Nate nodded before nodding. He couldn't think of any reason as to why he should decline a free meal. The other man, Ryu, probably wouldn't do anything to hurt him. Probably. Nate could still remember the insane crap the had read about in books about the end of the world, where people ate each other because food was scares and things like that. Ryu didn't look like the cannibalistic type, so Nate didn't think he had to worry. "I've been here since the first reports that the infection was getting close to my city." He said quietly, looking down at the leaves below him. Nate glanced back up at Ryu. "Should I gather sticks to start the fire?" He asked, changing the subject.

Ryu smiled and nodded thankfully. "Yes please, I mean, I need to skin this thing anyways, i rather not have to eat fur." He smiled slightly and sat down on a rock, taking out an arrow from the quiver,which he used to try and take the skin off, not an easy task with the fact he forgot to carry around a knife. He hissed under his breath when he ended up stabbing his finger a little. "Oh yeah, gather some small twigs and then anything bigger. I need the smaller ones to actually start it and then the bigger ones to keep it growing." He managed to get part of the skin off and continued to try and get the rest of the skin off. He continued this until the skin was completely off. "I need to clean it, so we might haveto search for more water after this."

Nate looked around for some sticks, and started to wander to pick up branches. It didn't take that long to gather up an armful; he was in a forest after all. Nate stumbled back to Ryu and dropped the wood near the other man. Nate glanced up to see what Ryu was doing. He seemed to be having issues skinning the dead rabbit. Nate would have offered a Ryu a knife, but he sadly did not have one. "How much water?" He asked, "I think there might be a stream near here, but I could be wrong. I don't remember being around here before." Nate tilted his head and listened to the wing. He couldn't really hear anything, which didn't surprise him.

Ryu smiled up at Nate and let out a small chuckle. "I have some water in a canteen. We can use that for now and then go find more water when we leave the cooking ground. Okay?" He smiled and looked back down at the skinned rabbit. He cut it open, taking out the guts that he knew they weren't going to eat. He threw them into a small pile before he reached around his hip and grabbed the canteen strapped to his backpack. He pulled it off and started to pour water over the rabbit and rub off any excess blood and grime that may have gotten on teh rabbit while he was skinning it. He smiled and nodded. "Alright, it's all clean and ready to cook. Got a bunch of sticks, lovely?" He looked up at Nate, not really aware he just called the boy lovely. "Hand me a few little sticks so we can split the rabbit and start a fire."

[[sorry for the lateness]]

Nate nodded and knelt down beside his sticks, attempting to avoid looking at the pile of rabbit guts. He wasn't a squeamish person, or at least he hadn't been, but seeing an excess amount of blood made him think of the Crazed Ones. He was so wrapped up in trying not to think too hard about blood and guts that he didn't notice Ryu's slip up. Nate passed a few of his sticks to Ryu before slipping out of his backpack. He yanked out his overly bulky blanket and stuck it under his arm before rustling through his pack.

Nate pulled out a fire-starting bow he had made a few weeks ago, but had yet to really use. He stuffed his blanket back into the backpack before picking out a few sticks and making a tipi. When Nate had been picking up sticks, he had also grabbed some bark and some green, dry, fuzzy thing that he thought might be moss. Nate set aside the moss and bark and grabbed a stick and wrapping the string from his fire-starting bow around it once. He put the stick on the bark, and after moving the bow back and forth. After a few minutes of nothing, a spark was created. Nate carefully blew on the tiny ember and fed it the moss before putting it under the tipi.

The sticks started to burn up, and the ember soon became a small fire. Nate continued to feed it sticks before he thought that the fire would be fine if he gave it larger branches. Nate glanced up at Ryu. "Is this big enough?" He asked.

[[All of my years of watching Survivor Man has finally paid off xD]]

((lol. for reals.))

Ryu finally managed to tear off pieces of meat from teh rabbit's bones. He washed each piece gently and stuck it on two sticks he took from Nate. He looked over at teh pelt andskin adn guts. Ryu grabbed the pelt and wrapped theguts in it, tying it with some rope he had. He pulled the knot tight and looked at Nate as he spoke. He looked down at the fire, which was quickly warming his skin. He nodded.  "Yeah, that's fine. It should be big enough for now. It wasn't some big rabbit." Ryu held out a stick to Nate, which contained some of the rabbit's meat. "Cook it to your liking."

