The sun was beginning to set as Eugene's companions circled around the dwindling fire, the wood crackling as the breeze ruffled the leaves in the trees. He hadn't felt this many eyes on him since coming out of the dungeon, it made his stomach queasy and made him feel a bit awkward. They were the first group of people he had encountered in a long time, and his mind craved for the interaction, yet his body shrank at first meetings. 

After a minute of odd silence, Eugene coughs awkwardly before starting the introductions,

"Guys, this here is my buddy Venge he saved my ass while I was out hunting them zippers. His appearance is a bit, inadequate but I assure you all he means well." Patting me on the shoulder Eugene lets out a hearty laugh, before plunking down on the ground, his ass seemed like it would leave an imprint in the earth as it vibrated under his bum.

Eugene seemed to do most of the talking as he told the exaggerated story of what happened over the fire, sitting next to him I stared at the flames waiting for the meat to finish roasting as the smoky hunk of beef aroma began to flutter around the area. Glancing upward up another man plops down beside him, he couldn't have been older than 27. 

"Venge is it, I'm Bryce it's nice to see you and big ol, Eugene here made it back okay. Thank's for saving his skin if you have his trust, you have mine." He smirked before nudging me and pointing with his eyes at the rest of the group that circled the fire, some of them listening to Eugene's story while others were closer to the hut carving up the second Rattler. 

" You see that guy over there with the red hair and beady eyes carving up the zipper, that's Lars he was here before I arrived, a little hot-headed but not a bad guy. The skinny guy next to him is his younger brother Lance, doesn't have much for brains and follows his brother around everywhere. His tall stature doesn't go well with his ability, he'd lose a slap fight with 6 arms."

"The woman laughing at all of Eugene's storytelling that's Bethany, but she'll insist you call her Beth. Don't let her blonde hair and bubbly smile fool you, let's just say hunting zippers alone wasn't Eugene's idea of a peaceful stroll in the woods. The asian fiddling with the bow next to Beth that's Takashi, trying to understand what he's saying will drive you mad, personally, I keep our conversations short and sweet."

"The dark skinned fellow with no hair is Trace, not even sure that's his real name but it fit's, under his clothes he has dozens of tattoos but he's undoubtedly the friendliest guy here besides Eugene. The other two huddled together are Francis and Sara, husband and wife. They tend to keep to themselves unless food or waters involved not that I blame them."

After going through the list Shin had a hard time remembering the loads of information Bryce had dumped on him, they all seemed pretty settled and at ease in such a dangerous world, it baffled him. They knew about the strange creatures yet they have no defenses besides a couple of bows, which were in sad condition.

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"So Venge where exactly did you come from?" surprised by the question he turns to Beth, her golden hair whisking in the breeze as she stared at him, she was pretty without a doubt, but it was in her eyes. The same eyes a predator wore when playing with a weaker prey, and Shin nearly flinched as he looked into those eyes.

Telling them what had happened would only make their suspicions of him deepen, so he left out the part of him dying and escaping from the abyss to himself. Muttering in a low tone he tells them his half-baked story, "There's a pond a few hours from here, I woke up there after the meteors destroyed the area, I  tried to return to my town before I got lost in the woods"

Narrowing her eyes she scans his face, looking for a tell or sign, a crack in his story, they hadn't seen a person in the woods for weeks and now a stranger who looked like he went through a fist fight with zippers walks into their camp. She didn't believe a word he said, although Eugene claims this man had saved his life. 

"That doesn't explain why you look like shit, and you reek, have you been rolling around in fish?" Proclaiming loudly Lars struts over to the fire with more meat, his brother in tow behind him."I can smell that shit from all the way over here, you didn't think to wash your ass in that pond before going on a suicide adventure in the forest?"

Everyone looks at me before they start to chuckle, Bryce leans over to me tears forming in his eyes muttering, "You do kinda stink man, rolling around in some dirt wouldn't hurt."

The tension seemed to loosen after that, laughter filled the small campfire as they told stories of the meteors that fell and how they had survived, the only ones silent being Lance, Takashi and the married couple Francis and Sara. The married couple too busy eating to care what was being said and Lance by Shin's assumption too slow to keep up with the conversation. Takashi he was sure didn't understand a word that was being said, he just continued to fix the bow Eugene had destroyed, saying something every now and then in a different language letting us all know he was still there.

Finishing the last of the food, they all seemed to relax the tension from earlier a distant memory to some. Shin had been talking to Bryce nearly the whole time, just small talk and jokes.

"So why exactly do you guys call them zippers, I mean I know their fast but you couldn't think of a better name?" Shin says snickering to himself.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea to call them Zippers" Bryce retorts in defense. " You should be talking to Eugene over there, the big oaf."

Glancing at us with a wide grin Eugene throws up his middle finger before barking, "Well what else was I suppose to call them, they're fast as lightening. It ain't like they have a name, and I never saw one before the wipe happened."

Turning towards Bryce a little confused, "What do you mean they don't have a name, aren't they called Rattlers?"

Looking at him amused, Bryce throws his arm around Shin's shoulder. "What do you mean Rattlers? Why on earth would you call them that, they don't rattle Venge they zip."

"Well that's the name that's floating over they're head am I right, why wouldn't you just call them that?"

The conversations around the fire stopped abruptly, the only thing that could be heard was Takashi scrapping the wood of the bow with a tiny pocket knife.

Looking around everyone seemed to stare at him, not of suspicion, the look was anticipation. It confused him, turning to Bryce, who now stared at him wide eyed he asked, "Is there a problem, Bryce?"

"Venge how is it that you can see their names? When the rest of us only see numbers?"