Things had been going well for Trissa and her strange pet Sperry. Establishing that he could eat sheep, things were back to how they started for Trissa. Well, things were back to a little after when things had started; r.i.p. her old friend. In the meantime, Sperry had taken to learning more tricks from her like roll over and leave it. Those were actually very quick and fast to learn to her surprise. Then soon after, the animal started learning more complex ones soon after. Now she could tell it to close the door for her, or even grab certain items like fire-wood. It was incredible seeing the creature walk off, and come back with a long log in its long mouth. Some commands would take a few tries, but it was almost like it was able to decipher parts of the human language. Sometimes reacting to seemingly random statements she’d tell herself. Like the time she asked herself what the biggest thing this creature could eat was? Seeing the creature look at her after, told her it knew she was at least talking about it. These creatures were really smart, Trissa thought to herself.
        That wasn’t the only thing changing. With the tarp around it, she noticed Sperry would be able to follow her out on brighter and brighter days. Not when the sun was fully out still, that was a complete no go even with the tarp. But days of lesser clouds, and even ones where the sun would barely peak for just a moment, she found he was able to hold his own. This allowed him to come along on more walks and journeys with her. 
She also started to pick up a little on his personality. If she grabbed a big enough log and threw it far enough, the creature would leap its long legs out after the stick, before bringing it back in a game of fetch. This became a bit awkward one time however, when he came back with a full femur bone in his mouth. Trissa hadn’t realized it at the time, but she threw the stick over to where Sperry ‘unceremoniously’ dropped what remained of Maria.
        Speaking of Maria, this motivated Trissa to finally hold a makeshift funeral for her old friend. Most of Maria’s bones were taken away by either nature or other cridders at this point. Yet still, she buried what remained, and even made a makeshift headstone with a larger rock. Burying the femur and what else remained in front of the stone, she took a step back and took in the sight. A few words about their time together were said, and a moment of silence followed. It was calm, it felt right. Yet, she couldn’t escape the awkwardness of it all. The awkwardness that the same animal that ate Maria, now stood besides Trissa. Coupling this with the irony that Trissa was now friends with said predator made her not feel too inclined to stay long. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches I guess.
Lastly, things were much much better for Trissa now after a pretty eventful night about a month ago. Ever since the long animal had first been in her home, she noticed she didn’t hear any of the monsters outside her cabin anymore. Previously, fairly frequently, her and Maria would hear banging on the door, walls, or whatever in the middle of the night when everything was barricaded. But ever since one of those very things got into her house, she hadn’t heard a peep from any others. She didn’t know if it was because they smelled this one or what the reason could be, but they never seemed to bother her. Pretty nice to not need to worry about that she thought. And then one eventful night came, really calming her emotions. 
Like when Sperry first ate one of the sheep, he still didn’t like to move much after feeding. Trissa also got a feeling that he didn’t seem to really be fond of sheep too much, but hey beggars can’t be choosers. Sometimes after eating a medium sized sheep, she could get him up and moving with his heavily sagging stomach below him. Other times, especially when he ate too late in the day, he was as stubborn as a bull. Not liking it, but with no other choice, Trissa would have to resort to hiding underneath the tarp, and wait until sunrise. It wasn’t comfortable, but again, beggars can’t be choosers. Plus, she had gotten used to it after doing it a couple of times. A bit too used to it she quickly realized, when she woke up one night with her head and feet sticking outside opposite ends of the tarp. 
Must have tossed and turned in my sleep, she groggily thought. With caution, she went to duck her limbs back underneath and hidden from the outside world. But before fully committing however, she decided to look at her surroundings to make sure the coast was clear. Even knowing the outcome of things now, what she saw still haunts her.
Looking left in the distance she saw dark empty forests. Trees and the sky seemed to blend into one another in a cloudy gray. Normal there, she thought. Then turning her head smoothly to her right side, she instantly saw it. Standing in the distance next to the second tree out, she saw one of the creatures. Lurking, roughly 30 feet in the distance, it stood with its head hunched below and in front of its shoulders, perfectly still. It was almost as if nothing in the world existed, except her lying form directly in front of it. Her heart sank as she looked at the form, its fake face, and black real eyes below, looking directly at her. 
