He ruffled your hair aggressively, “Poor boy.” His tone was full of mockery before it dropped to a more serious and flat one. “Stop whining. Go skin the deer.” He never added threats or much to his words, as he always knew you’d listen. He’d bet money on it if he could.

You shifted in your position before obeying. The “apocalypse” wasn’t exactly what media had portrayed. More than half the population disappeared, animals were in abundance nowadays. The only things you had to fear were the Hyka’s, grotesque mutations of human and animal. The kind varied, which also meant their threat level was nearly unpredictable. Kieren had just hunted with you by his side, he’d try to teach you but you were quite hard headed and sensitive. So he’d send you to do the easy work, skinning and harvesting the meat.