Chapter Text
Loneliness. Loneliness has been all of what I've felt ever since I lost my family two years ago in the collapse of... everything. After the chaos, the initial shock, depression, and other emotions across those lines vanished, I've become dead inside and ponder why I continue to push forward with this life. It truly seems pointless.
I get up, I walk, I scavenge, I move on to the next location, I sleep, and I survive in the empty and decaying remains of what once was a booming society. Very rarely will I come across a small group of survivors of three or four but I refrain from making contact with them for fear I might have to fight for my life, something I've done before with a lone straggler who had completely lost their mind in the darkness of this world.
However, it's been well over a year since I've seen another human; the loneliness leaving a giant empty feeling in my chest. I want something warm to fill the void. A friendship, a family-like relationship... maybe something more with someone.
But I scoff at the idea because I don't think my mind will let that happen. As I've said, I don't make contact and flee as fast as possible when I see other people. My mind's in a constant state of limbo of self-causing depression, a cycle that'll seemingly never end.
Well, I thought that for a very long time... until a little someone stumbled upon me which changed the course of my life forever...
"Day eight-hundred fifteen..." I murmured under my breath as I wrote down those exact words in the journal I've kept with me ever since the ninth grade. It was something I wrote down in every once in while to feel just a little more sane, minus the daily count since that was... a daily thing, kinda self-explanatory there. I sighed as I looked at the page and glanced over the small numbers increasing one by one, the text nearly filling up the entire sheet.
"It's hard to believe it's been that long ever since the world ended... it's felt like an eternity." I thought as I closed the journal before putting it back in the backpack I carry around which holds all of what I own. I picked it up and set it on the floor as I laid myself down on the couch.
I had luckily stumbled upon a small log cabin somewhat deep in a forest as the night swiftly made its presence known. I had briefly searched every room in case there happened to be any residence inside the building, thankfully finding no one at all. Or at least no one alive that is. Unfortunately, there were skeletal remains in the only bedroom which is why I chose the couch to sleep on. I didn't particularly want to touch bones, I don't like the unsettling feeling of them.
I was thankful I had found it so I didn't have to sleep out in the open and on the cold ground. Though I should be used to that by now since that's been the place where I've slept the most. But never mind that, instead of thinking about that I relished in the relief of indoors, not being exposed to the harsh elements of nature.
As I laid there in the silence, I realized that I hadn't gotten quite to that point of exhaustion to fall unconscious, something I'm all to familiar with as insomnia is a close friend. After a quick sigh, I swiftly got back up to do a few things around the little cabin to help pass the time so weariness could creep into my system further. I started to look through rooms such as the kitchen and then the bathroom. I hadn't scavenged the place just yet, I planned to do that in the morning but plans change.
In the kitchen I found a few cans of miscellaneous foods which is really all that was left which could be consumed there since the rest of it had either expired or decayed. After making sure I had looked in the most obvious places there was to search, I trudged my way to pillage the bathroom. A few minutes later after searching through a couple cabinets, I found a bottle of antibiotic pills, a small and unopened bottle of peroxide, and a couple of other medical supplies that wouldn't hurt to have some more of.
As I took the remaining objects that I wanted from the medicine cabinet, I placed them down on the sink before looking into the mirror. Even though it was quite dark, I was still able to make out most details within it. I silently stared at the person who looked back at me. I didn't recognize them but they seemed so familiar. Native American tanned skin, no facial hair but thick black sideburns and even thicker hair. Brown eyes that had no light in them and a bright scar that trailed from the temple, down the cheek, and across the jaw. A result of a fight, a fight of which resulted in the first person I had killed...
Before I could get too lost in the dreadful image that was before me, I heard something slightly rattle a doorknob. Adrenaline instantly flooded my veins as I thought of many various situations of what could've made that sound. In a split second, after a dozen scenarios played out in my mind, I landed on the conclusion that another human had caused that sound.
