Chapter Three- An Unlikely Ally

As she started firing at the walkers, the zombified wolf silently observed, mesmerized by the sight he had thought was never to be. He was unsure it was real but the way his deadly stare seemed to frighten her let him know that he wasn't dreaming, he seemingly couldn't break his stare though, too distracted by the way the wolf fought. That is, until he heard a fateful click.

Catherine had wasted all of her bullets, and was now slowly backing into a wall, a tear streaming down her face as she knew she was going to go out like this, as food for the undead, she had so much she wanted to do in her life, as a college graduate her thoughts were endless about her career as a doctor and scientist, hoping she would eventually find a cure for this infection, she wanted someone to love and be with till the end, it couldn't end like this, though, it seemed like Mother Nature had other ideas.

However as a coyote closed in on its breakfast, she and the rest of the walkers heard a dangerously aggressive growl, followed by barks that sounded like a lion's roar, she had observed this type of behavior before and as she expected, the walkers backed away and eventually wandered off, allowing the savage wolf to claim his kill.

Catherine closed her eyes and prepared for the inevitable, her entire life flashed in them, she eventually tightened them more and more as the footsteps stopped, however nothing happened, reluctantly, she opened one eye.

And behold, a paw was outstretched in front of her, the savage wolf kneeling down with its face giving an almost sympathetic expression. "H-hey" the wolf mumbled as she shuffled in her place "uh . . ." She wasn't sure what to say to the walker, letting it put its bloody paw on her shoulder "I'm-I'm not gonna hurt you" she stayed silent, thinking she was dead already "am . . . am I dead?" "I hope not" the zombie jested, "but you're . . ." "I know what I am, just take my paw and . . . Follow me alright" the wolf cut as he shook the blistered paw for her to grab it.

After some argument in her head, she accepted the walker's offer, almost hurling when it pulled her up, the stench of its body was beyond unbearable, it's paws let go of her as the savage stood in front of her.

She looked at it half in confusion and disgust "you-you alright?" It cooed, again outstretching it's paw which she swatted away, "I'm . . . I'm fine" she said, lying as it's paw went back in place. As the two walked out of the hospital she stepped away from the wolf and grabbed her combat knife, observing the wolf doing nothing in defense which further encouraged her to inquire it, "what . . . Are you?" It shrugged "I . . . Dunno" it stepped closer "look I . . ." "Don't move!" "Don't yell!" The wolf yelled in a clear male voice as he swatted the knife out of her paws and looked at her.

"Besides it's not like that's gonna do anything to me" he said, admittedly speaking the truth as his ice blue eyes locked on her, losing focus as he sighed, "look, I understand what your first thought is when you see something like me" "shoot it?" The wolf finished ". . . y-yeah but trust me, I'm not a cannibal, a-alright?" Catherine huffed and eyed the zombie with all skepticism, "sure look like one" his paws stuck out from his sides "well I'm dead so that's pretty much expected, listen I saved you because . . ." Her brow became raised as she waited for an explanation.

"I need someone to . . ." "Buddy up with?" She suggested, the wolf agreed on the word "y-yeah, I know I look like I wanna eat you but I promise you I won't, just . . . Please?" Catherine couldn't help not to give an amused smile and in a sense, a gesture of approval "you are the most awkward zombie I've ever seen" the wolf ignored the somewhat rude comment "so . . . is that a yes or no?" Catherine chuckled lightly, "yeah sure, as long as you don't eat me in my sleep . . . I'll trust you" he looked relieved at that statement, shown by a sigh "good . . . Just follow me" he said as she walked beside the undead wolf, getting a good look at all of him.

It was clearly evident that he was indeed dead, there was a significant open gap in his side revealing at least three parts of his rib cage, all of which were bloodied and dented, his paws had many calluses and cuts. His white fur was matted and in some areas simply not there at all, some parts were bloodied or dirty, sometimes both, there was also a big chunk of flesh absent from his head, revealing a white skull that blended in with the surprisingly well kept fur on his head.

