It took us a week to collect everything from the store.

For two days after the incident with the Tank, Hunt didn't let me out of the hotel room and I didn't bother to argue with him. I was more shaken that I was willing to admit, but coming face to face with a horde and a Tank in the same day didn't exactly do to calm ones nerves.

The night of the attack I didn't stop shaking, even as I tried to lay down and sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the reflection of golden orbs shining back out at me in the darkness; as I curled up on my side I could feel the decomposing hands grabbing for me, hitting, scratching, trying to tear me limb from limb. It was like reliving the horde all over again.

More than once I would awaken suddenly and quickly spin around to make sure that the hunter was still there. He was my only source of protection now and I silently feared that I would awake to see that he was gone too. I knew it was a silly notion that should have been proven wrong after he fended off the horde, but I would have once said the same thing about my friends.

After turning around one too many times I heard Hunt growl at me softly. The tremors that were crashing through my body were keeping him awake and my constant paranoia was keeping him on edge. The sound originated deep in his throat and I could feel it vibrate through the air.

Calm down, I'm not going anywhere. Now go to sleep.

I muttered a soft apology before rolling back on my side. He gave a raspy cough and then I felt him shift and turn his back to me. I dozed in and out of sleep after that but it was far from peaceful.

I managed to sleep better the next two nights and slowly began to regain some of my energy. By the fourth day I was starting to feel a little stir crazy. As desperate as I was to not run into another zombie on steroids, I was certain that I would meet a worse fate if I was forced to sit in that small hotel room for any longer. After much yelling and growling at one another we reached a compromise. Hunt would take me with him when he went to retrieve our goods, but I was to sit on a rafter, high up and away from danger.

So, for the past three days, I sat on my high perch, shouting down directions to Hunt as he stuffed things into the backpacks that we had been using to transport our goods from the store to our home. It took some time but eventually we were able to fill the cabinets with an assortment of different soups, canned fruits and vegetables, and pasta. We also had several cases of ramen stacked on the far wall. I hadn't originally planned to collect all this food at once, but if we could get it all now, that meant we didn't have to go back and get it later.

Unfortunately where the store had a mass of food it lacked any means for us to cook it. The outdoors section that I had been so determined to search turned up to have very little in it at all. Turns out the department hadn't been very large to begin with (figures in a city this big) and what had been there had already been picked over. However, we didn't come away empty handed. We had stocked up on every single type of battery that we could find, even if we didn't have any use for them yet. I'd also collected a few rolls of fishing line. I had learned long ago that there were many other uses for fishing line other than the traditional use.

We also found a few rolls of duct tape for Hunt. Since he and I had both started collecting new pieces for our winter wardrobe I knew he was going to want more tape. He had been teased relentlessly when I found a roll of hot pink tape that I told him would go beautifully with his black and gray ensemble. His only reply had been to glare at me and snarl before putting me back in my perch.

I watched as he finished packing the last of our find into the bags we had been using to drag things back and forth. A third empty one sat next to me in case we needed it. As he worked on forcing the cans into the bag I looked around the rest of the store. We had cleared it of commons in the days prior but a few still wandered back in. I could only count a small handful from my birds eye view.

What I did spot, however, was the hygiene section that hadn't been touched since the infection had started to run rampant. When the world was ending no one really thought about carrying shower gel and bath salts with them. But when you are bunkering down for a few months the fragrant bath soaps were small slices of heaven, a reminder of a life that had been so much simpler.

My mind was made up almost immediately; I wasn't leaving this store without them.

But first I was going to have to get down.

"Oi Hunt!" I called down to him in a harsh whisper. Silence was something that was fragile and dangerous to break. A soft voice could be exaggerated to the volume of a screaming alarm in the quiet confines of a building like this. And when you are surrounded by beings that are sensitive to noise and want nothing more than to kill you, it is always best to maintain that silence whenever possible.

