Rising

The Interview

Aaron takes a deep breath and pushes open the doors, walking into the beautiful home. Beautiful dark oak walls with white trim, tile floor, and a...guard? The guard, a tall and muscular deer, stops him. Ordering him to put his hands in the air, the deer puts his hand on his pistol. Aaron quickly complies, the deer coming over and patting him down.

The deer finds nothing of interest, gently grabbing Aaron by the back of his shirt and leading him into the interview room. It seemed to be a pretty nice office, a walnut desk, bookcases filled with plenty of law books, a couch, and a couple office chairs.

"If you harm her in any way, you're a fucking dead man," the deer says, looking Aaron directly in the eyes.

Aaron seems mildly annoyed at the threat, and just nods, trying to get the deer off of his back. The governor, a middle aged, short and slender fox walks in. She looks up at the stag, shooing him off. She turns and looks the somewhat pissed wolf in the eye, welcoming him.

"Welcome, sir. That black wolf who brought you here, Dean. He said your name was Aaron. Correct?"

Aaron nods softly, "Yes, ma'am. That's my name."

She nods also, gesturing for him to sit down. "Sit down, Aaron. I'm getting old, and I don't particularly enjoy standing," she says before sitting down in her own chair.

He quickly sits down, groaning softly and leaning into the extremely soft chair. The vixen chuckles at the wolf, smiling as she spotted his tail trying to wag.

"Enjoying the chair, I see?" she says with a small chuckle.

He groans again, "Yes, ma'am! Haven't sat anywhere comfortable in years. Surprised that these chairs are still this comfortable."

"Yeah, we take care of our stuff. There's a guy who takes care of furniture and helps keep homes in good condition. But, that's not important right now. So, tell me a bit about yourself," the vixen says, looking Aaron in the eye.

Nodding, he sits back up and speaks, "I'm around twenty-three...I think? I was taught how to do everything that my dad and his brother learned when they were in the Marines. We had a small group, but I got separated from everyone during a supply run. I got back to camp, everyone had left. I mostly just wandered for a while, until your guys found me and brought me in."

"I asked you to tell me about yourself, not your backstory," she says, sounding somewhat confused.

"Oh, sorry. I guess...I'm just a wolf who likes guns and guys?" he says, not exactly sure what to say.

She pursed her lip before leaning on her arms on the desk, "What about your skills? Shooting, leadership, logistics, art, anything."

"Oh," he nods, "I'm pretty good at shooting, cause I had to learn kinda quickly. I've never really gotten the chance to lead, though. Not too sure how I could do that. As for everything else...no, I'm not good at either. I suck with numbers, and I can't draw worth a damn."

"Are you good at following orders?" she asks, clearly thinking of something in her head.

"Yeah, I'd say so."

"So, Aaron. How many people have you killed? Be honest, everyone has killed at least one," the lady says, putting on a serious expression.

"I don't know how many I've killed. All I know is that every one of them were trying to kill me first," he says honestly, looking her in the eyes.

"From that, I'd assume you haven't committed any atrocities. Have you?"

"No, ma'am. People who do that..." he pauses, looking down.

"What happens to the people who do that?" she says, pushing him to continue.

"The group I was with didn't let them have easy deaths," he says shortly, not wanting to continue.

"So your group did, but you didn't?"

"..." he says nothing, nodding slightly.

She nods as well, "You don't seem to be a bad person. We'll allow you to stay for a week or so, so that we can see if you add anything, and to let you rest."

Aaron's ears perk up, his tail wagging softly. He looks at her, surprised. "You mean, I get to stay?"

"If you prove yourself, yes. I'll send a doe to bring you to your home," the vixen says, a small smile on her face.

He nods quickly, standing up and saluting the Governor. She then looks confused, speaking, "Why are you saluting? I'm not an officer or anything."

He blushes softly, embarrassed. "Uh..sorry ma'am."

She chuckles softly, waving him off, "Don't worry about it. Go on and wait outside."

He nods, still blushing softly and walking out. He walks past the large, muscular deer. He steps outside, shutting the door softly behind himself. Looking around, he spots the small doe walking up. She smiles up at him and gestures for him to come over. "Aaron, yes?" she asks, Aaron nodding.

"Yes, that's me," he responds with a smile.

He walks over, following her as she leads him to his home. The town seemed to be chalk standard suburbia, Aaron assumed. It fit his father's description, but the world had gone long before he could remember. Walking through, he spotted children playing in the street. People cutting their lawns, beautiful gardens, old cars looking brand new, and gorgeous houses.

They soon arrive at the house, it being a rather small home, with only a single story. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, garage. He didn't need much more than that, especially since he was living alone. He quickly thanks the doe, taking the keys and heading inside. He simply walks to the bedroom, collapsing onto the bed.