Chapter 1

 I can say from personal experience, that watching your potential death hop towards you is more than a little unnerving. When the walker reached the boulder closest to me, I felt sick. I couldn't stop the tremor in my hands.

 Its easy to face a threat in the heat of the moment. But when you have to wait for the danger, you start to wonder if you made the right choice, or what's going to happen if you make a mistake.

 Firming my resolve, I shouted, "Bring it, you smelly bastard!".

 With a growl, it jumped towards me. Squatting down a little, I slap it's hand away, and pushed the walker away with my other hand. I feel only a moment of happiness, before my foot is yanked out from under me. Dropping me to my death.

 For a few moments, I am completely disoriented. I thrash wildly in fear, not knowing how to swim. For only a moment my head surfaces, and I suck in a huge breath.

 I have no idea what's happening as I am being dragged along by the current. The sound of rushing water a constant.

 I don't feel my head hit the rock, just the right side of my head going oddly numb. As things start to fade, I wondered why things had to be this way.

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The Beginning

 The earliest memory i have, is about the time I was attacked by a mutated rabbit monster. It looked kinda cute, until it jumped over and bit my ankle.(Tell anybody about this, and i will deny everything.) I was too young to realize the dangers this forest has, and naively wondered around. I think i remember looking for… something, but i can't remember what it was. I now scowl at the idea of me walking around, shouting and crying. I was basically inviting something to come kill me.

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 It wasn't hard to escape the monstrous beast. No, the trouble came when it’s poison started to attack my body. I think that was a turning point in my life. A moment where the type of person i would be was decided.

 I decided then, that I would be strong. So strong that I would never have to feel pain like that again. After that i hid myself, watching the hunters and their prey. I copied what i saw, over and over again, and i felt myself getting stronger every day.

 It felt so addicting, improving myself so that i could conquer my fears. As i was all alone, this was a good mentality. The drive to be strong was necessary. Without that drive, i would have been killed long ago.

 I didn't have a home, learning fast that if i thought something looked comfortable and safe, odds are something bigger and meaner would also. I followed the river mostly, running from predators, and staying in one place for a few nights if i found easy prey.

 It wasn't a easy life, but it was the only one i had ever known.

 The memories that showed up sometimes, helped massively. Only so much could be learned by observing other animals. Tactics were obvious when you watched a hunter, hunt its prey. But when you lack the teeth, and claws of a beast, its hard to fight as equals.

 The memories fixed that. It made me smarter, it told me how to make myself stronger, faster. How make my eyes, ears, and nose sharper. It told me that I had something inside me that could make me strong.

 And eventually, it did. I no longer felt fear for most of the animals i found. I actually enjoyed hunting prey now. I could run up to most animals and smash them to bits. But i continued to stalk my prey. The challenge was all i had to live for.

 My memories of that time are broken. I didn't think. I acted mostly on instincts.