He moved away from the door, there had been no change to her condition. He had changed out the saline drip and the bed pan. And moved the bear to the pillow beside her in the bed. Would she even make it? He had waited too long. Her spirit was strong, he reasoned, she had wondered further than he anticipated she would. It was only the third day.

At the bottom of the stairs he looked out over the yard. Due to the storm passing the drones would be going out again soon. Now was as good a time as any for there to be movement in his sector. He donned his full body hunting camo gear, no need to make the arrays work harder at keeping his body alive and protected than need be. The weather was hovering in the 20's.

It was a tiresome day. At a distance of five miles from the farm house he saw his first target. Squaring the shoulders and taking slow breath his shot left the rifle as he exhaled. The sound although muffled still shattered the silence. He walked away in an arching path to reach his next destination, his tree stand.

Only after climbing fifteen feet up into the tree and taking up his station did he let his thoughts go back to her. Part of coming out today was to be sure he could still do what he had been ordered to do. What needed to be done. Finishing the man had been little less troubling than waiting for the deer now. So why was she different?

Was it because her silent plea of being the last human on earth had reached his core the way his awakening had changed him forever? She had touched a nerve in his humanity, the thing he still fought against after the four years since his awakening. It had been the first real thing he'd felt in such a long time. It would be hard to give that up. She could be dead when he got back to the house, freeing him from the binding silver chain that had linked him in the first place.

The woods were silent except for the crashing of squirrels as some of them moved around. After the hum had left and the human noise was slowly stifled other noises seemed to be competing to take the place or maybe it was easier to distinguish now. Leaves falling hit the ground with an alarming loud rustle, almost the sound his father made when he was shaking out the Sunday paper. The squirrels were by far the noisiest rodent, the birds were equally loud, but they paled to the humans which made them easy targets.

The idea that she could be dead almost made him abandon his post but he exercised his will and found that he was in control. He was hunting, his supplies were getting low, plus when she did wake she would need the sustenance. So he sat motionless waiting patiently.

Night was falling fast as the days were shorter. There was more movement from the animals as the moon came out and the sun was setting. It wouldn't be long now. Even breaths filled the time until the young doe wandered into the clearing below. The single shot to the heart and lungs felled her and he shouldered his rifle climbing down in the dying light of the day.

Looking up through the trees he smiled at the thought of the start scraping the night sky, watching the queen for a moment on her throne, Cassiopeia. He shouldered the hundred and fifty pound animal and began his trek back to the farm house. After a mile and a half he set down the animal to field dress it. He worked quickly and efficiently and was on the move after ten minutes. The scavengers would make quick work of his offering.

Pushing it, he made it back to the house an hour and a half later. Before going in he tied up the deer in the barn. He would properly butcher it in the morning. His eyes lingered where he stashed the M16, would he give it back if she woke up? She had to wake up first, didn't she? With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair. The pressing matter of the rest of his chores was calling him.

Grateful for the moonlight he collected four buckets worth of packed snow to melt for bath water, no sense in using well water when he had the snow at his disposal.

Inside he deposited the rifle in the gun case and removed his cold weather gear. He washed up at the kitchen sink and grabbed a roll he had made. Eating it on his way up the stairs he reasoned that he would look in to make sure she hadn't died. He waited a moment outside the door. Then walked in, the room felt cold, but she was breathing. He lit the kerosene lamp next to the bed.

Hey, the bear, she was right the thing had a mind of its own.

Bite me, weirdo. Are you planning on killing her yourself?

Looking at her saline drip he realized his error, the drip must have run out recently but blood was starting to back up into the line. Carefully he unhooked her and flushed the line, priming the next bag and setting the drip to a slower rate. Her pulse was low but that was to be expected. He brushed her hair away from her forehead, before touching his lips lightly to the same area.

Pulling the blankets carefully away from her knee he cut away the bandages and examined the stitches. The skin was growing back together, there was bruising but there was nothing to be done about that. Using some of the antibacterial hand sanitizer his mother was known to collect he cleaned his hands and cleaned around the area. He swabbed iodine around the stitches and applied new bandages.

Afterward he returned to the kitchen to heat the water for his bath which he usually took right in the kitchen to save time going up to the tub, being alone in the house after…after Val died of the plague he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing. It made more sense. When he was dressed he trimmed his nails down, not that they needed it. Part of having the twelve systems integrated in his body meant never having to worry about any physical deformities, the systems saw to that. If he nicked himself shaving there would be no proof because the arrays constantly regenerated his cells.

Finishing and cleaning up after himself, he went upstairs checked on her one more time and then went to bed.

This was the way the rest of the week went, he stayed closer after that first day, after that vivid dream. It was only to be sure she would wake up. As each day passed he could detect improvements. She should have had a blood transfusion but seeing as he was the only source of blood and his blood type was B+ there was too much risk for her body to reject it seeing as he had no idea of her blood type.

During his sojourns into her camp he had read through her journals but she had not disclosed her blood status, no need, so he had to use the saline solution. He looked over her driver's license learning more about her. He went out and did his job and returned, cleaned up, and would sit with her, reading over her journal.

On the sixth evening he laughed when he re-read about how she would kill someone for a cheeseburger. From what he had seen of her, he knew she would do it. But it sparked an idea. His host's grandmother had always touted how she had won her husband's heart with her meatloaf. For a moment he was lost in thought and the smells of his mother's kitchen. Why? Why was it so hard to integrate a well-adjusted, healthy human psyche? Perhaps his maw-maw's meatloaf was to blame.

After checking her pulse, wrappings, and drip he went downstairs and prepared to head out. The day after hunting the deer and returning he decided that he would stick to going out at night. The systems whispered, almost there. He wanted to be sure she wouldn't need anything. It was strange, he had done all the same things for Val, his heart tightened she would have been thirteen next spring. She was his mother's light, they did everything together, her little helper. Had it really only been 2 months without her?

Pushing the thoughts from his mind he shouldered the rifle and went out into the night.

The systems were correct, they always are. He was outside cutting a slab of meat off the deer. It's time. The door slammed as he entered the kitchen. He set the meat aside and washed his hands. Looking up he took a deep breath and made his way up the stairs making no effort to conceal his steps. Pausing for a second outside the door.

She was definitely awake, her position had shifted and the arrays detected her vital signs as elevated. He walked to the saline drip, she hadn't pulled anything out, that was good. He turned around and crossed the room to sit in the rocking chair, wondering how long before she would say something. Watching as she made her own observations.

"I know you're awake."

He waited. Her breathing changed, but she didn't say anything.

"And I know you're watching me, Cassie."

A/N: Obviously the next few parts are already written from Cassie's POV. Oh and if you have any interest at all check out /J392tBAm-xI