The Old Zoo

Bear slunk by the old, rusting cages that once held many exotic beasts, head lowered to the ground as he searched for a scent trail to follow. There were many old smells from when animals inhabited the old zoo, the smells making his mouth water and his empty stomach growl, no matter how faint they were. He could go and take his chances downtown to find the food he desperately needed, but the task seemed daunting when he thought of all the infected swarming the area. One bite and he could be another blood craving beast, if, that is, they didn't kill him first. The old zoo came with it's own dangers, but it did not have nearly as many infected as downtown did, so he thought he could take the chances. His stomach rumbled loudly as his nose caught the mouthwatering scent of something fresh and alive. Prey. He thought following it at a swifter pace, only to stop when the boardwalk he was trotting upon gave way and he tumbled to the ground, the air whooshing out of him audibly as he hit the ground hard. "Ow..." He mumbled, dazed.

Sadie woke up, rubbing her eyes on her paw to get the gunk out. She felt stiff as she always does in the morning, so she slowly got to her paws and stretched. Her breath tasted horrible, but she wanted to be fully awake when she exited her little hidey hole. She had been taking shelter here for a couple of months, so far nothing had disturbed her. Shaking out her thick pelt she finally exited the shelter, lapping at a puddle a couple of feet out. Her food stash was getting low and she knew if she didn't go hunting now she would run out. Small game wasn't exactly her specialty, her breed was made, after all, to track elk, moose, and the occasional bear, but she had been managing to get by on it for some time. While out looking for a trail to follow she came by a pawprint. She was normally not the one to follow strange pawprints, but she wanted to protect her territory as much a possible, and decided that now would be the time to find out if this canine was friend or foe. The trail led her to a hole in the boardwalk, she made sure to keep her distance from the edge as she looked down. What she saw was a rather peculiar sight. There was a male laying among splinters of wood. Any other dog would have probably just left the male there, but no, not Sadie. She ran off the boardwalk and straight down to the male. She approached him cautiously, as she knew there was a possibility he was infected.

Bear lay there in pain, body aching. He knew he should get up, or at least drag himself to cover, but he was finding it hard to find the will to move. Had he hit his head when he fell? He couldn't quite remember, and he wasn't sure, but everything seemed kind of fuzzy. He snorted at the thought. The world he lived in was most definitely not a fuzzy place. It was a world of sharp edges and creatures. He tensed up as he noticed a dog approaching him, and panic fluttered inside his chest. He tried to rise quickly, but the world shifted and tilted and he found himself back on the ground, the beginnings of a headaches forming in his temple. Oh yes, he must definitely have had hit his head when he fell. Bear curled himself up into a ball so that his belly and neck were protected. The dog wasn't being hostile right now, but he wasn't taking chances, and if the dog did decide to attack, he was in no state to run, no less fight.

"I d-don't want no fight."

He stammered, trying hard to hide the fear he felt. Fear was a dangerous thing. It could be used against you so easily.

Sadie watched the dog as it tried to get to it's feet, but it had seemed to be in vain as it fell back to the earth. It was very plain by that point that the male was injured, she took a couple steps closer. It was now in a little ball. "I d-don't want no fight." he was obviously afraid. Sadie laid her ears back and slunk low over to the male, "You have no reason to fear me... I'm here to help." her voice was soft, and smooth to the point that it was on the edge of cooing. Sadie was not unfamiliar with healing, and though she was low, had plenty of food to share for one night and plenty of room to shelter the injured wolf. How she was going to get him to the shelter she had no idea, but she was going to try if he let her.

Bear tried to shrink back as the dog approached, female, he could tell now from her scent. He was on edge, and the overly fluffy female getting into his space was most certainly not helping that matter. The fact that the dog was apparently here to help didn't help much in there case. Many canines had told him they were there to help, all kind smiles and open hearts. And then they used him for there own twisted purposes. Turned on him when he least expected it. He didn't trust the offer one bit. It felt like everything in his head was being tumbled about and he shut his eyes tightly as the world started to swirl. Perhaps it might be best to let the dog try to help him. If an infected came at him in this state, he would surely be a goner. Dead or infected, and neither sounded rather appealing to him. An able bodied canine, whether their intentions good or not, that was able to fight, sounded better than being left defenseless.

"Help right now is needed, but the question is, what is the sort of help you intend to offer."