Nate thanked Ryu and took the stick, holding the meaty end over the fire. He was silent for a few minutes, listening to the sounds of the forest, before deciding that conversation was needed. Nate thought for a few seconds, but was unable to come up with anything. That's what long periods without human contact did to you; it made conversation starters rare to come by. Nate started to twitch, he found the absence of sound nerve-racking. He could only hope that Ryu would save him by saying something.

The silence was a bit uncomfortable to Ryu. The only sounds were that of a few birds chirping here and there and maybe the chattering of the squirrels that were high above the trees. The sounds of the fire popping and teh slight sizzle of the meat being cooked by the flames. He watched the rabbit stick and turned his stick over every so often to get all teh rabbit cookied to about the same style. He would take it out a few times to poke at it, checking how tender or firm it was getting. He fianlly decided the silence was unnerving. "So, Nate.. Besides us both being stuck out in the woods at the same time.. Where did you live before the Crazed drove you out?" He looked up at the kid and poked his meat again.

Nate looked up, meeting Ryu's eyes, before quickly glancing away. He was relieved that the other man was able to start a conversation, God knows Nate couldn't. "I lived in a city near here." A pause, "Or, at least it had been near this forest. I'm not really sure where we are right now..." His voice drifted off, and he turned his attention to the fire, watching it crackle and dance. "Anyway, it was on the banks of the Quad, that big windy river that is polluted with trash. I shared a small apartment with a friend of mine and his five cats. My friend was one of those insane people who always had some weird conspiracy that they were spouting out. When he heard about the Crazed Ones on the news, he flipped." Nate smiled, fond of the memory. "He was determined to go to a bunker or something, and I ended up agreeing to go with him."

Nate's smile evaporated. "We only got as far as the edge of the forest, about fifty miles away from the city, when we ran into those who were infected. We were totally unprepared, and we ended up running into the woods, Crazed Ones hot on our tails. He ended up getting bit, and I left him." Nate shrugged, showing that he really didn't care about the poor outcome. "What about you, Ryu?"

Ryu gave a small nod to show he understand. He had been with another but that person had also been infected on their way out of town. It wasn't something he wanted to even remember since it had been a pretty gruesome sight that he witnessed. He turned his attention from his cooking rabbit meat to the boy,well, man he supposed, sitting across him. His face getting shadows from the flames, which were dying out already. He placed a slightly larger branch in teh pile of wood that made their fire andit lit up.

"I... uh, well, I lived in a town not too far from teh outskirts of the East side of the forest. It's about... i'd say five miles from this spot. Maybe more. It wasn't much.. really. But it was a little town that everybody knew everybody. It was homey, i guess. Little houses and maybe two main roads that took you where you needed to be. A few smaller roads for the houses." He paused and his eyes softened at teh mention of his hometown. He had been out here for a while now, not really knowing the fate of everybody in his town. He sighed and poked his meat again. "I was with another person too. My older friend. He had taken me out of bed when he heard of teh outbreak and immediately had me packing." His eyes moistened. "I guess we made it to teh outskirts when teh Crazed came out of a house. He shoved his bow and arrows at me before shoving me into teh forest, telling me to run."

He gave a small shrug and wiped his eye on his shoulder, not wanting new tears to fall. "Well, yeah. That's prety much what happened. DId you know the fate of your family, by teh way? If they're not Crazed, maybe we can go find them." He gave a small smile.

[[sorry for taking so long, I somehow didn't see the alert]]

Nate frowned at the sight of Ryu's tears. It bothered him to see someone cry. He shouldn't have asked about the other man's past; Nate should have known that it wouldn't have ended well. Ryu was alone out in the forest, regardless as to who he left with. Not really knowing what to do, Nate scooted around the fire so he was sitting beside Ryu and leaned against the other, giving Ryu comfort. Nate knew that any of words of reassurance would be petty and worthless. There were times to apologize for things that you weren't involved in, and this wasn't one of those times. The words 'I'm sorry' could and would never bring back a dead loved one, so it was useless even using them.