Slowly she slid closer to her companion for safety. Scared and unsure what to do, she put her head next to where its shoulders would be, and shook the animal with her right hand. It took a lot of her strength to shake the full and heavy creature at her side, but panicked she was able to do it. A few rocks later and her pet's head shifted as it eventually woke up. Turning its long head around, it looks at her in tired confusion. Her eyes made eye contact with it, before then looking and the other creature out in the distance. Terrifyingly she whispered out, “look.” Then slowly her friend turns its long neck back around, and in the direction of its other kind.
While yes, Trissa had been around this one next to her for a couple of months at this point, she still was no moron. However oddly fortunate she was, she understood that this one was the exception. If she was ever faced out in the open with another one of these things, she’d likely be petting it from the inside. They were still predators to humans, her species. She didn’t want the same fate as Maria. 
When her companion Sperry looked at the other one she wondered deeply what it would do. Would he attack? Would he do nothing? Would the other one bully him? Would the other one be ok with this? What? Thoughts raced through her mind as she watched the back of her pet predator's head hovering in the air. While she couldn’t see its face, she could tell it held the same calm expression it usually had. It was thinking, most likely. The other one in the distance looked back at Sperry, with still darkness in its eye. It seemed to exhale a heavy breath before taking a low step forward. Then her view of it was slowly cut off by a blur. This blur being Sperry’s head which moved between her and her possible predator. 
She couldn’t see the other animal at this point, or her animal's face for that matter, but things remained still for a couple of moments. A couple more moments pass that feel like an eternity. Eventually, she hears the other animal's feet slowly slide across the dirt. Then around the edges of Sperrys neck, she sees it walk off in the distance away. Now this was freaky, Trissa thought. 
Unsure yet of the lesson to be learned, she raised her head higher and crawled out slightly. Mostly uncovered except for her legs she watched as it calmly walked off in the distance, clearly not interested anymore. Then, it disappeared. Remembering that these things would sometimes hunt in packs she looked around the forest some more. Nothing at first, but sure enough, at her 3 o’clock she saw another one. This one was even a tad bit closer. It looked at her, same as the other, except it was sitting down, almost casually and curiously. Its head turned slightly in trying to understand the situation in front of it. Then, it stood up and like the other one, walked away. Almost like it truly wasn’t interesting. Looking around again, sure enough, the coast was clear. 
Now, Trissa didn’t wanna get carried away, but this was possibly a big game changer. This could mean that, with Sperry, she could walk around all she wants at night again. Looking back at the head that looked back at her again, she reached a hand out and rubbed across the top, “good boy.”
Since that day she has been more lenient about her curfew. Not too concerned about getting back too late really freed her clock related stress. Sometimes the sun would set, and she’d start heading home when the stars and moon brightened up the night. Without light pollution, this was a much easier task than she thought. Not only that, but appreciating the stars above was really wonderful out here. 
Sometimes she’d run into one of the creatures again. They would spare her a glance, and then see Sperry by her side before heading out their way. A few even got close once, but while the Trissa was still on alert, Sperrys neck and body would prevent them from getting too close for comfort. Then they’d walk off like they understood that she wasn’t food.
        All seemed right in the world, hell better than ever even. She had a good thing going, and with more freedom on her hands, she was even able to make extra improvements to her house. Comfortable being out late, she wandered into the ruins of the old town nearby and picked up some supplies. Coming back home, the cabin’s interior became organized, and she even started to paint the outside. Sperry would sit and watch her, or even lie down on the dirt below as she worked on the roof above. Things were going just perfect, not a complaint in the world. At least they were, until the next event happened. Not fearing the monsters anymore, she forgot that she might still want to be wary of other survivors.
        Like any other day the pair left in the morning. On cloudy and gloomy days like today, she found that Sperry didn’t even need the tarp anymore. His tolerance had built up just enough that he pushed it aside when she offered, and walked out on his own. Still tho, she brought the tarp rolled up and attached to her backpack, just in case the need ever arose. With a fishing rod in one hand, and a tackle box in the other, they were ready to head out.
Walking towards the river, Sperry would frolic and run around the woods as usual, sniffing and searching whatever fascinated him in the process. He’d go pretty far out in the distance many times, but he’d still generally follow Trissa’s direction. When he’d disappear for too long she’d call out his name, and eventually he’d come jogging back like the weirdest dog ever. It was one of these times, when he was far and out of view that Trissa saw the other person. Looking at the nature around her, taking in her surroundings, she dozed off in some random thought. Admiring everything, eventually her face turned forward again. There she instantly stopped, as she saw the man. 