My hand bolted to my hip where a nine-inch sharp and serrated dagger resided. But my hand grabbed only an empty holster as I had taken the knife out and set it on a coffee table shortly after I got comfortable within the cabin. My heart skipped a beat as I realized the mistake where the door to the building creaked open a moment afterward. Then the gentle sound of footsteps was heard, but only for a second.
After looking around the bathroom to find anything that could be considered a weapon, I came to the quick conclusion that there was no such thing in the room that I could defend myself with if whoever was then in the building with me was hostile and equipped.
Before I could continue pondering the subject, I heard whoever it was seemingly flop on the floor, the sound of footsteps ceasing as I heard the sound of a light sob replace it. If I were to describe the crying I'd've guessed it sounded like a woman in distress.
A couple minutes passed as I thought of the situation. "If things do indeed get rough and I have to fight, chances are I would overpower them... I don't want to kill again. But if I have to, I will. Hopefully I can dodge my way out of a conflict and flee from whoever this is as soon as possible."
After a few more silent seconds, I silently walked into the hallway that led to the living room. As I approached the corner of where the two parts of the house met, I slowed down and continued to listen to my new guest's quiet sobs. I halted my advance just before I walked into the room so I could peak over the corner to assess what this person was, what they might be capable of, and what they were equipped with.
I must reiterate, even though it was then well into the night, I could still manage to see through the dark and lay my eyes upon a tattered little girl who had her head on her knees blocking the door. The sight of her was... pitiful. I determined with ease that she'd be no threat to me but I didn't want a skirmish nonetheless. I thought of how to make contact even though I dreaded doing so, something I could only procrastinate for just another minute longer before finally breaking the ice that she had no clue was there.
"Ma'am, I don't mean to alarm you, but you're not alone here." I stated, staying behind the corner and embracing for the worst reaction of what could happen. I heard a type of squeak before a shuffle where her rate of breath spiked, the same breathing picking up a slight shutter.
"P-Please, don't hurt me!" She called out, choked up and frightened.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Hell, I'm afraid that you're gonna hurt me." I truthfully replied, clearing my throat as I hadn't spoken in a long while.
"I-I..." Is all she said before she became silent again.
"Now, I'm gonna walk into the room you're in so I can retrieve my belongings. Can I trust that you won't make any moves against me?" I asked as I peaked around the corner again, noting that she had stood up and clutched one of her arms close to her chest.
She didn't respond for a couple of silent seconds before stuttering a reply. "Y-Yes..."
Letting out a breath I had been holding, I slowly walked out from behind my cover, completely exposing my body to unknown circumstances. She gasped as she looked up at me, the girl getting a sense of how much bigger I was than her. She quietly whimpered, trying to keep herself under control. I slowly made my way over to the couch and equipped my backpack, grabbed my dagger, and swiftly concealed it where it belonged. I looked at the girl who was now sliding to the floor.
"Are you okay?" I don't know what made me ask or care but it just felt like I needed to know...
"I... no." She quietly answered after some hesitancy.
Wondering what I should do, I couldn't help myself but ask more questions. "What's wrong?"
"What's not wrong..." She replied, as she hit the ground "I'm only losing a little blood..."
Feelings that I haven't felt in ages started to emerge within my mind such as concern and curiosity. "...You're bleeding?" I asked, putting my bag back down on the coffee table that resided in front of the couch.
"Why's it matter, we all die in the end..." She glumly said before lifting up her hand that had stayed on her left arm which revealed a couple of deep gashes that would certainly result in an infection and perhaps death if not treated.
I don't know what it was but it felt like I needed to help her. It had always felt like I had to atone for the killing that I did in some way, never finding anything close as an opportunity to do so until that moment. I picked my bag up again and walked over to her which caused the girl to reactively scoot away from me in fear, though in the process she used her wounded arm which caused a shriek of pain to emit from her. I stopped my stride and said in a gentle tone, "Let me help you, you're hurt, and I can help you."
She looked back up at me, the little girl shaking from fear and pain with tears pooled in her eyes. "Why...? I'm a stranger... a no-good-s-stranger..." Her voice broke as a couple of fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
Seeing someone like that... that fragile, that broken, so small, and seemingly helpless... it made my heart sad. I wanted to help the girl in some way even though the other half of my mind wanted nothing to do with her.
