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He had left. Maybe I should have seen it coming. I had been acting immature and selfish. I was lucky he had stuck around this long. We had survived, so there might be others. If there were any other furs out there, he would be better off joining them. Maybe he had seen someone outside and gone to join them, leaving me to my fate.

I sniffled, then snuffled, dragging my bare arm across my muzzle. I wouldn't cry. It was ridiculous. It seemed I'd cried more each hour the past few days than I had in any year of my life.

I stood there, just staring at the empty utility room. That tiny "safe" sanctuary, where we had both spent the last round together. The next one would be alone.

I heard a shuffle in the garage. Had a zombie come inside the garage? My car was in there, parked next to my mom's. I knew I had closed the garage door behind my car. There was a slight dragging sound. A lame zombie, I shuddered. But for some reason I opened the door. Maybe it was me being fatalistic, maybe it was an automatic reaction to hearing some fur behind a door.

I shouldn't have opened the door.

It was a fur, dragging a large mass behind it. Struggling with the heavy weight. In the dim light from the narrow garage door windows I could see it.

I gasped thinking, knowing that my worst fears were realized. A zombie had killed Shadow.

It was Shadow. Dragging. No, he was doing the dragging. Dragging a large bag across the concrete, towards my car.

And I went limp with relief and stumbled into the garage.

Shadow visibly jumped, dropping the mass, "Blood and fur, Tyler, you scared me!" He peered at me in the dimness from the narrow windows. "Are you okay?"

I gulped. He was here, he hadn't left. I had just resolved not to cry anymore, I couldn't do it now. "I woke up and thought you'd- I thought you'd left," my voice shook and I was swallowing reflexively, but I wasn't crying. I couldn't cry. What if my weakness really did drive him away?

He approached me slowly, as if fearing I might run, "I'm here, I'll stay with you. That's what we agreed, right?"

When he got close I just reached out and clutched at his chestfur. He just stood close, then put a paw on my bare shoulder. Like him, I was only wearing boxers. I breathed for several minutes, head hanging between us, calming myself.

What was he even doing, he was still injured. "Your injuries!" I said stepping away, checking them to make sure the bandages still held.

"They didn't hurt," he deflected weakly.

Trying to distract my lingering upset, I asked, "What is that?"

"Oh," he said quietly, "I was looking for a tent, and this was the only thing in the garage labeled 'tent'. I had to use the flashlight to read anything. It says 'tent', but it's so heavy I can hardly move it. Is it really a tent?" He pulled back his arm to scratch at his muzzle, probably at that scar I'd seen.

I let go and walked slowly to peer at the large heap on the floor. I breathed out, releasing tension and said softly, "That's my grandfather's tent. It actually isn't that big, but they used canvas in those days, so it's really heavy."

"You actually use that thing to camp?" he said with justified disbelief.

I finally managed a smile, but it was dark, so I could keep it to myself. "No, of course not. It would be awful. We keep the new tents in my parents' closet. Mice kept getting in the garage and messing them up down here. They never bother that old thing." I stared at the tent, "What's the tent for anyway?"

"Ah, I slept for a while, then I woke and couldn't get back to sleep. Actually, I heard another feral dog running and howling through the area, I was surprised you slept through it. Then I was too wound up to sleep. I thought we might try to leave tomorrow, so I thought I'd start packing. Um... I hope you don't mind," he ended uncertainly.

"Packing for tomorrow?" I said, then mentally shook myself. Of course, "That's fine, I don't mind," I reassured him. "Really, that's good thinking. Sorry for disturbing you." Tomorrow seemed so soon, but any time would feel too soon.

He hesitated. In the gloom, I could see him fidget. "Actually, I was getting pretty tired again. I think I should sleep more."

"Yeah," I yawned out, suddenly feeling groggy again, now that the alarm had passed. "How long 'till dawn?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and turning back into the house.

"I can't tell, but a few hours at least?"

"Okay," I managed, feeling half asleep already. I stumbled up the stairs, then up the ladder. I could hear Shadow following behind me.

I tumbled down, grabbing the first pillow I reached and dropping onto the soft bedding. Huh, this was his pillow. Oh well.

