Hello everybody! Here's another new chapter to this story. However, let me be the first to admit that this chapter is probably nothing more than filler. It still has to do with getting the story moving towards the plot, but there's nothing of great importance apart from some optional character info I thought you'd be interested in reading.

However, there is a point-of-view shift. The chapter will be centered around Scott this time around. As you've no doubt noticed, most of the past chapters were based off of Stiles' point-of-view. The reason why I chose to go with Scott's this time around is because Stiles is already in good hands with Derek. On the other hand, we have no idea how Scott was doing; so I used it as an opportunity to have you readers see for yourselves. And besides, this story is based on Scott's and Stiles' experiences with survival; it only makes sense that the story's point-of-view would shift between them whenever appropriate.

Anyway, that's all I really have to say about this chapter. But before I leave you all to read this new chapter, allow me to welcome Sheep-san into the community that is this story. Thanks for following my story and putting it under your favorites. It means a lot to me. Now that we've taken care of that, I'll let you all go now!

Chapter 10

"I hope Stiles' alright," Scott murmured worriedly.

"I'm sure he's fine," Isaac assured. "I've only known him for a bit, but he seems capable of handling himself. Minus his weird spontaneous moments, of course."

As much as Scott wanted to groan, he suppressed it. Somehow during their escape, the two managed to find themselves in a utility closet. That was mostly Isaac's fault as he led them through the first door of his choosing and shut it behind them. Now they were trapped inside and dared to leave while there were strange noises out in the hallway. The closet being cramped and forcing them to be extremely close to each other did not help matters either.

Still, they managed to make things work. They had to be in an awkward hug to fit and keep from knocking anything over and alerting the monsters to their location. They also kept their faces trained on the door since just turning their heads to each other would result in them kissing the other's cheek. It already happened once before when they first went in hiding; they learned from it and refused to look anywhere but the door.

Since then, an unknown amount of time had passed. It had gone quiet a couple minutes ago but only after Scott heard Stiles' shouts followed by the sound of retreating steps. Clearly more restless than scared, Isaac maneuvered his free arm to the door handle. Scott hissed in pain when the other accidentally brushed against the fresh wound on his left arm.

"Sorry," Isaac apologized before opening the door. He carefully poked his head outside and examined the hallway. He then let out a sigh before saying, "Everything seems okay. Stiles probably got most of their attention earlier. I don't think he meant to, but he's given us a chance to escape!"

"Hopefully not at the cost of his life," Scott replied, his tone reflecting both concern and sarcasm. He rolled his shoulders a bit to get some of the stiffness out. "I'm sure his time at the Sacramento police academy didn't train him for this kind of situation. Knowing him, he'll just dip into his so-called skills in surviving. He's paranoid and has watched enough horror movies to be considered a self-proclaimed expert in life-and-death survival; it doesn't mean he knows what he's doing!"

"He's training to be an officer? No offense, but I can't see him being one."

"You and me both," the veterinarian-in-training shrugged while following Isaac out into the hallway. "His dad's the sheriff, though. He's lived with an officer in his home practically all his life. Honestly, I'd have been surprised if he majored in something other than criminology. I can't tell you how many times he dragged me to his dad's study to look through case files."

"Like I said, he's training to be an officer?" Isaac repeated while casting Scott a skeptical look. He cautiously led the way down the hall. "He's already guilty of breaking and entering; you're an accessory to a crime."

"Trust me; we paid for it when his dad caught us one time. Imagine being ten years old and being told you can't visit your best friend for a whole month outside of school." Scott gave a shudder at the memory. "I remember driving my mom crazy every day until she threatened to extend my punishment."

"Sounds like something my brother and I used to do."

"You have a brother?"

"Had," Isaac corrected, his expression turning dark as he picked up the tire iron that had somehow made its way to where it was. "He was killed while in the military. Left me alone with my dad," he bitterly added as he swung his weapon at nothing. Scott noticed the increased aggression and suddenly found the bat still in his hands interesting. "They're both sore subjects; I don't wanna talk about it."

"It's cool, man; I didn't mean to stir up bad memories," Scott apologized as they turned a corner. "Let's just concentrate on making it to the animal clinic in one piece."

"And getting you some medical attention," Isaac added, his tone calmer as he pointed to the other's wound. "That's a pretty bad gash; it's still bleeding!"

"It's probably gonna need stitches," he groaned as he stopped to take a better look at his arm. After making sure the area was clear, Isaac came closer to examine the wound. "At least my mom's a nurse; she can patch me up when I see her."