He looked up at me questioningly, wondering what I wanted now. I'd finally stopped giving him a hard time after he'd thrown a can of beans at me.

"Get me down. I see something else I need to get before we leave." I replied, pointing in the direction of the bathing goods section.

He looked from me to where I was pointing then to me again. Although I couldn't see him I could feel the glare he was sending me as he shook his head in a very definite 'No'.

"Hunt, I swear, if you do not get me down from here right now I am going to jump down my damn self! Then on top of getting my girly stuff, you'll have to give me a bath too. So if you don't want to have to deal with a paraplegic for the next five months then I suggest you get up here right now!" I hissed at him. There was no way in hell he was getting out of this one.

He growled at me in aggravation and I knew I would be hearing more about this when we got back to the hotel, but for now he finished dropping the cans into the backpack and leapt up next to me on the rafter. He landed close to me, growling in my face for good measure, just so I understood that he did not appreciate my tone. But a moment later he lowered his back to me and I crawled on, grabbing our empty bag before we took off flying through the air.

In only a matter of seconds I was placed on my feet in front of the isle with all of the shampoos and shower gels. I could feel how hard I was smiling as I started walking down the isle. I grabbed the largest bottles I could find and stuffed them into the bag. I even picked up a bottle of Axe shower gel that I thought Hunt (and I) would like. As I was stuffing it into the bag, however, a thought struck me. Most of the infected relied on their sense of smell as a means to track their prey. If Hunt smelled like a human then no doubt he would be hunted like one as well.

I practically threw the mens shampoo back onto the shelf and grabbed the nearest unscented bottle I could find. I grabbed a few bottles of shower gel before rounding the corner to the next isle. I was quick to grab shaving cream, razors, deodorant, a hair brush, and all of the other necessities. I made sure I had double of everything, for me and for Hunt.

I was finished with my scavenger hunt in a matter of minutes and returned to the main isle where Hunt was waiting. The pack on my back was zipped shut but still obviously full of goodies. Hunt looked me over and rolled his eyes.

Women...

He lowered his back to me so I could scramble on. With this many bags he would have to make two trips. One to take me back with one bag and then to return for the other two. I felt bad but promised myself I would find a way to make it up to him, somehow. I held on tight as I felt the muscles in his legs tighten and a second later we were airborne. This was a sensation that I was getting used to and on that I might miss if it ever came to an end.

As we landed on our balcony I slid off his back and opened the door, leaning the bag just inside. I turned and smiled at Hunt. "See you in a bit."

He nodded and gave me a smirk before he jumped off to the roof across the ally and disappeared in the direction of the store. I watched him for only a second before I went inside, making sure the door was shut securely behind me.

I tried to swallow the nervousness that grew inside every time I was left alone while Hunt went to gather our things. I had quickly learned that it wasn't because I was afraid of being alone, I was simply worried that Hunt wouldn't come back. Of course he was in his element out there. It was his kind that infested the city and I hadn't seen any signs of survivors in weeks.

But I couldn't help but worry. What if they could smell me on him or sense that he was different? Or what if he got hurt somehow and couldn't move? There was no way I'd be able to get to him up here.

In an attempt to clear my head of all the negativity I grabbed my bag and dragged it into the bathroom. Now was as good a time as any to try and organize things. Unfortunately it didn't take me as long as I had hoped. The small bathroom only had room for a few of the various bottles and tubes but I did my best to make it work. Shampoo and conditioner were balanced on the rack in the shower while my body wash took up a corner against the edge of the bathtub and the wall, along with my razor and shaving cream.

I put the two toothbrushes by the sink, still in their packages, and the giant tube of toothpaste next to them. The rest of the bathing supplies I stowed on the towel racks that had been empty since the day I had arrived. Who knew what had happened to them but that was just something else we needed to add to the list of things we would need to make our hole a home.

Before I left the bathroom I turned on the water in hopes that something resembling hot water would come out eventually. Now that I had everything I needed I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of my bath, even if the water wasn't steaming hot.