"Hey, get into your bag. You'll never sleep well like that. C'mon, you're lying on both sleeping bags."

I dimly felt a tug, but it merged with my sleep. After an eternity, or maybe an instant, of dream I roused slightly as he settled behind me and pulled a blanket over us. I imagined in my dream we were lying back-to-back in my family's attic. Safe.

***

>>>>[[NOTE: DAY 4]]<<<<

I slowly roused, feeling a relaxed awakening I hadn't felt in days. I was warm underneath my blanket, slightly curled on my side. If I were a cat, I would have woken up purring. I flexed my fingers, scraping my blunt canine claws gently on the sleeping bag under me. I shifted slightly.

Ah, Shadow was there, lying behind me. At some point during the night, back-to-back had become intimate spooning. I never knew it felt this nice. I could feel his whole length curled up with me, his arm curled around my waist, his paw keeping me close. His other paw, was snagged in my backfur, and I could feel his nose at the nape of my neck, buried in the fur there. My tail was pinned between us, curling somewhere up my back. He twitched slightly all over for a few moments. Definitely dreaming. The twitches varied; first more, then less, and more again. They stopped and he stilled. Guess he was between dreams now.

I sighed and closed my eyes, the sun's angle wasn't very high. I could afford to drowse for a bit. I drifted slightly, but never slipped into sleep, just lay there for a while, feeling the comforting warmth of him behind me. His lips wiggled at my neck and he made tiny mumbled sounds. I could feel him twitching slightly in his sleep again, and I smiled. His paw gripped a little harder near my hip for a moment, then relaxed. I drifted a bit, still not sleeping, just very nicely relaxed. His breathing was changing, so he was probably slowly coming out of sleep too.

He twitched suddenly and grasped my waist firmly, yanking me towards him in his half-sleep. Before I could react, I realized something hard had rested between my thighs for a while now. It was getting shoved deeper between them.

It really was... that. I was still, too shocked to move.

He grunted behind me, deep into my neckfur, tickling me with his breath. I felt the hardness of his erection pulse and twitch inside my legs followed by a spreading wetness. He eased, then grasped me harder, fumbling his other paw around from my backfur me to grab at my chest. His arm had moved underneath me and was pulling us even closer. One arm hard around my waist, one hard around my chest, immobilizing me against him. His hips again shoved hard into my backside and I gasped. There was a distinct pulse and more wetness... and a lump pressed hard at the back juncture of my thighs. Right below, pressing in towards my balls.

By all that's furry... was that his knot?

His hips were jerking slightly behind me. His body stiff and shaking. I gasped and came fully awake. What was this? I shifted in his arms and realized that I was getting hard in my boxers. Now I was confused, and blood was throbbing in my ears in shock. Er, make that throbbing down below too. Thumping along with my heartbeat. I was -completely- awake now.

Shadow groaned and nuzzled into my neckfur, then froze. "Tyler?" he asked, sounding confused and groggy.

I squeaked, an undignified sound from any canine, then I tried again, "Ye-Yeah?" I turned my head to look down my body. His black arms circled my creamy underside. The bandage above his knee was showing between mine, the last shove had moved the knee forward. I could see a pinkish head peaking out between my thighs, pushing my boxers aside. Freshly wet and hiding in the soaked fur of my thighs. The head twitched and released a clear bulge of fluid as I gawked at it.

He made an undignified sound and thrashed upright behind me, his presence between my legs and at my back gone. I also hauled myself upright. We both sat apart from each other, staring in shock. He yanked helplessly at his boxers, trying unsuccessfully to pull them to hide his slowly shrinking erection. They appeared to have slipped down during the night, exposing most of his sheath. I was aware of the wetness between my legs each time I shifted and the damp fur mashed together. Our stare lengthened.

Then he dropped his eyes, looking horrified, "T-Tyler... I'm... That was...." He took a deep breath, "Sorry, I was just waking up and I...." He gestured helplessly.

I didn't know who was more embarrassed. Him or me, who was butt-humped by his new wolfy friend. I couldn't stop staring. He looked up at me again, a searching look in his eyes. Then he dropped his eyes, grabbing the blanket to cover up with, since his boxers weren't enough.

