“So… do you have a name?” I keep talking after I went to the next part of the cave, jump on the furs scattered around and managing, somehow, to avoid the cold floor.

“Hm… you don’t? Pity, I cannot have that, what I’m supposed to call you? Wolfy? Pup? Mutt?”

At that I finally get some reaction from him, a low annoyed grow. Yeah, yeah, the feeling is mutual pup.

I was childishly annoyed and angry with the situation, even though I should be smart about it and not provoke the beast, my emotions where mumbled together, as if they had reached their limit, no, as if they had passed even that, breaking any filter I may have had before; not that I had to begin with.

Plus I had to understand this creature for it seemed that a snowstorm would be keeping us inside, as well as Kira’s wounds.

Well, at least that’s what I keep telling myself, I could try to denied and find good reasoning for trying to annoy him, but I knew deep down that I was just infuriated and wanted someone to vent it on, even if that someone was the worst candidate ever.

“Where is that freaking bag now…” I mumble, looking up only to see the black werewolf being very comfy at his lair, his big body stretching sideways as he rested his cheek on his pig palm, golden-brown eyes staring attentively at me.

I felt like prey under that wolf stare, which sends shivers down my spine.

But I was too stubborn to let that fear control me; after all if I had been weak to begin with I would not have survived the chaos that it was out there.

The only problem is that… that didn’t make me the smartest on the field.

Especially dealing with other living things; animals and humans especially; Or rather anything.

“What the hell man, if you are going to stay like that why even bother saving us? Will you just keep staring at me? And what the heck are you? Werewolf? Are you even human? I’m been too loud? I’m annoying you? Well tough luck because I’m annoyed as fuck as well and I still haven’t found my freaking bag! ”

I had turned him my back to keep searching when I said that, which made me not realize his darkening expression, not how his eyes seemed to deepen as I keep going with my words.

I freeze in place as the last words escape my lips, earning a very strong growl from him that paralyzes me.

I’ve never known that such sound could affect me that way, such strength in its resonance that makes me want to runway but freezes my body at the same time, a sound thatmakes my heart jump a beat.

And yet I bolding stared back at him.

I must really have a death wish.

The wolf narrows its eyes in challenge, and I feel compelled to do the same as his black lips raise slightly up only to show off his big teeth underneath.

I must be crazy.

No, I’m definitely crazy at this point, or at least it would explain a lot of things in a more acceptable way them monsters existing if I was.

And me here, confronting one of them for heavens sake!

He quickly stands and strolls closer with his tail and ears high, his big shoulders looking even wider in his whole height.

I haven’t noticed how tall and big he was until he was standing right in front of me, two heads taller, making me have to look up so I wouldn’t stare at his furry chest, which for a second seems to amuse him, even more when I still do not back out.

We stay like that, staring at each other’s eyes, which makes my mind go wild.

What the hell I’m supposed to do now?! What does the guides say when you find a wolf? Wave your arms around? Play dead? Climb a tree?

And worst, does that even apply to werewolves?

At that, out of nowhere, something unexpected happens… and my stomach growls loudly.

I hold my stance but I can feel myself blushing in embarrassment, with mkes that the lightest pink would be oblivious in my white ghostly skin.

The wolf huffs at my face, and for the first time I try to back out from his warm full of germs breath only for his long furry arm reach out and embrace my waist, throwing me over his shoulder and making me hold the fur covering me with both hands in a panic.

“You crazy bastard, let me down!”

I start to hit him with my knee, but as the fur kepts almost falling down I stop, in fear of it slipping and showing my naked ass out right beside his face.

I would die from embarrassment!

At least I wasn’t touching him since I had the fur over me, but as the fur wasn’t clean either way made my skin itch as if a bunch of ants were crawling over my fingers.

The wolf not so gently drops me on the floor, and as I rubbed my ass in pain and cursed three lines of his generation I finally managed to calm down and look around me.

W-what…

What is this mess?!

This place looked like a garbage bin, with piles upon piles of stuff threw around aimlessly, as a dog would do with their toys and bones in the garden, just having less soil on top of them.

I almost laughed at my own comparison.

