It’s a goddamn mother-fucking apocalypse

The end of the world is both slower than you anticipated, and faster than you wanted. The first thing you do when you return to civilization is hoard up on toilet paper and non-perishables. You had run into five more zombies over the weekend, and while you were in the store, you heard gossip of some new disease the CDC had uncovered. During the entire trip you notice a growing ball of nerves in your stomach, and you aren't certain if it's you or him that is feeling it more. Your body is tense until the second you enter your apartment and can start preparing.

Over the next couple of days, you skip out on all your other responsibilities, and continue to work towards... something. You aren't quite sure how this is going to shake down at any given time. You buy a studier lock for your apartment in case you need to defend one location. You buy medical supplies in case you get injured worse than your shifting can handle. You make certain that your vehicle is fully prepared to take you as far as it can. You spend hours compiling survival information in case the internet ceases to be. You prepare as much as you can, and then it hits.

A little over a week since you returned to civilization, the first real horde appears from nowhere, decimates your town, and begins to snowball into more populated areas. Despite all your preparations, the creatures kill everyone around you, and in a fit of fear and desperation, He takes over for you. Leaving all your supplies, He heads out of the city, and into the wilds.

Living as an untamed animal was rather an easier transition than fighting monsters and people for survival. Hunt when you are hungry. Sleep when you are tired. Avoid anything that makes too much noise or is substantially bigger than you. Live.

Letting him survive for you became easier with each passing day. Before you knew it, you stopped seeing people altogether. Either they were wiped out, or you were too far out in the wilderness. Perhaps months passed, the weather got cold, you lost more and more of yourself to him.

And then one day, he saw smoke in the distance.