Standing 15 feet away from her, out and in the open, he faced her. She hadn’t seen anyone else in over 6, maybe 10 months at this point. Before Maria, it may have been a year or two even. And now, seemingly random, this broad shouldered man stood clear as day in front of her. For someone in an apocalypse, he looked a bit on the heavier side. His hair was balding on top above a ripped red and maroon striped sweater he wore. Torn baggy bluejeans wrapped around his legs, and his arms seemed to rest in the air just outside of his hips. “Hello missy,” he called out.
        Still shocked at the site before her, she just stood there for a moment. Words escaping her lips.
        The man sensing this continued on, taking a step in her direction, “I’m sorry to have startled yous. Couldn’t help but notice you coming back from the town the other noon. You see-” he turns and points in the distance. His voice has a distinct southern accent to it as he speaks, “I have my own shack about just over those hills a bit. Haven’t seen anyone in some time, so I was a bit surprised to see you out on your lonesome. You were far away so I didn’t want to bother ya’s, but now I got the chance to introduce myselfs.”
        Eventually the words come to Trissa, “Y- ya, sorry. I was a bit surprised. Haven’t seen anyone else for some time. Didn’t expect to see a stranger in the woods.”
        “Oh I don’t blame ya. I’m sure it gets lonely. There’s not too many strangers in the world anymore. Glad to have caught up to yas. What you been doing out here?” He questions, rocking back and forth on his toes and heals. His arms resting on his sides.
        She notes that he doesn’t look too out of the ordinary. In an apocalypse everyone looks a bit dirtier or stranger, so some leeway makes sense. Still, she puts on a friendly face as she continues, “I was just planning to go fishing again. Catch some lunch and maybe dinner.” She shows off her fishing rod in her right hand.
        The man’s eyes look at the device in hand. His tongue wipes across his teeth and pokes out to the side ever so slightly as he looks down at the ground with a chuckle. His left foot slides across the dirt like it was sand. “Haha, ya I guess that would make sense now wouldn’t it. Rivers a great spot to catch fish. I should know.” Again he turns and points, this time in the opposite direction. “Over thataway, about just under a mile is the best place. I go there all the time. Catch a salmon or COD every 15 minutes it's like.” He turns back to the woman across from him, with hands sticking out to show size, “Nice big large ones too.Fat delicious ones, you’d love th-, hey is something the matter?” He questions, seeing the woman’s eyes just a bit wider than before.
        Yes, something was very much the matter, to Trissa. For as he turned to point, Trissa noticed something. Between the maroon stripes on his sweater, one of the red stripes had a bit of extra maroon. Large and noticeable, it was the maroon splash of a blood stain. Now, there could be a number of explanations for that, but with a stranger out in the woods, she didn’t like her odds. Looking up, she hears the man's question, ‘something the matter?’
        “Huh, oh sorry still surprised seeing someone new and all,” she tries to nonchalantly play it off. “Good fishing over there huh?”
        The man sensing the slight change in air continues with investigative eyes, “ya ya, I can show it to you if you’d like? Real good spot, then I can leave ya too.” He questions.
        “Oh no, thank you very much tho. I have my own spot around here, plus I don’t know if I have enough time to get back home before it gets dark.” Trissa replies.
        “Enough time? You li- you couldn’t live that far away could you? People tend to not live that far away from the town now.” He paints a confused face.
        “Oh ya, I do. In fact I’m already kinda pushing my schedule. I should get going now. My spots just over here a bit. Although shoot, I think I just passed it a bit.” She looks at the flowing water to her left. The current pours over the rocks, making a constant white noise in the background. She peers across it as if she’s trying to make a mental map of where she is. She knows full well this is all for show, but hopefully this man didn’t know that. Eventually looking back at the man, her eyes widened once again. 
        Still in the same spot, he’s looking down now with his shirt stretched across and in front of him. Looking down at the material, he sees the maroon splotch on his form. Ah, so that’s what those big eyes were looking at, he thinks. “Whoops,” he says while looking back up. They make eye contact again. “Well, this could very easily be explained, and I’m sure I could convince you over time, but I’m tired of all the charades?” He shrugs his shoulders before instantly darting forward. 