"It's a personal reason. That, and I don't think I could forgive myself if I just let you die." I answered honestly before taking a few slow steps forward. When I was close enough, I got on one knee and set my bag down before unzipping one of the several compartments that contained my medical supplies. I looked at her still fearful eyes before trying to give a small smile to help ease the mood for her. "Will you allow me to help you?"
She stayed silent for another minute before she lifted her damaged arm up to watch some fresh blood drip down her forearm. "How are you going to fix this...?" She asked as I took out a couple materials for cleaning a wound
"Trust me, I have all the supplies with me in this bag." I said tapping the bag with my elbow. "I just need to get a good look at what I'm dealing with to determine what I need to help you."
She lightly gulped and let out a little sigh. "...I guess if you wanted to kill or hurt me, you'd've done it by now..." She quietly said before slowly extending her arm out towards me.
I experienced a genuine subtle smile for the first time in months while she did so. I repositioned myself to get a better angle to help her before dragging my bag over to my side. After unzipping another compartment, I grabbed out a little flashlight to help me see what exactly I was dealing with. When I switched the little device on, my little guest jumped at the surprise of an abrupt change in light.
"I'm going to put my hand on your arm now, okay?" I warned, her head lightly nodding which gave me the 'go ahead'. I gently put my right hand on the reddened stained limb as I directed the beam of light over her wound which allowed me to clearly see the large and deep cuts causing her to bleed. I could tell she had been bleeding for a while at that point. After examining the damage for about a minute, "What caused this and how long have you been bleeding?" I asked, astounded at what I was seeing.
"It was some type of animal... I don't know the name of it, I just know that it had the teeth to do something like this... and I can't recall how many hours ago it was. I know I couldn't fight even if I wanted to though..." Her voice became weak, her breathing slightly more shallow, possibly due to exhaustion catching up with her.
"Hm." I simply replied while setting the flashlight down to where it could be pointing straight up to illuminate the entire room. Even though it was still dim it was more than enough light for me to work with. After I determined what I would need to help her, I got took out a cloth, peroxide, bandages, and materials for stitching a wound up. I put the cloth on her wound and pressed it down to start stopping the bleeding. She jerked back and seethed in pain, something she'd have to go through quite a lot as this process played out. Being reminded by that, I took out my bottle of painkillers and opened it before taking two capsules out. "You're going to want to take these so it'll be less painful." I advised as I extended my arm holding the pills a tad toward her.
She eyed them before looking at the bottle they came from. After what I assume was her determining if they were indeed painkillers, she grabbed them and swallowed them with some difficulty. I handed her my canteen of water shortly after just to make the process easier for her. When I handed it to her, she timidly took it out of my hand. "Are you sure...?" She asked after unscrewing the lid. I nodded "How much can I have...?"
"As much as you need." That was all she needed to hear before she took several big swigs of the canteen, the girl drinking at least half of it before putting it down to her side.
At that point, I finally took the time to see what she looked like. Pale skin with long black hair that went down to her waist. She had... I'll admit, beautiful blue eyes, and her face was kind of... emaciated. The shape of her face was rounded, her lips being somewhat thin, and her nose was that of a button nose.
"When was the last time you ate?" I gently asked as I took note of how skinny she was.
"At least... three days, maybe..." She sighed and looked up at me with pleading eyes, eyes that begged for even more help.
"...I can give you some of my food." I offered with a light smile, wanting to talk to her more so we could pass the time for the pills to take at least some effect.
"I... no, I can't accept that, you're too nice." She said in disbelief.
"You're someone in need and someone I can help... It wouldn't be a big deal if I gave you some of my food, I'd rather it go to someone like you." I admitted. As much as I tried to be selfish... I couldn't help myself. It's not in my nature. I need to help people who are in her type of state, especially when I could easily do it.
She stayed silent after my response for a few seconds. "If- if you're sure..."
