Here is is the seventh chapter. Things are going a little slow until the next chapter but, don't worry. There is plenty of action to come in the future chapters!

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Chapter 7: A Dark Hero
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*1 year and 5 months after arriving at the compound*

Walking along the high encampment wall, I was able to see a good chunk of the city as I watched the sun appear off on the horizon. Everyday, at this time, I would come up here and watch this spectacle and feel the first rays of warmth to welcome the new day. I look down and I see the scheduled cargo truck that goes to make regular runs to the city to scavenge supplies. A few people were unpacking and, since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go down and help them. As I walk down, I'm greeted by the many people who have put their trust in the protection provided by these massive concrete walls surrounding camp. I hurry to the entrance and rush through.

Once I get to the truck, I ask a man casually, "Anything you want me to help you with?"

The man was named Ezekiel and I knew him well. He looked at me with a friendly smile and said, "Yeah, Hunter, could you help me lift this backup fridge we found for the governor?"

"Of course!"

Zoey had taught me well, while I still made simple grammar mistakes, I could now converse normally with humans. The only words I had trouble saying were ones that were hard to pronounce in general, or very long words.

I lift the fridge with little to no difficulty, but Ezekiel was having trouble lifting his side so I pretended to struggle as to not show my strength.

"So, how's Zoey?" He asks.

"She's doing well, she's been thinking of going with you on your runs to be able to have some more freedoms though. She doesn't get to do anything here besides watch the children, and it's starting to wear down on her."

"That's unfortunate. Well, you tell her that I am perfectly okay with letting her come with me as long as she promises not to get infected on my account."

"Ez, she's immune. Remember?"

"Oh yeah... well then there's noting to worry about is there?

"I guess."

We get to the governors cabin and set the fridge down carefully.

"What does the governor want the fridge for anyway?" I ask.

"He wants it for the ice maker. Summer is coming and he doesn't want to have to pay for ice."

"Oh okay. Well, I'll see you later Ez, I'm going to go tell Zoey what you said."

"Be safe Hunter!"

"Likewise."

The people here were very nice for the most part, except for the occasional bad apple. However, they probably wouldn't last an hour on the outside.

Me on the other hand, I could live out there just fine now that I knew how to find a reliable amount of food. Infected stayed out of my way mostly except for the few special infected that have territory issues, mostly Hunters. I also had my partner that stayed nearby wherever I was. Right now she was probably camped out on a building close to the encampment. I have begun to teach her English and she was almost ready to be passable as a human. The only thing was when I did eventually have to reveal myself as a Hunter to the people of the camp, would they accept both of us if they accepted me at all? That was one of the many reasons I had yet to reveal who I was to the people of the camp. I had formed a connection with everyone here. I even led new people to this camp myself. I was well respected among the whole community as a local hero of sorts. The population of the camp grew threefold since I had arrived here thanks to just me. It didn't seem like a big deal to me when I thought about it but everyone else admired me for my courage.

I take the familiar steps up to my cabin and enter quickly. Francis, Louis, and Bill greet me with friendly hellos. "Is Zoey done watching the kids yet?" I ask Bill. "No, I'm afraid not. You should go down there and help her though. The children adore you, you grabbing some attention can let her relax a little." I think it's a good idea and agree to go help Zoey. It would lessen the pressure of being the only woman in camp qualified to watch children.

I enter the old high school building and feel a chill of familiarity. This high school had always creeped me out since coming here. It felt like I had came here once before but could not remember it, like most things I could not remember. I entered the library and inside was Zoey reading a story for the children that obviously was not a book for children. But the kids absolutely loved it nonetheless. She was reading about zombies. "Reading that again, eh?" I tell her from across the room as I walk towards them. The children turn at the sound of the familiar voice and they all yell, "Hunter!" They all run up to me and tackle me to the ground. I laugh uncontrollably as they tickle me all over and I grab as many as I can and tickle them back. I look up and Zoey mouthes the words, 'Thank you' and I nod in reply.

After the children settle down. Zoey talks with me and tells me to watch them while she goes to get their snacks. I nod and she runs out, quite eager to be able to leave for a bit. I smile as the children ask me to continue Zoey's story. The story was pretty graphic. At one point it talked about a zombie 'ripping out a mans intestines' to which the children all went "Ewww!" I laugh and say, "What are you guys talking about? Intestines are delicious!" They children all react to, "Eww, no they aren't!" I laugh again, and then realize the irony to what I had just said. And I think, would I be eating things like people's intestines right now if I hadn't turned out the way I did? The aspect of that scared me.

