The scared woman took the apple from his hand and inspected it for anything remotely poisonous. In these times it was a smart thing to do but to Darren’s eyes, it was rather pointless. If he really wanted to kill her he would have down the moment he set his eyes upon her. She took a large bite out of the apple and started ravaging it around her mouth. It was as if she had never eaten an apple in her life. There was one thing Darren noticed about her was that she talks a lot. So many questions came shooting out of her mouth. He wanders if she was some sort of journalist before all this. However oddly, Darren didn’t seem too bothered by this. It was almost welcome out here. Not many people, including himself, have much to say to each other. It’s almost as if not much has gotten her down. 

Darren then proceeded to answer her many questions. “I found it on a tree. They’re not exactly long gone. Civilization has fucked off but Mother Nature has decided to stick around,” he then holsters his fireaxe onto his back. He wouldn’t be needing it for the moment as this girl doesn’t seem to pose any threat. “Of course it’s safe to eat. If I wanted to fucking kill you, I would have dug my axe into your skull.” The girl then started to try to offer some sort of compensation in returned but all Darren could focus on was her eating with her mouth full and dripping everywhere like a damn five year old. It started to annoy him.

“For fuck sake, stop dribbling everywhere, you’re not a goddamn baby!” As he takes his small cloth off of his satchel belt, he starts to wipe the pieces of crumbs like as if she was a small child and he was her father. Suddenly in that one small moment he nostalgically saw himself as a father again. His paternal memories that he had kept so hard to lockdown in his mind was slightly opened a little to let a memory out. He see’s himself feeding his little girl Sophie many years ago. It was a happy memory feeding her; it was one of those few minuscule moments where he felt like a father. He then rushed back to reality and stepped back a little, stopping wiping the girl’s chin altogether. He’s never been paternal since the whole thing began. He couldn’t believe that he had witnessed something that he had long forgotten. An expression of disbelief and shock came to his face. Paternal instinct was extinct to him and yet it had shown it’s hidden face for a small moment. It was unbelievable to Darren. 

“Umm…Sorry about that…I’m sure you can wipe your face yourself,” nervously replied Darren. He then shakes his head to bring himself back to his senses and speak normally back to the girl. “No, you can keep your stuff. I’ve already got some supplies.” He then picks his back pack up from the ground and closes. He proceeded to place it on his back. “I wasn’t running away, I was running too a gunshot that came from right over those trees.” He then continued to point towards some trees in the near distance. “It’s not that far and I’m away to check it out.” He then starts walking slowly towards the direction but he then stops and turns around. “You’re welcome to come along.” This was an odd action by Darren. Usually he would never bring anyone with him on his journeys but something about this girl doesn’t make him want to isolate her. He almost wants to thank her strangely. For the first time in a long time, he feels almost…Paternal.