"I am." I assured. After a couple minutes of keeping the cloth on her arm, I started to think of what I could give her; an answer to that question swiftly being thought up. "Can you hold the cloth so I can go get you something?"
She looked at my hand that stayed on her arm before her hand swiftly replaced mine a couple seconds later. I stood up and headed into the kitchen to the pile of cans that I had recently made. I looked over the few cans that still had edible food and decided to take a can of tomato soup for her. I shook it up as I strolled back to her before getting on my knees and getting my can opener out.
"Are you okay with tomato soup?" I asked prematurely, just in case she was allergic to tomatoes or something like that.
"Yes, anything would be fine..." She clarified as I heard her stomach rumble.
After I got the can open and made sure it was fine to eat, I delicately handed it to her before taking the cloth on her arm back in my hand after putting my can opener back where it came from. "Take it slow." I advised as she looked at the soup I gave her. She licked the contents before slowly drinking it, her shaking picking up again while doing so. As she drank it, we started having a proper conversation for a bit to help pass the time. "What's your name?"
"Uh... Stacy." She said with just a bit of uncertainty. "What about you?"
"Hunter, but my friends call me Hunter." I somewhat sarcastically answered.
"You have friends?" She asked, fear lining her tone.
"No, no, sorry to scare you. I'm just trying to have a little fun with my words since I haven't spoken to someone in... such a long time." The sadness regarding loneliness became prevalent in my mind after saying that as I wondered how I had stayed sane during it. But a new thought entered my head; this was the first time in ages that I had not felt lonely after the fall. But I couldn't stay with this person... or so a portion of my mind told me.
"So where are you from?" She timidly asked me after she completed half of her can of soup.
"Illinois, in a little place called Bloomington." I answered, seeing her very lightly smile for the first time. "I think the name's a little odd sounding as well." I said with a light chuckle. "What about you, where are you from?"
"Maryland. I can't really remember the name of the town I was born in." She admitted. "Not really something that I need to remember, y'know?"
I nodded to her sense of importance. "How old are you?" I asked after another couple minutes rolled by.
"I think I'm... fourteen or so? That sounds about right but it's not something I really care about to remember either."
I was a little bit shocked at the answer "I guess that kinda explains why you're so little... If you're not already done growing. Your mother could've been small..." I thought as I glanced over her form as she finished the can I gave her.
"How old are you, Mister Hunter?"
"I'm eighteen." I simply replied as a few more questions entered my mind. We continued talking for about half an hour, talking briefly about the day when nearly everyone perished, how long we've been alone, how lonely it was... During this, I discovered that she was as lonely as I was during this talk. She seemed quite relatable during this short conversation, something part of my mind latched onto. I discovered that she hadn't been hurt by anyone during the time of post-society, which is quite a blessing, and that she's been alone for a year and a half, surviving on her own, and having to grow up years before she had to. I reciprocated answering the same questions so we could have an even field regarding what each other knew about each other.
"Alright, I think it's time for me to finish what I've started..." I announced somewhat ominously before removing the cloth from her arm which had stopped most of the bleeding.
Her light smile vanished from her face before she sighed. "How much is this gonna hurt...?"
"Most likely a lot. But it would've been much worse without the pills I gave you... You're not gonna try to hurt me when I do this, are you?"
She sighed again. "I'll try not to..."
"If you need to scream, if it's that painful, you can. I seriously doubt that there's another person within fifty miles of us." I told her as I saturated peroxide into a clean part of the cloth. "You ready?" I asked as I prepared to clean her wound. She gulped and sighed again, nodded, and prepared for the worst.
The procedure took around ten minutes; her screams when stitching her skin closed were awful to hear, it made me feel extremely terrible for causing her harm. But unfortunately, it had to happen for her to get better.
When it was over, she was panting and trying to calm down from the pain as I wrapped her forearm in a thick and protective bandage. "...Are you okay?" I asked with concern.
"I- I will be... thanks to you..." She gave me solemn eyes before putting her now recovering arm close to her chest.
"It's the least I could do for what I've done..." I murmured.