With his prior steps closer, she hadn’t fully realized how close they were. With his head start, she only had a moment too late to react. Her hands, only filled with fishing gear, put her at quite the disadvantage. Reacting as quickly as possible after an initial lag, her legs spin as her arms whip her gear at the stranger. She’ll have to get more fishing gear in the future, but that will be worth it. 
Her tackle box gets tossed to the side effortlessly by the man, as her rod misses completely. Facing away from the man she pushes hard into the dirt with her right foot as her left foot stretches out. She takes a hard step, then another hard step, gaining momentum she feels herself almost at a sprinter's pace, but it’s too late. First an arm firmly grips her right shoulder tugging her back. The momentum slows her down just enough for another arm to reach behind her neck and clasp. Her head and shoulder lower as she tries to get out from under him, but it's no use as she’s tackled to the dirt below.
“AAAHHHHH, get the hell off me you freak!” She shouts as her arms and legs thrash above her. It’s troublesome, but the man manages to roll her onto her back through the frantic movements.
“Youuu could have just gone along with it you know. Why the run and who-ha?” He states through loud struggling teeth, “Would have made it easier for everyone. Some reason they never do tho. But whatever! It-it is what it is.” He says while struggling to grab the flailing arms below.
She tries to wrestle with all her strength as her hair flies back and forth like wildfire. It covers her face but she doesn’t care, “STop it! SOMEONE HELPPP-,” *SMACK*, a hard hit quiets her down. This triggers a in her ears as the trees she’s now looking at to her right start to look a bit blurry. Cough cough, she gags as a red loogy comes out with a hard spit. 
It takes a moment, but slowly she gets her bearings. Slowly turns her head back above. There she sees the man towering over her on his knees. An emotionless face painted on as he looks down at her. Please just go away, she pleads in her head. The man starts to grab at his own shirt, going to lift it above his head. Please just go away, tears start to form in her eyes. The man starts to pull the shirt above him. She watches the beginning action, fearing what will com-DOOF! Then suddenly… he’s gone? With a blur, in a blink of an eye her wish was granted. She looked up, and suddenly the man was not there any more. Huh? She thought.
Confusion hits her suddenly. Above her is nothing but the sky, and the tree branches blowing in the wind. What the hell? She thinks to herself through a headache. She thinks she hears a ruckus off to her left. Taking a moment, she takes a deep breath. Then laboriously, she slowly rises up into a sitting position. A drop of blood drips from her lips that she looks down to, her arm wipes it off. Red smears across her forearm. Then she turns to look over her left shoulder. Finally seeing what was causing that ruckus in the background.
Off to her side about 15 feet away, she sees a fight. The man is still there, standing with his arms out in a fighting stance. He seems a bit torn already from the collison. Then across from him, she sees what collided with him. There, she saw one of the creatures, circling him like a wolf. No wait, she saw Sperry circling him.
His teeth would clap together loudly like gunshots to intimidate. On four legs he was just about the same height as the man. Width is very similar as well. See watched as he stalked his enemy, then his long gray haired form leapt out at the man in front. The man throws a right hook that gets Sperry good. Sperry’s head jerks to the side as his shoulder drives the stranger back a couple of steps. While these creatures were strong and very dangerous, they did prefer to hunt in packs for a reason. They don’t weigh that much more than the average man. Especially this heavy person. The two seemed almost equal.
The stranger gets his footing back as the creature recovers, shaking its head in frustration. Then looking at the man again, it charges again. Its head remains still as its body bobs side to side behind it. 
The man stretches his arm out again to punch at the form. The quick motion does cause the head to alter its direction to its right and up. Dodging the attack, it widely opens and closes its jaw, making the sound they’re known for. The loud bang causes the man to recoil with his hands up for safety. Then the animal throws its head at the man once more. The man jabs at the form, but misses just underneath as it rises above, and claps again loudly above closer this time. The sound disorients the man momentarily as he ducks off to the side. His face clearly showed a mix of anger and panic through all of this.
With the man down lower and retreating, the monster's head quickly lowers itself down to the ground with more steps. Its body follows behind its head as its entire mass hovers just inches off the ground down low now. Like a dart it shoots forward and bites into the man's left leg. “AAHHHH FUCCKK!” The man screams, as the creature's shoulders then plunge into the man's abdomen. The man tries to catch the form with his hands, but a strong lift throws the man back into the air and on his back behind him. 