Nate brought his stick of meat out of the fire and poked it. He thought it was done, so he rested the sick on his legs for the meat to cool. "My parents are dead." Nate told Ryu simply. He wasn't sure of it, he hadn't seen their bodies, but really, what was the chance they were fine? His parents were old, in their late sixties. Nate doubted that they were alive.

((S'all good.))

Ryu's eyes widened when Nate had come over and leaned against him. A light blush spread across his cheeks and he leaned back on Nate, just enough to give pressure but not enough to knock teh guy over. He felt the emotion the other was portraying. There was a small heat coming from the other boy. It was a welcome heat and Ryu smiled, putting his cheek on Nate's head. "Yeah. I'm fine though. It was a little heartbreaking to see him get bit the first couple times but, he's hopefully dead and not walking around. Dunno if I'd be able to kill him." He sighed and took his cheek off Nate's head before and looked at the rabbit meat he was letting cool.

When the information of Nate's parents sunk in, Ryu felta pang in his heart. He knew the fate of his own parents as well. "Really? Well, looks like we are in teh same boat Nate." He sighed and grabbed his canteen, dumping some water onto the fire, making it sizzle out and sent smoke up into the trees. "Well, we should eat and head out. Who knows how long it'll take the crazed to get here." He pulled off a piece of meat and popped it in his mouth.

Nate nodded, agreeing to the idea. Not wanting to get his hands dirty, Nate brought his stick up to his mouth and nibbled on the meat from there. It was difficult to get a bite out of it, and he quickly gave up on it. He laid the stick back onto his lap and picked at it with his fingers. He thought about Ryu words, about how he had watched his friend get bit multiple times. Nate had turn and fled after only the first bite, trying to ignore his roommate's screams for help. Nate had pretty much abandoned him at the first sign of trouble. He had spent many sleepless nights staring up at the stars, thinking of what he should've done.

It didn't take long for Nate to finish his portion of the rabbit; it had been a while since he had eaten fresh meat and it tasted wonderful compared to bugs and random plants. He set his stick to the side, not into the fire. He licked the juices off his fingers before wiping them onto his pants. "Ready to go?" He asked, looking around.

Ryu finished his own meat almost as soon as Nate had finished him. He gave the boy a small smile and nodded. "yeah, I'm ready to go if you are. We should go quickly too." He stood up and licked the juices from his hand before he tossed his stick next to him. He looked around and pulled on his backpack before he grabbed his bow and quiver. He pulled it over the backpack. He looked toward the bushes and heard a slight rustling. He quickly readied an arrow. "Come on Nate. We gotta get out of here. I don't know what's in the bush, but it might be a Crazed."

Nate nodded and bent down to grab his backpack and stuff his fire starting bow into it. He slipped the pack on and moved beside Ryu, eying the bush. Funny how the Crazed Ones only now appear. It was perfect timing. "Which way should we go?" Nate whispered, attempting to keep his voice low. The last thing he wanted to do was attract any of the monster to them.

Ryu looked sidelong at Nate, not wanting to take his eyes off the bush. He shrugged at Nate's question and decided he had to think about it. Where would they go? Where would they find more food and shelter for the night. He got closer to Nate. "We need to start walking... Slowly. I don't think it's a Crazed behind that bush. I mean, it's not that it isn't, but it's most likely not.." 

Nate nodded, not that Ryu would be able to see him. He wasn't sure about the shelter part, they would probably have to make something if they didn't want to sleep in a tree. But then again, there is the chance that they find a cabin... The only trouble with a man-made structure was that there was a chance that a Crazed One was stalking about near or in it.

Nate turned around and lightly grasped Ryu's shirt, pulling him forward (Nate's forward, not Ryu's forward). The man watched the ground, making sure that there wasn't any huge sticks or whatever that would make an insanely loud crack if stepped on.