"...What have you done?" She asked as I finished putting all my medical supplies away and tossing away the contaminated ones.
"That's a story for another time." I replied before getting a clean cloth out from my bag and pouring water from the canteen onto it to start clearing away the blood on my hands. After I did that, I gently took her hands so I could clean them off as well before wiping down her unwounded forearm to clean that as well.
"Another time?" She repeated, unsure of my wording as I cleaned our appendages.
"Tomorrow, perhaps." I simply yet vaguely replied. To be honest, I planned on ditching her as soon as possible but there was... something I couldn't quite put into words keeping me from already doing that. I still planned on ditching her, but it felt like something was shifting in my mind.
"Alright then..." She replied as I stood up and put my bag on the coffee table again.
"I'll let you sleep on the couch. I'll take the floor. I would've preferred you on a bed to sleep on but since there's a remnant of a person there, I'm afraid that's not an option." I matter of factly said before pulling out a thick blanket from my bag before thinking of who should get it; it wasn't a hard decision to make. I looked over my shoulder to see that she was still sat on the floor and struggling to keep her eyes open, the girl just a bit paler than what she had been thirty minutes ago.
"I feel like I'm taking so much..." She admitted as I walked back to her.
"Really, it's fine, I'm more than happy to be doing this." I said before extending one of my hands out to her. "Let me help you up so you can get to a better place to lie down."
She looked at the appendage for a few seconds before her right hand shakily took hold of mine. I helped her up a little too quickly since I hadn't expected her to be so light. "Sorry about that." I quickly said. After she said it was fine, I led her over to the couch and made sure she was comfortable. After that, I put the blanket over her, making sure it encompassed her entire body.
"Are you sure you're fine with all this...?" She hesitantly asked, an exhausted tone overruling any other in her voice.
"Sure am. I'd love to talk with you more but you should really get to sleep, you seem like you really need it. If there's anything you need, don't be afraid to ask... that's all I can really ask for, is for you not to be afraid of me..." I kind of desperately asked. I don't understand what switched within me that past hour, but she had caused something to shift within me, it felt like something finally changed.
"I- I'll try not to be." She replied as she slowly closed her eyes. "Thank you, Hunter, for all of this... this is the nicest thing I've ever seen anyone do."
"...You're welcome, I could've never just left you the way you were. Now, goodnight." I said as I saw her look at me one more time before she slowly rolled over and presumably started to go to sleep. Then I made my way to the other side of the coffee table and sat myself on the floor before lying down on my back and looking at the ceiling, just thinking.
I thought for what seemed like an hour, pondering if I should abandon her, if I should leave, take everything and be out of her life forever, never to see her again... But I kept thinking of how... of how nice it was to have someone to finally talk to, to get to know, to not be by myself, and thinking about what the future would be like if I didn't ditch her.
After going back and forth in my mind several times, looking at the door, almost getting up and leaving several times, I finally decided on a conclusion. And that was to give it a shot to stick together.
After a dreamless sleep, I woke up around an hour after the sun had risen. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, yawned, stretched, and looked out of the nearest window. I looked down at the floor where the doorway was to discover dried up blood. My heartrate spiked and some adrenaline flooded my veins as all of the prior night's events ran through my mind in a second, instantly remembering what I had done.
I looked to my left to see a still sleeping Stacy there who hadn't moved an inch, though the blanket she had didn't really cover her well. Her skin was darker than what it had been last night so that was good to see. However, seeing the state of her attire wasn't that great since her clothes were dirty and tattered. If I had clothes that would fit her, I would've given them to her, but as it was I didn't. Perhaps I'd eventually find her some new clothes, who knows...
At the time, I didn't know if I'd stick with her. As it was, I didn't even know if she reciprocated the feeling of wanting to survive with each other. Before I asked her about it, since she was still sleeping of course, that gave me more time to think about grouping with her. Thinking more and more about it, it only gave me more reason to do so... I was so exhausted of being alone... But if she wanted to be alone, I wouldn't stop her and move on.
