Feral

Chapter 1

Nick knew today was not going to be a good day. He had woken up with Coach and Rochelle in the safe room, only to find that it was already raining. Not a good way to start off the day, especially if you're like Nick. Normally he was pissed at everyone at everything, but the rain made him even more unbearable.

And this feeling was getting on his nerves. He hadn't decided if this was a feeling of doom or change. He didn't like any of these options, so he shrugged it off. The sooner he forgot about it the better.

The hunter stared down at the creature from up at his perch, an unlucky tree. His presence would leave claw marks, he was sure. The creature was sniffing around his tree, until it caught his scent. His breathing stopped, as he watched it. He was waiting for any hostile threats, and when he saw none he started the think. He was sure he knew what this creature was called; he just couldn't wrap his finger around it. When he was almost positive it wasn't going to attack him, he jumped down. The creature immediately ran for him, licking his face with its long tongue.

"Dog!" He squealed, finally realizing was the creature was. Going against the instinct that rang through the back of his mind to attack the creature he rubbed his clawed hand through its hair. He did so softly so he didn't hurt it like he had done to his faithful perch. Growling contently, he failed to hear the approaching footsteps.

"It sounds like a hunter, guys," a female voice sounded from behind the dog. He instantly hid; clutching the dog like it was his life line. The dog didn't care, and turned towards the survivors. Careful not to whimper, he kept is bright blue eyes open, ready to run if need be. He had seen what people had done to his brethren.

"Or a dog," a dry, sarcastic voice answered, mocking the one that spoke. The female snorted, obviously not affected by his words.

"It's alright baby girl, Nick's just being Nick," a final, deeper voice entered the air.

"Yeah, an ass," She said, but it was half heartedly spoken.

He heard the footsteps coming closer, and the female reached to rub the dog, but he growled.

"Be careful Rochelle, that dog is dangerous," The older man instructed.

"Yeah, and we don't have time to be wasting on this dog. We might as well kill it; put it out of its misery in this world. Might even have the infection," Nick said, reaching for his pistol. The boy didn't understand many words, but he understood kill. He immediately took the threat seriously, not wanting his dog to be hurt. Going against his better judgment, and his instincts, he released a deeper growl then the dog. The sound surprised everyone in the group, making them bunch together.

"So there is a hunter," the woman said. When nothing happened for a moment all of them walked closer to his dog. He knew he had no chance against one of them, let alone all of them, so he did the only thing he could. He cried. Of course it didn't come out as a sob, only an ear splitting screech that gave away his position. Hugging the dog tighter, he waited for them to find him.

Pistols raised, he found all three guns pointed at him. He flinched, snuggling into the dog, who was growling protectively. The animal felt the boys fear and decided he needed to protect him from the others, almost like they were pack.

There was silence until a man with green eyes pulled the trigger. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion to him, and all he heard was the deafening sound of the gun. He knew it was going to hit him; he couldn't get his legs to move. After a few seconds he waited to feel the pain, but when he felt none he looked up. His dog was laying on the ground panting heavily, blood soaking into his golden coat. At first he couldn't comprehend what happened until he heard the man that shot the gun.

"Damn, the dog jumped in front of it," His words were filled with venom, but he didn't care, he finally understood what happened. The dog had taken the bullet for him. Screeching as loud as he could, he ran over to his fallen friend.

"Doggy?" He asked, sniffling as the dog didn't respond.

"Did… Did it just talk?" The female asked, surprised.

"Well damn, you don't think it's a normal boy do you?" The big male asked, nervous that they had almost killed a little boy.

"No, it's most definitely a hunter," the green eyed man had said, and he immediately recognized him as Nick.

"Then you shoot it! I can't… he looks so much like a little boy… the poor thing lost his only companion," the female said, looking away.

"Yes, and he will tear you to shreds the moment you go to hug him!" Nick shouted at her.

"Now Nick, calm down," the older male turned his attention to the saddened female, "You ignore him Rochelle, but he's right. You're the mothering type and you could forget he was a hunter in your attempt to comfort him."

"I know Coach," She said nothing else as she wiped a lone tear from her eye. The boy, instantly feeling bad, jumped over to her. Before the others realized what happened, he was hugging her legs.

"You… not…. cry," The sentence wasn't complete but Rochelle understood immediately. The little boy, a hunter, was trying to comfort her.

"Shit! He's to close if we shoot we might miss and hit Ro," Nick shouted to Coach, who hastily agreed. Before they could get any closer to 'save' Rochelle, she bent down to the hunter's level. Ignoring the yells from the two men she hesitantly wrapped her arms around the hunter. Instead of slashing her to bits like a normal hunter would do, he leaned into her hug. Sighing contently, he stayed there, glancing at the other humans in the group.

"What the hell!" Nick yelled ignoring the glare Rochelle was giving him.

"Well boys, I think we have another member for our group!" She said excitedly, almost forgetting their new survivor was an infected.

But then the boy remembered what had happened to his canine. And to get revenge him, he went after the one who shot the gun.

Nick.

Yeah! I just felt like posting this... so yes! Im not sure if anyone reads these anymore... so ill continue if i get 20 hits! It would be great to get reviews, alerts, or favs, but they arnt needed.

To explain this a little more, this story takes place at the same time, but everyone was born later on. Oh yea, and Hunter!Ellis.. :D

Ages:

Coach- 40

Rochelle- 19

Nick- 20

Ellis- 5

I know the ages arnt exact, becase there is a 12 year diffrence between Nick and Ellis, but i wanted it to be this way. So yeah...

And that dog, was Ellis's before the infection hit. Ellis just forgot about him when he turned.

~ LA

Disclaimer: I dont own anything!