Hours had passed since Skyler shut the window on what was quickly becoming a godforsaken winter wonderland outside, which had warmed the bookstore up considerably, and she'd made the executive decision that she was not going back out there until the squall had let up. On top of not wanting to freeze her ass off, her visibility was shitty enough now as it was. She wondered whether the infected would even be out in this weather to get the jump on her. Heavy rain seemed to drive them to sheltered spaces, after all, and this may be the same, but she wasn't taking that chance. She found herself wondering why anyone, including herself, ever decided to settle in the Northeast; This time of year there was nothing but a frozen hellscape populated only by Dunkin Donuts and college kids pairing shorts with winter wear. And now you couldn't even get hot Dunkin coffee, either.

It was probably just as well, anyways. She knew her exhausted body could sure as hell use a rest, and she was willing to bet the Hunter could say the same. Considering how far he'd gone and especially considering he'd dragged her dead-ass weight back here, it was entirely likely he'd also torn some of the stitches she'd put in. Was she willing to check that out, though, while he was very much conscious and had the ability to retaliate? Hell if she knew.

"Alright, Adrian," she mumbled, sitting down at the table and scribbling away at a notebook she'd scavenged from the abandoned backpack as she mentally devised. "If you want a rundown. I've got, ah… no ammunition, which is fantastic. No idea where anything is around here and apparently no help coming to me until I can get to goddamn Massachusetts. But hey. Maybe you can gather up some more of these books and fucking throw them really hard at anything that comes running."

He did look up to regard her at the mention of his name, but once again it seemed that her incredible wit had gone to waste. Was there even a point in being a smartass when the only other one around didn't seem to understand speech? Tragic.

Inaction always did kill her, though. She finally set down her notes, which amounted to a haphazard scrawl of, '- Find bullets - Get to Boston - Don't get eaten - Hunter?' and began pacing the interior, occasionally skimming her fingers along the spine of a book idly. She got the feeling her "companion" was as restless as she was, but mostly just watched her or occasionally grumbled or twitched to look at nothing in particular. It was unnerving, in the way that it was when a cat would stare into corners with nothing in sight.

Eventually she decided that the best thing she could do while stuck in here was to prepare herself for the ordeal that was sure to come when she left. How long had it been since she'd sat down long enough to eat something? At least since before she'd taken off from the flat, so a day, possibly longer. She'd been smart enough to stuff the rest of the cans from the pantry into her pack before she'd left, so that was something.

Though as she sat herself back at the table, fully ready to tear into a can of weenies, it did make her wonder. Huh. She never really did imagine the infected as munching on anything besides people, but come to think of it, if they didn't then there definitely wouldn't be that many left to bother her. They'd have starved to death ages ago, and while some of them certainly looked on that edge, they had to be finding something. She was pretty sure she'd seen them going after each other on occasion, but did they eat, like, normal stuff?

"Hey kid," she goaded, unzipping her bag and taking out a can. "You eat weenies? That came out worse than I meant. Like, people food?"

Adrian gave her a perplexed side-eye, but if he gave a crap about the can, he didn't show it. Did he even know what this was? As a test she popped the lid, holding it out in his general direction. "I mean. Can't say they look the best, but-"

She was cut off before she even finished by a guttural growl. He'd already slunk as close as he presumably dared, and she was pretty sure she could actually see him salivating… or, scratch that, she definitely could, right down his chin. Well wasn't that pleasant? A rumble was going through him so low and deep he seemed to actually quiver with it. That answered one question.

"Jeez, kid, chill out. Gonna starve to death in the next five seconds? Just take it." She slid the can to the edge of the table and took a step or two back. There was a beat of pause, but it didn't take long before it was snatched off and the Hunter curled himself around it defensively, as if expecting it to be taken away at any second and began eating with all of the messy enthusiasm of a starved animal. Maybe "starving to death in the next five seconds" wasn't that much of an exaggeration after all. Vaguely she remembered something Lauren had said about burning calories making heat and wondered if that was part of why he ran so fucking hot. She wasn't a doctor, but that sounded about right. Some freak metabolism for running around leaping from buildings that was gradually burning him up. Starve a cold. Feed a fever.

"Mmh. Still can't believe this, though," she mumbled contemplatively as she sucked down a couple of her own weenies. "Scratched out my fucking eye and now I'm feeding you. Am I ever gonna get rid of you now?"