I stared, not really sure what I should be feeling. I was uncomfortably hard now, trying to hide it behind my legs and arms as I crouched. I coughed and said, "Um, excuse me." Then I let down the ladder and hurriedly left for the bathroom. It was starting to smell foul in there too; a lot of build-up in the bowl.

I tried to pee, but I was too distracted by my twitching cock, unashamedly poking out of its sheath. "Damn," I muttered. I absently rubbed at a wet spot on my inner thigh. Surprised, I brought my paw to my muzzle and sniffed. Oh, it was that. I inhaled again more deeply, fascinated by the scent. I groaned as I grew harder on instinct's call.

I couldn't get those sensations out of my head. And what I'd seen - it seemed like an after-image of each moment was burned in there. I groaned again softly, grasping myself with my damp paw and stroking. I was just too turned on. His sudden thrust and him cumming on me were too memorable.

Just the knowledge that he had been behind me, reaching his climax, had me stroking harder. I imagined I heard his voice again as he came, saw his length as he tried to hide it away. But his erection had been to large to hide. Oh, that image.... those feelings.... The tingles quickly built up, and biting back my involuntary moans, I made my sacrifice onto the bathroom counter.

I leaned over my mess, breathing hard and bracing my arms on the counter. I knew I was attracted to him. Male furs held a fascination for me. I could appreciate beauty in females and feel some interest, but some males had always gotten me excited. Not that I had ever done anything about my attraction to others. I had been too shy and unpopular in school to manage dating anyone. Well, I had received a few friendly cheek kisses from girls. That was about as far as I had managed to get in relationships.

There was no water to wash the mess on the counter away. So, I wiped it up with a bit of toilet paper and tossed it into the toilet. Then I grabbed more paper and wiped at the sticky stuff between my legs. Well, I got most of it and added that to the disgusting water.

And I finally got to relieve my bladder - even managed to take a dump without getting splashed.

Afterwards, I sighed and leaned my back against the closed door for a moment. My tail hung loosely as I sighed. This was yet another thing I was going to have to put off thinking about until later. I needed to be somewhere I could figure things out for a while without getting threatened by weather phenomenon and the undead. I had to go back out there. Face this and figure it out later.

He was up in the attic, quietly finishing rolling up the last sleeping bag. The blanket was folded and ready too.

"Put these in the car?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper. He couldn't look at me. The question also might be, "Can I still come with you?"

I cleared my throat and he flinched. "Yeah, sure," I said, trying to sound bright as I grabbed a bag, a pillow, and the blanket.

It had sounded a little forced, but he looked up with relief. He hesitantly said, moving slowly, "I packed some stuff for you last night. Clothes and bathroom stuff I thought might be yours. You should check to make sure I got things you will wear." He paused a moment, "If there's anything from the house you want to bring, now's the time to grab it."

I nodded and said, "Toilet's ready whenever you're done to flush the final time." I smiled suddenly, my tail wagging gently behind me, "Send the brown boats to swirly heaven, okay?" My ears perked their amusement at the image.

He looked terribly relieved, "Sure, thanks."

I stepped down the attic stair, probably for the final time and took my sleep set out to my car. I suddenly wondered if we should be taking my mom's car, then decided against it. My Frankenstein car was reliable, for how horrid it looked, got great mileage, and I was familiar driving it. I quickly checked the bag Shadow had packed, but it looked pretty comprehensive.

Back inside, I found him standing over the toilet, with the bathroom door open. The rest of the bedding was waiting outside.

"Everything okay?" I asked, suddenly wondering if he'd seen my toilet paper-wrapped secret.

He turned to me slowly, looking slightly alarmed "Do you think it'll flush?"

"Probably." I hid my relief; he showed no signs of noticing.

"I don't want to leave the house flooded if it doesn't. It seems...disrespectful." He shrugged.

"Okay, just count to three and see if it does," I said, stepping closer to watch.

He leaned over the mess and counted to three under his breath, then pulled the handle. It whirled and flushed and finished with a satisfying chuk-chuk-chuk.

"The marvels of modern plumbing," I stated.

That finally got a smile out of him. He scratched at his muzzle scar.