Parts of his lips were bitten off, most likely by himself, revealing razor sharp teeth that he seemed to always bare. His entire body seemed to be riddled with cuts, bruises and missing chunks of flesh, giving her another reason to want to shoot him, though even if she had the urge to do it, she was far more intrigued by the wolf, she had many questions about it. How could he have a brain? How could he make full sentences? What about his injuries, and how can he do so many things when he is dead? She hadn't known the zombie for an hour and she already knew that this wolf was something she had never seen.

". . . Hey" she said looking at the zombie who looked back at her with a grunt "how do you even think?" The wolf stopped for a moment "I . . . Don't know honestly, I think I'm immune and just leave it at that, you should too" she nodded slowly, seeing it was a touchy subject for him "well I'm Catherine by the way" she introduced herself as they walked and the wolf held his paw out, tilting his head towards her "Wolford, don't ask how I know my name, I don't know that either, I'm not saying I don't know my name but I'm saying I . . ." "I get it" Catherine cut him off.

Wolford stopped in front of the abandoned apartment building and looked at her "this is where we're staying?" He nodded "it doesn't look like much from the get go but it's the best I can do, come on" he said as they walked in.

As they reached the sixth floor of the building and walked into an unnumbered room, Catherine was surprised to find a well kept apartment. Lit only by sunlight and visible hanging lanterns that hung from the ceiling with little tee-lights in them, she watched them sway and swing at the slightest gust.

Unlike the rest of the building, the room had unbroken windows and doors that were still fixed on their hinges, reinforced with plates of scrap metal nailed onto the outside, "I'm impressed" she commented, touching a bunch of candles on a table, Wolford smiled "at least someone acknowledges tidiness these days" he said as Catherine sat on a dusty couch, eyeing the room as a whole.

There was the couch she was seated on with an old tv in front of her which was actually plugged in along with what looked like a record player you'd see in an old 40's bar, "does that still work?" She asked pointing to it as Wolford looked at the jukebox "sure, it only has one song but it's my personal favorite" after getting her answer she got up and walked into a small hallway.

"Do you have anything to eat?" She asked wandering back into the room where the wolf was currently sitting on the couch "I've got tomato soup, but that's about it" she wasn't terribly hungry but she knew not to let her hunger get low, soup was barely nuritable but it was more than nothing, "sure" she said accepting his offer "but does that stove even work?" He stopped with the can in his paw "no, but the fire will" he pointed below the table in front of her where a campfire was, made of sticks and stones with a stained gray pot rested on it "isn't lighting a fire in a building like this dangerous?" She inquired, making Wolford shrug "if it's not contained it is, just don't play with it much that's all" it seemed the wolf was willing to take the risk of letting a fire be set in his abode to feed her, as she thought about it he moved the table over and lit the fire with a weak strike of a match.

As the fire began crackling, the wolf sat on the other side of the old couch, looking at her with his terrifying face. Upon looking at it she instinctively covered her nose and looked at him with a disgruntled face, Wolford tilted his head "what?" He asked gravelly "not to be rude or anything but . . . You look . . ." "Terrifying?" The wolf finished and she shook her head "disgusting, actually appalling . . . Hopefully that doesn't offend you or . . ." He put his paws up in front of him "oh no, not at all . . . It's the truth" he chortled "I look like a cheap Halloween decoration don't I?" When making the distinction between what he was referring to, she laughed along with him "yeah . . . But I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, you definitely would be at least 70 bucks at a Halloween store" she said as a sort of compliment to the zombie as he picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the soup in the pot.

"You think so?" Wolford asked, surprised at Catherine's comment as he lifted the spoon and tasted the soup "can you even taste anything?" He shook his head, "no, normal food is hardly nurishable for me considering I don't think I have that much of a stomach anymore, and plus I bet all of my taste buds are dead, I'll be fine though." There was a long, awkward pause in the conversation, neither of them spoke as they waited for the food to be cooked.

"So . . . Uh Catherine, right?" The wolf asked, checking if he remembered her name correctly, he was delighted when she nodded "yea, what kind of name is Wolford anyways?" She mocked, Wolford chuckled "I dunno, it's one you remember though, it's simple like that, you know?" He said as for once he actually went into a full conversation with someone else, "yeah . . ." She answered with a bit of sadness in her voice, which Wolford chose to ignore for the sake of the conversation.