Shaking his head he looks up at the beast once more as its front feet hover in the air, ready to trample him. Dodging it, he rolls out of the way just in time. As the creature's feet slam into the ground, the man plants his left good leg and makes his move. As the creature's head turns to the right, it sees the man driving into its side, with a hard punch to the gut. Now it’s Sperry’s turn to be knocked back onto the dirt. But before he flies onto the dirt, the animal gets another hit in before it's too late. 
Using its long neck like a whip, it flings its head at the man, headbutting him with a loud bang! These creatures are built for blunt head trauma with how they make that jaw banging sound. A human skull on the other hand… not so much. While the hair covered animal falls to the dirt to its left, the human stumbles backwards holding his head tightly.
Feeling injuries in its middle and head, Sperry takes a moment to recoil on the ground. But feeling the need to brush it off, he sees his rival stops stepping backwards. Fingers tightly clenching his now bleeding head. Slowly turning, dirt slides as Sperry’s hands/paws slide across the dirt below like a horse. Anger in his eyes, he looks at the large foe across from him. 
The stranger on the other hand peaks through his fingers to see his enemy. His right eye is covered in blood that he tries to wipe away, but it just smears it some more. Down low, the creature pushes the dirt behind it, standing in place. It’s challenging him, he realizes. “Well then. Come on!” The man shouts at the beast. Slapping his chest hard with adrenaline, “Is that the best you got!!” His voice is low as he tries to put on a brave face, but he can feel how the injuries and the situation as a whole tweak at his vocal chords.
Sperry just stares back at the man. Brush brush, his feet kick more dirt back. Then with a loud SMACK of his jaw, the creature charges at the man in front. Scared and injured the man yells back, standing in place with a loud, “AAAHHHHHH!” They face each other 15 feet away, 10 feet away, 5 feet away. The creature's feet stomping on the dirt below with every step.
Then, directly in front of the person, the creature's front feet plant into the dirt, and leave the ground. With its back toes just barely on the ground, its chest and body quickly rise up, eclipsing the sky above the person. The stranger doesn’t have time to rethink a new plan. What?  Is all he can think as the animal's direction turns upwards. 
His fists turn into open hands as it reaches out to catch the form now falling on top of him. It all happens so quickly he barely has time to react. With his hands out, in a second, he watches as the middle of the beast body breaks open like a starfish. The large shadow covering the man grows wider,  as his eyes do the same. 
Still moving and beginning to fall down, the creature's stomach becomes exposed to the air. Then, quickly like an instant made tent, it unfurls and spreads out wide. Spreading well beyond the creature's previous waist size. This attack is a very risky move for the animal. If it doesn’t succeed, it leaves itself vulnerable along with many of its organs open to damage. It’s a risky gamble, but it’s one the creature felt it had to take.
        With its front legs and head already over and beyond the person, its middle starts to fall lower. The outside of its stomach is now below the level of the top person's head, surrounding said person. At the same time, the person’s hands that were jutting out in defense, make contact with the middle of the stomach. It’s smooth and mostly dry. Unable to hold back the entire weight of the falling animal, his hands are forced to recoil, as the stomach eventually falls farther, making contact with his face. 
With a smack, he starts to crumble backwards as the animal falls back down to the ground below. With the weight coming from directly above, he’s forced to curl up as he falls back. While almost airborne, he only has a brief moment to see the outside world again. Inches above the dirt, the trees are there just barely in his peripherals. But most of his vision is spent occupied elsewhere as he watches the round circular muscle in front of him, following him to the ground, ready to eat him. A hard thud, sounds out as the stranger makes contact with the dirt. Then, at the same time, everything turns dark, and much tighter.
        Trissa watches as the creature makes contact with the dirt from the outside. It’s loud as the impact causes the hair and skin to jiggle in what looked like a painful event. The middle of the creature is much wider and circular now than when it first left the ground; like an igloo made of flesh. She definitely never saw it eat a meal this large before. Quickly she gets up and runs over to her pal.
        Approaching it, she gets an even better look at the damage. With the person completely gone, she looks at the creature's head where it rests against the ground below.It’s eyes look up at her, clearly strained, as it tries to stomach its meal. 