He questioned, still considering what he should do.

"I have food and shelter not too far from here." She said, tail wagging slightly as she sniffed at the male. He didn't look like he had anything other than minor cuts and bruises,but that wouldn't have stopped him from getting up. "What hurts?" she asked, cocking her head a little and looking to the sky to see how much time in the day was left. She appeared to have slept late as it was a little past noon. She knew that this dog didn't trust her from the vibe that he was giving off, definitely not relaxed. This lowered her spirits a little, but she tried to stay as positive as she could. Negativity wouldn't be of any help in this situation.

Bear refrained from grimacing when she asked him what exactly hurt. It was a question that he found rather difficult to answer, for his whole body seemed to ache horribly. Mainly the right side of his body hurt the most, the side he fell on. His head hurt the most, however, a horrible throbbing like a woodpecker pecking a rythem on the inside of his head.

"Well, my whole body hurts. I fell from up there. But my head. It's absolutely throbbing." He groaned. "I believe I hit it when I fell."

It was hard to keep tense when all it did was increase the throbbing going on inside his head. He allowed himself to relax his muscles. Perhaps if the wolf attacked it would be better than the throbbing going on in his head right now.

Goldenrod Dock Comfrey Thyme Poppy seeds
Sadie grimaced a little, the wolf could have a concussion. Actually most likely had a concussion. She looked around at the surrounding area, lots of vegetation. This was good. "I'll be right back, if something's wrong just call." she trotted over to the edges of the greenness and began sniffing around. She grabbed dock, comfrey, thyme, goldenrod, and poppyseeds. Comfrey for any broken bones or bruises. Dock and goldenrod for any scratches, splinters, and scrapes. Thyme for anxiety and nervousness. And poppy seeds for later if the pain kept him from sleep. She gathered all of this into a folded leaf and ran back to the male, she had enough herbs at the shelter to help him, but that was if she could get him to the shelter. "Do you think you can stand? It's not too far from here and I'll help you walk if you need it."

Bear let himself lay on his flank, unable to keep himself into his little ball of protection, feeling pathetically weak. He just grumbled as the dog informed him that she would be back shortly. Everything just seemed to keep twirling and becoming unfocused, the world blurry. This reminded him of when he was a pup, just a small little thing. A time when he thought everyone was good and there to help. He would spin in circles to chase his tail. Eventually he would fall down, the whole world spinning around him. Of course, most times he would become sick and lose whatever he had in his stomach at the time, but he still thought it was rather fun at the time. Bear forced himself to be apart of the present as the female came back. His ears perked up as she asked him if he could stand.

“I suppose I can, but it is rather hard. The world keeps spinning. But I can stand with help.”

He replied, not really a fan of the idea of having to rely on somebody, but if it meant survival, he would do it. He sighed and rolled over so that he was laying on his stomach. From there he dragged himself up so that he was sitting, but he leaned heavily on his front paws, spread wide for balance. The world around looked as if it was getting sucked into a whirlpool. Yeah, this was going to be fun.

Sadie nodded and watched as her new friend pulled himself to his feet then trotted to his side. She was on the side he had been laying on, as she assumed that was the side he had landed on. She wasn't exactly a big dog, she would probably only get a little over 22 inches, but she was a stout dog and could easily support the male. "There's a path to the right, it should lead up and out of here. After that it's only about a five minute walk."
(Sorry it's short, just wanted to give you something to reply to until I got back)

Bear’s brown eyes tracked the female's movements as she walked over and stood at his side. He took a deep breath and fully stood up, almost falling back down as dizziness overwhelmed him, but he shifted his weight so that he was leaning against the female. He nodded at the female's directions, and started forward in what he believed was the general direction. As he followed the path up, he realized a bit amusedly that he didn't know her name and he didn't think he ever told her his.

"I just realized no proper introduction was done. I'm Bear. You are?"

He asked.

Sadie walked happily beside the male, making sure to stay at his pace at watch where she stepped. It wasn't until Bear mentioned it that she had thought anything about names. "Oh, how rude of me! My name's Sadie. What brought you here? I don't get many visitors." It was true, not many canines ventured through these parts as of late, most are scared of by stories of the animals that were here; convinced that they still lurked in the thick foliage. Sadie never thought about these stories, but the fear was always there, nagging deep in the mind. It helped keep her on her toes, for this she was thankful.