We were getting to a really suspenseful part of the book when Zoey arrived with the snacks. I decide to leave them with a cliffhanger so they would be more willing to come tomorrow. Me and Zoey smile at each other when they all whine with a, "Awwww!" Zoey passes out the food, and I pour diluted fruit punch for them. We had to dilute it to make it last. As we ate, I was talking with Zoey away from the other children. "Well, I'm glad to hear he will take me, you could watch the children more now. They do seem to go absolutely insane when you do come by now and again." I nod and say, "There was also something else I wanted to talk about with you.", "Yeah, sure, what is it?" I hesitate at first and then I just quickly say it. "I think my partner is almost ready to join the rest of us in camp." Zoey looks at me in surprise. "Oh really? You taught her how to speak with that little of my help?" I nod with pride in being able to accomplish this. While she still needed a little work to not draw too much suspicion. If she played the 'shy new girl' act she would totally pass as human. At that moment, two kids that were sneaking up behind not only me but also Zoey as well pushed us into each other yelling, "Hunter and Zoey sitting in a tree!" The children laugh and I could see Zoey blush as well as feel myself blush as well. I chase the perpetrators around a bit and then after all the fun was over. The parents came and picked up their children. Now that we were alone we had to come up with a plan to get my partner into the camp. I came up with the idea that when Zoey went on her trip tomorrow. That my partner would follow her and then she would pretend to be a lost survivor and then Zoey and Ezekiel would bring her here and I would act like I knew her from a long time ago. Zoey thought it was brilliant. We talked a little longer about other things and I turned to leave and to go tell my partner the plan. When I turned, however, Zoey grabbed my shoulder and said, "Wait, Hunter..." I turn and begin to say, "Yeah, Zoey?" But I am stopped mid sentence by Zoey leaning in and kissing me on the lips. I turn even redder than before as I lean in as well to embrace her kiss with my own. She stops for a moment and says, "That first night we met you, I know you kissed me on the cheek while I was sleeping. Because I was awake for it, just pretending to sleep." I quickly look down, but she lifts my cheek and says, "It's okay, I love you too." And she and I lean in for another kiss. After a few seconds, I push her away and say, "I love you too Zoey, but right now I need to focus." And I then run off to try and get to my hunting partner.

'What am I going to do?, I think as I leave the compound. I do love Zoey, but I love my partner as well. Me and my partner... I believe that we were made for each other, but, I didn't want to crush Zoeys feelings for me either because she was the first person to accept me for who I really was. It was just something I would need to figure out on my own.

I arrive at my partners camp, and she leaps over to hug me and she says, "Welcome back partner of me!" I sigh and say, "There is no reason to say 'of me' but you are getting there!" She says thanks and embraces me in a tight hug. Then she kisses me on the cheek and says, "Any news on me getting into the compound with the help of you?" I cringe at how she had decided to word the sentence and say, "Yeah, Zoey is going on a supply run with Ezekiel tomorrow morning. I want you to be up very early so you can follow her wherever she goes. When she separates from Ez when they are looking for supplies. Go to her, and she will take care of the rest. Just obey everything she says. Okay?" She nods and stays silent. "Oh and one more thing, I've been thinking about what I should call you. Would you like a name?" She nods with excitement. "Okay, from now on, I'll call you 'Rose'. Is that okay?" Her eyes brighten at the sound of her new name and she says, "It's a wonderful and beautiful name, I will cherish it always!" I congratulate her on excellent sentence structure. Give her a kiss on the cheek. And then make my leave. "She's ready, she will be an excellent addition to the community." I say on my way back to the compound. I relish the fact that now when I wake up she will be right by my side. Instead of me having to leave the compound to see her. I just hoped she could adjust properly to this new life. But I'm sure she would be able to very easily.

Once I get back to the compound, one of the children Zoey was watching earlier approached me and said, "My mommy wants you to have dinner with us tonight!" I smile and say, "Sure, would you mind leading me to your cabin?" She nods excitedly and leads me into the E district of camp. This camp was full of people I had rescued. No wonder the girls mother wanted to have me over for dinner. I nervously enter the cabin and I am greeted by a familiar face. It was a the first person I had ever saved from the city. Her name was Beth. She was one of the very few people who knew I wasn't who I was pretending to be. "Hello Hunter!" She said in her usual perky voice as she hugged me, and I hugged her back. "Long time no see Beth! I see you have been reunited with your wonderful daughter.", "Yes! I am so happy that she was able to make it here alright. Thanks to you, of course. She was talking to me about you being in daycare today with your friend Zoey?" I point at the little girl and she giggles and runs off. I look back at Beth and say, "Yeah, I could sense she needed a break, so I took over for the second half of her shift.", "Well that's very nice of you Hunter." She said happily while setting her table for three. I look at her little girl named Elizabeth and say, "And you had fun today too didn't you Elizabeth?" Elizabeth replies with a big, "Yeah!" And Hunter could hear Beth laugh. Once the food was ready, Hunter had a very nice conversation with Beth. "I just can't get over how good you are with children Hunter! I bet Zoey sure does envy you.", "Yeah, she shows her jealousy at times. But mostly she's just glad she's able to take a break when I show up." We both laugh a little and I talk with Elizabeth again. I really liked having Elizabeth as a friend, I just wish I was able to hang out with her more. But she worked in the ammo factory that was created in what used to be the metalshop classroom on the high school campus. And only workers and authorized people were allowed to go over there. Even respected heroes couldn't. your..." She began. I remember what she was talking about and show her the scar on my arm I received when I rescued her. "It's healed nicely, and to be honest it was worth getting to save you." She looked at me with a smile and picked up the plates and quickly put them in the sink. She walked over to me as I was getting ready to leave and hugged me. While she hugged me she said, "Don't stop doing what you are doing, you make everyone you save feel good about living." And with that I took my leave. I decided to skip watching the sunset, and to go straight to bed for my reunion with Rose. I couldn't even go to sleep.

I was so excited for tomorrow.

(A/N) Now that the story is really starting to get somewhere, if you want you can leave a review detailing a character you want to appear in the story! I'm talking about both infected characters, good or evil. Or Survivors, good or evil as well! All you gotta do is give me his/her information. Here is what is required:

Name

Age

Human or Infected?

Appearance

Attitude/Mannerisms

Summary of the characters History

I look forward to receiving some interesting requests but please. Try to make it realistic in some way. Give me an explanation of why it could do extraordinary things in a logical sense as to not have any overpowered characters. See you all next chapter!