By the time the tub was half full I heard a familiar scratching a the door. I opened it without questioning who was there; only one person (infected) would know to come to this balcony. I was surprised to see that he had both bags on his back.

"Hunt should you really be caring that much?" I asked as I grabbed one of the bags and carried it to the kitchen. "You could throw out your back and then we would really be up the creek without a paddle."

His only response was a grunt as he shrugged off the last bag and went to investigate the noise coming from the bathroom. I let him and put the rest of our food away, trying to make it all fit in the shelves so that the already small room didn't seem smaller.

As I finished he crawled back into the room and looked up at me quizzically. His hood was pushed back again like it usually was when it was just us. I don't know if he did it because he trusted me or simply so I wouldn't keep trying to pull it off of him. Either way I was grateful.

"What?" I asked as I walked passed him into the 'bedroom' to get my clothes. "I got all this stuff so now there is nothing to stop me from getting a bath. Later on you can get one too. I'm sure it'll make you feel better."

I couldn't be certain but I could have sworn I saw Hunt's face get even paler at my suggestion. I laughed despite myself. I had known all along that it was going to be hard to get him to consent to bathing but it was still going to provide me with endless hours of entertainment nonetheless.

"Oh stop being a baby. You're a hunter for crying out loud! You have a lot more to fear than a bath. Besides, I even got you unscented soap so you won't smell like 'Spring Garden' or 'Strawberry Passion'." I laughed as I gathered my clothes and marched into the bathroom.

As I turned the shut the door I stuck my head out and gave my roommate a sickeningly sweet smile. "I know you know the rules by now but I'll just go ahead and say it for everyones benefit. If you peak you die."

Hunt was still too shocked from the threat of a bath to respond to my other threat and I shut the door with the same sweet smile. I had been able to see the gears turning in his head trying to figure a way out of this. But he knew he couldn't run forever and eventually he was going to have succumb to me.

With the door securely shut behind me I began to shed my clothes like they were on fire. Just seeing the pool of water that had gathered in the tub was enough to make me hurry. It had been ages since I had had a proper bath and I didn't want to waste time.

Clothes discarded into a messy pile in one corner of the room I carefully stepped into the tub and sank down into the water. It was like having sex after having a two year dry spell. There were no words to describe the euphoria and I know I moaned softly even with the luke warm water. A bath was a bath and that's all that mattered at the moment.

I soaked in the water for countless minutes, just enjoying the feel of water against my bare skin. I ignored the shuffling that Hunt was doing outside of my little haven. He was probably just trying to get a can of ravioli open. Right now I was enjoying my moment of being completely self centered.

That moment passed as soon as I opened my eyes and saw how much dirt had come loose from my skin and had started floating around the rim of the tub. WIthout even having to scrub the water was already littered.

"This is going to be a bitch to clean." I muttered to myself as I grabbed the wash cloth and began to scrub my skin clean.

In order to get completely clean I had to drain the water after my first bath and then refill it to get the more stubborn dirt and dried blood from my skin. I was surprised to see how dark I had gotten beneath the layers of dirt, guts, and blood that had dried on me. In any other situation I would have admired my tan, but now it just made me stand out even more.

After my second round of scrubbing (although I was glad to be smelling like strawberries) I felt much more human. I could see my skin much more clearly and I was glad to see that many of my bruises and cuts were healing nicely. Now that I wasn't having to fight for my life through a horde every single day I didn't have to constantly bandage wounds.

Stepping out of the tub I turned my back to the mirror and tried to look at the scars on my back. I couldn't see them well but I could see enough of the red, inflamed ridges to know that I would carry these scars for the rest of my life. Maybe it was better this way. This was proof of what I had lived through.

I drained the tub again before turning on the water. By now it was running ice cold but I wanted to get my hair clean too. I couldn't even remember what color it was at this point and I had given up trying to brush it only a few days after the infection. A few days after that I was able to ignore my itching scalp. But now that I had shampoo at my disposal I couldn't wait to get it clean.

