It's Beginning to Look Like

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. Cassia couldn't see a lot outside the tiny gap in the curtains. And she wished that she could see more than the tiny bit. From what she could tell, it looked beautiful. There was a ton of snow on the ground.

She couldn't remember the last time she saw it. Or even got to play in it. Maybe sometime when she was five. Before the strange disease spread and everyone changed. Not just people turning into weird...things. But folks treating others poorly. Hoarding every item that they could get their hands on. From toilet paper to tissues to pain meds. Lots of medicine to the point there was eventually a shortage. A dire one at that. Cass had no idea how they survived any of this. Or really how anyone survived during that horrible time. Maybe some folks actually didn't. She wasn't entirely sure of that. Nor did she want to bring it up with Arlo.

As talking about all of that made him upset. Not angry but just far away and hard to speak to. Hard to get him out of his head, too.

There was no way in Hell she was going to ask about it. Instead she shut the curtains to Arlo's window. Then she headed downstairs to see the living room decorated with stuff. Tons of shiny multicolored balls and ribbons too. Everything was covered in stuff that looked similar to trees. Some of that wasn't tree colors. They were blue, gold, and silver. Such pretty colors that she was nearly tempted to touch everything. Nearly was. If it weren't for the fact she didn't know what it was for.

While she was looking around, Arlo was putting more things up. More stuff that was like what was already out. Along with way more ribbons. He hadn't noticed that she was there. Too wrapped up in his strange tasks. Clearing her throat, Cass asked,"Arlo? Just what in the world is any of this stuff?"

"Don't you remember what X-Mas is?",Arlo questioned. X-Mas? What in the utter Hell even was this? And why did it require all of this nonsense for? Her eyebrows furrowed together as she shook her head. None of this stuff was even remotely familiar to her. He answered,"It's a holiday in the Winter where you spend time with your loved ones."

"Just enjoying their company, having food together, and giving each other gifts.",Arlo explained. It was all wonderful sounding. Though Cassia didn't understand where they would be getting these gifts from. Or how they would get them either. Calmly, Cassia asked,"Where would we get them? The gifts I mean."

"You can make gifts, Cass.",Arlo assured. That was good. This was very, very good. As neither of them could buy anything. Shops weren't really a thing after the incident. Neither was money. Among other stuff that Cass didn't want to think about. Instead she wanted to know more about this whole X-Mas thing. And what it was all about. As well as why Arlo wanted to do this. Cassia questioned,"So, what else do we do for this?"

"Well, we decorate the house like I just did.",Arlo informed. Setting the last of the decorations on the wall. On some form of hooks that she couldn't see. Everything looked really nice and she really enjoyed the sight of it. This was something that she didn't normally see. A tiny smile came to her face as she asked,"Cool, is there anything else we do?"

"We make cookies, plan meals, and we decorate a pine tree after we get one.",Arlo listed. A pine tree? In the house? That seemed rather strange and kind of fun. Depite the whole having to go outside to get the said thing. Which posed it's own unique issues. Mostly thanks to her having no idea how things were like outside. Last time she knew, the infected that followed folks if they made a noise. Any form of noise. Though those weren't their entire issue, other survivors were. At least from what Arlo spoke about they seemed to be. Then again they probably wouldn't be out too long. Well not long enough for any of these things to be a huge issue.

So, she ran upstairs to her bedroom to get prepared. Hurriedly getting her gear from under her bed and slipping it on. It didn't take too long for her to slip her boots, jacket, and gloves on. Along with her hat to keep her ears warm. Then she grabbed her favorite wooden baseball bat from her closet. Just in case something were to appear. Not that she expected anything to appear. But, it was better to be over prepared than to be under-prepared. And get attacked by something or someone while out there.