I found myself smiling back, feeling my tail sway happily. I didn't need to think right now about what had happened so shortly before. He was... Shadow. It was good that he was here.

"Sit down, I want to check your cuts."

He looked nervous, but willingly sat down on the toilet lid and waited as I carefully checked them. The two smaller ones on his shoulder and ankle didn't need the protection anymore. They had nicely scabbed over. The two on his chest and above the knee were almost completely scabbed. Best to let them breathe now, I decided.

"Done already?" he asked as I stepped away.

"They need to breathe now. Just be careful not to pull the skin and break them open."

He looked relieved and poked at the clipped fur near his cuts, carefully examining them. His tail swished slowly behind the toilet. His ears perked forward with interest as he peered at his cuts.

"Let's get a real tent," I said, leaving the bathroom.

I led the way down the hall to my parents' room. It was so quiet in there, so undisturbed. I could almost imagine that nothing was out of the ordinary. I fished in the bottom of the closet and pulled out the two tents we kept.

"Which one?" I asked. "The two fur tent is really easy to set up, lighter to carry, but a little cramped. The larger one can be erected with just two, but it's tricky. It also gives more room."

Shadow looked them over for a moment. "Is it okay with you if we take the smaller one?" he asked hesitantly. "It looks pretty sturdy, but if you are worried about what happened earlier... I completely understand..." he trailed off, looking uncertain.

"The smaller one makes more sense," I said briskly. "If we run into problems with it, we can deal with that separately. I think it's the better choice, especially if we're looking long-term here."

He gave me a wide grin and nodded, grabbing the smaller tent bag and heading for the door.

"Wait, before you go," I called before he got out. "I know my clothes won't fit you, but you can look through my dad's stuff. His things might fit."

He turned, shifting uncomfortably, "I'd prefer not. For one, he's probably dead. And for another, it would be weird being around you in your dad's clothes all the time."

I grimaced, "Sorry, I hadn't thought of that."

He smiled back, "I'll take this out to the car with the sleeping bag and pillow." He left, his tail bouncing behind him.

I was relieved too. Things needed to stay normal between us. We both needed to be together right now, almost whatever the conditions. Our survival would definitely depend on it.

I checked my room, then picked out one last set of clothes and changed into them. I grabbed the first aid supplies I'd left yesterday. Nothing else in my room interested me very much. Especially if I needed to survive, this stuff would be better left here. I did gather up Shadow's clothes - ugh, they were dirty - and visited my sister's room. Probably for the last time. I took just a little plastic figure, it was a tiny cat-angel on which Kaylee had drawn flowers over the white angel robe. I stuck that in my pocket, swearing to myself that this last little piece of my sister, I could and would protect and take with me forever.

Downstairs, I passed Shadow his clothes, which he immediately put on over his boxers.

"Are you sure you don't want to borrow my dad's clothes?" I had to ask. I'd forgotten after that first day he'd had them on. They were filthy and torn in a couple spots. Probably was due to that fight he'd been in when the shit hit the curtain.

I chuckled to myself, I should remember that one.

"Nope," he replied, finishing dressing.

I shrugged and got the picture I had shown Shadow out of its frame, folding it into my pocket. There was no use for extra weight where we were going.

Shadow was rooting through the food stores and stuffing it into boxes. I looked out into the back yard. Just to check, but the grave was undisturbed. I breathed in relief. At least that was one extra problem I wouldn't have to deal with.

I sat down and wrote my dad a note. Just in case he had survived and dropped by. It was unlikely and almost impossible, but I needed to do it. Basically, just to say that I had survived, found someone to travel with and watch my back; to say that Mom and Kaylee were buried out back. I added an apology that I had failed to keep them safe and that I hoped to one day see him alive and well.

I was feeling sad after, so I sealed the letter in an envelope and left it on the table, then went over to help the black wolf in my kitchen.

We worked silently and quickly. Just asking each other about a few foodstuffs. My Frankenstein car was soon packed. We even tied an extra food box and flat of bottled water on the roof.

"Wait," I said, nervously. After we'd finished adding stuff to the roof.

Shadow stilled.

"What time is it?" I was suddenly nervous.

He muttered something nasty under his breath, then, "I don't know, and I don't have a watch." He looked shaken.