Bear chuckled lightly as the dog, whom he learned was named Sadie, at the mention of not having many visitors. Who wanted visitors in a world like this? Most canines would like others to stay away, well, at least he would like others to stay away. Most times they were nothing but trouble. Right now his company seemed kind hearted, but no one ever knows ones intentions. Still, he couldn't ignore the fact that help, whatever reason it was being given, was in fact being given at the moment, and he was rather thankful no matter his feelings towards strangers. He opened his jaws to reply to the question that she had asked earlier.

"I was looking for food. There is more downtown, but infected swarm the place like flies. Too risky for me. I prefer to be alive and uninfected, even if it means not getting a lot to eat."

Bear intoned, looking around at his surroundings. At least everything had stopped spinning as much. His nose twitched as he caught the slight scent of food and herbs, mingled with Sadie's scent.

"Is that your den?"

He questioned, tilting his head to the side in curiosity, a grimace masking his face as he realized how painful the movement was.

Head lowered, and and tail flattened, he slinks in the undergrowth of the bushes. His paws smoothly, and gracefully across the ground. The terrain seemed to be covered in mostly grass, with some missing patches of sand here and there. It was quite interesting, though the various wooden structures and bridges peaked his interest as he approached. Humans were quite complex enough to build things like these. But too bad they were wiped out because of their foolish curiosity.

Earlier, he caught the smell of some other dogs nearby. Razor wasn't quite sure if they were infected or not, and heck, they could even be immune to the disease. He'd seen certain examples of ones being infected. Those memorizes he usually wanted to get rid of, for it haunted him for months, but at other times, he was glad to have experience with it. Shaking his head slightly, he picks up his pace, paws skillfully leading the way. Razor raises his head, his bi-colored eyes scanning the tops of the wooden buildings. He needed to somehow get on the board walk. He supposed that there was going to be some sort of stairway leading to it, but who knows, this possible stairway could be broken.

(Glad to have you back, Razor! I'll move your bio out of the archives.)
Sadie nodded in understanding, she had only traveled through downtown once and had no intention of doing so again. That was where she had found out that she was immune. She cringed at the memory, she had spent days sitting there, waiting for the sickness to take over. It had been a very depressing time that she had repressed so much that it was almost forgotten. She shoved the memory away as she always did and simply spouted out a comforting sentence around her current leaf-fold of herbs, "Well, lucky for you I have enough prey for both of us to have a decent meal for tonight." they kept walking for a while, Sadie, of course, continued to help support him as they journeyed. "Is that your den?" She had almost forgotten what she was doing by the time this question popped up. She looked around and her tail wagged slightly as she spotted her near hidden entrance just beside the puddle she had taken a drink out of earlier. "Yes, I do believe it is. It's just a little further right beside that little puddle. The entrance is a little small, but once you get inside it's rather nice." She took a cautious step away from the male, ready to catch him if he fell, in order to allow him to go through the hole first.

Bear nodded at Sadie's words, stomach growling at the mere mention of food. That would just be wonderful, to actually be able to fill his stomach that always seemed to be so perpetually empty.

"That's good. Thanks."

He manged to say somewhat awkwardly, not sure how to express the gratitude he felt properly. Taking someone in was one thing, but sharing food in a world where it was scarce, was a whole other thing entirely. Bear sighed in relief when Sadie confirmed that they had really reached her den. He would be glad to be able to lay down again and close his eyes. His muscles tensed as she moved away, and he had to shift his stance so he wouldn't fall over, but he managed to stay standing on his paws. He moved his way to the entrance, slowly, swaying slightly. His paw splashed in the edge of the puddle as he passed, and with a lurch he made it to the entrance, where he used the walls around to crawl through. It was indeed quite nice on the inside. Bear flopped onto his side, groaning. He hoped that this all cleared up soon, or living would be one hell of a challenge.

(OOC; So sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life just got crazy.)

(That's okay, life tends to do that sometimes)
Sadie took a step closer as Bear shifted and swayed, waiting to catch him. Thankfully she didn't need to and he easily made it through the entrance. Now it was her turn, she lowered herself to the dirt and shifted her way through, once her front paws were through the rest was a breeze. She pulled herself through and emerged into her familiar den. After she had shaken the dirt from her pelt she walked over to the hole where she buried her food. She scratched off the earth and picked out a rabbit for her friend. She then moved some heather from her own bed over to Bear so he had somewhere to rest his head and set the rabbit beside him. She peered at his eyes, one pupil hadn't changed since he entered. He definitely had a concussion; he wouldn't be sleeping for a few hours. She was happy that he had lay down on his uninjured side, now she could fully inspect the side he had landed on. "Does it hurt when you breath?" she asked. A fractured rib was definitely possible in a situation such as this, but it wasn't definite.