The sleeve of his leather jacket was torn, showcasing the damaged skin beneath it. It was still bleeding, although it seemed to have started to heal. He received it around the time when he got separated from Stiles. He had no idea what caused it; he assumed it was when he fell to the floor and rubbed against something sharp. If that was the case, then he needed to get it cleaned as soon as possible. At the least, it looked nothing like a bite. Considering how close he was to the monster's mouth, that in itself was a miracle.

"Still, we need to get that wrapped up," Isaac stated as he reached under his shirt and took out a scarf similar to the one around his neck. Unlike his current one, however, this one was almost as red as a monster's eyes. "I like scarves," he simply replied in response to Scott's confused gaze. "This's a spare in case I lost the one I'm wearing. Don't worry, I kept it tied over my undershirt; it's never touched my skin."

"I didn't say anything. But why're you even wearing one now? Fashion's the last thing I'd be worried about. That and it's still summer!"

"It's late summer; the autumn air's starting to roll in. And like I said, I like scarves," he shrugged while carefully wrapping his spare over Scott's wound. "I don't like having my neck exposed."

"I'm guessing you don't like showing much skin?" Scott asked with a wince every time the scarf touched his wound. The other man kept silent as he continued with his impromptu first aid.

"Anyway, it looks like you know what you're doing," he changed subjects after a couple seconds of awkward silence. "I've seen Dr. Deaton patch up animals before, and that's almost exactly how he does it."

"I've learned a few things from Alan. Nothing too advanced, but its stuff I can use on both animals and people. This is one of them," Isaac replied. Scott could hear the hint of pride in his voice as the makeshift bandage was completed with a knot tied carefully over the wound. He then gave it a cautious tug before stepping back to examine his work. "Well, I've done all I can. That should keep it from becoming any worse than it is. Still, we need to get it cleaned and patched with proper bandages as soon as we can. I'm sure there's some stuff we can use at the clinic."

"Guess that's another reason to get there quickly then." Scott gingerly moved his arm to test the wrap. He then moved it faster after seeing it hold and was met with the same result. "Of course, that's assuming we even know where to go from here."

"I can figure it out once we're back outside. Right now, let's just concentrate on finding an exit."

With that, Isaac led the way through the cramped hallways once more. Amazingly, there were no signs of any monsters the entire time they were performing first aid. Considering that they were hiding in the utility closet for a while, it seemed fair to assume the monsters forgot about them and moved on. Whatever the reason was, neither chose to waste even a moment of their reprieve.

Not even a minute later, they turned one last corner and saw an emergency exit at the end of their path. The sign above the door had long since been shattered, but the red letters painted onto the door designated it as an emergency escape.

"Really?" Isaac groaned. "We just needed to keep on running and we would've been out of here? I basically led us into that closet for nothing!"

"But we still would've had a whole bunch of monsters after us," Scott mentioned with a shrug. "At least they're now busy doing whatever it is they're doing.

"Anyway, that reminds me of something," he wondered. "You said earlier that this place was a pack den. Why'd you call it that?"

"It's something my friends came up with," the other man explained. He had reached the doors and cautiously opened them. After making sure the coast was clear, he motioned for Scott to follow him out into the alley. They were greeted with a security light that illuminated the area and gave them sight of any potential dangers. "It's when there's a whole bunch of those things gathered in one place. They kinda thought of it in wolf terminology; it's a den controlled by a leader.

"You remember how they all came at us when you defended Stiles against the one with red eyes?" Scott gave a single nod. "After you hit it, the others considered it as all bets off the table. From what my friends and I have seen, the one with red eyes are usually the leaders of a group. They're the ones who get first dibs in a fight, but the others will join in when they see their leader attacked."

"So you're saying it's my fault we got into that mess?"

"No, Scott; that's not what I'm saying." They had now made it back to the streets. Isaac took the chance to scan his surroundings for a moment before deciding on the direction to go. "I would've done the same thing in your shoes. What I meant was that them surrounding us was like wolves catching intruders in their territory. They owned the entire street! We were lucky enough to get out of it alive!"

"And that's why you called it a pack den," Scott concluded while putting the bat on his shoulder. "I guess I understand it now. Wolves are very protective of their pack mates, and the monsters' behavior does kind of seem like that. Not to mention that the one with red eyes acted like the leader.

"Oh, I hope Stiles is okay," he suddenly groaned. "I just remembered that it was the red-eyed one that separated us. It chose to chase him over us!"

"I think he's doing alright," Isaac replied. Whether it was the truth or out of comfort, Scott chose not to wonder on it. "The whole time we were stuck in that closet, we didn't hear any bloodcurdling screams from him. That and there were a lot of crashing sounds going on. You don't normally hear that when someone's still alive.