She started being able to read the creature's face more and more as time passed. Right here she could read a mix of two emotions; relief and pain. Relief likely coming from seeing her ok, and pain coming from- the skin of the animal bumps out quickly, before slowly receding- that. Looking back at the creature she sees its eyes wince harshly at that motion. His meal was clearly fighting back. 
        Unsure what to do she runs over to the big round mound. Her head darts back and forth panic like before she drops to her knees. With the top of the mound now at chin level, she sees the skin and hair of the animal, straining out farther than she’d ever seen before. It was definitely straining to hold itself together as it rested above the dirt below. Even without its food fighting back she was sure this would be hard enough for the animal to manage.
        Another bump punches out. The mass stretches reluctantly, before receding as the skin laboriously returns to its old shape. Instinctively she puts a hand on that spot. Then another bump comes out next to her hand. The creature's head groansss up ahead. Seeing she wasn’t doing enough she puts her arm across the mass, but quickly decides to just throw her body sideways against it all. Just enough she’s able to cover one side of the stomach with her whole middle. A bump juts out. This time, tightly pressed against the form, she feels it in her abdomen as well. Feeling the pain, she takes it as a good sign. That’s pain that I’m taking away from Sperry, she thinks. While still in pain she’s sure, she notices the creature doesn’t groan again at that punch. 
        Still, through the shirt she can feel the creature's hair and skin shifting and molding as the person inside moves and struggles. Not much she can do about that. More punches are thrown, and again Trissa helps alleviate the pain. This continues on as time passes on. I just need to wait him out, she thinks to herself as the battle continues. 
Eventually, 20 seconds later, they stop for a moment. Trissa looks down in confusion. Is it over, she thinks. That answer met with another harsh belly shift as the creature winced loudly in pain once again from its stomach ache. Confused, she didn’t feel any punches. But then it happens again with another wine, and she puts the puzzle together. He’s trying the other side! She thinks.
Quickly scrabbling over the animal's mound she drives to the other side. With arms on one side, and legs on the other she tries to block both sides at once. Some punches still make it through, but she’s helping at least. Then after another punch she rolls 45 degrees, facing her own head towards the head of the creature.  Now with her left arm and leg covering the left side, and right arm and leg covering the right side, she feels better about her help. It’s not as effective as when the fight was just on one side of the animal's belly, but luckily she begins to feel the person inside’s fight start to dwindle down. Each bunch molds the skin less and less, until finally, 30 seconds later, it stops all together. 
Waiting 15 seconds to be safe, Trissa finally relaxes her muscles as she falls onto her pet in jello relief. Huff huff, she pants, resting on the swollen form below. Said form lets out a loud gurggleeee as it vibrates. “You can say that again,” she tells the animal’s swollen stomach below her.
        Slowly, she feels the skin moving beneath her as it slides, out of view, across the dirt down below. This process constricts the now not fighting person inside even more, as the skin eventually closes once again. Now, completely sealing the stranger, tightly inside the animal.
        It’s after this point that she feels the animal stir as it rocks side to side. Tiredly Trissa gets off the mound, knowing what's coming. With large meals, she found that the animal liked to lie on its back. Made it easier for digestion, she assumed.
        A long rock to one side is followed by a longer rock to the other side. The big bubbly form joshes and bounces internally as it turns left and right. Each rock causes more of the belly to become visible. The back of the creature flies the farthest distances as it orbits the middle. Eventually, the creature gets enough momentum, and the belly very heavily rolls on top of its back. Big, round, and in the open, Trissa looks at the swollen, sealed belly in all its glory. 
        Like a very swollen anaconda, the top of the belly was just about at her chest level. The creature's limbs once again laid spread out normal sized, but the middle was just this huge, round, solid and swollen mass. It really  looked like it was struggling to hold itself together. If eating a person was shocking, seeing it eat a person of this size was twice as shocking. 
Walking up to the mass, she places a hand on top of it, stroking over the form. This produces a low rumble from the animal below that sounds from its throat, but vibrates over its belly and entire body. Is this how these things pur? Trissa wonders to herself.
Swollen beyond capacity, every bit of relief must feel great to the animal. “You really going to be able to break all this down?” She asks, turning her head to the animal's head. Said animal, facing away with its head on the ground, looks below at her out of the corner of its eye. Then after a moment it looks back up, almost as if giving an expression of ‘geeze, I hope so,’ before closing its eyes, focusing on the task of digesting ahead of it.
