Day's End

Lost and Unfound

            "Rose, don't be so tense," Natalie calmly corrected. Rose did as instructed, loosing up her grip on the lead rope reins as Cipher trotted down the empty, abandoned road. Rose had expected riding Cipher to be a lot harder and bumpier, but she was surprisingly smooth in her gaits. Rose gazed forward onto the endless road, the cool autumn air blowing stray strands of her blonde hair.
"Hey, Natalie, how far did you say the town was?"
"It's only about a mile or so away by now."
Rose remained silent.
"Um.. Rose?" Natalie cautiously began.
"Yes?"
"Where do you think all those walkers came from? You know, the ones that drove us out."
Rose simply shrugged. "They must've come overnight. The more living there are in one place, there's even more dead."
"I see.." Natalie whispered, barely audible.
        Rose kicked Cipher into a canter, tensing up at the sudden shift in speed before being corrected again by Natalie. Any walkers that stumbled across their path, they simply ignored, not bothering to kill them; Cipher was more than fast enough to get away from them. They hoped that the town had supplies that they could secure for themselves or even a place to stay. The two of them had narrowly escaped the ranch being over run, and, during which, had contemplated leaving Cipher behind but voted against it.
        Soon, the tips of the large buildings could be seen by the pair of survivors as they neared the entrance to the city. Natalie pointed and smiled brightly at the sight, and a sight it was; not a beautiful one, mind you. Some of the buildings were either completely torn down or partially; some even burned. To Natalie, the city just represented, potentially, a new start. However, Rose remained skeptical of the city; it could be overrun with walkers, it could be completely devoid of supplies, and, judging by the state of the buildings, there might only be a slim chance of finding a place to stay. Not to mention, the problem with Cipher; she'd need food, water, a place to be safe, and she'd need complete observation so as not to be overtaken with walkers.
Rose sighed, "Don't get your hopes up, Natalie. There could be.. complications."
"Aw, Rose, don't be like that! I bet it'll be alright!"
"If you say so, Natalie, I'll try to.. give it a chance."
"Alright! Good!"
         Cipher stepped cautiously as she tried to avoid the burned and broken slabs of wood that blocked the entrance to the city. They had finally reached it, and here they were, looking at a completely empty city street, minus a few walkers here and there. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Rose, being her protective and cautious self, voted bad. Especially since there was a small fire ignited on a pile of wood; something she considered a bad sign. Something was definitely off about this city; something she didn't want to stay around for, but, alas, this was Natalie she was talking to. Rose would do anything Natalie asked of her that she deemed necessary, and this was no exception. Natalie asked her to give it a chance, and she would.
         Rose, still atop Cipher, pointed at a seemingly untouched store and directed Natalie's gaze towards it. "There. We'll go in there to see if we can find anything."
"Alright, but.. Do you want me to stay out here with Cipher?"
"Yeah. Are you sure you can handle yourself, Natalie?"
"I think so.. I'll try.." Natalie whispered, clutching her knife as she become increasingly more nervous at the thought of being left alone outside.
"Don't worry," Rose reassured her friend, offering a small smile. "I'll be back in no time."
        Rose grabbed Natalie's backpack and wandered inside the story, and she was surprised to see that there was no barricade blocking the entrance. She walked in nonetheless and snatched the first thing she saw, which just so happened to be Natalie's favorite food: peanut butter. Rose smiled to herself and decided to tell Natalie later, shoving the jar into the bag. Rose began to gather more and more food, water, and medicine, and she had lost track of time before she realized it got quiet. Terrifyingly quiet. Cipher no longer gave off nervous whinnies, and Rose no longer heard Natalie's voice calming the mare down. "Natalie?" Rose yelled out, trying not to be too loud. "Is everything alright out there?"
She received no answer.
"Natalie? Cipher?"
Again, utter silence, not counting the groaning of a walker.
Rose gasped. "Natalie!"
The groaning of a walker, which Natalie would've killed.
         Rose slung the bag onto her shoulder and immediately dashed out of the store, her bow in hand. Hardly seconds passed before Rose shot the walker with her bow once it was in sight. Cipher and Natalie were no where to be seen. There were no signs of them around, and, for once, she let it get to her. Rose limply dropped to her knees, looking frantically in all directions. "Natalie?!" Her voice broke into sobs. "Where are yo-" A sharp pain on the side of her head forced her onto the ground with its strength, rendering her unconscious.
        Rose groaned as she shook her head, trying to clear her blurry vision. Her hands and feet were tied, and there was a cloth firmly tied around her mouth. The words she tried to mutter just spilled out as muffled nonsense. Rose attempted to stand, despite knowing her feet were tied, but only succeeded in flopping down on her side. She held back vomiting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, realizing the situation she had now found herself in. Dead walkers were hung from the ceilings by metal hooks, much like animals would be in a slaughterhouse or meat locker. Tears wet the white cloth wrapped around her mouth as she repeatedly called for someone; anyone. She had to find Natalie.
         Rose flailed around, trying to find a way to get the ropes off, and an idea suddenly presented itself to her. Those hooks looked pretty sharp, and, if she could balance herself, she might be able to get the binds to her hands off. Rose pushed her back against the wall and managed to stand up, still using the wall as support. She shuffled and bounced her way to the nearest hook, which just happened to be impaled through the walker's mouth, not its skull. That meant it was still alive but, thankfully, couldn't bite her. It confirmed her theory by suddenly throwing its arms forward, in a measly attempt to grab her. She wasn't even in arm's reach of the walker, so she easily avoided the potential catastrophe.
         Rose sawed the rope back and forth on the sharp hook, and, being rather thick, it took a while before it eventually snapped. She immediately sat and worked eagerly on the ropes that bound her feet, successfully ripping them off, and she did the same with the cloth around her mouth. Rose recognized that she was in the back of a truck, as there was a garage-like door at the narrow end of the "room." She didn't care who put her in here; that would be found out later. All she cared about was finding Natalie again. Rose stumbled forward towards the end of the truck, barely escaping the grasp of a few lucky walkers that weren't killed in whatever situation they had been in. It was unlocked. She threw open the door to the back of the truck and froze.

"Shit."