epidemic of sick, undead cannibals hit the States hard Skylar and Captain were on their way to be debriefed from a six month tour in Iraq when their superiors announced a state of emergency and that all available hands would be deployed immediately. The reality of being back on the field after expecting to finally go home to loved ones, or in Sky's case loved one, was too much for some of the soldiers, including Sky. If it weren't for the desperation of her friends in arms to get to their families, she wouldn't be alive today most likely. In the chaos Sky couldn't let her partner go and Captain has always stood by her.
"Unless you smell somethin' edible, there ain't no way we're going back out today, boy." Sky said to him, having already taken him on his morning walk. "Ya know ya gotta use the litter box. After seein' the pharmacy yesterday, I'm sure there's some people scavenging around and we best not go making friends." Her tone was darker towards the end. Captain nuzzled her with his nose as she sat down next to him, unconsciously touching the small slanted scar on the right side of her face by her jaw line.
The Turned didn't scare Sky anymore, one blow to the head and proper guarding could keep them out. What really scared her were people and their desperation. You could count on the Turned to try and eat you when your back is turned, but you couldn't ever tell with people. After a run in with a group went south, Sky kept herself far from people- namely men. She shook her head thinking about what her Daddy use to tell her. "You're like Whiskey darlin', only a real man can handle you, an' the rest and fixin to get knock out on their asses!" Sky began braiding her long dirty blonde hair as she thought of her late father. He had passed before the infection in a shooting while trying to save a family in a robbery gone wrong. Skylar's Daddy was second to none in her heart. After he died she enlisted to honor the former soldier, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. 'Took me a hell of a time to find a man who could handle his Whiskey… and now-' Captain suddenly stood up, his floppy ears perking up. 'Please just be a critter…' Skylar grabbed her binoculars and peered out of the small window cautiously, not wanting much light to escape and call attention to herself. Sure enough something was moving toward the farm from out of the woods. With the light diming from the sun set Sky could make out two small figures running to the farm. They were alive, and judging by their size they were children. Anxiety began to build within her. Kids wouldn't survive in the woods on their own, there had to be adults behind them. "Come on, where are your folks." Sky couldn't stand to let innocent kids get hurt, but what if they had a group following them? Could she really risk her security? Watching closely she couldn't make out any living followers. Her deep green eyes searched the woods for any other signs of life. "The hell are ya doin' standin' around Sky? I didn't teach ya to sit around lil' bit, get in gear!" Her Daddy's voice wasn't the Skylar's only motivation. Once she saw the lone Turned one chasing them she dropped her binoculars and grabbed the twin machetes she has become accustomed to before dropping the rope ladder down.