Adrian didn't so much as look up. Skyler sighed and, for the moment, decided that her time would be better spent doing something like figuring out if that fake fireplace could be used to hold a real fire without burning this place down too.


It was common knowledge that there were a few things that were more precious and valuable than anything else in the world. Shelter was important. Without it, there was nothing to keep one safe from either Others or exposure to the elements. Water too, especially when it had been a long stretch since the skies had poured down. Above everything else, though, was the need for food. It consumed his thoughts… and those of the ones like him, he knew… a large portion of the time, constantly looming and desperate. In recent memory there was less and less of it and it was something guarded and hoarded, only given between the closest of packmates or when something was wanted.

This monster had to want something in return, but he'd been too hungry to resist. He was going to have to worry about that when it came. The squishy substance- he thought it was some sort of flesh but everything about it was so different he couldn't even be sure- was gone too soon, and hardly satisfied, but it was better than nothing.

At the moment, the monster didn't take further action, seeming content to leisurely eat her own meal. So then, what did she expect in return? It occurred to him that maybe this was to solidify them as allies, which in truth made him a little nervous. He'd been unthinking when he'd accepted it, but how far could he really trust something so dangerous?

But, something else whispered, hadn't she already done enough to show that her intentions might not be entirely horrible after all? He did even have an understanding of why she'd attacked him in the first place, if only a vague one. It was blood for blood, and did make sense. And earlier, while he'd been laying there… It had felt like one of the absolute lowest points that he could remember. Absolutely everything had felt like it was collapsing in around him, and the monster, she… she'd come back and offered comfort. There had been no reason for her to do that.

There was still so much to answer, and it was still difficult to even attempt to think about, but somehow after his breakdown before, he felt less likely to fall apart. Maybe it had done some good, after all-

Crunch.

Adrian stiffened. Lifted his head in attention, nose raised to catch any nearby scents. The sound hadn't come from inside. His senses were heightened enough that he could already tell that it was too careful, too measured to be one of the Weak Others. His pupils constricted, and a low hiss left him, though he was careful to keep it quiet enough to not draw attention. It was so cold it made it hard to pick up a scent. Another Clean One? One of the smart Others? The noise was still distant, but…

No, he realized, after listening carefully. Not just one.

Not good. This was very not good. He was not in any shape for conflict, especially if it wasn't one on one. After a moment, he also had the thought that if it was Others, especially if they were what he thought they were, and they were to get close enough, they would be more than sure to notice the monster as well. No matter how the cold bit at one's nose or the wind whisked away scent, her smell as prey was the sharpest thing around. He'd be lucky if she hadn't left a trail right to where they were anyways. She was going to draw the group right to them.

A short growl escaped him before he could help it. An insistent part of him said that he had laid claim first and so therefore she should be his to do with as he pleased. And for another thing, if they scented her, then they were sure to attack him as well, simply for being in the way. He had to do something about this.

The monster seemed entirely oblivious to the threat, and in fact was making more noises at him, which made him want to yell in frustration. Unable to do that, he bared his teeth with another near-silent hiss, looking from her to back towards one of the openings to make sure that they hadn't heard. This seemed to confuse her, but at least made her fall silent for the moment and look at where he was focused.

There was no time for this. He had to hide the smell somehow. His eyes darted around the room, heart giving a slightly nauseating thud as he tuned out several shadowy figures just within his vision in his search. The still-open entrance to the other room caught his attention.

The monster resumed her meaningless sounds, but they were cut off quickly into a single muffled yell when, without any further warning, he shoved hard into her, knocking her in that direction. She fell to her knees and before she had the chance to recover, he resumed pushing at her. She shoved back and slapped at him, which he imagined was some kind of protest, to which he gave another low hiss. It was only then that she seemed to realize something was going on, because she paused for long enough to look around warily for a threat. He used this break to roughly push her the rest of the way in and then leaned heavily into the other side of the door, forcing it shut mostly by accident but accomplishing what he wanted anyways.

Done. By now he was panting heavily and his stomach wound burned, but at least this meant that he must be gaining some of his strength back. Much slower than he'd have liked, but it was something.

It was… the best that he could do.


