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Kelsey and Erik had been hiking for hours now, the two were getting tired and it would only be a couple of hours until nightfall. They stopped at the edge of a lake near a tree that had fallen over a small rocky outcropping.

“Alright Skinny, we've gotta set camp if we're going to sleep at all. This is a good spot."

Erik groaned, kneeling down for a rest. “Yeah... that's a good idea." This was the first time he had spent so much time just hiking since he was thawed out, and was thoroughly exhausted.

“Okay. You wanna set up camp, or get wood?"

Both seemed like a lot of work. In the end he made a decision. “I'll... find wood."

She shrugged. “Alright, don't wander too far from the camp. And lay low if you hear someone else coming. I don't want to have to drag your body to the fire."

“Yeah."

Erik prowled around the bush nearby, approaching various pine trees, and snapping off large, dead branches he could find down low. If he had a rope, he could have pulled down a lot more, but these ones would have to do for a while. They were dry and easy to burn. Having gathered a bunch of deadfall, he finally snagged an old log, and began dragging it towards the coast, when he stopped for a breather. He could hear talking in the distance, coming from the direction of the camp. At just the right angle, he could actually see the camp from where he was. Kelsey was talking to another person, a large white wolf. Handsome, and decked in brown clothes, with a rugged black leather vest, the man was a pretty imposing specimen. Listening carefully, with his hands cupped over his ears, he could make out what they were saying, just barely..

“You smell funny. You sure you're okay?" The stranger asked her, putting his paw on her shoulder.

She knew it was the smell of Erik on her, a smell she couldn't even place. “You don't smell much better yourself, just scavving stinky ol' human houses really gets in the fur."

“Tell me about it." He sighed. “So, you know it's coming up soon, right?"

“I know... please don't remind me, I still have so much to do before it."

“Oh, we all do. But time waits for no one, they say." He turned, but looked back to her. “I'll see you around, Kels." With that, he left her, heading off to the bush, north of where Erik had hid himself. He waited a bit, making sure that there was nobody else there before he continued dragging the wood back to camp. A human being seen outside was probably not a good idea.

Dragging the log back to the site, he finally saw what Kelsey had done there. She leaned dozens of hemlock branches up again the fallen tree trunk, making a sloped shelter on both sides, leaving a doorway open on one side, and placed a circle of rocks nearby the opening to it. She had been sharpening a stick to try to catch some food when she was interrupted. She noted Erik returning with a big log in tow and stood up. “Nice find, Skinny. We'll have to burn that in half so it fits in the pit, should go all night."

“Great... urgh." He grunted and sat down on the log, exhausted from all the work he'd done that day. He still hadn't brought over the dry branches yet.

She looked with some concern to him. “We're gonna have to get you back in shape, you can't be getting this tired on me."

“I know... being frozen really takes a lot out of a man." He replied with a sigh. He didn't like to feel pathetic.

“I bet." She looked to the water for a moment. “I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I gotta get some food."

“You know, your mom packed some food for us, right?"

She stared at him in bewilderment. “What? She did?"

He started opening his duffelbag. “Yeah, she gave us a small bit of cooked... chicken." He sniffed the wrapped up container to make sure.

“My mother packed us a dinner? And didn't even tell me?" She chuckled and sat down next to him. “Well, she must really trust you."

He shrugged, unsure what she meant by that. “It's only some food, Lady Kelsey."

She snorted at the comment. “Alright, Skinny, we're out here in the bush, nobody around for miles. We don't need to stand on formality or anything. Just call me Kelsey."

“Alright, alright. More comfortable for me too, heh."

“As for the food thing... mother doesn't like to lend out her things, containers like that are worth a lot. And families eating together is important to her, too. For us to be away, but still eating together, that's... I don't know, a good sign I guess. She cares. It's like we're there with her, or something. I bet they're eating the same thing."

Erik couldn't help but smile. What a sweetheart. He opened up the small, divided wooden container to see what was in it. The bit of cooked chicken, a couple of pieces for both, some carrots, and two small muffins of sorts were jammed into the wooden box. “Two meals."

Kelsey took a piece of chicken with her claws and ate it. The food was just a stale outdoor temperature, but it was still satisfying. It had been a busy day for both of them.

“Hm. Not bad. Bit salty." Erik munched on the food as the sun started to go down over the lake before them.

“We'll have to get some other food before the sun goes down tomorrow, though. Fish will probably be the easiest."

“Yeah, probably. So, speaking of nobody around for miles, who was that guy that stopped by earlier?"

Her face turned into an embarrassed and slightly angry expression for a moment, realizing she was had. She sighed. “Guy from another town, Bensonville. Name's Colton." She popped a piece of carrot into her mouth and crunched it pensively.

