Shudders

Chapter 47 - The Island

"Hazel must've mistaken you for a demon. Our wolves are trained to not attack humans." Fate said as she was replacing the bandages on (Y/N)'s arm.

The Keeper had a look at the bite and... it wasn't pretty. Fate poured a little disinfectant on the area and (Y/N) cringed at the sizzling pain, she gripped onto the table with her good hand and bit her lip. To keep her mind off of the pain, she decided to ask some more questions. "You train wolves?"

Miri, who was still at the door watching, nodded. "Since they were pups. They help us by sniffing out demons and any of those Capturer people who die in the city. Hazel only bit you because she's trained to attack ground dwellers on sight and you smell like them."

"But you dress up as them. Doesn't that throw the wolves off?" The pain started to subside as Fate began rewrapping her arm.

"They focus more on scent than appearances." Miri shrugged.

For the last hour, (Y/N) was released from the table after Fate deemed her safe, and she has gotten to learn more about the so called 'Outsiders',

They are, what Fate described them as, the human rejects. When (Y/N) asked her to further explain, what she learned was shocking.

300 years ago when demons first showed up and the Zones were being built, everyone, both rich and poor, homeless and nonhomeless, young and old, citizen and foreigner, everyone was trying to get a spot inside the underground cities. As expected from society, only the upper to middle class were able to reserve a spot and when it became time to move in, anyone who didn't have enough money, a low paying job or just unemployed, or no house to their name was left behind. Some managed to squeeze their way through but eventually were caught and dealt with. (Y/N) didn't want to imagine how. So many people were left to defend themselves against monstrous raging demons who filled the cities.

What else were they supposed to do? Well, many disbanded into groups to hopefully find somewhere else to call home. It's not known by the Outsiders where the other groups went but they are in contact with one over in the countryside. The first Outsiders jumped from place to place, settling in one spot before having to flee to another. It was rough in the beginning until they stumbled across the island. It was a distance from the city and could be defendable with only one possible way a demon could come through. They started settling there and building a home for themselves while also gaining knowledge on how to fight, defend, and outsmart demons. They made it so the outside looked abandoned using all the rubble and trash and so demons wouldn't even think that there were people there. They started taking parts and limbs away from demons they had killed and turning them into disguises and armor. And when the animals from the forest started entering the city, including wolves, the Outsiders took the pups and started training them to be companions as well as partners against demons.

(Y/N) was fascinated by all of this. She never learned about people being rejected from the Zones. She was taught that everyone was accepted and that the rest of the world was claimed by demons. That they were the only humans left. Of course, people questioned this but there was no proof to prove the leaders wrong.

The Hub made it seem like they were the last remnants of humanity in the entire world.

When she expressed this, Miri was quick to explain more. Over the years leading up to now, the Outsiders noticed how much the Zones were expanding and improving. It became obvious that their technology was growing just by how the Capturers were prepared. The weapons, the clothes, the vehicles, everything. So as revenge for leaving them out to die, the Outsiders started stealing their stuff. It's been countless times that they had left the ground dwellers without a vehicle, without weapons, completely defenseless. Then if they died, the scavengers took their armor and anything else that they were carrying.