Skyler had no clue what was going on, and it fucking sucked. She guessed enough by the Hunter's bizarre behavior that there was some sort of threat, though it'd be really nice if he could goddamn tell her what it was. Irritably she rapped a palm against the door as hard as she dared, hissing out a low, "The fuck is up, kid? You planning on letting me out?"

She was met by a low growl from the other side, and even that sounded hushed. Hell. Just what could it be that had gotten him so riled up? Other specials, maybe? If it were a Tank or some shit, she'd know about it by now.

Or, the thought idly occurred to her, he could have shoved her into here just for the hell of it. Was he capable of that, she wondered? Doing things just to fuck with her? She recalled reading about how that was supposed to be a sign of intelligence in animals, like crows and dolphins.

The utter silence that stretched out even though she knew he was on the other side of the door told of something else, though. A thick tension stood heady in the air, until even her own heart rate escalated with it. She could barely hear his breathing. Her ears might have caught some shuffling outside, but it just as easily could have been snow falling off of the roof or something of the sort.

And then, through the single window in the nook, a shadow was thrown across the floor.

Nope!

Skyler dropped down flush with the carpet, making herself as still and hard to notice as possible. She kept sight of that shadow, watching as it took its sweet time to move on by in a lithe, four-legged gait. Well didn't that figure that Adrian had freaked out? It was another fucking Hunter. Something about the outline of this one seemed… a little off somehow, though. Before she could really take in much more though, something seemed to catch its attention, and it let out an audible little chuff before quickly hopping off past the window, much to her relief.

Perhaps it was against her better judgement, but a minute after the danger had apparently passed, she drew in a deep breath and carefully crept towards the window, trying to get a decent look out to be sure that the coast was actually clear. Considering they were in essentially a basement, the window was level enough to see footprints had come close enough to be more or less directly outside. Close fucking call. She'd lucked out to avoid being spotted, or… scented, or however it was these things usually picked up on their meals.

She squinted as she eyed up the prints while they were still visible, filling up in the muddy snow. After a moment, her heart gave an uneven thud at the realization that she could faintly make out the zigzag pattern and comic logo left by the soles of a pair of Sketchers for Kids. Jesus. This wasn't any toddler shoe, and she knew it wasn't entirely impossible for young ones to survive the turn, but still. It was enough to knot up your gut for sure.

It seemed like forever passed before she heard what she supposed was a sigh of relief from Adrian in the other room. Figuring that was about as much an indicator as she was going to get that she was safe to come out, she was still more than a little cautious as she emerged from her impromptu hiding spot. He didn't stop her, at least, which was a good sign.

"Gave me a damn heart attack there, kid. Is that really what you were all worked up over? A tiny leaper? I mean, shit. Still pretty sure you could take him in a fight… Oh, I feel like a bad person."

He still seemed entirely on-edge though, sparing her only a second's glance before resuming making rounds of the perimeter. Mostly he seemed focused on any potential entry points, pausing below each window and even the fake fireplace. Really, it looked unerringly close to a check she'd have done in her early days on the run to make sure any points the infected could come crashing in through were accounted for. It was starting to get unnerving just how smart he seemed at times, and not even in a necessarily "human" way so much as… well. Probably exactly what was to be expected of someone who'd been eking out an existence in an apocalyptic hellhole for months on end.

Now that she'd had some time to settle from the scare, she had a minute to get cozy by the "fire" and consider what she'd just seen, kicking an emptied can o' weenies along the way. Man. A part of her really couldn't help but wonder how a young infected had made it this long, and just how they were going to fare especially in the cold months to come. It was just a formulaic recipe to make absolutely any shit scenario more depressing to add kids into it. And just what had spooked "her" Hunter so badly about it, anyways?

She was just about to take out her radio to at least complain to Four Dog about this when Adrian's continued checking of the side-facing windows led her to look more carefully in that direction.

"What is it that's got you so worried there, anyways? You staring at demons or something? We got a draft coming in? What's over-"

She didn't have to finish her own sentence. Her remaining eye widened and her gut abruptly plunged. Just to make sure of what she was seeing, she stood up on her chair to get a better view.

Holy. Shit.

The snow outside was goddamn covered in footprints. And not from the same pair of feet. The smaller pair of Sketchers were among them, but most of the others were considerably more adult-looking, and with a cold jolt she realized she'd just had her question about how the kid had lasted so long answered.

They'd been passed over by… by an entire fucking pack of these things.