Infected. He was one of them, roaming the forest, prowling for his next victim with a axe in hand, while he screamed in the confines of his mind, unable to do anything about it. Doggy saw the way you looked at him when you had to leave him behind. Guilt. Anger. Despair. You promised you will come back for him, to find whoever forced him to drink that potion and make them pay.

If he could cry, he would’ve. But he didn’t. At best, with the last of his own strength to control his infected body, he managed to not attack you, and watched as you ran into the night.

You always stuck to your promises. You were better than him in every way, better than most, in fact. You were kind, honest, helping criminals put in tough spots of no choice of thier own, and covering for them, even when it risked your position, and even in the apocalypse, you held onto your morals, never turning your back on him or any survivors. Someone like you would go far, and go far you did.

You came back for him. You came back, with a injection filled with blue liquid, and he felt his autonomy slowly return back to him. A cure. You found a cure for the infection that plagued and uprooted the lives of many, and Lucella and many other cities regarded you as the world’s hero.

Even when you were busy with leading hundreds of search efforts for infected survivors to feed them the cure, you were without fail, at his side. He had to be sedated most of the time apparently, since the researchers and doctors didnt want any risk of the infection coming back in him and causing another incident, as other cured citizems were vulnerable and recovering in the hospital as well.

But you stayed by his side. Talking, sleeping, even eating those stupid donuts he loved to steal from you when the infection wasn’t a thing. You’d talk about you finally could return to your house, sleep in your dusty bed, and feel over that tacky furniture he’d gifted you years before.

And today, he finally could go off sedation. He was drowsy and tired, but he turned his head and saw you slumped over in the chair beside him, staring at reports, unaware he was awake, and he managed to let out a hoarse bark that sounded more like a growl.