“Friend of yours?"

“Not that it's any of your business, Skinny," She pointed a finger at him, “but he's been courting me for a while now."

“Oh. I see."

“I don't know how things worked in your times, but things now are probably pretty different. I don't think you'd understand."

He shrugged. “Try me."

She groaned and tried to explain as best she could. “Life is tough these days. We're trying to get civilization back on its feet, and for that, we need people. Anthros are expected to have a bunch of pups, and because of that, we mate for life. So, we need to choose a good partner. Because of all of this, we need traditions to build a good society on. So, this may be sort of new as a tradition, but lots of people believe in it." Erik nodded, waiting for her to continue. “A woman at the age of twenty is expected to choose a mate at that time, and potential mates are expected to have made themselves known and available. They do that in public, before everyone else, including other suitors. There's a big ceremony for it, and everything. And... if a suitor is particularly upset with another, he may try to fight for dominance, there's a big arena for those. Quite the spectacle. We still have some of that wild streak in us, I guess, heh."

“Doesn't sound all that unusual from how things used to get done. Except for the fighting and such."

“Oh. Well, anyway, Colton is the only one who's remained available. Since he's a scavver like me, neither of us are around town to deal with many potential mates."

“I see. I guess that makes sense. Most people in my time, if they were too busy working, never got time to find anyone either. The irony is that, by working, they had the income to support someone."

Kelsey wanted to hear more, but it was starting to get dusky and the fire needed to be dealt with. “Hold that thought. We have to get the fire going."

With her lighter, she lit an old book she pilfered from the house, and started up some sticks, the flames eventually leaping up to the log. Erik looked at it as she set it ablaze. “I feel kind of bad setting a book on fire, who knows what information was in that."

Kelsey looked back to him as the wood crackled past her and shrugged carelessly. “No idea, the pages are long since destroyed. Letters just melted right off the pages."

Erik nodded. As much as he knew to move on, there was always the memory. He quietly sat, watching the fire begin to roar. Kelsey sat back down next to him and watched it as well, silence overtaking them for a moment as the flames mesmerized them.

“So, back to what we were saying, what were your mating rituals like where you came from?" She asked, with seemingly genuine curiosity.

“They were admittedly quite a mess at the end, compared to what they used to be. Men and women would date - spend time together - to see if they were compatible. And after a few years or so of being a steady pair, they might consider getting married if they actually managed to stay together."

“A few years? That's so long! But it must have made for good relationships, right?"

Erik snorted derisively, the way she would have. “Usually, no. After people got married, there's a pretty high chance of them not liking each other, cheating on each other, using some exploitable laws to separate and steal each others possessions..."

What an odd concept. She had to ask about it. “Why end up not liking each other after all of that?"

“All kinds of reasons. Too much sex and no mystery left to the relationship, not enough sex, aggression, depression, temptation, greed. Getting fat. Could be anything."

“... Pups?"

“Kids. They happened sometimes, but not enough to keep the population alive. And they end up getting separated from the parents when the relationship breaks up, and single parents have a hard time finding anyone else because they're usually looking for someone to support their kid while they fool around. Almost nobody could keep a family together, and lots just didn't bother trying to. That's part of why humanity kind of... died off."

She winced and shook her head. “Sounds like you came from a bad place, Skinny. Maybe our ways aren't so bad after all." She shrugged, and looked at the fire. “We may be pressured to choose a mate, but at least we get along well enough to keep them and make a life with them." He was quiet for a moment. “I take it from your recount, you never did find that special someone, yeah?"

“Right. There were attempts in the past, but none of them ever worked out. They had, uh, other plans, let's say. Never figured I would find anyone again." He shrugged. “And then they died, I guess. The end."

Kelsey slapped his back, her claws hitting him ever so slightly. “Well, cheer up, Skinny! At least you're still alive. And who knows! Maybe you'll get lucky and meet some nice anthro lady back in town! There may not be any humans left, but I bet you'll be compatible with someone."

“I hadn't really thought about anthros like that. What would I even go for?"

She smirked. “Well, hey. Let me know if there's something you're interested in, maybe I can find someone in town to introduce you to. Maybe a bunny? I know a bunny lady. She always wants children."

He shrugged. “Sorry, Kelsey. I really hadn't given it a thought, just been focusing on working the farm and... trying to forget what happened. I'm still a bit broken up about losing all my friends and family."

“You're hiding that well."

He looked down, knowing it was a dour topic. “Thanks..."

She nodded with a sigh, then motioned to the sky above. “Well... it's getting pretty dark. We should get some sleep, there's still more walking to do tomorrow. You get in first, I'll tend the fire overnight."

