ᗯᕼEᑎ TᕼE ᗪEᗩᗪ ᑕOᗰE ᗩᒪIᐯE [ ᴅᴀʀʏʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

- 2 -

  As soon as I felt the sun brush my face, the heat starting to bake my skin, my eyes were open and I was ready to start my day again. I untied myself, put the rope and pillow back into my backpack after I untied it from the branch. I then climbed down the tree, but not before using the height I had in the tree to my advantage. To my pleasure I spotted a river up ahead in the direction I had planned to head.

The sun was hot as it beamed down on me from above. My dark colored attire did little to help. The moment I reached the river, I dropped my back pack, took off my shoes and coat, and jumped in. I soaked my clothed body in the cold refreshing water. Once I felt satisfied, I made my way out of the river soaking wet, water running down my skin, and falling from the tips of my hair. After drying my hands off with my jacket, I dig into my bag for my second pair of clothes. With that, I took off my tank top and dried my upper half with my jacket before I put on a new clean top. Next I removed my leggings, dried my lower half, and put on a new dry pair. Finally, I put on my red and black flannel with the number 88 on the back along with the name G-Dragon (Yes, I am Kpop fan and wanted to incorporate somehow). I then rolled up my sleeves, and grabbed my empty water bottle.

"It's been a while" I spoke to myself as I reached the part of the river with a tiny waterfall. I placed my bottle under the stream and filled it up. You always want it to be running water, I had remembered my mom always telling me when I was younger. Running water is much cleaner and safer to drink in comparison to stagnant water.

After getting the water I needed, I grabbed my wet clothes and dunked them back into the river to clean. I gave them all a quick scrub to see if I could any blood stains out, and then rung the water out of them best I could before doing the same with my jacket. This was a cycle I repeated every time I came across running water. As I only had two pairs of clothes I would wash the pair I was currently wearing and exchange the wet clothes for the dry ones in my bag. With everything now packed up and ready to go, I continued on my way. I never really had a particularly destination in mind so I settled on following the road and hopefully finding something to eat along the way.

.•____•.

Minutes into my journey, I rant into a few of the undead. I managed to take them out without breaking a sweat; stabbing them in the head with my grandfather's pocket knife. Any reasonable person would have overlooked a pocket knife in the time of an apocalypse, but I had managed the first two months of the end of the world thanks to this pocket knife despite the difficulties.

As I traveled along the side of the road, I suddenly heard a rustling in the bushes up ahead. Quickly, I stopped dead in my tracks and pulled out my gun as I lowered myself to the ground. There was definitely an animal behind the movement in the bushes meaning I had just found myself some food, and I wasn't going to let it get away at any cost.

"Come on. . . Come on. . ." I whispered inaudibly, feeling slightly impatient. Just as I was about to walk over to the bush, a fat rabbit came hopping out. Upon spotting such a juicy find, I shot, and killed the rabbit before it even had a chance to react.

"Hell yeah! Head shot" I whispered proudly. I walked over and grabbed the rabbit I had just scored. Before I packed it up, I scanned the rabbit for any scratched or bite marks for signs of infection. When there were none found, I quickly bagged my kill.

.• *Time Skip* •.

I was camped out in the woods, not far from the road as it started to get dark. I had a small fire going—a pit dug into the ground to hid the light—as I roasted the skinned rabbit. Due to the frequent hunting I had grown a collection of animal furs and hides that I intended to make something with if I ever found the materials I needed to sew. However, I didn't have nearly enough skins at the moment.