Like my skin, my hair had to be washed several times before it finally came out clean. I was surprised to see just how much dirt and other things (I didn't want to think about what they were) came out of my hair as I held my head beneath the faucet. It felt so damn good!

I don't know how long I stayed in the bathroom getting clean but when I finally came out I felt like a brand new woman. I was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie that was too large but was beyond comfortable.

"I feel like an entirely different person." I said with a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat.

Hunt looked up at me curiously, sniffing the air for a minute before laying back down on his bed, his head on his hands.

"Now its your turn."

That got his attention. He looked up at me with eyes that I had only seen on my young children when they were being told that they had to go to the doctor. It was an expression of horror and despair. If I thought he was capable of it, I thought he would have started to cry.

"Oh come on, its not going to be that bad. I'm not going to doll you up like a poodle. I just want to get you clean." I explained, trying to reason with him.

But the hunter stayed firmly planted on the bed and I could seem him clenching his fists. I sighed and held my hand out to him.

"Come on. After this I'll open up a big can of ravioli and I won't ask you to do it again." I gave him a smile. He eyed me warily for a minute before standing and shuffling into the bathroom like it was his death bed. I laughed to myself as I gathered up a pair of pants and a hoodie for him as well as a pair of boxers. I figured even someone who was infected would enjoy a pair of underwear.

"Sit." I said, pointing to the toilet. He sat down on it and watched as I started to run the bath water and fill the tub.

"I'm sorry that its not really warm. I think the only way we'll ever be able to get a hot bath is if we boil water over a fire, but I don't know if that would really be safe to do up here." I explained as I tested the water on my hand. At least it had built up enough to be luke warm again. If I was going to be cruel enough to force him to get a bath I at least wanted it to be semi comfortable.

Next was going to come the most awkward situation since we met; I was going to have to get Hunt naked.

I had been thinking about how to do this since I had found all of the bathing goods. A bath would mean that he was going to have to get completely undressed and I didn't trust him to get clean enough to leave him alone. But I wasn't exactly eager to see him naked either.

I took a deep mental breath and steeled myself for what I had to do. Keeping my eyes on the water I spoke quietly. "Listen, Hunt, I don't want you to think I'm some perv or something but you're going to have to take off your clothes."

I could feel him tense from his seat behind me and heard him as he started to growl softly.

"I know but I have to make sure you get clean. I'll keep my eyes closed until you get in, then you can cover up with a towel in the tub." I said as I handed him a hand towel. I figured that would be big enough to cover up whatever God had bestowed him with.

Bless him, he understood that I felt awkward about this as he did. He took the towel from my hand I heard him stand up behind me. I snapped my eyes shut and concentrated on the water passing over my hand.

But it was hard to ignore his grunts as he tore the tape from around his arms and legs, freeing the sleeves and pants so he would be able to strip. He growled in aggravation as he fumbled with the zipper of his pants but a moment later I heard the fabric drop to the floor. To my amusement he was much less inclined to part with his hoodie than his pants. He hesitated a moment before I finally heard him fighting with the sleeves and soon the top joined his pants on the floor.

He grunted when he was finished and I turned around to see that he had wrapped a towel around his waist. I had sworn to myself that no matter what he looked like I wouldn't stare. Because of all the clothing hunters wore it was hard to tell what level of physical mutation the infection had caused. I expected them to be something akin to smokers, with boils and cuts all over his arms and legs. I expected that maybe his skin would be pulled away or have burns or other markings that would make his skin unrecognizable. I expected him to look like a monster.

What I didn't expect was for him to look so normal.

Or to have a fantastic set of abs.

Wow.

'Snap out of it!' I scolded myself when I realized that I had been staring for a few seconds too long. I looked back at the tub and saw that it was getting full. I turned off the tabs and stepped back.