Arlo didn't seem to mind her bringing her bat with her. In fact, he seemed proud that she would get it. And he decided to bring a crowbar that Cassia had found. It was something she 'gifted' him at least five or so years ago. But, she wasn't entirely sure if it were that long or not. She was glad he had kept it at all. Then snagged the ax from the nearby hallway closet. Soon as they were done, they pulled on some masks and headed outside. Hurrying to the nearby woods. Determined to get in and out of hte woods before it got too dark. Knowing what would happen if they stayed out for far too long. Just what kind of danger they would be in.

With that, they walked right up to a small grouping of trees. Each pine tree looked to be sorta unwell. A few had huge sections removed from it. Some had needles that were shedding. Like nearly all of their needles off of it. Most of the trees were just not a good size.

Like they were much too tall for their tiny home.

The pair kept walking along in the hopes for something good. Anything that would easily suit their needs. As well as trying to be mindful of the sky. Being alert about the time as well as listening for footsteps. Arlo wanted to be sure that no one or anything was following them. He was a little fearful of humans following them more than the infected. As these past few years proved human were worse than they could ever be. In more ways than one.

After twenty or so minutes of walking, they almost gave up. Fearing what would happen if they stayed out a second later. Either they would get followed by the remaining uninfected folk. Or by the infected. Possibly getting lost in the woods near their home. Maybe even freeze to death. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, they were bundled up to the gills. So they probably wouldn't freeze for a good long while. Either way, they were about to turn and go home...then Arlo spotted it.

The perfect sized tree for their home. It wasn't shedding any of its needles or missing sections. In fact it was one of the most healthy trees they had seen in a while. Cassia beamed as Arlo brought out his ax. Starting to chop down their new decoration for their home. While he did so, she kept an eye out for anything. Fearing the noise would be drawing something in. Either it be a curious scavenger or worse...she hoped for the curious scavenger rather than some raider. As Arlo told her they would be easier to fend off. Raiders normally had weapons like guns. Whatever in the Hell those were. Unfortunately, what Cass hoped would show up didn't. What showed up instead were two infected. They weren't very tall nor did they look strong. But, that didn't matter. Neither of the things had to be strong to harm her. All they had to do was bite her if they got the chance. She held up her bat as they shuffled towards the pair.

This was the first time she'd seen an infected like this. Their skin was super pale and looked rotten. Clothes were hanging off of them in torn patches. Faces barely recognizable as human. Strange green stuff was foaming out the side of their lips. As well as leaking out of their nose and corner of their eyes. Which were bloodshot, glazed over, and seemed to be staring right at her. A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to sneer at them. Tried to act like she was tougher than she was feeling right then. She warned,"There's two of the foamies. Ya done yet?!"

"Almost! Don't worry, we'll be gone before more of them come.",Arlo assured. Or tried to assure. It did little to ease her fears about them. Especially, with the two coming at them. Sure they weren't moving all that fast. But who knew how many were out this way? Or if they would be able to follow them back to their home? She clutched the bat tighter as she debated on attacking first or not. Getting rid of two before anymore could show up. Then realized they could possibly overpower her and take out chunks of her. Leaving Arlo completely alone after. She frowned as she moved to block the creatures access to her friend. She ordered,"Just hurry the Hell up, Arlo. I wanna get before more of these things show up."

This seemed to light a fire under him and she heard the chopping noise grow faster. A few seconds later, there was a loud cracking noise followed by a thud. Without even having to look back, she knew he got it down. Then Arlo shouted,"I got it down! Run, Cass, run!"

"You don't gotta tell me twice!",she shouted back. Turning around as fast as she could. Slipping her bat back onto her back and grabbing the top of the tree. Making sure it wouldn't slow down her friend as they ran through the woods. Right back towards their hideout. Neither of them looking back as they booked it out of the woods. Knowing that the creatures were still hot on their heels. As they could hear the sound of their groans not getting any softer. But, they didn't look back once. Knowing it wouldn't do them any good as they continued to run. Praying that they would lose the infected before they entered their home. Otherwise it was going to be a very long night.