The conversation had depressed him, but he agreed, and made his way through the doorway of the shelter. It wasn't big, but this was a wild shelter, the needles of the hemlock would repel rain if they had any, and otherwise keep in the heat. It seemed she had done this before. He tried to lay down at the far end of the shelter, and it was just barely big enough for him to stretch out. He put his pack at the head of the shelter so he had a sort of pillow to use, lumpy as it was.

She got in after him and began to lay down. “Now don't get any funny ideas. Shelter's for sleeping."

He closed his eyes and waved a hand. “Relax, Kelsey. I got it."

She didn't reply with anything, but laid down in the shelter and stared up at the roof of it.

When morning came, Erik awoke with a start. It was difficult to breathe. Kelsey was laying the other direction this time, and her big, bushy tail was in his face. He brushed it aside and spat a bit to get the hair out.

“Hey, you mind keeping it down?" Kelsey grumbled. “Oh, it's morning already... fine, alright." She sat up to see her tail resting on his chest. “What are you doing?"

“Your tail was in my face."

“What'd you put it there for?"

“I didn't, you did, when you got in backwards."

She knew he was right. “Oh, damn. You're right. Sorry." She slipped out the door and looked to him, still getting up. “Hey, if you can try to get that fire going again, I'll try to get us a fish for breakfast. Deal?"

He nodded. “Deal." As he left the shelter, he watched her take the sharpened stick, and walk over to the lake. “Huh. Wonder if she can actually spear one like that?"

The ashes of the fire were still warm, but the fire was definitely out. Because the ashes were warm, he was able to turn over what remained of a log and find some embers. With a clump of old leaves and dried grasses, he was able to get the fire smoking again, then lightly burning, then back to burning the big log once again. As he started up the fire, he kept thinking about their conversation last night. What was he actually going to do? There were no humans of value left. Everyone was an anthro, and he wasn't sure if he would even get along with them long enough to take a mate, let alone even be compatible. Would he just end up alone? Get his own property and be a hermit like Vera? The outlook wasn't so good. He looked over to Kelsey, standing knee-deep in the water, poised and waiting for a fish to come by. Her silverish merle mane shining in the sun, big bushy tail, tall, fuzzy ears, her human-like paws gripping a sharpened stick. All wrapped in some salvaged camo clothes. She was sort of cute, in that rugged but sweet tomboy way. Also, a dog. He shook his head to perish the thought.

Sure enough, she struck a fish well enough to cheer about it, and come wading back to the camp with a decently-sized sunfish.

“Here ya go, Skinny! Cook him up good!"

“Nice catch." He chuckled, taking the stick from her. He didn't think she could actually do it.

“Thanks."

“Can't believe it was swimming so shallow."

She laughed at the comment. “Yeah, what a dip." She slid the fish off the stick and onto a rock. “Alright, spit it with the stick, it'll be easier than trying to do it sideways." She crouched down beside him, as he worked the stick into its open mouth. He stopped for a moment. “Worried?"

“I just... want to make sure it's dead. I don't like to make things suffer if I don't have to."

She smiled a bit, half-mockingly. “A compassionate killer, huh? Don't worry, it's dead already, it won't feel a thing."

The confirmation was really all he needed. He jammed the stick through, crunching through several organs, things they presumably would not want to eat. The fish was ready to be cooked.

Over the fire it sizzled, skin turning crispy and flesh steaming into the humid morning air.

Kelsey decided now was a good time to apologize. “Hey, sorry about the tail thing last night. Hope it wasn't too annoying."

“Nah, it's fine, don't worry about it. Was actually kind of comfy, I didn't feel it at all."

“I'm used to sleeping like that, but alone." She explained. “It was a little d- you didn't feel it at all?"

“Nope. Probably thought it was a pillow." He smirked. She wagged her tail into him, whacking him with the puffy bush of hair. “Nope, nothing."

“Tch, mother's tail, so puffy..." Kelsey chuckled. “Alright, you win. Then I won't apologize for it next time you eat hair."

“Deal." He chuckled. Her tail lightly wagged. She seemed to be having fun with the back-and-forth of the conversation. Being alone a lot, she didn't regularly get to banter with people.

The fish took a bit to cook, but when it was ready, they ate some fresh, flaky white fish for their breakfast. With full stomachs, they were ready to head out on their next day's journey.

“Alright, remember which way we're going?"

“Yeah, of course. We should be able to get there in only a few hours if we get moving."

His legs were stiff from the hiking before, but he was still ready to go. They left their shelter behind, and began to walk again, up the coast of the lake, towards their destination.

“Who told you about this place, anyway?"

“Colton. He said it's more in my neck of the woods than his, so I should get dibs on it."

“Awfully generous for a scavver. Guess you anthros do look out for each other."

She smirked. “Well, like I said, he's sweet on me."