He approaches the stairway, his bi-colored eyes widening slightly with curiosity. The husky leapt on one stair after another. The wooden steps creaked under his weight. He made a quick note to himself told himself that the structure was probably old. Razor nodded to himself. He had to be careful.

As Razor reaches to the top, the scent of rabbit stings his nose. A small growl escapes from his maw. He refused to go hunting at this hour. He didn't want to gamble his chances of encountering with with a infected canine in the dark. The husky shakes his head, and continues making his way across the bridges. The scent of other canines drew closer, mingling with the rabbit's scent. The sight of the two dogs he saw earlier came into view. Paws halt suddenly. The canines seem to be resting... From there it seemed that they were resting or something. Both entities weren't moving. That or that they were both dead. Either of the two, he supposed he could take a visit, and have some scraps of meat if they had any.

Approaching the two, he glances briefly at the prey. Razor was careful not to enter their little home, or not to send any hostile gestures. "Do you have any food, by chance?" he asks in a mysterious manner. He gave his attention to the female. "Would be risky to be hunting now."

Bear's mouth watered and his stomach growled loudly as the scent of rabbit filled the den and he eyed it as Sadie brought it over. As soon as it touched the den floor he snapped at it and pulled it closer, munching on it, savoring the food. It tasted delicious. He stopped in his chewing when he was asked a question, though somewhat reluctantly.

"Yeah, it hurts when I do anything."

He mumbled, going back to gnawing on the rabbit. It would probably be respectful to say thank you, but showing gratitude was not his strong point. Bear's eyes moved to the entrance as a male approached the den. A rough growl rumbled through his chest when the male's eyes moved to the rabbit he had. The male wasn't showing hostility, but Bear would sure be hostile if the male made a grab for his food.

If didn't seem to be that way however, and he was soon sitting quietly again eating his rabbit. Sadie could deal with him.

Sadie nodded and went to grab some herbs, if it was the rib she couldn't do much but give him something that would relieve the pain until it healed on its own, and that could take a month. She seriously doubted she could keep him here that long. She brought him some devil claw roots, sitting them beside him, it took her a moment to notice a growl. She followed Bear's gaze to the entrance and saw the newcomer. He had very odd eyes, but very pretty eyes nonetheless. Her head tilted to the side as he spoke. She supposed that she had some to spare, but that'd be the last of it. She'd need to go hunting in the morning, no doubt about it. Nodding, she spoke, "Sure, let me grab you something." Quickly trotting back to the corner, Sadie grabbed a squirrel and a small pocket gopher. Things easy to carry, that is of course if the male was planning on heading out. She wouldn't offer shelter, and if he asked it would be entirely up to Bear, she wouldn't want to stress him out by having a stranger in the den. After making her way across the den she set the prey in front of the stranger, then took a couple steps back. She would explain what the root was and what was wrong to Bear after the current situation came to an end.

He was greeted with hostility from the male, in which he only responded with a smirk plastered on his face. The husky glances in the female's direction, who set some prey before him. Razor simply assumed that it was his charms, wit, and a canine's kind of heart that allowed him to get the things he wanted. (But we all know that he lacked the charm part, which was all in up in his head.) Salvia dripping off his maw, he lowers his head, and snaps up both the squirrel and the gopher.

He could taste the flesh already. Razor didn't plan on settling in this certain section of the territory. So, as he whirls around, he quickly said, "Many thanks." With that, he leaves the area near the den, deciding to settle somewhere on the bridges where the vegetation grew thick.

Razor eventually finds a place where he can have his snack. It wasn't much of a den, though some sort of branches of leaves or ivy covered the bridge. Shrugging, he stepped inside, and immediately began tearing the meat.

[Skip]
Sadie stuck her head out the entrance, making sure that the canine really did run off. She watched until he was out of site then returned to Bear. "If you chew the root it should help relieve the pain."
(Sorry for the short post, Thanksgiving)