Closing the door behind me, I sighed and sagged down, feeling bone tired yet accomplished at the same time. After the thrill and endorphins of the hunt had left my body, my energy had been drained quickly, yet I was forced to keep working.

The deer's carcass wouldn't keep forever, so if I didn't want all that meat go to waste, I had to clean it and prepare it. After several hours of deskinning, washing and cutting the deer in proportional size, I was done with the first step.

I placed part of the deer in the fridge, the rest in the smoker I've just come out of. The scent of smoke was still clinging to my clothes but I didn't mind. That scent was also linked to the strong flavor of smoked deer.

A sigh escaped my lips as I forced myself on shaking legs, taking a few steps quicker when I realized I could take a warm bath now and enjoy a nice long soak. I had all the food and water that I needed for a long while and I could go out foraging again tomorrow. I just felt hesitant to do so, especially with that new creature out there.

But I couldn't deplete my food stocks either; what if those bandits got closer to my location and I had to hide? What if a horde of infected swarmed this place and I was stuck for days in my shelter?

My clothes dropped to the floor, goosebumps spreading over my skin before I hissed and sighed as I stepped into the hot water. Thinking of what could happen, if it could happen, did nothing but trouble the mind.

If it happened, it happened. I had long ago made peace with the idea of death. It was a fate none of us could escape in the first place. All we could do was to live our lives as we saw fit, and make every day last.

Dipping my head under the water, I opened my eyes for a second, watching the blurry vision, air bubbles trickling to the surface as I exhaled before resurfacing. The excitement of the hunt was still a strong reminder in my mind, which was a mixed and bittersweet feeling.

In hindsight, the hunt was thrilling and exciting; your heart pumping in your chest, the endorphins pumping through your veins, making you feel as if you're the strongest man in the world. The excitement and joy that you've succeeded and live another day.

But in that very moment, I wished to be anywhere but there; out in the dark, risking my life for the mere possibility of food. Food that may or may not be infected and thus, might end up in wasted energy and effort.

Luck had been by my side tonight. There could've been infected prey, Walkers and Virals ambushing me or following me back to my base.

But I was safe.