I didn't know either. I took a peep outside, straining to look through the garage window. I saw a few... neighbors wandering around, but no sign of strange light. The sun was getting high though. How close to midday had it come before?

"Maybe it won't come today?" I whispered.

"But we can't count on that, right?" He nervously edged towards the door connecting to the rest of the house.

"Wanna go in now, just in case?" I asked, sidling towards the door too.

"Yes," was the clear answer, and I couldn't agree more.

We hurried to the "safe" room. He went in first, then I followed, shutting the door behind us.

I heard him settle in with a whimper where the vacuum would go and sat myself down on the floor. Our legs were touching slightly. Even that contact was reassuring.

It was completely dark in here. Even my sensitive fox eyes couldn't find a glimmer. The time lengthened, nothing was happening. When would it come? Would it stop now that the zombies were walking?

"Tyler?" he asked sounding nervous, shifting restlessly against my legs.

"Yeah?"

"Why were you in this room on that day?"

"Ah-"

"I mean," he quickly added, "it seems strange you'd be in... a place like this when it happened."

I smiled, remembering. It seemed so recent, but felt like an eternity ago. "I was playing hide-n-seek. My sister was just about to find me when my Mom freaked out." I stopped for a moment and my smile faded. "Mom had this room well sealed because Kaylee was so terrified of it. Kaylee kept insisting something could come out. Mom eventually put a really bright light inside. She and Kaylee took a look from outside during the night to make sure no light escaped. Kaylee insisted on playing hide-n-seek all the time and she hated it when I hid in here. But I wanted her to become unafraid, you know?"

I heard Shadow shift, felt him flex his leg as it rested lightly against mine. I could almost hear him thinking.

"Was that terrible of me to hide in here? Was I actually cruel to her?" I asked. This had been circling my conscious mind for days.

"No, I don't think so. You just wanted to help her get stronger."

I sighed, only partially convinced.

"You know..." he replied softly. "What you're saying, in a way, is that even though you couldn't save them- yes couldn't!" he insisted at my budding protest. "They both saved you. You know that?"

I blinked my surprise in the darkness. "Huh?"

"Your mom made this place safe enough to protect against this, curtain - as you call it. Your sister made you play hide-n-seek that day." He took a deep breath, "Even if it was unintended, they both saved you. Otherwise, you'd be just like all those others out there."

I was battling watering eyes again, but I managed. Calming my voice, I said, "I would have wanted to have them in here with me."

"I know, you would have wanted to save everyone, right?"

I nodded in the darkness, but he couldn't see me. "Yes, everyone deserves to live. They should have been saved." I leaned forward and fumbled with my paw, seeking contact. "Couldn't everyone have been saved? Why was there no warning at all?" I found him, somewhere on his leg, I think.

His paw covered mine. "There was no warning. They just died, and we just lived. No changing that."

I moved my paw along his leg and found his knee, bent up in the confined space. I shifted so I could lean my body against that sturdy limb. He brought his other knee up to join the first and I had a solid wall.

I heard him sigh, and knew he was relieved by the contact too. Furs are pretty social creatures and the lack of anyone else around had us drawing together. I knew this, but didn't care. It was fine. Everything would be fine if I was with him. Somehow I really believed that.

"Do you think it's coming soon?" he said in a hushed tone.

"I don't want to go out to check and wait for it. Do you?"

"No," he replied hurriedly. I could feel him gesturing with his paws in the dark. His weight on his legs shifted as he gestured, causing me to smile. He quickly added, "I wanted to make sure it was okay to stay in here, waiting a while."

"I'd rather be stuck in here waiting than get surprised outside and have to rush in, just hoping we can make it."

"Gotta agree with that," he said fervently. There was a time we were both quiet then.

"You know, this morning..." he started, but faded.

"We can figure it out later," I said quietly, wrapping an arm, hugging onto his legs. I took care not to put pressure near the open, clipped area I could feel above his knee.

Shadow was silent for a while. I just relaxed onto his legs.

He was right, though. Soon we were going to have to look into this closeness between us. Decide what it meant and how far it was to go. Another time, when we weren't listening and waiting for another torturous event.

