It was 4 years, 4 months and 2 weeks into the apocalypse. You were set. Hell, you had lasted this long. On your own is how you got by, not having an extra mouth to feed or worry about. You were camped out in the woods near the highway, close enough to the abandoned hardware store you had initially acquired all your materials. Now you lived off the land, getting water from the nearby river and hunting the surprising amount of deer and rabbits left. Trouble with walkers was scarce, but even when there was you knew how to handle yourself.

Alone. That’s how you survived. That’s how you liked it. The last time you had seen another human was probably just a few months after the outbreak. Well, until now.

One of your rabbit traps had been tampered with, and when you went to investigate, expecting another animal or a walker, you were surprised. A man about your age was crouched over the trap, jeans on and a white and blue baseball jersey. You raised your gun and aimed at his brown, scruffy hair as you neared carefully. Your guard was up; you didn’t know what to expect.