For now, at least.

~~~*~~~*~~~

Weeks passed and I had kept a close eye on my monitors before going out. Whatever that creature was, I haven't seen it again, only heard it roar at night, as if announcing its presence to the world.

Or protecting its territory...but from what?

I shook my head, making a final few notes of the strange creature, reading over what I had already put down before making a few remarks about its potential intelligence. I knew it was sentient in some shape or form. I just didn't know what it was capable of.

A small beeping made me freeze before a curse exploded from my lips. The chair fell with a sharp thud as I ran for the radio, listening to it beep and crackle as it barely caught the frequency on which the message was being sent out.

I quickly pulled on the headset and twisted the dial until I had the right frequency and instantly wished I hadn't.

"This is Jamie of Fort Ripley, Minnesota. Our...our base has been overrun with infected. I- I don't know what to do...I managed to save some of the kids but...they're already trying to break through the door."

I closed my eyes, cursing the fact that there was nothing that I could do, nothing to help this young man in his predicament, knowing that I was listening to his final words. Already I could hear the infected slamming on the door, could hear their screams filtering through the radio.

For Christ's sake, I could even hear the scared whimpers of the children and the thick swallow of the boy as I heard a metallic click...

Gods, no... Please...

"I...I have a gun, I'll make it quick for the children...they won't suffer...they won't change...please, just....just stay away from here." My fingers curled around the headphones, half tempted to contact the boy and talk him out of it but for what purpose? There was nothing I could do.

My eyes squinted at the first gunshot echoing through the radio, my body recoiling and flinching each time it went off. A deep, shuddering breath escaped me at the silence that followed, except for the wailing of the infected and the troubled sobs that escaped the boy.

I turned the radio off after I heard the silent clicks of the gun, signaling he was out of bullets and the sound of a door breaking. My stomach lurched as the sounds of the boy screaming was cut off instantly but a second too late.

"Fuck! God damn it!" I cursed, letting my anger out as I kicked the chair across the room, fuming at the helplessness that flooded through me. Why did we even struggle to remain in this world, if we could only live our lives like cattle, waiting to be slaughtered?

It only solidified my point that I was better off on my own; my mistakes wouldn't get others killed and other people couldn't kill me by some thoughtlessness.

Sighing, I angrily wiped my tears away, knowing that I could only focus on today and the tasks ahead. The boy's death was tragic, as was the loss of his community but my mourning of him would result in nothing but wasted time.

I kept a sharp vigil, looking around me as I left my base. The morning mist was still clinging to the trees, but it would provide me with decent cover to forage and collect resources, maybe even map out a bit of uncharted territory.

My quiver and bow were a reassuring weight on my back, a promise of safety and a means to defend myself. I didn't dare take any meat with me, for fear of attracting any of the infected.

Perhaps it was also a good thing to try and thin out the infected that surrounded my base. If they got wind of me, they'd all follow me back and unlike humans, they could wait forever. While I, I would be stuck in my base with no way out but right in their arms.

The task was risky, gruesome as well but as far as I knew, the infected didn't regenerate. Loss of limb would halter them, yes, but losing one's head could be enough to kill them completely. The only issue? Life was hard and as a result, I had several small scrapes, dry crackled lips amongst one of them.

If so much as a single drop of blood landed on any of those wounds, I was infected. Bites were the least of my issue; decapitating any infected would result in a shower of blood, and if I was anywhere close, it would also mean infection and a quickly approaching death.

The forest was quiet, the air cool to my face, placing drops of moisture on my lashes. Yet it did nothing to sooth my darkening thoughts as I roamed around the forest. For now, I'd stay out of the infected sight, perhaps later I can make up a way to deal with them without risking my own life.

Perhaps setting some traps would do, but then I'd be forced to check on those traps often, to make sure they're actually working. Traps could also betray my presence to humans, so...

I guess I would have to learn to live right next to my unwilling neighbors. They were a repellant enough on their own for any invading group of humans.

My steps faltered when I heard a loud, echoing roar blast through the forest. The force of it made me tremble and duck instantly, eyes flying towards the canopy to check that it was indeed daytime.

Why was it awake now?

Another cry resounded, further down the forest, along with some distressed shrieks and cries. My heart dropped as I heard a child sob and cry, but the sound of Beasts close by made me rush through the forest.

Damn children and their hold on me!

I stepped over a few fallen trees, getting myself in a higher position as I readied my bow. The trees were spreading out, and I caught a glimpse of a girl hiding up in the tree before my eyes trailed to the pair of Beasts that snarled and jumped, trying to catch the petrified girl.

I sent a small prayer up above at the sight of the infected dogs, snarling and leaping in the air. I had to make sure I stayed out of their reach while ending the fight quickly. No doubt their roaring barks and the girls shrieks and cries would quickly attract a lot of infected.

Pulling the fletching back, I took a deep breath as I lined it up with the smaller of the two dogs. It was standing below the tree as its partner jumped and snarled, and I closed my eyes for a second, biting my lip in anger; it was a pregnant bitch with her partner.

The arrow zoomed through the air, disappearing into the female's head with a wet thud. She let out a muffled yelp, body springing forwards in fright before dropping down motionless. Her partner snarled and spun around at the sound and I cursed once again, as I had hoped he'd be more interested in retrieving the prey.

Its teeth gnashed together sharply as it barked, drool and blood dripping down its furless muzzle before it vaulted a second before I could shoot. I cursed and jumped higher up on my perch, especially when the canine tried desperately to wrestle itself upon my small ledge.

Thankfully it was also giving me an easy shot; with its third leap up, I let the arrow fly straight down its throat, gaining a gargled yelp as it bit down on the arrow. With quick motions, I let another one fly to release the animal from its pain, my body shivering in excitement as I sighed in relief.

"It's safe. You can come down now."

I checked my surroundings before jumping down, noticing that the girl was still perched in the tree, eying me warily. "Hey, its fine, I'm not going to hurt...you." I slowly finished my sentence, holding onto my bow as I came closer, eying her in confusion.

She bared her teeth in anger, creeping higher up the tree, though she did seem to look at me with something akin to curiosity. Her eyes flitted from the dead dogs to me and back again, hesitant to come closer.

"They're truly dead, see?" I nudged one of the canines with my foot, removing my arrows from their bodies and wrapping them up to clean for later. "Why don't you come on down?"

She tilted her head, her pale blue eyes looking me up and down questioningly, as if she didn't understand my request at all. Either she didn't know how to speak my language or...maybe she's feral? As in, she lived on her own in these woods...

Before I could open my mouth to try and ask her another question, a loud and deafening roar resounded much closer by. To my horror, the girl threw her head back and released an ear splitting shriek, which made me stagger back as I drew my bow again in defense.

She wasn't feral...she was infected. And whatever was roaming these woods, she was communicating with it.