How exactly the demons did what they did, how they managed to extract the soul energy from Earth without anyone noticing and which methods they used was not something Danny was aware of. Tutu had not been particularly detailed during their talks when it came to this subject, but the demon did mention that such siphoning of soul power had stopped now that the invaders were here and gearing for war.

Now that Earth had become fair game for both sides, the indirect exploitation of our metaphysical resources had stopped. Mostly because this global drain on soul power could not differentiate friend from foe according to Tutu, and they did not want it to affect their own forces. Therefore, it had to be interrupted.

Regardless of the unknown specifics, Danny took the news in stride. ‘It’s just one other mystery among many others for me to ponder over, I suppose,’ he thought.

The questions were many and the answers limited.

The more he learned from the shadowy demon, the more questions cropped up. Every time he interacted with Tutu, he left their meetings with even more doubts than what he arrived with. For each solution discovered, two new questions arose.

Though curiosity gnawed at him, after some time he simply learned to cope with it and accept reality for what it was. Despite his wants, answers did not come easily or cheaply. Such was the nature of his agreement with the demon.

‘I wonder if this is how scientists at groundbreaking-level research feel like.’

When there are no books or teachers to explain something to you, in order to satisfy your desire for answers and lift the veil of the unknown, there was not much to do other than to try and solve those questions by yourself or to endure your own curiosity.

As he let his thoughts wander, Danny spread a generous portion of honey on top of the roasting bird and added a few extra spices. He could feel his mouth salivating at the tantalizing smells that drifted from the burning firepit. The trails of smoke rose and spread across the abandoned building where Danny was conducting his culinary experiments.

Though lighting a fire inside the confined space of a building was dangerous, he was careful enough to ensure that nothing would go out of control. Besides, the walls and ceiling helped curtail the spread of the smoke and hide his presence somewhat. He doubted that zombies would care to check any smoke signs, but the undead were not the only dangers out there.

Remaining hidden was the best way to ensure safety.

‘It’s almost done.’ He thought with anticipation. A freshly cooked and hearty meal beat surviving on a preserved-foods-based diet every day of the week. It was a luxury that not many could enjoy these days.

His ability to quickly find prey with his heightened senses and swiftly catch and kill it was in great part what allowed him this privilege, but it was not the only factor. His current relationship with Hank’s settlement was also a large contributor to his current comfortable lifestyle.

Danny sighed thinking about the Hank and his camp. ‘… Relationships are complicated.’

Though he could not deny the usefulness of cultivating a long-lasting mutually beneficial rapport with the growing and developing settlement, Danny was out of his comfort zone dealing with them.

The betrayal of Carl and company and his own subsequent disappointment with how things had turned out was still fresh in his mind. He was very much not looking forward to a repeat of that failure, so Danny was reluctant to get too close. He didn’t want to invest himself too much into the matters of the camp.

And yet, things still progressively flowed in that direction, even if at a snail’s pace. It was just natural when both parties had much to gain from one another.

There was simply an inherent quality to sheer numbers that Danny could not hope to replicate.

While he was pretty much superhuman by this point and could delve into the most dangerous locations to find and collect valuable resources, he was still just one person. He could not be at more than one place at once and therefore the scope of what he came in contact with was limited.

On the other hand, Hank’s people were something akin to a locust swarm. They didn’t have Danny’s confidence and ability to tackle bigger challenges, but wherever they passed, they completely stripped the area of anything of value. ‘When in doubt… take it’ basically resumed their attitude regarding scavenging.

That meant that their net of collection was wider though not as efficient.

Even so, the variety of supplies they came up with was way bigger than anything Danny could ever hope to achieve, and many of those items were things that roused his interest. Though maybe not necessarily of strategic or combat value, they had much to offer in terms of luxuries, like mixed food types and condiments for example.

Danny on the other hand had an easy time getting in and out of places of difficult access or relative danger to the common man. That meant that the goods he carried often had a higher value and were things that, frequently, Hank’s camp sorely needed.

Thus, his current comfortable and relatively luxurious lifestyle heights - considering the limitations of those apocalyptic days - were intrinsically related with trading resources with the camp.

Such was their mutually beneficial coexistence.

Now, two weeks after his successful return from the canning factory, Danny had earned himself a well-known reputation around these parts with no effort of his own. As a result of his activities, people started seeing him as some sort of handyman or go-to guy you looked for if you needed anything done outside the settlement’s zone of influence.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Someone got sick and needs a specific medicine that’s out of stock? Talk to Danny, he can hook you up.

Forgot some treasured possession back home during the frantic evacuation and Hank doesn’t want to send his men outside for something so trivial? Danny can fetch it for you.

Needing an item that can only be found in dangerous and highly populated urban areas? Not a problem, Danny can make the trip there and back at the snap of a finger.

The requests he received were of mixed sort. Some were sentimental in nature, while others were pragmatic. Yet, with every successfully completed mission, his reputation as a competent survivor and scout grew.

That wasn’t his intention, at least, it wasn’t what he was looking for when he started taking those odd jobs, but he guessed it could not hurt either. As long as the person making the request could offer him something that made it worth his while, it mattered little where he hunted his zombies for crystals. He might as well make the trip, killing two birds with one stone, right?

