Chapter 14 - K

They continue talking, relaxed now that no walkers are near, sharing what they did before the outbreak happened and asking how Sophia survived for so long. She answers, not giving details but telling them enough for them not to ask for more as he taught her.

Kurama doesn't move from where he is. Mostly because there's blood everywhere and he can't walk without stepping on some. He's been breaking necks instead of biting or using his claws as he doesn't have the chakra to spend cleaning his fur, or walking on top of the blood as he did at the lake. It's all the old way now apparently and water is scarce.

He's still clean from his trip to the lake and he isn't going to dirt his fur so soon. Especially with dead bodies' blood. The cleanest way for him to walk off is if someone turned around the dead guy at his left so he can jump on top of him and go to the cleaner parts. These humans thought of using weapons that are the kind that left all bloody so everything's a mess.

Kurama's still debating if he's going to degrade himself and ask for some assistance when the Sasha woman spots him while doing her self-appointed mission of checking if every fallen walker is really dead.

"A fox?"

Her voice is loud enough to make the others turn and he can see their eyes widen at his form.

"I've never known they could be this big," Donna adds, her hand moving to cover her mouth.

Sophia seems confused at first. She looks at them, following their line of sight before locking eyes with him. She's surprised as she opens her mouth to talk when the older, thin man approaches him with his weapon, a club. That makes her react as she goes to stand in front of him.

Kurama wants to scoff. Is not as if he needs help but that he doesn't want to move. Sophia's actions are enough to make Adam stop though. The girl glances briefly at him again, this time in the same way she did when he first woke up and she was curious to know what he was.

"He's Nine. We've been traveling together for a while."

"That's a fox. You do know they're wild animals, right?" says the teenager with a slightly condescending tone.

"He's right, Sophia. Foxes are not pets."

This time he does scoff. Damn right he is not one.

Sophia shakes her head. "He saved me. He's my friend."

The words bring an odd sense of Deja Vu that makes it easier to ignore her motions for him to stand next to her as if he were a mascot. When she notices he hasn't moved, she turns around completely and asks him what's wrong.

She's smart enough to know it's not going to improve things if the Big Fox suddenly turns into the Big Talking Fox, so he doesn't answer, choosing to point with his tail at the less bloody dead body.

"Oh."

She moves the body so he can use it as a bridge and smiles brightly at him, opening her arms wide so as to hug him. The people behind her gasp but she ignores them.

Kurama gives her a raised eyebrow, unimpressed, before jumping with regal movements and head held high next to her, making sure his waving tail smacks straight on her face. Looking over his shoulder, he nods mentally at seeing Sophia rubbing her face.

"That was mean, Nine."

He smirks briefly and gives the others a nod of acknowledgment as he continues walking towards the scent.

"Nine, where are you going?"

Kurama ignores the murmurs going at his back as he gestures to the girl ahead.

"Maybe we can stay for a while?" she says throwing a glance at the others.

Kurama points his tail upwards.

"Yeah, I know it's late. We should make camp and—"

Growling, he points upwards for a second time until she realizes what he means.

"The rain... The scent is that way then?"

He nods and she turns to the others who stayed silent while watching their interaction.

"I can't stay, sorry. Nine's helping me find my mom and her group and the rain can erase the trail so we need to go."

Tyreese is the one who steps ahead. "You're just going to follow that fox?"

"We're near. That's why we need to find it before it's too late."

"That direction leads to the highway, doesn't it? We were going towards it so we could follow it and find some stores or houses. Maybe we can go together?" says Tyreese, glancing at his group.

"Well, she's just a girl," adds Sasha, looking curiously at him. "It'd be better if we helped each other for now. You said you've already been in the south. We came from the west, so some info about what's going in there would be helpful."

Donna sighs. "It's true, besides winter's close and it can be difficult to be alone in that time. What do you say, Sophia?"

She glances at him and Kurama simply shrugs. He would prefer to be around fewer humans but if Sophia's group is already dead then he can leave her with them and then search for Naruto by himself.

Sophia nods and smiles at them. "Okay then."