Feral (Gabentine Fic)

Javi's Story

I had been keeping the wolf, Gabe, hidden away in my room. He didn't make any indication that he wanted to leave so, I just let him stay with me. Gabe, it felt weird calling him that because it's like a human name, would sleep in my room and wait for me to get back from runs and I fed him scraps from dinner. Kenny and Lee took a little bit longer than a day and came back two days after they were supposed to. Lilly had been worried sick and I was there to assure her that they were probably held up by traffic or something. She got a kick out of that and later that day, they both showed up with a shit ton of supplies.

We had a celebration dinner that night for their return and successful run. The thought of Gabe's dog tag still bothered me so, I asked Lee and Kenny if they knew anyone named Javi Garcia.

"Hey, do you guys know or knew anyone named Javi Garcia?"

Kenny dropped the fork he had been holding and Lee immediately stopped talking to Lilly after my question. They stared intently at me and Kenny swallowed hard before acknowledging me.

"Where did you hear that name?"

I was confused as Kenny answered my question with a question of his own.

"Um, I found a dog in the woods a couple days ago and it had his name on the dog tag."

Lee nodded at my answer and took a deep breath in.

"Yes, we know Javi Garcia. He has a settlement set up about 40 miles from here and he just had his family with him."

The sadness laced in Lee's explanation was not lost on me and I questioned him about it.

"Had?"

Kenny looked at me with a sorrowful expression and sat his plate down before speaking, the rest of us waiting on the edge of our seats to hear the story.

"Me and Lee were on our way back from looking for you one day and we came across a man, a woman, and two kids. They were traveling in a van and trying to find somewhere safe. Javi was the man, Kate was his brothers wife, Gabe was his nephew, and Mariana was his niece. Javi had been taking care of them since his brother ditched them and just trying to keep them alive. We stayed a couple days with them because a storm was blowing in and it was bad. However, one night me and Lee were sleeping inside the van and heard this awful growl and screams. Javi ran out with us in tow and the scene was just fucking awful. Mariana had been ripped apart and Gabe's clothes were there and bloody but, he wasn't. Javi and Kate were devastated and we left the next day and that was all we had heard from them."

A million thoughts were running through my head about Gabe, Javi, the growl, and the attack. Lee cleared his throat and my attention was back on him.

"A couple years later, we found Javi and Kate again with their own community. They seemed better and had more friends with them. Javi offered for us to stay with them because they had a ton of supplies and enough room for us. I had to decline because what if you came back and I wasn't here? So, we declined and Javi said if we ever needed anything that he would help us."

I nodded my head and felt better about the situation. The moon was well in the sky by now and my eyes were beginning to feel heavy. I bid everyone a goodnight and went back to my room. I opened my door and took off my jacket before turning to my bed. The air was a bit nippy and I shuddered a bit and made a beeline for my blankets. I looked over and seen the wolf laying on his bed, looking all warm and cozy with his thick fur, and glared at him.

"Stupid wolf and your stupid thick and warm fur."

He gave a slight snort at my words and looked lazily at me and my shaking form. I turned away from him and curled tighter into a ball, hoping some warmth would find me. I was nearly asleep when I heard the wolf get up and shake before jumping up on my bed. I have a slight shout at the sudden movement and felt the wolf lay beside my body. Heat was rolling off of him in waves and he let out a huff before going back to sleep. I smiled slightly and finally felt warm and let sleep overtake my body.

It was still pitch black outside as I felt Gabe jump and dash from my bed and into the bathroom. Before I could even ask what was happening, my door bursted open and Lilly came in panting.

"Clementine, get your stuff and let's go! A big ass herd is heading our way and our generators for the fence are off! We need to go someplace secure!"

I was up in seconds and throwing shit into my bag. I was ready to go before I heard steps behind me. I turned to see Gabe looking quizzically at me and I patted his head.

"Lilly, what about him? We can't just leave him!"

Lilly groaned at me and huffed before throwing up her arms.

"He can ride in the back of my truck but, he has to keep his head down. I'll cover him with a blanket or tarp."

The wolf nodded upon hearing this and me and Lilly looked at each like "what the fuck?! Did he just nod?!" Before we could question it, Kenny was shouting at us to get a move on and we quickly ran to Lilly's truck, with Gabe sticking to the shadows and staying hidden. Becca, Shel, and Russell had the RV already running and ready to go. Kenny and Lee had everything packed up in their RV and waving at us to follow. Gabe jumped into the back of Lilly's truck and Lilly strapped down a blanket to cover him before we hoped into her truck and off we went. Everyone had CB installed in their vehicle that Kenny had put in himself and Lilly picked it up and called for Lee.

"Lee, where are we going?!"

There was some static along the frequency but, his answer came out clearly.

"We're heading to Javi's community."