"You can go ahead and get in." I said as I moved away so he could get in.

He stepped forward and started to step into the tub before he stopped and looked at me. It was so hard to look at him now that I knew how he actually looked. I hated to stare at him like a piece of meat, it was so cliche, but dammit the zombie boy had a fine body! Even before the outbreak it had been over a year since I had had any sort of physical contact with a male beyond a simple hug from friends. Now, in a situation like this, it was hard not to stare.

Hunt must have sensed my inner turmoil (or simply seen the blush on my cheeks) because a moment later he was smirking and twirled his finger. The bastard wanted me to turn around! I couldn't help but laugh and glare at him playfully.

"I see you've learned more than you've let on." I joked as I turned my back to him so he could settle into the tub with privacy.

Behind me I heard him laugh as he settled into the tub as gently as he could. I heard the water splash a little as he sat and got comfortable. It took him a few moments but he grunted at me soon after saying that I could turn around.

He'd tossed his towel onto the toilet and had settled into the tub with the smaller hand towel placed over his private areas. He had also positioned his legs so that it would be hard for me to see, even if I was looking. Which I wasn't! I refused to look at anything below his hips and above his knees.

As I had noticed before with his face, the rest of his body was pale from the illness that plagued the country. He did have a lot of scars and what looked like bullet wounds. I noted the freshest looking one on his shoulder from Eliza's gun. It was healing up quite nicely, although there would definitely be a scar there afterwards.

There were also burns, at least that's what they looked like, but I couldn't tell from what. I suspected it was similar to the boils that grew on other infected, just not as bad. Maybe it was because hunters wore long clothing that their skin wasn't blistered like the others. Or maybe this strand of the infection simply didn't cause such a great amount of physical deformation like it had on others. There were so many possibilities.

Hunt grumbled a little as he waited on me to get started. He began fumbling with the bar of soap I'd set to the side, trying to hand it to me.

"Here, I got it." I said as I grabbed it and dunked it into the water before lathering it up. Now the really hard work began.

I scrubbed his skin hard, pushing the lusty thoughts from my mind as I scrubbed his shoulders and chest. The dirt and grime came off easily and I was thankful, again, for his long sleeves and pants. His clothes had taken the bulk of the filth, meaning he wasn't too incredibly dirty. But some of the cuts were still dirty and I took extra care to clean them.

"How did you get all these cuts?" I asked as I cleaned out a particularly nasty one on his back. It wasn't likely that any human had done this.

He tensed and growled a little before he pointed to himself.

"You did this? Hunt, honey, there is no reason to hurt yourself!" I exclaimed. I could understand why he might want to, but I couldn't stand the thought of him doing this to himself.

Quickly he shook his head and then motioned to himself and then his clothes piled in the corner of the room. I blinked a few times, not understanding what he meant. Had he done this when he was trying to get his clothes off? But these cuts were older.

"I don't understand." I said, shaking my head to him.

He huffed and turned to face me, setting his face the way he did when he tried to speak.

"Hhh...hhuuu...eeer. Hhunneer!" He tried, his voice scratchy and shrill. Then he pointed to himself again.

"Huner?" I repeated in confusion. Then it dawned on me. "Hunter? Another hunter did this to you?"

He nodded in the affirmative, grimacing. While I was glad that he hadn't done this to himself, knowing that another of his kind had didn't really make me feel any better.

"Why? Don't y'all work together?" I asked again as I started to wash his hair. Thank God it was shorter. Cleaning it wouldn't take nearly as long as mine had.

Hunt hissed, but not at me. He shook his head and growled and I could see his claws flexing beneath the water. He looked at me again and set his hand against my chest, just above my heart. I gulped and ignored the fact that he was getting my shirt wet.

"Me? You were fighting over me?"

He shook his head again and touched the area above my heart again. Then he grabbed my wrist and lifted it to his mouth, where he pretended to bite it. He repeated this a few more times until I caught on.

