Friend of Monsters

Part 15

C- Several weeks passed with that hollow feeling of grief and loneliness. Daki continued to hold onto Sam's mementos, sometimes looking up at the stars and somehow expecting their eyes to watch down on him in disappointment. Sure, the stars belonged to the giants, but then again, Sam was far from the typical human.

Over the next weeks, Daki had found Lexie and parted ways with her and Rubin after saying Sam hadn't made it out of the Legion raid alive. He neglected to mention why. Then he was alone again. The usual enjoyment from hunting humans was gone when he had to pick off survivors. Autumn ridge fell into further ruin as time passed. The number of humans steadily diminished as they sought out new places to take refuge and hide from the ravenous monsters.

Daki had picked up scents from a human camp where he could recall an abandoned warehouse had been before, and began to set out in that direction to seek out some fresh food.

H-After a few days, Daki may notice he lost the skeleton key, the odd charm just absently gone one day.

Instead, it had returned to Sam, an odd weight around their neck as they wandered the woods aimlessly and very much lost. They don't know where they are...or when...They're more alone than they have ever been in their entire life, and with nothing on them for protection, they wallow in paranoia and fear. They're not sure how they managed to survive the days - then weeks-, foraging for nuts and insects and eating fish when they could grab them. Most days they just went hungry.

It was cold still, but at least they had their hoodie and shoes. A silver lining during these harsh days.

A gaping void had opened inside them, a longing to see their friends once again. They would have gace anything to see Lexie and Daki again, but they knew they never would.

They wondered why they were even bothering out here. Why were they trying to survive? Stubbornness? Why were they even here? Where was here? Hell? Maybe they deserved this.

Eventually, they are found by a small band of survivors and taken in with them to a Warehouse they claim is safe. They're with them maybe a week, learning about an apocolypse - and monsters, though they remain skeptical of it being their same apocolypse. There's no way they'd ever see their friends again...That'd be asking for too much.

One night, they decide to lay under the stars in a nearby clearing near a cliff. It's beautiful, and peaceful. They don't mind the warnings the people gave them, they were too hollow to care.

They are joined by another member from the camp. They try to talk to them, but they don't feel up to it. So they sit in silence together.

C- The scent of humans up ahead confirmed Daki's suspicions, though one scent in particular stood out to him. But it was impossible. It should be some strange coincidence. Sam was dead. He killed them. All that the scent had achieved was send another wave of guilt and grief at the reminder. He almost found the scent of humans unappetizing now. Now he just wanted to curl up in a cave and cry. He had to force himself to move on and live. If he died here, Sam's sacrifice was for nothing.

He approached from the edge of the tree line. He was a bit clumsy from his lack of sleep and his foot crunched loudly over a rotten fallen log. He winced, shifting quickly into cover. His silver eyes glistened visibly in the dark. The sound must have alerted at least one of the humans there.

H- One of them stood up, alert and terrified. They swirl, scanning the tree line and freeze when they meet Daki's gaze.
"We have to go." They stammer out, fumbling in their pocket for a small gun they held.

Sam inhaled, and exhaled, closing their eyes. They weren't budging. They were comfortable. Sure, they're probably just as afraid as the guy next to them, but...running never helped them.