I stood up and stretched some more before going to the bathroom to retrieve the medical supplies so I could refill what I had used last night. After I did so, I quietly walked over to Stacy to check on her. Thankfully, she was still breathing but I also had to check her temperature as well to make sure she was okay.
I actually got quite worried when I was walking up to her. If she wasn't breathing, I would've been extremely saddened. But since that didn't happen, I started worrying about the next thing about her and that was what if her wound had gotten infected. But I didn't want to rudely wake her up so I decided to simply wait until she woke up which I'm not sure was the best thing to do. After I properly covered her back up with the blanket which had essentially fallen off of her during the night, I took my journal out and wrote in it for a while until she woke up.
Over half an hour passed before she grunted a bit and rolled over, something that made me close my journal and set it on the table before walking over to her. Stacy opened her eyes and squinted due to the light. "How are you feeling?" I asked with concern.
She looked confused as she turned her head left and right, the girl looking around just a tad before making eye contact with me for a couple moments, her eyes scanning my face now that she could properly see with sufficient lighting. "I..." She trailed off as she looked down to her arm staying silent for a few seconds. "My arm... hurts a lot." She told me as I looked at the bandages that needed to be replaced with new ones.
"I bet it does... I'll check on it in a bit if you'll allow me to." I looked back at her eyes and then to her forehead. "Do you mind if I press my hand on your forehead?" I asked. After she confirmed that she'd be fine with it, I pressed my hand on her cool skin to check if she had a fever or not. Concluding that she didn't have one, I turned to my bag and pulled out a fresh set of bandages. "Do you mind if I change your bandages for you?" I gently asked as I took a seat on the side of the couch where her legs resided.
She sat up and put her legs over the side taking a deep breath of air. "No, I don't mind..." She replied with a yawn. I scooted closer to her a bit and gently grabbed her damaged arm before slowly pulling it toward me at a proper working angle. I set the fresh bandages on my lap as I started undoing the old ones. It revealed a stitched, bruised, and dead-skinned area that looked terrible.
"Ew..." She commented as we both looked at the damage. I agreed but didn't comment out loud. Thankfully, seeing no worrying discoloration, inflammation, or swelling, it was safe to assume that it had not been infected.
After I informed her of the news, she released a breath of relief as I started to wrap her arm again in fresh bandages. It was obviously extremely sore and tender so I unfortunately hurt her whilst bandaging it up again but it could've been a hundred times worse.
When I was done with the bandages, I benevolently put her arm back down before giving her another painkiller to help soothe the pain in her arm. "I'm sorry that I hurt you last night, I wish there was another way to have helped you."
"It's fine... more than fine, actually. Thank you so much for doing everything you've done. I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you..." She praised as we looked each other in the eyes.
"Don't worry about it, truly, I'm glad that I helped you." I replied before a silence emerged between us. It took a minute or two but we started talking about miscellaneous topics for the next twenty minutes, not anything important to note. That was until a question of importance sprouted up.
"So, when do you plan on leaving here?" Stacy asked with a subtle tilt of her head.
"Well, I would've left already if you weren't here." I pointed out, a couple silent seconds following the statement before I decided to just tell her what I was thinking about. "You've... you've made me realize something that I've always tried to smother from inside me." I admitted, thinking it was the best time to tell her what I wanted to do with her.
She tilted her head a tad bit more and asked, "What do you mean?"
I lightly sighed as I formulated a response before telling her. "I've... been so extremely lonely ever since society crumbled. And that's sort of been on my own terms due to being scared for my life, afraid of other people, and avoiding them at all costs due to that fear. I was gonna do that with you, leaving you in the middle of the night, but you... you changed how I view that fear. It was probably the helplessness that you showed, but... I forgot what talking to someone else was like. I forgot what it was like to smile and to be with another person. It's genuinely such a fantastic feeling, especially after so long of not even seeing another person." I stopped my small rant to catch a breath and to let her process what I've been saying. "And it's made me want... It makes me want to stay with you, to survive together, form a type of group maybe?"
