Lone Survivors

Daryl took the cooked squirrel off the fire and tore it into smaller pieces before reaching across and giving me some. We ate in silence for a bit, and then Daryl gave me the rest of the muscle, claiming he wanted the organs. That was fine by me, and I stared down at the fire as we continued to eat, disgusted by the thought of eating little squirrel guts.

“So what was life like before everything went bad?” he asked out of the blue. I looked up and saw he appeared to be genuinely interested, so I took in a deep breath.

“Well… Better than this, that’s for sure…” I replied with a little smile. “It was nice, and simple. I had a job that I enjoyed, I had a lovely apartment, I had recently seen my family because my sister got married, I had fun friends to go out with… Oh, I have a funny ‘night out’ story you might want to hear.” I was already grinning ear to ear as the memory flooded back to me.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Daryl nodded. I felt like I was out camping with a friend, that the world was back to normal again. For once, I could just forget and relax.

“Well it wasn’t that long ago, really, and it was my big three-oh,” I said, starting off the story. I proceeded to tell him about how my girlfriends took me out clubbing and how they were trying to hook me up with a hot guy, claiming I couldn’t be alone on such a momentous night. Then I told him about the weird and suspicious tasting drinks and then how that led to my best friend having bad, but hilarious, luck for the rest of the night, which had scared off my potential date. I was in a fit of laughter by the end, the bad luck never failing to cheer me up, and Daryl was chuckling along as well.

“It sounds like a lot’a fun,” he admitted, finishing up the last of his food.

“What about you? Anything funny happen to you before this all started?” I asked. It was unfair that I was sharing my past and he wasn’t. I wanted to know him too.

“I’ve got a decent drunk story too, but I can’t guarantee it’s all true,” Daryl said before launching into a long story that included his brother and a few good mates. “My brother… He was with this group at the start… Rick left him on the roof of a buildin’, handcuffed… We went back and he was gone, but his hand was left behind. I think he’s still out there, ya know? He’s tough. He just has to be alive…” Daryl’s voice was quiet and sad, but I felt his pain.

“I hope my sister is alive too. She was a few months pregnant… I think we need some new life in a depressing time like this when so many lives are being lost…” I trailed off, thinking of the memory of my sister. She was rather weak though, just like me, so my hopes weren’t too high. At least Daryl’s brother sounded just as strong as he was. “I really hope we get to see them again, one day.”

“Me too…” he whispered. Daryl seemed vulnerable, and I wanted to comfort him, but I decided against it. He could easily push me away, and I didn’t want to ruin the bonding moment. “I should, uh, get these squirrels hangin’.”

“Of course,” I breathed while nodding slightly. He stood, moving over to the lines where other meat was hanging. As I warmed my hands by the fire, Daryl quickly cut the squirrels and strung them up. I glanced over my shoulder at the campsite, seeing most of the lights were out. It was later than I thought.

“You can stay again, if ya want,” Daryl’s voice said quietly. I turned to face him, seeing he was serious.

“Sure.”