"You know, you really are strong."

I guffawed at that. "How do you figure that?" I replied, my sarcasm plain.

"You held together over the first days, and managed to bury your family at the same time." He ignored my denying sounds. "You managed to leave your house, go among the masses of dead, and eventually found me."

"I had to leave the house," I deflected.

"I was just going to stay in that stairwell until I was forced out or died. I thought I was hallucinating when I first saw you,"

I had to laugh at that one. "So did I. That doesn't make me strong, though," I pointed out.

"Unlike me, you had furs all around you, familiar to you, dead. You managed not to break."

"I almost did," I mumbled, and hugged his knees close again, being careful of his injured leg.

"But, you didn't. You sank, but then you forced yourself to continue. Am I right?"

I shrugged, I figured he could interpret that through his legs.

"Then when you found me, you invited me, an unknown wolf, into your home. Wolves aren't as well accepted everywhere like most other furs."

I grunted. I had heard the rumors. Wolves kept mostly to themselves, within their own clans. They were rumored to be unstable and violent. It was theorized their history as furs rather than ferals was shorter than other species. They were viewed to still have their primitive side barely hidden.

"I never saw for myself anything that was like the rumors, you know," I said slowly. "There were two wolves in my school for a few weeks, but the other students were afraid and eventually drove them out. They were so cruel to them."

I shifted against his knees. "I did meet them once, and they were nice and seemed ordinary to me."

I could almost hear him smile, "That's the kind of thing that makes you strong. You make your own views of the world around you."

I chuckled and my ears lay back in embarrassment, "I had to learn things that way. I knew I wasn't immature or stupid because of my blue eyes, but most furs seemed to assume that immediately. From there, I realized furs were often wrong about a lot of assumptions."

He leaned forward and gave me a lingering hug over his knees. "I think more furs should be like you," he said, then released his arms, though he continued to lean forward, close to me in the dark. "I always liked your eyes," he said softly, since we were so close. "First time I saw you, I suddenly thought it must be my imagination because I'd never seen a fox with blue eyes. And yours are really blue." He sighed and continued, "They're such a pretty color...."

He was silent a while, "You make me feel strong, you know, Tyler?"

I just mumbled a response.

"I can't stand zombies, but when I'm around you, I feel that I can do what I need to. Um... I mean that I want to be strong for you. Because you've been strong for me. First night you insisted on bandaging me up, you know."

"Well, I wasn't going to have you die on me," I insisted.

"I think you held way past what anyone's expectations would be. When it grew to be too much for you last night, I was able to gather my strength and focus on you and not the zombies. I got stronger because of you."

"Ugh, was that only last night? Seems like forever ago."

He laughed quietly, "It really was yesterday."

We sat in silence a few moments. Shadow leaned forward towards me; I was leaning on his knees. I rested my head on his knee and sighed. I could feel through my whiskers that he was close. If we had to be stuck in the darkness waiting, this would be my choice of how to spend that time. Together, safe. I sighed, relaxing into his knees.

Thud. Squish.

I stiffened, so did the black wolf in the darkness. We held still, waiting.

Smack.... Squelch.

"What is that?" Shadow barely whispered. I hadn't realized our heads were that close.

"Is that a zombie at the front door?" I breathed.

"I don't know, but it can't get in, right?"

I listened for several long moments. "I don't remember if I locked the door," I realized out loud, "but they look too clumsy to work the handle. I don't think so, but I can't be sure."

My head was turned sightlessly towards the utility room door. I blindly reached for Shadow, feeling the need to get closer. Please, I needed to be closer. A faint whine escaped him as he reached for me and pulled me forward, supporting my shoulders as he opened his knees. I dropped forward onto him, the supporting wall of his legs slipped and straightened to the floor beneath me. He grunted, but still pulled me closer, as I clung to him.

More squishy impacts sounded at the front door. There was a long pause, then some faint scrabbling.

Click.

I flinched hard. So did Shadow. We froze in place, waiting.

Though the utility door muffled sounds from outside, I heard a door swing open. Distinct shuffling entered the house.

Yup, zombie in the house. Right now.

Then suddenly I also realized I'd been hearing a building hum. Right now.