When I finished my little monologue, we fell silent, the girl taking her time to digest my words. After a couple minutes of thinking, she lightly smiled and looked me in the eyes again. "I... would like that." She replied, a gigantic wave of relief washing over my mind. "I agree with what you said, I'm so tired of being alone... I barely even remember the last time I saw someone else."
I couldn't help but smile at her reply. I wanted to let a couple tears of joy out but I stopped myself from doing that. Instead, I talked to her about how she had survived. Her answer was essentially 'just barely', the girl usually not being able to find the right amount of nutrition, walking distances that take much longer than what they'd be for me considering her height, and generally being unable to do many miscellaneous other tasks. Because of that, I then and there decided that I would try to help her through anything that challenged her.
"So... what caused the scar on your face?" Stacy asked, eyeing the mark on said area.
I put my hand up to the side of my face to lightly caress the scar tissue "I always forget that I have this..." I thought about it for a few moments as I relived the moment. I wanted to deny her her request but for some reason I told her. "It was caused by someone who wanted to kill me, someone who was using a type of sickle. It was all serrated and it cut very deep. If they hit me not even an inch closer, I would've lost this eye. Maybe I would've died if that happened..."
"Did you do anything to them...? If you don't mind me asking." She continued to ask.
I put my hand back down. "They engaged me first for no particular reason. Perhaps they went insane, I don't know. But I was forced to defend myself. And that is all I will say about what I did. Maybe I'll give you more details in the future... maybe. But that's the end of that conversation." A silence fell upon us after I delivered that statement which made me realize I had just a bit of a harsh tone to my voice. "I'm sorry, didn't mean to speak like that. I've lost how to control my tone of voice after so long; I really didn't mean to sound like that. It's just that I don't like thinking about what I had to do."
"Oh... I didn't know, I'm sorry." Stacy timidly replied before she balled the blanket up and put it on her lap.
"Nothing's your fault, don't worry about it." I said in response with an assuring tone. I got up shortly afterward as we got ourselves situated to leave the cabin. After Stacy had ample time to properly wake up, she stood up with some difficulty before handing me the blanket which I gracefully took out of her hands.
She looked up at me with her bright blue eyes. "Thank you again... I probably would've died here if you weren't here..."
I took the time to notice just how small she was. I was at least an entire foot taller than her, probably around fifteen or so inches. It was, I'll admit, cute, but I quickly suppressed any desire to state that out loud as that would definitely be weird for her to hear.
I once again said it was no problem and packed the fabric back in my bag. "So, what're we gonna do? Do you have a place you call home or anything?" Stacy asked with a tilt of her head.
"No, I don't. I just move forward and move on to the next area scavenging anything I can find to stay alive."
"Do you want a home?" She asked, which made me freeze.
I didn't know the answer to that question. I didn't know if I could answer that question and to be honest, I didn't know a lot of other things about what I might or might not want. All that I've really wanted was to not be alone. And it seems that I might've found that. Other than that, I was completely lost.
"I don't know..." I answered before I explained my thought process which made her face adopt an expression of understanding. "I'll see what happens in the future though, if I make up my mind on something like that."
"...We have a lot in common." Stacy pointed out somberly. The conversation slowed down afterward where just a few questions were asked every now and then while we got ready to depart from the small structure.
Another half an hour passed before we finally got ourselves situated and ready to leave the cabin for the first time as a little duo. After we ate a couple more cans of food, we made our way out and started moving forward. And that's really it. That's all I've been doing to survive, move forward. There's no end goal in mind. Just move on to the next area I can scavenge and survive off of before moving on to the next area.
But I must say, in this setting, it's still really difficult to survive without being a 'survivalist'. But when you're built like me, it's much easier to survive in this barren world where you're able to traverse the land more easily. Though as every day passes, the more of the things that can be scavenged decay. A huge percentage has already decayed, who knew what another two or three years would do. Eventually I, no, we, were gonna have to figure something out. And perhaps I already knew how to. But people are needed for it and I wasn't sure whether or not we'll find people, let alone enact upon forming a big group... But that's something that would be determined when the time came... if the time came.