"You've got . . . Quite the survival skills there, glad you didn't shoot me on sight" he joked, leaning back afterward. There was another long pause as he waited for her response and eventually he got it "yeah . . . I learnt them from all of the cheap movies they make in the burrows, along with some books too" he was surprised by her shared interest in reading "really? I-I read too" "cool . . . I was kind of a survival geek when I was in high school" she said with a laugh as he lifted the pot up and put it on the table with the spoon in it.

"Huh, just eat it from the pot, there's no bowls around here" he said pushing the red hot pot towards his newfound companion, as the female wolf sipped from the spoon, Wolford saw her flinch as the soup touched her tongue "too hot?" She grinned guiltily "yeah, did you put anything in this?" He was confused by her inquiry "like?" "Spices and stuff" what was left of his ears piped up at her mention of his recipe "oh yeah definitely, soup is just bland without putting something in it, ya know?" "I feel that" she said before she paused.

"If you don't mind, I've got a few questions" she said crossing her legs "well it depends on what they are, don't just barrade me with insults on how I look" he joked "no promises, but I'm definitely gonna get some things down."

"So are you . . . Decaying, rotting, anything like that?" Catherine asked this as if the zombie was one of her patients, still he answered with a somewhat smug statement "does it look like it? My skin is practically peeling off at this point" he said, holding up his arm and scratching the bone dry skin as well as the bone itself that was currently sticking out of him "yeesh, does any of that hurt?" "What, the bone? You can't feel anything when you're dead" "but that's the thing, you appear to be not dead" she countered and the wolf put his paws on his hips "and how do you know that?" Catherine laughed "I wouldn't be a doctor if I didn't" surprisingly Wolford wasn't very taken aback by this, he could see the female wolf eyeing him silently, looking almost intrigued by him.

Wolford argued her point "Well I don't think I'm alive because how could someone live with these injuries? I mean my rib cage is basically a xylophone" she cringed when he slid his paw pad over his exposed ribs, rhythmically too "a bloody xylophone that is" she added, he shrugged "well yeah but again it doesn't really hurt, it just looks kind of cool" Catherine smiled even if it was an odd time to, however deep inside she had a notion that it was meant to be.

Could it be his sense of humor? Or His seemingly optimistic view of his current situation? "you do know that part of your skull is exposed right?" She said with a small laugh as he touched his head "where?" "Right there," she said, pointing her spoon at the pure white.

He touched it and shrugged "I'm fine" he said flatly before getting up "do you sleep?" Wolford shook his head, "no, only sometimes" she jotted it down in her head as he walked toward her, looking at the cracked clock on the wall "hey . . . I know we just met but . . . Could you maybe help me get back to the burrows? Maybe you could come there too?"

The wolf laughed "tough chance" Catherine sighed at that as the wolf turned suddenly "but . . . That doesn't mean I wouldn't give it a shot . . . I think they'd be happy to see me again" she gasped "your from the burrows too?" Wolford sat down again, this time next to her "yeah, in Orlinkton, south side, near the wall" "hey me too! What school?" "Post, I didn't go to college" the zombie answered rather impatiently "you . . . should go to sleep or something" he said getting up as Catherine was confused, "why? I stay up late" she objected only for the wolf to shrug it off "you wanna get to the border wall right?" She nodded following his question.

"Yeah" Wolford nodded at her answer "so if you want to get there quicker you better sleep early and wake up early, that's almost across the city and even then we'll still have to go cross country" she was about to object again but he had a valid point, if the duo wanted to get back to a safe haven quicker she should definitely wake up earlier to get a head start. "Okay" she nodded "where do I sleep?" "You could . . ." "I'm not sleeping in the same bed you do, I bet it's just as gross . . . No offense" Catherine said rejecting her assumed question before the wolf shrugged "well that's all I've got to offer so it's either that or nothing" he said walking into the hallway, showing her a boarded up door with a peephole below the knob, made of plain wood with a multitude of wooden planks nailed onto the door to reinforce it.

AN: Heya y'all! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Looks like Catherine got incredibly lucky bumping into Wolford there. Hopefully you're beginning to like them both, they're two characters that I personally really like! Anywho that's about all I've got, so see ya.

A Laughing Wolf