A gray-brown wild rabbit stood in the forest with its ears pricked high, its pink nose twitching rapidly as it nibbled on fresh grass.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, scattering dappled light across its smooth fur.
Suddenly, its ears twitched. It lifted its head, as if catching a faint sound.
"Whoosh!"
A flash of cold steel cut through the air.
A dagger flew in from nowhere, striking with perfect precision into the rabbit's neck and pinning it to the ground.
The rabbit twitched a few times, then went still.
Merle stepped out from behind a tree more than ten meters away, brushing dust off his pants with a smug grin.
"Ha! Meat tonight! Told you I've got skills. I can throw knives with my left hand."
Leah emerged silently from the bushes on the other side. She glanced at the prey, then at Merle.
"Not bad aim. Next time, try not to make so much noise before you throw. Walkers half a mile away could hear you snapping branches."
Merle didn't care. He walked over, pulled out the dagger, and lifted the still-bleeding rabbit.
"Come on, Leah. There's nothing out here but us. I'm bored out of my mind."
He began skinning and gutting the rabbit with swift, practiced movements that were almost shocking to watch.
Calista stepped out from their hiding spot as well. Watching him work, her stomach let out an embarrassing growl.
They had been wandering in this damn forest for over a day.
Aside from a few wild berries and one unlucky squirrel, they had barely eaten anything. Hunger was catching up fast.
Water wasn't an immediate issue. Merle had found a relatively clean stream using his experience. Food, however, was the real problem.
"Nice work, Merle," Calista said.
Her blonde hair was matted with dirt and grass, and several scratches marked her once delicate face. She looked thoroughly worn down.
"Easy," Merle said, wrapping the cleaned rabbit meat in large leaves with a grin.
"Stick with me and you'll never go hungry out here.
"Though we're missing seasoning. Otherwise, I'd show you how to roast rabbit properly. Smells so good you'd want to swallow your tongue."
Oh.
So now that he's finally proving useful, he's getting cocky again.
Calista picked up on it immediately.
She let out a quiet sigh.
She missed when he called her Boss.
Back at Rock Fortress, she had been the commanding "Boss." After just one day living like a wild man out here, she had turned back into plain "Calista."
At this rate, would she end up as "Little Calista"?
Leah ignored Merle's bragging and moved to slightly higher ground, scanning the surroundings carefully.
"How far are we from the road? Are we even heading the right way?"
That was the key question.
Merle's grin faded, his expression turning more serious.
He stood up, squinting at the position of the sun, then studied the trees and the moss growing on them.
"This forest twists around so much it feels like we're going in circles. But the general direction should be right. We've been heading south-southeast."
He paused, then added,
"The good news is the walkers don't seem to have followed us. We've only run into a few scattered ones over the past day, and we took care of them.
"The bad news is we're probably completely lost.
"According to the map, if we keep going this way, we should hit a secondary road. Or at least get closer to somewhere with people… hopefully."
Calista nodded.
Their ammo was almost gone.
Merle had four rounds left in his revolver. Her and Leah's magazines were completely empty.
Food was scarce. They had no vehicle. Going back the way they came might drop them straight into a horde.
The situation was still grim.
"Let's find a safe place to make a fire and cook the rabbit," Calista decided. "We need to recover our strength first. Then we keep heading south."
They found a small, sheltered rock hollow out of the wind, with a stream running nearby. It was relatively concealed.
Merle took charge of starting the fire.
Using his dagger and a piece of flint, he struck sparks into dry moss and twigs. Soon, a small campfire crackled to life.
Calista sat by the fire, watching the flames flicker, lost in thought.
She copied what Merle had done, skewering pieces of rabbit meat on sharpened sticks and holding them over the fire.
Fat dripped into the flames, sizzling and releasing a rich, mouthwatering smell.
This simple, primitive scene felt worlds apart from her old life.
Forget being Miss Norton. Even compared to her life before all this, the difference was overwhelming.
She used to be someone who rarely stepped into a kitchen. At most, she would grill skewers during a picnic.
Now she was roasting a rabbit in the wild like a primitive survivor.
All thanks to Lorenzo.
Damn Lorenzo. She hoped Carver and the others had already caught him.
Once they were done with Sentinel Station, he could go die.
"Hey, Calista, turn it over. It's about to burn."
Merle's voice pulled her back. She hurriedly fumbled with the stick, trying to flip the meat.
Leah returned from her watch and saw her clumsy movements. Without a word, she took one of the skewers and began turning it smoothly, far more practiced than Calista.
"Leah, have you done this before? Cooking out in the wild?" Calista asked.
Leah paused for a moment as she turned the meat.
"Back when I was on missions, I've been everywhere. Deserts, rainforests, snow mountains."
She didn't elaborate, but it was easy to guess those experiences hadn't been pleasant.
Merle chewed on a roasted rabbit leg, speaking through a mouthful of food.
"If you ask me, the woods aren't bad. You two could just stick with me and be hunters. No shortage of food, no walkers. Just like before the apocalypse."
Leah rolled her eyes.
"Then you stay here and be a wild man. We're going back."
Calista nodded firmly.
No way.
She had worked so hard to build up Rock Fortress. The infrastructure was practically finished.
And now she was supposed to run off and live like a cave dweller in the wilderness?
Not happening.
The rabbit was done. There was no salt, and the taste was plain, but for three starving people, it was a feast.
They quietly shared the hard-earned meal, and gradually, conversation and laughter returned.
After eating, they put out the fire and carefully concealed any traces before setting off again.
Merle led the way as usual, his hunter's instincts their only guide.
"Look here."
He suddenly stopped and pointed at faint marks on the ground.
"Deer tracks. Pretty fresh. If we follow them, we might find water or an open area."
"How can you tell it's deer?" Calista asked.
"Shape, size, and spacing," Merle explained, unusually patient. "Boar tracks are rounder. Bears are bigger and deeper. There are plenty of deer around here, and the paths they use are usually safer and easier to move through."
Sure enough, after following the tracks for a while, the trees began to thin.
Ahead, they could hear the faint sound of flowing water.
Soon, a river wider than the stream they had found earlier came into view.
...
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