Day's End

Run, now.

        Rose and Sidney, after speaking with each other for quite a long while, headed outside of the now-empty house with the plan of tracking down and retrieving Natalie. Rose was still equipped with her rusted, bloody hook, and Sidney with their firearm that, even when coaxed by Rose, they wouldn't even walk three feet from. Along the way, Sidney, being themselves, decided to initiate conversation to relieve the tension between the strangers, "So, uh, Rose?"
She looked back at the sound of her name, responding with a flat voice as usual, "What is it?"
"I was just wondering, but.. What's with you?"
Rose turned, stopping sharply in her tracks. "Excuse me?"
Sidney's hands fidgeted with nervousness at the obvious anger of the adult. "Well, I just meant, like, what happened to you, and where you're from. You know, stuff like that."
Rose resumed her walking, relaxing her tensed shoulders and paused in thought.
Sidney cleared their throat to interrupt the awkward silence. "If you're planning on keeping me, then-"
"Don't be so full of yourself. I haven't decided whether I'll keep you or not," before Sidney could open their mouth to speak, Rose continued, "And don't you dare think of begging, either."
Kicking an unsuspecting rock that laid in their path, Sidney sighed and folded their arms across their chest. "Alright, alright, I'll go first."
Without retaliation and understanding that arguing would be futile, Rose let Sidney pour out their history to her.
"I started off with just my father and brother, but, pretty soon after all of this started, my brother left us, which pissed off my dad. I still don't really know why he left, but I think it's safe to say I'll probably never see him again.." Sidney's voice grew quiet and drawn out by the end of the sentence.
Rose simply hummed in response, having picked up a long stick that had been thrust through a walker's head and had now absorbed most of her attention.
"And, that house that you found me in, I've pretty much stayed there since the beginning of this. Rations go a long way."
The adult had begun sharpening the stick, coming to the conclusion that the blood on the end of it was rather fresh; as fresh as blood from a long dead person could be.
"And that's pretty much me. Your turn, Rosie."
Rose stiffly stood up, the sharpened stick in her right hand and the hook in her left. Unamused eyes trailed to her left as she half-heartedly glanced back at the teen. "Do you intend to call me that the entire time you're here?"
Sidney jogged the rest of the way back up to Rose, having realized she was a bit ahead of them. "Well, you don't really seem like you want to stop me."
Ignoring the child's previous statement, Rose finally decided to tell her story to avoid any further nicknames they could think up. "So, before this went to hell, I was studying astronomy in college. I didn't have anyone particularly close to me, except for my aunt, but, of course, she had to be halfway across the country in North Dakota. So, long story short, I have no idea where she is or if she's even alive."
"So, you were alone for the most part?"
"Except for Natalie and a few other people, but they're dead now. It's just you, Natalie, and I."
"That's good to know. At least we're getting somewhere as far as trust goes."
        Rose offered a weak shrug, silently continuing on with the other close behind her. Surprisingly, there were little walkers as they made their trek through the neighborhood, but Sidney was still alerted, even though Rose seemed almost completely at ease. Their intuition sensed an addition to the silent, lonely scene they walked through. If Sidney strained their ears, they could hear something; it was a very subtle, quiet nose, but they knew it was there. To them, it sounded like a sort of rattling; the noise that would present itself if one shook a small link of chains. Sidney decided against alerting Rose of this noise, as they wrote it off as nothing, but their subconscious implied otherwise.
        As the group walked in the middle of the solemn, dirty street, the noise that had captured Sidney's attention only grew louder. With each yard they traveled, it presented itself louder and more obvious, even to the distracted Rose, who soon heard it. The woman half-turned to glance at Sidney but remained where she was, her stick and hook held tightly in either hand. Rose whistled and titled her head, a clear sign to Sidney to come and stay near her, and the other obeyed without hesitation.
        Quickly and quietly the pair moved forward, their weapons ready to strike or shoot whatever came near that presented itself as a threat. Soon, however, the noise grew so loud that it was unavoidable to concentrate on anything else, and the origin of this was revealed to them: a large gate; too large for the rather small chain that was binding the entrance. The sloppy warnings written near the entrance didn't deter their attention from the real threat that lay before them. The rattling's source was a massive horde of walkers, too many to count, throwing themselves on the gate in an attempt to claw their way out and sink their rotten teeth into whatever they sensed was alive.
        The chain's weakness was brought evident by the small snap that signaled the walkers' freedom. The only thing that they could do now was run.