I say this every time but I'm really going to try and finish this story gosh darn it! The motivation to finally work on this came from Ceysna. So thank you, I didn't know people were still interested in this story. I will try to post at the latest once a week (now that school is out). I will do this! Hazaa!

Zoey awoke to her stomach growling but as she searched through her stock of food she was disheartened by what she saw. The food supply was almost gone, only a few parcels were left. Her leg while better it was still too weak to support herself. As the hours crawled by the emptiness in her stomach became stronger, she tried to sleep through it but was more than naught unsuccessful. Due to her exhaustion and pain her sleep was uncomfortable and always interrupted by recurring nightmares. It was beginning to wear on her body, confusing her mind as to what was real and what was not. She found herself gnawing on her fingers thinking they were food or talking to the creatures that melted from the walls. Zoey tried to save the little amount of food she had left, but her inexhaustible hunger caused her to cave. That was yesterday. Today she sat with legs dangling from the windowsill debating about climbing her way down to the ground below. Why it never seemed to occur to her to climb back to the roof of the building or even try to break through the door she wouldn't understand until later. Her mind had begun to slip a long time ago and this just seemed to be the fastest way to be outside.

"Don't let go" Zoey heard from below, the soft sobs drifting up to her. At first she ignored the voice and instead listened to the music that drifted on the wind. The brisk air froze the sweat that dripped from her face; the wind blew her dirty hair, on her legs she could feel drops of warm water. Glancing to the sky there were no clouds, another drop. Zoey brushed her cheek and found it was damp. She was crying, apparently her body was so accustomed to crying it accomplished the task on its own. "Don't" the voice said again. Looking down she saw a few straggling infected and knew that she could get across the road if she made her way down. The ledges weren't too far apart and the building wasn't all that high, if she could just get down a story or two she wouldn't have a problem reaching the street. She didn't really have a choice anymore, she hadn't had a supportable amount of food in days, her water supply was running dangerously low and she needed something to stop the pain. So she set on doing the only thing necessary, getting out of that building. Crawling back to the mattress she grabbed her backpack and after shoving in the blanket she threw it over her shoulder and returned to her perch. She thought it best to go at it facing forward which didn't work out because she couldn't get her footing on the ledge below. Her body began to fall forward as she frantically tried to grasp at anything, the fall wouldn't be the thing to kill her. It would be the infected. There wasn't anything she could do; her weakness and lack of sustenance had led her to her death. The wind rushed past her face cooling the tears that left her eyes, the fear that filled her body blocked out all other emotions. It was only when she seemed inches from hitting the pavement that she accepted it. She had wanted to die and now it would happen. A crushing pain spread through her body; she heard the sound of the infected making their way towards her before she passed out.

The hunter breathed deeply as he watched her sleep. This wasn't the first time he sat in the corner by the window and watched intently on the woman sleeping in his room, where once he laid his head and dreamed. He didn't understand why he sat ever so quietly in that corner, why he didn't give into the urge to tear her body apart. How it would feel with her blood dripping down his arms, her flesh moving over his claws as he ripped out her insides, the relief that would excite his being and stop the itch crawling through him. She let out a tiny whimper; he wondered if they dreamed the same.

Stalking closer to her he noticed her eyes moving rapidly back and forth. He perched next to the bed like a cat, watching, his dark eyes passing over her face. She had a gash along her hair line the blood started to dry in her hair, against her skin. The smell of blood excited him so he backed away stepping on a piece of glass in the process. This awoke the sleeping woman but only just.

Her eyes were distant and cloudy as she glanced around the room. Her head slumped to the side, her eyes soon found his in the morning light. The hunter went ridged. The two stayed like that for some time, just staring at the one other until the sleep took her again.

Zoey's body felt heavy as she lifted herself off the mattress.

"What happened?" She asked out loud knowing full well no one would answer. She vaguely remembered being outside, the feeling of falling, the feeling of hitting the ground. That's right she tried to climb out of the window but fell which meant that the infected would be on her at any minute. Frantically she clawed at her back to get at her gun but her backpack was gone. Zoey searched with her hands feeling around her for anything to save herself from the incoming infected. Her right hand collided with a large sack. Cautiously she looked inside and found it was filled with water, uncooked noodles, some loafs of mostly edible bread, about ten mixed canned goods, potato chips and even premade cookies. Snatching the bag before it could disappear she ate an entire loaf of bread - picking around the molded parts - and drank a whole bottle of water. The lack of food mixed with the gorging of it would come back to bite her. For right now though she felt almost like herself again. It was only now that she came to the realization that she wasn't outside anymore but back in the room and after looking around with less urgency she found her backpack resting along the wall.

Zoey examined her leg and was encouraged by what she saw. The swelling had gone down making it look almost normal again. After transferring all of the food from the sack and into her backpack she began to feel the shift in her stomach. At first it was a dull ache but it grew the more she walked around. It was her determination to find a way out, that wasn't the window this time, which kept her on her feet. She thought about climbing back to the roof but due to her last try some of the rungs were either off completely or about to be and while her leg felt better she didn't want to chance it. So instead she looked at the door. The doorknob was completely torn up as if something scratched it off, she tried to use her weight to push open the door but it wouldn't budge. Something had to be blocking it on the other side which meant that this wasn't a way out either. She would either have to brave the ladder or try the window again. For now though she decided to rest, let her body absorb the food and settle before trying anything new.

When she woke again it was around noon, the sun was high in the sky with no clouds to block its rays. Zoey stretched; rubbing the sleep from her eyes when she spotted the dark figure in the corner. She froze with her arms in the air. The Hunter's head slowly lifted to meet hers as it sat there crouching in the shadows. Carefully it began to walk close to her causing her heart to pound. Where was her gun, she thought, in her bag which was far, far away from her.

The Hunter was so close to her that she felt its hot breath against her skin; while Zoey had managed to back herself into a corner, literally. 'Maybe if I could reach around and grab its head…' as she thought this her arms began to prepare for the attack but the Hunter growled like he knew what she might do. Slowly it pulled away the covers from her body, the fabric sliding across her legs. It lowered its head towards her stomach pushing her shirt around as it smelled her skin. Its lips, which were uncomfortably soft, brushed her exposed skin raising bumps on her arms. The Hunter lifted its head forcing them to be face to face. It was then that she finally saw the face behind the shadow. It was then that she knew…

As she looked into the Hunter's dark eyes, which were normally hidden under its signature hood. Though she was not prepared for what its secrets held; in fact she couldn't believe it. While her mind kept its guard up her body had a different reaction. Her arm – of its own accord – reached out towards the Hunter. Within a second he leapt away from her and out of the window. Zoey's arm still extended, reaching now at nothing. She could feel tears beginning to gather around her eyes but she lacked the will to stop them. Everything was coming back to her, the death of Francis, Luis, Bill and David. She just couldn't believe that they were all back, she wouldn't believe it.