“You know... I may not really know what's going on, but it doesn't sound to me like you're too sweet on him."

She huffed a bit. “It's not that, Erik. He's a good guy, healthy, really handsome, we get along pretty well, we'd have good looking pups, but... there's just something off about him."

He furrowed his brow to her. “Off?"

“Something in his personality. He's the only suitor, but he still acts like he's got lots of competition, like I've forgotten. He's impatient, that's it. He wants me to be twenty so we can be together, but if just getting to have me is all he wants, I wonder how much he'll want to raise pups. Being a scavver doesn't put a lot of food on the table."

“Well, your father is a farmer, but he only has two pups."

She snickered at him. “He has four. The other two are still young and are in the house. Mother took a break after having Kerry and I, then had twins, she watches over them a lot. They're always gekkering in there."

“Heh, oh. I guess I didn't meet the whole family after all. What are their names?"

“Kenneth and Kevin."

Erik smirked at the names. “They sure like K names, huh?"

“They wanted a theme, I guess."

Erik tried to get back on track. “Right, so anyway, you don't know if he'll be a good father. That's a pretty serious concern, if you're serious about having pups."

“I... I want to, some day. I think I'll be a good mother."

“I'm sure you will, Kelsey. But you'll have to find yourself a man you trust, too. Maybe you should go scavving for a guy next time."

She smirked and snorted a bit. “You all concerned about me now?"

“Well, you did forget to call me Skinny earlier. I figured you were preoccupied."

Her face turned into a surprised, discerning squint. “Clever guy..."

They finally began to enter the woods again, so talking time was ending. The terrain didn't change much in these forests. Up and down drumlins, trees and bushes everywhere, and the usual sound of the wilderness, crickets, birds, and rustling leaves. It really was a calming thing. Being here, in his new life, Erik had finally began to feel like life was getting pretty good.

After a couple of hours, they came upon another house, a quaint log cabin in the bush, as one might expect to find. The logs were starting to rot away from exposure to the sun and elements, but it still held up surprisingly well. The door, of course, had already been opened, bashed in by someone quite powerful.

“Let's take a look, yeah?" Kelsey suggested rhetorically, approaching the ajar door. Erik lit up the flash light to bring much-needed vision into the darkened house. No noises, so thankfully, nothing was living in there. But cupboards and drawers had already been manhandled, broken off of their hinges by someone powerful.

“Looks like a bear hit this place. Literally."

Kelsey nodded as she rummaged around, opening up boxes and lids. “Might be right. I'm not seeing a lot of anything left over. Couple plates. A fake spruce tree? Boxes of crushed cans. Ah, fork, that's useful. Lid? What the heck is this thing?" She picked up a thin, black, rectangular object.

Erik walked over to her to take a look. He grabbed it with his free hand and tilted it to see it reflect back some purple color. “A solar panel?" He looked around on it. A big black box on its side, similar to a power bar, weighed it heavily on the one side. The box did indeed have a single outlet. “Solar charger? Battery pack? Interesting... Got some heft to it. Looks like it would still work."

“That worth anything?"

Erik thought for a moment, then an idea struck him. “Yes, actually. Very valuable." He started to take off his bag to stick it in, carefully.

“Hey, I found that." She spoke in an accusatory tone. He paused in his tracks. “I'm kidding! Relax! We're not stealing from each other. You can be so worrisome sometimes, you're gonna have to try really hard to offend me."

“Heh. Oops."

“So, what do you have planned for that thing? We don't have any electronics."

“No, but it can still come in handy. Trust me."

“Hm. A secret, huh?"

He smirked. “Maybe. If it works."

She groaned. “Uh, I don't like knowing that secrets exist. I gotta find out what it is!"

“You'll see. Maybe." He wagged his finger at her, tauntingly. She pouted a bit, but her tail still wagged. She knew he was playing, and she had to play along.

They continued to look around, eventually finding a disassembled fishing rod, jammed in a large bore tube for safe keeping, and a small pack of lures to add to the collection. The rod strapped well to his duffelbag, along with the tackle. His bag was starting to fill up quite a bit by now. Just to make sure it got as much as it could handle, he also attached the solar panel to the bag.

“There, that should charge up, hopefully, while we walk. We should save some space for our destination, if it's as good as he said it is."

“Charge up, huh? Well, anyway, it should be. We've had a decent haul here, let's split and see about Colton's destination."

“Yeah, alright."

As they both turned to go, their hands collided, his easily bumping off of her fluffy paw. They looked to each other. “Oh, sorry," they both said, in unison, and chuckled awkwardly. He let her leave first, her tail lightly wagging as they exited the musty log cabin. Were they able to read each other's minds, they would both hear, “shit, don't be stupid..."