Crazy, yeah, definitely going crazy.

I look out to the cave hall filled with mostly garbage, then look at the wolf, who was standing with the back to the wall and his big arms closed in the front, chewing some invisible meat as if bored.

“My things… are not there… are they?”

He looks at me and keeps chewing, almost making an annoying tsk tsk sound.

…

Which God statue did I kick? Or which offerings I ate? Because this could only be the wrath of the gods falling upon me.

Seriously? A garbage bin? Next I’ll have to swim on poop.

But it was that or… starve to death.

The idea of a banquet waiting for me somewhere between those things was fuel enough to make me take a few steps closer, making me take a raspy breath every time my feet meet the cold floor.

That’s when I thought that it would be a great opportunity to look for something to bath in, as in no way the simple wet cloth and alcohol from always would be able to clean me today.

No, I needed a sink in and stay until I almost melted type of bath.

That’s how I ended up walking around a hall full of stuff, some dirty and filled with ragged clothes, some old buckets; though two could still be used so I separated them by using the tip of the fur to push them out of the pile; some combs, a lot of backpacks, forks, mirrors, all sort of things that he must have collected from passing strangers or shops, but no such luck as to find a bathtub.

Not that I would be able to carry it away, but still at this point I was up to the challenge of bringing hot water all the way to the back if that meant a warm bath for me.

I was almost at the end of the hall, however, when I found my bag, as if it had been thrown without care down the path and rolled all the way down, seemly closed and intact.

“Yes! Finally!”

I almost trip on the fur from all the excitement, nearly wishing to clean the bag up only so I could kiss it all over.

In reality, however, I took it with the fur warping around the strap, almost letting it fall as I forgot how heavy it was.

Somehow managing to add the two buckets I walk out of the hall only to catch the wolf yawing, sleepy eyes looking out in the distance, only his ear moved slightly towards me and acknowledging my presence.

Annoyed by him yet happy for finally being able to get the things I needed I went straight back to the main part of the cave, dropping everything close to the fire, now troubled with which one I should do first, eat or bath, since the hunger threatened to eat my insides up, but I had to clean myself up first before touching everything.

Gloves would be good too, a great improvement.

I decide for a bath first, the food wouldn’t run away after all, and I would rather enjoy my hard-earned meal instead of swallowing all up so I could clean myself already.

Plus I need to prepare Kira’s part as well.

Puzzled by how I would manage my bath I start getting my two pans out to boil some water over the fire, filling the buckets too for good measure.

As I was thinking I at least clean up my hands a bit, covering my body with the fur in a way that it didn’t felt as I kneeled down to pass a cloth over my arms.

Finishing with some alcohol I put some gloves on, sighing in relief as I could breathe a little more at ease. Moving and organizing my things on the floor I finally able to enjoy the loot that I manage to steal, and hearing out the force of the snowstorm I knew nobody would be able to come in; and mostly us out; so I take them off the bag to mark the amount on my notebook.

Though I would do that later, I already separated for it. I took some clothes out and covered the floor to lay them in, but I was still puzzled on how to make a sink in bath!

Yeah, talk about priorities in the zombie apocalypse while stuck with a werewolf in a cave… but still!

I would not be able to function right until I got that out of the way, so better now than ever… I start cleaning my feet as well, rubbing the cloth with soap then the one with warm water only to pass a layer of alcohol on so I could wear my shoes back; all from the extras sets that I had on my bag since I could not find my old clothes, though I had a good guess where they were by now…

Finally able to walk around I go take a look at the water pound on the side of the cave, and I bet it was chilly cold without even trying, so how the hell would I manage here…

I keep looking, finding that there were some strange white eyeless fishes swimming about, and that the water wasn’t that deep, enough to sit in and have it hit the shoulders, plus there was a little waterfall in the back that came from the rock, probably from a underground river or something, which improved my mood a little since that was the cleanness type of water one could find in the wild, drinkable too.

That’s when I look beside me and finally find what I was looking for.

Too happy and wanting to share I look back at the main cave, only to find that the wolf… had fallen asleep.

“What the hell! How did I ended up with such a lazy mutt?!”