5k's parents, rest in the pieces the early apocalypse would have left them, had no idea that he would face the world alone. He was at school when the infection hit their city.
His dad was an electrician, checking over wiring in a new development the next town over. It was early days, people knew about zombies but that wasn't here, we still have to work. He heard screaming from the next room and feared the worst, accidents happen all the time, but he had first aide and so his instinct was to try and help.
His mother was a paralegal working in corporate law. She had been conducting research into an older case in her alumni University's law library, headphones firmly in place just like during her student days. She never heard the running, the shouting, the snarling - the warnings.
5k was what the school referred to as a Runner. His parents were late to pick him up (they were never coming), so he and a few other late pickup students were in the fenced playground, supervised by an exhausted ea and a parent volunteer. Neither were brave. Neither were fast. But 5k was fast, and when his classmates were being eatten by the adults who were watching them, he Ran.
How some people can survive extraordinary circumstances and others can't will never make sense. He doesn't really remember the time between. He just remembers running, running, and running until the concrete turned to dirt, until the city turned into forest, until he stopped hearing zombies and started to hear crickets, owls, and distinct caws.
The crows are used to geing fed by the larger humans, are not sure why this small one doesn't treat them. They decide that maybe because he is so small he hasn't been taught.
Crows are smart, and they are social. They teach him.
They Show him the kinds of berries that are safe, scare him away from mushrooms when he curiously tries to bite them. They bring him small lizards until he gets big enough, fast enough, smart enough to catch them himself. He collected water and bugs and worms, pulling his weight and helping his new family.
When Red finds him, he's only had the crows for company for 3 and a half years. He remembers how to talk, distantly, but he doesn't know what a lot of words mean. He also doesn't see why he should have to learn - the crows understand.
He's 11 years young when he dies, trying to save his hero's friends. He's bleeding out, body broken, at the bottom of the cliff, his family circling above him and coming closer, closer as the world grows darker around him.
He doesn't want to turn Z.
He caws to them weakly, asking them to save him one last time.
