"I thought you died" I said as I walked beside my dad. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and we walk through the snow covered landscape. Hunt was crawling, leaping all over the place. The other survivors seem to not mind him, like he was with them before I met him. "When I got back to the camp, everyone I saw there was dead and the fire—

"The attack took a large toll on us, but a lot of people escaped, because of Hunt and your mom"

"Mom? She's okay, right?"

There was a moment of silence, my dad breathed in deep and exhaled. "I'm sorry, Andrea, I wasn't fast enough save her, I'm so sorry" He starts to tear up and I hold the hand draped over my shoulder.

"It's okay dad, I know mom didn't suffer, but I'm sorry too, for making you think I was gone"

"I never thought you were dead, though. That's why I gathered a few men and headed out to look for you. Cal and Nash will be so happy to see you again"

"How are they?"

"They've been bickering about whose fault it was to let you go alone"

"But I chose to do it on my own, I don't want to be dependent on them too much"

"They're boys, they'll always want you to depend on them. Makes them have a bit more pride and vigor"

Hunt's by my side again, he looks down on the road and then to me. The sun casting shadows inwards of his face, making it hard for me to see his eyes. He gives a low and soft growl before jumping on ahead. I look to his direction and I see smoke from afar. I wasn't wrong, heading south was the best idea I had, dad and his men had set up camp. The original campsite we had was three states away up north, I wonder where the new one is.

"How'd you know I was here, anyway?"

"Met three survivors not long ago, they said something about a girl with a tamed hunter on her heels. I assumed the hunter was Hunt and I took it as a sign of good fortune"

We reach the campsite and the first faces I see are Cal and Nash, my exploration teammates. Cal was the brute force between us three, he was much like I last seen him, a mountain of muscle wearing a fitted shirt and worn jeans. He had grown a beard, dark and silky like his hair. Nash was leaner than Cal but he was still bulky compared to me. His dreadlocks were longer than I remember them and he's still clean-shaven since the last time I saw him. Cal was light skinned and fair while Nash was like me, dark ebony skinned and shorter than Cal.

"Andrea?!" Cal and Nash simultaneously shouted running towards the group to meet us. I ran towards them and Hunt followed on heel. I opened my arms and we three enclosed into a tight hug. I can't stop my eyes from watering, I let the tears fall.

"We're sorry for letting you go alone, that was a stupid thing for us to—

"Cal, stop. I wanted to do it alone, besides, six months of experience alone in the wilderness and I can safely say I can take on both of you at the same time"

"I'm just glad you're back, lil' sis" said Nash.

Nash liked to call every younger girl his little sister, while Cal tried to sleep with any girl, older than 18 that is. They were the complete opposite of each other, Cal was rash and brutish in his actions but carried an air of intellect, he was an engineering student before the infection spread and Nash was gentle and careful but also carried irresponsible thinking especially if I was involved. I love these two, they're like the brothers I never had.

Hunt nudges on Cal's feet and he bends down to pet Hunt on the head. I never was able to do that and Cal just calmly does it. How long have they have Hunt?

"I see Hunt found you" said Nash.

"He's looked after me since we met a few weeks ago" I said.

"You know—

Before Cal could finish, the bell tolled and the other survivors came out of their tents. Their faces brightened when they saw me, I've been gone for six months and the only thing they knew was that either I was dead and infected or dying. The children see me and they begin to run towards me, their squeal of joy and laughter brings a warmth to my heart.