Day's End

Companionship

              The sun painted the sky a warm orange color as it peeked over the horizon. Natalie's eyes fluttered open as she shifted in her sheets, unprepared to get up and face the doomed world. She heard Rose's footsteps as she laid awake in bed, so she got up, groggily opening the door and stumbling out. Rose's gaze snapped to Natalie when she heard the door opening. "Natalie?" She cautiously inquired.
"Yeah?" Natalie said, tiredness evident in her tone.
"Just making sure it's you. I'm going to scope out the stable; if you want to come, you'll know where to find me."
             Natalie made her way down the stairs, and Rose exited the house after saying goodbye. Once Rose was outside, she looked around at her surroundings. Pastures surrounded by black fences were completely empty, except for the walkers stumbling and crawling through the field. The stable, the roof starting to cave in, was decently big and held an arena at the far right, separated from the stables by a gravel road. Rose trekked over to the stable, and she found many large stalls, most empty with the doors falling off their hinges. She spotted movement in a stall in the far right corner of the run-down stable, and she prepared her bow for attack.
              A dead walker, terribly mutilated, laid in the stall next to a horse, blood splattered on its hooves. Rose only ever worked with horses once, but this kind of horse was easily identifiable. A Clydesdale mare stood in front of her, nervously pacing the stall. She was a beautiful bay color, and her hooves were decorated with long feathers and white stockings. A white blaze adorned her face, and her dark brown, expressive eyes gave away her fear. Once she became aware of Rose's presence, she backed up, ears pinned back on her head. Rose looked around, seeing only rotting horse corpses. Some were currently being feasted upon by walkers, but some were left untouched. Rose guessed some of the horses had died of starvation or dehydration, which made her question how the mare had managed to stay alive. She looked back at the blood staining the mare's hooves and realized that it was fresh blood. On the stall door was posted a sign that read: "Cipher." The wooden sign was cracked and starting to house mold, but Rose guessed that this was the mare's name.
              Rose slowly held out her hand, allowing the mare to become familiar with her scent. Cipher calmed down, now realizing she was in the presence of a living human, but she still paced, having been cooped up in a stall for months. Rose noted that Cipher was wearing a large, dark green halter still in decent condition. Rose remembered that they used lead ropes to guide the horses, but, looking around, she couldn't see one immediately around her. She could lead the horse without the lead rope, but she decided to find one, just to be safe.
               Rose left the horse, traveling to the arena not far from the stables. Inside, there were jumps set up, but the poles on some of the jumps had been knocked off. On the very far side of the arena was a large door, sealed by what looked like a lead rope. She ran up to the door, quickly untying the rope, and she soon realized why the door had been tied shut. A walker fell at her feet, and four other walkers were surrounding her. The walkers stood there for a second, but, all at once, they soon realized what they were staring at. The walker that fell grabbed her ankle, but she reacted in time and stabbed an arrow through its skull. The other four she didn't bother to kill, so she just ran and hurriedly closed the doors opposite of the walkers.
                She held the red lead rope and walked back to the stables, opening the doors to face the decaying wood. Rose hooked the lead rope onto Cipher's halter and opened the stall door. Cipher rushed out, but the mare soon realized Rose was in control of her movement. Rose gripped the rope tighter, after witnessing how strong Cipher was. She made a clicking noise, and Cipher recognized this as a signal to move, which she readily did. Rose moved with the horse, watching Cipher's muscles ripple as she walked.
                 Once the pair exited the stables, Cipher whinnied at the joy of seeing the pastures outside. Rose was unsure whether she should let the mare into the pasture, fearing that there may be walkers. Instead, she decided to ride the mare, if only she had a saddle and bridle. She could ride the horse bare back and guide her with her mane, but Rose decided to tell Natalie about her find first. She contemplated tying Cipher to the fence but worried that walkers might be able to get to her. So, Rose lead Cipher to the stairs leading to the porch and let go of the lead rope, and Cipher surprisingly waited patiently, not running off despite having been in a stall for months.
                   Rose walked inside the house and called for Natalie, who came down the stairs in seconds. "Yes, Rose?" Natalie asked quietly.
"I found a mare in the stables. Want to see her?"
                   Natalie smiled, rushing outside to see the horse, who she recognized from years of riding. Cipher looked up at Natalie and continued grazing, not having any noticeable reaction to her. Rose walked up next to Natalie and asked, "So, do you think you can teach me to ride?"
Natalie looked at her questionably. "You want to know?"
"Yeah.. We have a horse, and she'll be pretty useful."
Natalie nodded and slowly advanced toward the mare, who tolerated her presence. "Did you see any saddles?"
"No, but can't you ride horses bare back?"
"Yeah, It's just harder to do than with saddles."
Rose sighed, having never actually ridden a horse before. "We'll see what we can do."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Rose? We could-"
"I don't really think I have a choice, do I?" Rose snapped, turning back to Cipher who just continued to graze.
"Sorry.." Natalie whispered. "I think we can use her halter as a bridle; I've seen it done before."
"Well, we have to, Natalie. The barn's infested with walkers, but, luckily, they were distracted."
"Distracted?" Natalie questioned, cocking her head to the side. "Distracted by what?"
"The other horses," Rose responded, her voice laced with slight disgust. "But we should take care of the mare we have while we still have her. Let's get started then, shall we?"