The bush stopped rustling. Silence filled the air before heavy breathing took over. Nate froze and hesitantly turned around. The man tightened his grip on Ryu's shirt in fear. Standing in front of the two was a zombie. Nate couldn't even classify it as a Crazed One, it was obvious that the thing was dead. Or, more of, undead. It's pasty white skin hung on it's bones.

Nate wished for a second that the monster was like a T-Rex, that it couldn't see something if it wasn't moving. He knew that the zombie could see them, though, it's eyes were locked on them unblinkingly. The thing let out a pitiful moan and stumbled forward.

Instinct told Nate to turn tail and flee, but he wasn't alone like he used to be. He was with another person, and running away could very well mean abandoning Ryu. The last thing Nate wanted to do was lose his new friend.

Ryu walked backwards, keeping his arrow aimed at the bush in case something came out at them. Nate was guiding him along, tugging his shirt and Ryu obediently walked when the tugs were strong and slowed when the tugs weren't as rough. He trained his eyes on the bush and when it stopped rustling, he turned toward Nate, who had stopped. He lowered his bow and teh arrow was replaced in the quiver.

Ryu looked up and saw what Nate did. A Crazed Zombie was standing right there. It moaned and it sent a shiver down Ryu's spine. None of these had been out here lately and suddenly they show up. Damn it. The smoke had surely attracted this one. He looked at Nate, who seemed fearful. Wanting to run. If this thing was more dinosaur and walking dead than a Crazed, maybe they could have stood still and it would have walked away, but no. It could see them clear as day.

He watched the thing stumble forwards, bones visible behind the skin and the sunk in eyes. He grabbed Nate's shirt, pulling the boy back and behind himself. He wouldn't let these things hurt his new friend, he just met another human. He readied his bow, his hands shaking like leaves desperately clinging to a branch. It stumbled forward and reached out for Ryu's hand. Ryu stepped back, pushing Nate back in the process before he let go of the arrow right at the zombie-looking Crazed reached for him again. Point blank head shot.

Ryu winced when the zombie's head snapped back and fell only to have the arrow pop out of it's skull the way it had gone in. The brains coming with the arrow. It was gross to say the least and feeling the dead hand brush his skin when the zombie fell wasn't the more pleasurable thing. He wiped his arm on his shirt, feeling gross where it touched him. "You okay?" He turned to Nate.

Nate fell to the ground when Ryu lurched back, his hands breaking his fall. They hurt from the impact, but it was just a small pain that quickly dulled. Nate watched as the zombie moved forward and the other man shoot it in the head. He couldn't force himself to look away as the zombie fell to the ground, red goo staining the forest floor.

Ryu asked if he was okay. Nate almost wanted to laugh. Almost. "No." He answered honestly before hoisting himself to his feet. Nate fixed his backpack so it was secure, it had nearly fallen off when he fell, and looked up at the canopy above. Birds were hesitantly starting to chatter to each other. Nate's eyes pricked, and he rubbed them and ordered his body not to start crying.

"We need to move," Nate started, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat and continued. "If that one," he gestured in the directing of the corpse, "was attracted to the smoke, then surly others have as well. They will also probably smell the blood. We should probably get going now before anything else comes." Nate repeated, glancing at Ryu to see the other man's reaction.

Ryu looked at Nate with soft and sad eyes. The boy was hurt and it was his fault for pushing him back in his own attempt to back away from that Crazed zombie thing. He reached out for nate before he gently touched the boy's hand with his, graspingit gently. He brought the boy's hand up to his face and gently prodded at the tender flesh. There were some tears of skin and a bit of broken skin as well. It looked rather painful and he looked back up at Nate. "We'll patch you up once we're safe. I rather get to safey right now."

He smiled softly and gave Nate a small pat on the shoulder. Ryu padded a few feet in front of Nate and stopped,looking over his shoulder at the other boy. "Come on Nate. We gotta move. This place is dangerous now." He started walking again, putting his bow in front of him, aimed forward in case something else decided  to attack them. He readied an arrow and held steady, not wanting to be suprised by anything because of what just happpened. That thing was way too close and way too into his bubble.