"I don't know Stiles as well as you do, but he looks to me like a guy who can take care of himself," he added with a smile, now walking alongside Scott instead of leading the way. "He doesn't freeze up and advertise himself as a free monster meal. He managed to shoot at a few of them despite being in a panic. He was able to outrun them despite it being what I think to be his first time against these things." Scott's soft chuckle was answer enough to Isaac's suspicions. "And he's cautious enough to question plans before agreeing to go along with it. He has the mind of a survivor; that's more than anybody in this situation could ask for."

"…You're a different person when you talk about this, you know?" Scott noticed after a moment of comfortable silence. The other man shot him a quizzical glance. "I mean, you tend to be fidgety and short with your answers. Now you sound confident."

"Th-That's because I don't like sharing information about myself!" Isaac quickly explained. The light blush on his cheeks, however, did not escape Scott's notice. "I'm good with anything else, though. Talking about my experiences in this town-turned-to-hell is one of them. There's no right or wrong answer; I just like to help others by telling them how I've survived this long."

The sound of a car roaring to life immediately caught their attention. Both men stopped walking and tried to figure out where it came from. However, they could not find it and ended up looking at each other with a shrug.

"I guess someone's found their ticket out of here," Scott wondered aloud as he rolled the bat in his hands. He kept on listening to the sound of the car engine moving further away from them. "It's too bad they're not heading our way. I was kinda hoping we could hitch a ride."

"You really think whoever's driving would take the time to take us somewhere other than out of this town?" he heard Isaac ask, his deadpan tone accentuated by his stoic gaze.

That was the only thing Scott saw and heard, though, before he felt the world start to spin. He put his free hand to his forehead in an attempt to stop it, but he could already feel his body starting to sway.

"Hey, you okay?" Isaac asked as he placed firm but gentle hands on Scott's shoulders. It took a few more seconds before his eyes could finally focus on something other than blurred images.

"I-I don't know," Scott answered, his voice a bit shaky. "I think it's… It's probably the stress catching up with me. I haven't slept well since this all started; I'm amazed I haven't died from an asthma or panic attack yet!"

"Or it's a sign you lost a lot of blood," the other man suggested as he took a look at the injured arm. Scott also looked at it and saw a bit of red seeping through the fabric. "Doesn't look like it's gotten any worse. You don't seem to be getting sick, either," he added as he put a hand to Scott's forehead. "Still, I'd really feel better if we can get to the clinic sooner than later. Think you can keep moving?"

"Yeah, I'm alright now," Scott replied while swatting away the other's hand. "I probably shouldn't be making any sudden movements, but I'll manage. Thanks, Isaac." The man merely frowned in response. He still kept close to his side, though, as they continued on their way to the animal clinic.

The last thing Scott needed was to start feeling under the weather. He still had to meet back up with his mom and Stiles. He could already imagine how his best friend was going to laugh at him later if he ended up dying from something other than the claws or teeth of a killer monster. His mom would be sad, but she would probably find comfort that it was at least from sudden illness.

Still, he had no intentions of being slowed down by anything, not after having come this far. He was not going to let a bit of stress and exhaustion get the better of him. He was going to meet back with Stiles and his mom even if it meant having to fight through more dizzy spells. He honestly hoped it would not come to that, though, since he did not want to play the vulnerable survivor in need of protection. Stiles would definitely never let him live it down.

Like I said at the beginning, this chapter is honestly more filler information than anything important. However, I couldn't just keep that filler stuff out or it would've made the time jump too big. Note that Scott's point-of-view starts just a little before the end of the last chapter. Imagine how strange it would be if I started with Scott and Isaac having a calm moment out in the streets instead of trying to recover from their near-death experience.

At the same time, I thought I'd try to put in some more information regarding Isaac in terms of this story. I know I haven't said much about him and who he is in here, but I'm also trying to make some parts vague so you can draw up conclusions as to his personality and overall role in this story. It's not that I don't know what his role is; both Scott and Stiles never knew of him before this. As such, it doesn't make sense for Isaac to be spilling his guts over his past to them for no apparent reason. I'm slowly cracking at his shell, but I'm sure you've already discovered some parts of him that I inferred from both his behavior and reactions.

But yeah, this was more of a calming chapter after having two or three straight chapters full of just action. Please don't forget to leave a review before you move onto the next story you want to read. They are helpful for me to see just how you readers are receptive to what I'm writing. That and I also welcome whatever kind of constructive criticism you might have regarding my writing. Thanks again for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see you all on the next update to this or any of my other stories on this site!