"Humans. You were fighting over your next kill?"

He looked away from me and nodded, as if he was ashamed to admit the truth. He didn't want me to know that he stalked, killed, and ate humans. I'll admit it wasn't exactly a thrilling thought.

"Well, did you at least win?"

The smirk he gave me told me that I didn't want to see what the other guy looked like. Great. That didn't exactly make me feel any better.

"As long as no other hunters show up and try to eat me." I muttered as I lathered up his hair with shampoo, making sure I scrubbed his scalp hard.

He growled again but I barely recognized it as the sound. It was a low pitch that I had never heard him make before. Of course that didn't mean that it wasn't familiar. My body reacted before I could and I instantly froze, my muscles tensing as I went on alert. That growl I had heard a hundred times before while running through the city. That sound was a challenge, daring anyone to take the creature on.

Hunt noticed his mistake and quickly silenced himself, humming an apology in the back of this throat. I simply nodded and quickly went back to work, scrubbing his scalp to get it clean. We sat in silence for a while after that, only the sounds of our breathing and the splashing of the water as I rinsed and began to scrub his hair again.

"Alright. I think you're done. I trust that you can dry and dress yourself without my help?" I asked as I straightened up. He nodded and I unplugged the bath so it could begin to drain. I noticed him starting to stand and I quickly turned and let myself out.

While Hunt changed I popped open a giant can of ravioli (as promised) and decided to boil some water and make some pasta for myself. It would be a good way for us to relax after a hard day. As my water was boiling (thanks to my handy dandy, battery operated, portable oven coil) I heard Hunt come out of the bathroom and start shuffling around close to the beds.

"I put you a change of clothes on the bed." I called out to him and heard him pulling his clothes on seconds later. I was stirring the noodles when he came in, wearing his jacket open and pair of jeans that I was glad to see that fit him well. I had been forced to guess on his size.

"Your ravioli is over there." I said, pointing to the bowl on the counter. He instantly grabbed it and started fishing the pasta out with his fingers, using his claws the skewer them to the ends of his fingers. I chuckled as I tested my pasta and finally decided it was good enough for me and started to strain it over the sink.

With my food finished and sitting in my own bowl I jumped onto the counter next to him and hesitantly sniffed Hunt's hair. He smelled...normal. Not like a zombie but not like a male model either. I was quite satisfied with that. He looked up at me curiously when he heard me sniffing, meat sauce smeared around his mouth.

"You smell good." I told him as he licked his mouth clean. He leaned up and sniffed me too and seemed to purr happily, saying that he agreed that I did as well. I grinned happily. "See, I told you it would be worth it."

He sighed and growled softly, relenting that I had been right, for once. Maybe this meant he wouldn't give me such a fight next time. Suddenly, much to my surprise, he lifted a ravioli from his bowl and held it up to me in silent offering. I leaned forward and popped it into my mouth, savoring the tomato sauce and warm meat. It was a nice treat.

"Be careful now or I'm going to make you share that with me from now on." I warned him as he went back to eating. But, despite the threat, he simply smiled up at me, teeth sharpened to dangerous points. I laughed and scoped a few noodles into my fingers and offered it to him. He opened his mouth and I dropped them in, laughing as he struggled to get a rouge noodle back into his mouth.

We sat there, freshly cleaned, and feeding each other and ourselves, laughing for a few more minutes before we retreated to our bedroom for the remainder of the night. I sat up and read while he slept next to me. And, for a little while, everything felt normal.

I apologize for the delay. My mother passed away at the end of June and it has been a very long and difficult road for me and my family to walk on since. Things are slowly returning to something that resembles normalcy and I feel like I should keep trying to work on this. Thankfully I had most of this written already so there wasn't much to add on except a sappy ending.

With work and school, I'm not sure when I will be able to update again, but I haven't abandoned this story completely. So please be patient. Thank you.