“Well I hope so,” she mutters to herself. Seeing the blood on her arm, the man absolutely deserved it. Hope he didn’t hurt too many other people, she thinks looking at the round form he was trapped inside. Well, at least he can’t hurt any others, she finds solace in.
        Looking down at the very bloated middle below, she couldn’t push into the form more than a centimeter if she tried. But just in case, she held off on trying that, just to make sure she didn’t bother her helper. Taking in what happened once more she whispers out a, “thank you” to Sperry. A light gurgle below her hand replies.
–
        It was very fortunate for her that the other predators didn’t attack her at night. There was no chance of getting this fat one back to her house now in his condition. As the night progressed, and as the belly gurgled and groaned behind her, she’d look out into the woods. Periodically one would walk by. Some would even get close. Out of caution she’d move to the other side of the belly when one would get too close. She didn’t want to bother her pet's rest tonight if she didn’t need it. He deserved it after all. The other creatures would then just take a look at the indulge one lying at its back. They seemed to show a look of amazement at a stomach of their own so large, before they’d head off on their own. Eventually, she fell asleep curled up next to the animal. 
Rainfall unfortunately sounded as her alarm clock the next morning. Better than waking up to a bright sun for the creature, but still worse than not having rain at all. A drizzle quickly turned into a downpour as her clothes and hair became soaked. Out in the open, the hair and body of the animal was no exception. She watched as the hair wetly clung to the animal's skin over every inch of it. Raindrops would collide and bounce off the belly, like little splashes before reaching the small puddles below. They caused the skin to move in a wave motion ever so slightly; like a water drop hitting water. The heavy downfall caused most motions to get lost in one another, but she could still make out the heavy ones just slightly as they shifted the outside of the belly.
The animal slept through the next day as well as she grabbed her fishing gear. Everything still seemed just fine. Fishing over to the side she kept an eye on the sleeping form behind her in the distance. Then when she came back by night, she saw it the same as before, but the belly had only shrunk a couple of inches to half a foot since the beginning. 
Clouds and a light rain came through the night, that would eventually lead into the next day was met with rain again, just my luck, Trissa thinks to herself. Adding to her luck, was the fact that she was getting periodically woken up through the night. Unsure at first, some decently loud CRACKING sounds would shake her ears. Confused, she didn’t know what it was at first, however after the third time she realized the culprit. It was the stomach squeezing itself, snapping the stranger's bones inside. I wonder how acidic these creatures' stomachs are? She wonders. 
Halfway through the next day, thunderstorms eventually cause her pal to start waking up. She pet his head and gave him attention as he remained in place. Digesting and absorbing the person was clearly doing a number on him. But eventually, the rain became too annoying, even for him. While his belly was down half the size as when it started, it was still quite swollen. Looking a bit bloated, some of that was likely because these animals can’t burp or fart Trissa realized. 
Regardless, she was surprised to see him roll onto his belly again. Then, he slowly lifted his now much heavier mass off the ground. His stomach tried to remain connected to the ground, like it was glued to it from all the weight, but eventually it relented as Sperry’s strong abdomen muscles held it in the air. Surprised but not one to complain, Trissa gave him an, “Ok? Ight let’s go,” as they made for the house. 
Rain poured heavily still, as thunder would crash out in the distance. Trissa’s hair stuck glued to her back as her clothes were drenched. Slowly, but consistently, the strange pet walked on its four legs. Some of the legs probably already once belonged to the stranger a couple days before. Similar to Trissa, the water drenched every inch of the animal. Its hair was pitch black now from the added moisture, as it sat stuck glued to its form all over. Wet drops dripping off all over in the pouring rain. 
If Sperry’s middle wasn’t already so tightly distended, and if the creature was even able to, Trissa was sure the skin would be well pruned at this point from the rain. The front left and back right legs each stretch forward, followed by the front right and back left legs afterwards. Each wet slomp, would cause the belly between its legs to reach for the ground ever so slightly, before it would recoil and jiggle back up. With the other legs in the air now, it would briefly stop smoothly, until the cycle would continue all over again.
Seeing the swollen middle bobbing up and down as Trissa walked, she thought about her situation some more. Things really worked out absolutely perfect for her. She was beyond safe in this world. Hell, she was  safer then pre apocalypse levels. Hell, she could probably rule this world if she really wanted to.