[PurpleBox]

“All i remember before the shit hit the fan is that every spring i’d sneeze my face off so hard my nose was permanently red till the end of july.” Ian said, he didn't know the science terms and stuff for the fungi...but he knew that the spores and a infected bite where two of the most common ways to get infected… contaminated water could be boiled down to a safe heat to get rid of anything in the water… and the spores and fungus didn’t seams to infect any food stores… mostly because all the best food now was canned… hardly ever anything fresh…. There were a few wild apple trees outside the walls, Ian made a mental note to grab a bunch to bring back for his brother.

Ian hummed lightly. “I had to clear it out to get some cargo moved last month… so it should only have the dead bodies of the Runners… and that means spores… even so early in the infection they still make them damned spores after death….just keep your wits about you… it’s the Growths and Clickers we really need to watch out for….the Runners might have the numbers but the other two are more deadly.” Ian said before they started to move.

Birds flitted past them from building to building, at one point they had to go into old office building to get around a roadblock made of piled up cars covered in moss. Ian pulled himself up to a slightly to high ledge before reaching his hand down to haul Aren up easily. The old office building was creaking slightly form age and time, Ian looked out of different windows to keep track of their progress. Between the office building and the a few others the piles of cals had build up and rusted together over the years… and had formed a small putril looking lake in the once dry streets.

Ian paused and held his breath when he saw a dead body, one of the military, the man had a gun laying loosely in one fallen hand, his helmet had been set aside and the soldiers brains colored the walls with a sicking color and smell. Thankfully the man wasn’t growing anything… so he must have shot himself before he fully turned, not giving the fungal infection a chance to reproduce in him. “Find peace mate.” Ian said to the dead body slowly, as much as he hated the military…. No one deserves to have to choose between biting the bullet themselves or turning into a mindless frantic Runner.

“It’s down the next street and back into the underground where this stuff grows… and sadly the underground if the saver route then topside...the runners and Growths don’t seem to like to be around the fungus once they’re infected… pro’bly cos they’re meant to spread it… to stay around it.” Ian shrugged as they had to use a old fire escape to leave the office building. Ian didn't stop once to search for things as he’d picked this area over and over before… and he liked to leave SOME things for others to find… mostly the useless junk that he couldn't craft with.

Ian held up a hand when he heard something clatter in the alley in front of them, he raised the rifle with ease and rested it in a shooting position. Finger lightly over the trigger, the clattering got louder and Ian held his breath for a moment, finger getting ready to squeeze the trigger when a ragged man came around the corner panting, he looked worse for wear but no visible signs of bites or infection, his eyes where clear when he looked up at them.

“Fin-Finally found people….I’ve been out here for days! DAYS! I tell you!” the man said with a small hysterical laugh that had Ian tensing his muscles. “Mavrik said he’d be sending people out to help me move stuff, didn’t think it would take literal days…..”The man rambled on and Ian stopped at the name Mavrik before he cocked the rifle and aimed at the mans head.

“We’re not with Mavrik buddy. Just out looking for supplies…. How about you step to the side so things don’t get bloody.” Ian’s accent was thick as he emotions with his eyes trained on the man who froze in his rambling to stare at them again.

“Y-You’re not Mavrik’s guys??I-If you’re not with him then you must be thieves trying to take the goods!” The man ranted , going for a knife in his pocket before Ian fired a single shot that disabled the man's arm with a yelp of pain.

“I don’t want anything to DO with whatever that bastard is wrapped up in now, just looking for supplies like I said, now move or my next shot will be your head.” Ian said evenly, not even phased by having just shot a man. The man shakily stumbled to the far wall of the alley, leaving them ample room to pass, Ian had himself and his gun between the man and Aren.

The ginger man didn’t relax until about half a block past the alley, all tension just… draining out of the gingers shoulders.