It was weird that moments like these were treasured, rare. I could remember when I rushed to take baths, when I was too hurried to jump into a shower because I could do it later.

Now, bathing was a luxury. Something acquired only if you have managed to survive and if you managed to build a safe place. It was pure luck that I grew up around here, pure luck that I had stumbled upon this old, dug in bunker.

And pure stubbornness that I decided to become a mechanic and not the phycologist my father wanted me to be. At least now I could actually survive, use my hands and my knowledge.

I didn't need to understand how things became insane; I already knew most of the world has gone out of its mind. Nowadays, I wouldn't trust anyone at my back hence why I stayed alone.

Sanity was not something you'd encounter these days. Anyone who survived the endless mobs of zombies had taken to themselves or a small group to survive. Even if I felt lonely at times in my solitude, I avoided any and all contact with other survivors.

So far, it had kept me alive. I knew enough from the human mind to know that people could as easily turn on each other as they turned on the enemy. Survival of the strongest, as my father would say.

I've heard of people luring other survivors in with ruses of sick family members, acting as if they were wounded only to cut their throats in the middle of the night. Purely to gain their supplies and ensure they had a larger area to scavenge from.

"More like survival of the one with the biggest stick." I grunted before sighing as I slipped in the heated water. Damn that felt good. I closed my eyes and sighed, leaning my head back on the edge of the bathtub.

It had taken me several months to build and perfect the design but now I finally had warm water whenever I desired. It was a simple design of using water-filled pipes and guiding then under and over the stove on the other side of the wall, creating steam in the pipes.

By running them through the separated water reservoir I had, I created hot water while the steam inside the pipes cooled off and created the cycle anew. Simple, yet effective. I grinned, proud of my work and relaxed further in the tub, allowing the water to brush at the edge of my nose.

Only one side effect of being alone... you started to miss having someone to chat to. The silence could sometimes be daunting and strangely enough, deafening.

"Tomorrow I need to look for more durable food...possibly go out hunting." I murmured to myself in an attempt to drown out the silence. My mind was racing with ideas as I soaped up and cleaned myself before stepping out and using a worn towel to dry myself off.

"Think I need more batteries as well..." I eyed my sparse collection of rechargeable batteries and sighed. Yeah, I could definitely use more. I had to use my flashlight when I dared to explore dark rooms but they consumed batteries in a flash.

Going through my cabinets, I was happy to see I still had tons of canned food, ready for the moment where looters came too close for comfort. I could easily hunker down and survive for three weeks and even more if I rationed my food.

But still, I'd prefer a fresh meal over canned food any day. The sad truth was that fresh meals were hard to come by lately. Not that there wasn't an abundance of wildlife roaming the woods around these parts, but I didn't know if the virus could be transferred if I accidentally ate an infected animal.

My eyes narrowed at the thought. It had been a horrifying discovery to bump into a Beast, or the infected animals. Luck had been at my side in having me bump into an infected horse but still. The animal had been frothing at the mouth, recklessly charging me and kicking its legs.

If it was hunted by predators, it wouldn't have the sense to flee or fight them off. And that was just what the virus wanted; to turn these docile creatures into viral bait. I managed to escape the horse easily but if it had been a dog or worse, a pack of wolves, I would've been torn to shreds.

With a deep and heavy sigh, I prepared everything for the next day, as I planned to go out as early as possible. It was more as an attempt to escape any possible human scavengers than the zombies.

When I realized nighttime was slowly approaching, I cooked myself a light meal, using one of the cans after I checked my fridge. The last of the fresh meat had been used up already and the vegetables I was growing in the room next-door weren't ripe yet.

That reminded me that I needed to get more UV lights. I had plenty of normal lamps spread throughout my living quarters but if I had to hunker down for an unknown time, it would be rather unhealthy to not see the sun for a while.

But finding intact UV lights would be a hard task. Lamps were frail, easily breakable and I was quite sure that scavengers would be looking for them too. Most of the UV lights I had were stored in the green room, where I grew my vegetables.

Cleaning my plate, I pondered why I even struggled to remain alive. It would be so easy to go out there and let a bitter get me. I wasn't living; I was surviving. Some of the remaining humans still held out hopes for a cure but I knew better.

There was hardly anything left to cure. We had limited resources and even less scientists alive that could possibly research for such a cure. I knew of one large community that worked day and night in an attempt to cure this outbreak but they never succeeded.

One of my old friends was a part of the community and he lived there happily with his wife and kids. It was one of the few groups that accepted children in their midst, as they were the weakest link to any defense.

Still, I was happy for him, happy that he survived and found a place to live. I hadn't seen him in a long while, as I chose to live on my own rather than in such a large community. He had tried to persuade me, asking me to leave my loner life and join them but I had politely refused.

Those communities were a ticking time bomb in my eyes. All trapped in one large building or small town, all it took was one moment of carelessness, one slip of vigilance and a door left open for the infected to breach.

Panic would ensue, the screams of terrified woman and children would lure in more of the infected and their save zone would soon turn into a trap. At least on my own, I could be certain everything was in lockdown, safe and secured.

Still, I could go out to the community and trade some of my canned foods or vegetables for fresh meat. Yawning, I shut down most of the lights, leaving only a few emergency lights on in strategic places before I left for my bedroom.

As I nuzzled under the blankets and yawned deeply, I could hear the soft hum of the electricity from the solar panels flowing through the lights and the occasional clinking of the central heating when it activated.

Setting my alarm for the morning, I shut down the lights and sighed when I heard a distant howl. It was a sound I've grown accustomed to, yet I had been fortunate enough to avoid the creature that produced it.

Whatever it was, it sounded dangerous. More howls just like it followed through the night, reaching a higher pitch until they all just stopped. The silence afterwards was deafening and always succeeded in making my heart race, as if I had suddenly been spotted and become the prey.

Letting out a shuddering breathe, I closed my eyes and willed myself to sleep. Soon enough I'd had to run for my life once more and it would benefit me greatly if I wasn't stumbling on my legs half asleep when I did.