Chapter 19: Getting back.

Whilst trembling Theo backed away, blood dripping out of his wounds and soaking the earth.

Johan carefully drew closer. "Theo, calm down. If you can think rationally again, we don't have to kill you. Alright? No one but us will know. It's fine."

Theo shivered but did not say anything.

"Theo, respond so that we know you understood me. Can you calm down?"

Vaguely realising that their people were prepared to attack him again he finally managed to collect his thoughts together. "I-I guess so."

Johan smiled and patted Theo on his shoulder. "Good. Then we can quickly catch something and go back."

These words granted Johan a few angry glances from the survivors. Their friends had just died and this man was just about to let the monster responsible get away with it.

Johan noticed this and just warmly smiled. "I'm sure you two are also relieved that our most valuable asset survived. Did you see how he handled that bear? And how he managed to break free even after all three of us tried to stop him? It would be a shame if anyone were to try and spread rumours about this creature. I'm sure that you must understand that I would use any needs necessary to prevent this."

The two men stood silent, and Johan happily clapped his hands. "Alright then let's go on. we can't come back empty handed. Theo, do you perhaps know of any creatures nearby."

"Yes. I can go get it on my own. You can take a rest."

Right when Theo turned around Johan stopped him. "You wanted a bow, right? You asked for one back when we fought."

Theo flinched when he thought back to the fight. "No. there is no need. I just need to get my mind of off things."

"Hold on!" the archer jelled. "He was wounded and in direct contact with the bear. He could be infected. And if we eat food that he caught we might get infected as well."

"All the more reason for him to go." Johan replied. "If he really is infected than he will be easier to deal with if he is tired and we were able to take a rest. We will just wait with the food until we are certain that he is clear."

Theo nodded and walked into the forest.

It didn't take long for him to find and kill a young deer and a small rabbit. After he quickly ate the rabbit, he grabbed the deer by its antlers and dragged with him back to the survivors.

Once back he threw the deer at their feet and almost collapsed against a tree. Though his wounds had stopped bleeding by now, he had lost quite a lot of blood and every movement hurt.

"Will this be enough?" he asked as he looked up at the three humans.

Johan nodded. "Though it won't be enough to hold out for two days. At least we now have something to come back with."

Johan lifted his gaze from the deer to Theo. "But more importantly. How are you doing? Have you noticed any hallucinations or lack of vision?"

"No, just a little lightheaded." He responded as he pushed himself up against the tree.

"Good. Though we can only be certain after twenty-four hours, most early symptoms of infection would have shown by now."

Johan paused for a moment and looked up at the sky. "We should go back soon. It won't be of any help if we try to find our way in the dark."

Using his tail for balance Theo walked into the direction that they had come from. This time he was even more wary of his surroundings. Not only because of the zombies that lurked between the trees in the distance. but also because of the humans behind him that might wanted to kill him after what happened.

After a while the sun begun to set, and the entire forest was illuminated by a golden light. Johan had started to walk next to Theo. He was slightly annoyed by this but did not dare to speak up, nor had the desire to put any effort into doing anything, including distancing himself from this man.

After a while he decided to break the silence. Not because he wanted to talk to Johan, but because he had promised Tim that he would.

"Your kid was crying last night."

Johan who had been walking in silence for a few hours now suddenly snapped out of his train of thought by the sudden words of Theo.

"Oh really? I guess that I must have slept through it, I never noticed anything."

"Yea, because I was there to comfort him. Which should be your job! He thinks that he can't even bother you with it."

Johan did not respond and kept on walking.

"By the way. Who is taking care of him now? Everyone that went outside has to be isolated for twenty-four hours. If you're going outside more often that kid will be spending a lot of time on his own."

"Don't worry. He will be taken care of. There are a few trustworthy people that watch over him."

Theo bit his lip. He wanted to complain more about this man leaving his kid on his own, but what choice did he have? The mother was lost somewhere outside, and the people needed food. Furthermore, who would follow a leader who was not willing to risk his life for them, and instead sent others out to do the dangerous work?

Maybe it was not so bad after all that someone else cared for the child.

Finally, they reached the gate again. Yet they were all anxious about what might be inside this time.

Large pawprints had gathered before the gate and it seemed that whatever it was had been let inside.

Slightly hesitant Johan knocked on the gate. And to their surprise someone opened it like usual. It was Lourens, the man that had let Theo in, in the first place. He seemed unharmed much like everyone else that they could see at a glance.

But the normal scenery was greatly overshadowed by the woman riding on a gigantic cat like creature. Everyone could immediately tell that this was one of the mutants from the ruins.

"Hello there Johan." The woman spoke in a cheerful yet threatening tone. "I see that you managed to finally find a mutant on your own! Why don't we have a nice talk and catch up on everything?"