His successful venture at the factory and later missions painted a recruitment target on his back however, and Hank would often pester him to join the camp in an official manner. Food, weapons, housing and even women were offered to him at some point or the other, as distasteful the last option might sound. They were not compelled however.

There were no sex slaves or any other form of slavery in the settlement.

Hank was not forcing anyone to do anything against their will… well, not when it came to sex at the very least. After all, one had to recognize that the camp was basically a military dictatorship in the making in all but name.

Anyway, once Danny’s competence was recognized, there were no shortage of people – women and men alike, if he swung that way – that volunteered themselves to warm his metaphorical bed. He could understand why some found this arrangement appealing though.

Given that the world had gone to shit, all the safety nets were off. There were no guarantees anymore. No social security. The future uncertain.

Where should one turn to if they sought to draw some semblance of safety to their pitiful lives? When your next meal and a roof over your head were luxuries that could not to be taken for granted, associating yourself with a higher power or, in this case, an influential and competent survivor started to look like a very attractive option.

Danny had no intention to accept this sort of arrangement however, as he was still keeping his distance. And even if that was not the case, he would have declined such offers anyway.

In any case, no matter what Hank offered him, being incorporated into the camp’s organizational structure was the same as giving up many of his freedoms, not to mention it would make it harder to keep his secrets.

For now, he was content in keeping up the status quo. Acting as an independent agent, an outside hire to solve some of the camp’s problems, was the best he was willing to offer at the moment.

Besides, he wasn’t sure if he would ever want to join the camp officially. There were just too many pros and cons to consider yet. What he did know however, was that getting any closer to them would take time.

Ever since the betrayal of his former friends, it was as if Danny wore a suit of armor around people. He constantly had his guard up and - though he presented a friendly face and despite being entirely polite -, there was no real chance for anyone to truly get to know him.

He was consciously aware of what he was doing even if it wasn’t wholly intentional. He understood that by doing that he was isolating himself. He also knew that his behavior was borderline paranoid and mostly unhelpful.

Seeing and treating everyone as a possible enemy was not a healthy way to live.

Yet, he could not help himself. Every time something like that happened in his life, Danny retreated into his protective shell by default. It was an instinctual reaction that, arguably, was necessary in order to survive years of being constantly tormented by Tutu and let down by his fellow men.

Only a few people that went above and beyond in order to help the young Danny during his growing years prevented him from completely losing faith in humanity.

In any case, even Joff with his charismatic and easy-going personality failed to crack his outer shell, not even during their late-night encounters when Danny was around the area and came to share a couple of drinks with the gatekeeper after his shift and hear some of the tales of the older man younger years.

He always, always, kept his guard up around others… well, maybe with the exception of Lara.

Speaking of which, after his successful clearing of the factory, Danny felt confident enough to speak with Hank regarding Lara’s family issues.

Though he prepared himself to haggle to death with the wily older man, it was incredibly anticlimactic, really. Hank didn’t even blink before agreeing to Danny’s request and allowing the small family to reclaim their car and return to where they came from.

Lara’s uncle was released from his confinement soon after and after a short but touching reunion with his wife, brother and son, Danny escorted the family of four back to the farm where Lara was waiting for their return.

Apparently, Danny’s incredible contribution to solving the camp’s food crisis gave Hank a strong enough excuse to return the car to the family while at the same time suppressing any voices of discontent that claimed for their cars to also be returned to them.

“Oh, you don’t wish to contribute your vehicle to the functioning and well-being of the camp anymore? Very well, I guess you can go outside and scavenge your own rations then?”

“What? you don’t want to that? Well, alternatively you can have your car back and keep your supplies allotment if you manage to make a significant enough contribution to the camp, let’s say… clearing an entire building of zombies by yourself and securing the supplies therein sounds fair. How about that?”

“Oh, you don’t need your car back anymore? Okay then. Up to you.”

Like that, Hank managed to keep a tight grip on the situation while at the same time doing Danny a favor and pulling him closer to his side. It was a win-win situation for the shrewd commander as a single car did not make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

The camp also managed to take control of a local gas station shortly after his stint at the factory, so there was no problem in giving a little bit of fuel away for the family to make the trip.

In any case, those things belonged to Lara’s uncle to begin with and, theoretically, they were just being returned.

Hank did not meet with the departing family neither before or after returning their vehicle. He did not apologize to them as well. Danny was sure that the commander felt justified in his actions even if it left some bad taste in the older man’s mouth. What were the needs of four people when compared to the safety and stability of the whole camp?

He didn’t explain himself to Danny and, honestly, there was no need to. As a neutral party, Danny could understand both sides. He wouldn’t judge anyone for their past decisions. It was a fucked-up situation to be in and these were fucked-up times.

On their part, Lara’s family members were just glad it was all over and did not waste time to make themselves scarce.

Nathaniel in particular spent the whole journey back in the car between thanking Danny profusely and asking how Lara holding up when he last saw her – regardless of how many times he had already told the old farmer that she was fine.

Not long after, they completed their journey back to Nathaniel’s house.