My Zombie Shelter (open to everyone)

He never got a chance to respond before the person in the truck, who turned out to be yet another woman stepped out.

I heard her yell “Identify yourselves!" to the girl with the "E" name and the other Mike. I couldn't help but wonder what the fuck all the hubbub was with everyone identifying themselves. I mean Mike, Randy, Satan, Hammernuts didn't really mean a whole hell of a lot when someone with a gun presents themselves. You could always swap info after you have decided whether or not you wanted to kill each other.

In what had become my patented move, I separated from Mike, and started creeping toward where the truck was parked. She had her eyes trained on the two in the street and had taken notice of us yet so I used this to my advantage and took up a position to the woman's left. She had a pistol in her hand, but didn't appear to interested in using it. My thoughts were confirmed when I heard her say, "Do any of you need medical attention?"

I took a quick breath, shouldered my rifle and stepped out from the corner of the building I had taken cover behind.

"No, but if you don't lay that fuckin side arm on the seat of that truck real slow, you will." I said calmly.

Seeing the two guys cover the newcomer, I repositioned myself to watch for any others who might be hiding covering the lone female. I also kept one eye on the dog in the truck. It seemed like the doors were secure, but you could never be too careful.

"If you keep yours lowered I will," she waited and he stood there with his weapon shouldered. She ejected the clip from the gun and laid both on the driver's seat. Abby looked about ready to jump out of her skin with excitement and nerves.

"Easy baby girl," Mal said under her breath before looking back at the man by the building.

"Happy now?" she asked," Now do any of you need medical attention?"

She put both hands on her hips, a classic Mallory pose, she had always been sassy. At least she still had the knife tucked in her chestnut colored cowboy boot. Her faded skinny jeans were tucked into them too, the boots gave her another couple of inches on her 5'9" frame, making her more imposing.

"Ecstatic" I said calmly. "I'm good, but the other woman might be in need of some help. Someone has worked her over pretty good from the look of her."

I kept my eye on the dog she had in the truck with her. Now that she had cleared her weapon and put it down, I swung my crosshairs to the animal. I had seen what Mike was able to get max to do and had no doubt that this chick, whoever she was wouldn't hesitate in letting her companion come and chew on me a bit while she gunned up and put me out of her misery.

"You some sort of good Samaritan? Traveling around helping those in need and setting right what once went wrong with the barrel of that pistol?"

Mallory narrowed her ice blue eyes at him. She saw him put Abby in his crosshairs and it pissed her off.

“I’m a veterinarian actually,” she said sarcastically,” and that is a herding dog. She might lick you to death but that’s it, she’s only good for herding and companionship.”

Her gaze swept back across the street looking for the woman she had seen earlier who might need help.

“I’ve been stuck in my clinic alone since this whole mess started. I might be the only real human left in this town by now,” she explained as she walked around to the grill of the truck and leaned back against it, crossing her arms as she did so,” If anyone wants help I’m freely offering it. Just hop in the truck and I’ll take you. I may not have taken a hippocratic oath for humans but I’m probably the only doctor of any kind within 200 miles of here.”

She cast a sidelong glance at him, ”I'm Mallory. What's your name?"

" Since the guys were relaxing their guard and I didn't see anyone hiding within pistol range anyway, I. Moved out from cover with my pistol in low ready. I kept the truck between me and the newcomer.

"So we should just jump in your truck and go with you trusting you're not going too...." my voice caught in my throat as the memories of the last time I was in a car came flooding back.
I fought through the wave of nausea as I tried to repress that night and the hundreds that followed.

"Yeah that'll happen" I say trying to stay focused despite the dehydration and lack of food since I escaped. I was on my last legs, I had been running on fury and adrenaline, and I was out of reserves. As my vision faded I wondered if I would ever open my eyes again. "I'm sorry girls, I failed yo...." I said as I collapsed.

"Names Randy, but I will answer to Sir as well." I said trying not to crack a smile.

I expected her to flip him the bird or tell me to fuck off, either one wouldn't have surprised or offended me. I looked her over as she leaned against the truck. She was petite, and short, probably 5'6" or so. She had definitely taken care of herself even though she did look a little too thin for her size. This made me remember the fact that I hadn't eaten in quite a while myself and my stomach started to rumble in agreement.I lowered the rifle and took a few steps toward her looking around to see if I could see anyone following or covering her.

"You alone except for the dog?" I asked cautiously. "Where is this clinic that you want to take me, or her too?"

Mallory started to speak when she saw the girl go down.

"Shit," she strode towards where she went down, the sound of her body hitting the pavement was enough to make Mal flinch. She put her fingers to the woman's wrist but felt nothing so she checked her pulse point on her neck, it was faint and fast. She looked up at the man who had just identified himself as Randy.

"Are you going to help me or not?" she said harshly. She picked up the light frail girl and awkwardly tried to get her limp body over her shoulder to carry her. She managed it but just barely.

"Open the cab door and don't let Abby out!" she yelled at him now.

"Motherfucker!" I spat under my breath as she barked for me to help her.

I slung my rife over my shoulder and rushed to the passenger door of the truck. I opened cautiously still worried that I might lose my face to the mongrel in the seat. Dog owners always said "Oh don't worry, they wouldn't hurt a fly." right before Kujo started having you for lunch.

I could see she was struggling to carry Emma, so I rushed to her. It wouldn't do us any good if both of them ended up injured, especially since the one was the closest thing to a doctor we had.

"Let me help you." I said reaching my arms out to take the girl's limp body from her.

Just as she let him bear the load of the wounded woman she saw the passenger door standing open and Abby jump down and she half groaned in frustration.

Abby went straight for the other dog. Mallory moved with speed and grace, intercepting her before the excited dog made it very far.

"Oh no you don't. Truck," she had Abby by her red collar and forced her to change direction and obey her command.

She got her back in and opened the door to the back seat. Didn't do any good to have a truck this big and not get an extended cab. At least, that was her reasoning when she had bought it, made it easy when she hauled a few of the local riders to horse shows.

"Just lay her down back here, its a straight shot to my place," she climbed in the back first and gently pulled the woman off Randy's shoulder and across the seat before climbing backwards out the other door. She looked down the street at the rest of the group.

"Well if you're coming, get in back," she called out. She put the gun in the console compartment with her grandfathers 1911 and waited for everyone else to join them.

How Max didn't go ape shit with the new dog around I'll never know. I guess it was just his training. Maybe he just wasn't interested? I don't know how dogs see other dogs.

Abby's owner, though, was....damn.

Yeah. Here in the thick of zombie combat with the smell of rotting flesh all around that was the first thought that came to my mind when I saw her: damn. I guess it had been a while since I had seen a redhead. Of all things, she had to be a redhead. Everyone has a weakness. Superman has Kryptonite. I've got redheads.

I called Max to heel and walked over. He was checking out the border collie, after all. "Nign," I told him, "leave it alone." He looked up at me with a look that said damn, bro I was just checking her out.

"I'm Mike," I said to Mallory. "Mike Taylor. Formerly of the Pierce County Sheriff's Office." As if me being law enforcement meant anything out here anymore. But, for what it was worth, I still believed in some semblance of law and order, and some people, too, still did. "And this is my partner, Max," I continued as I scratched his ears.

After the introductions, I helped Randy move Erin into the truck. Mallory had offered us a ride with her, so I brought Max at heel around to the pickup's tailgate. I opened it and let it down and was about to tell him to "up" when he jumped up and into the truck bed.

"Good boy," I told him. I then climbed up myself. I looked to Randy. "You know of any way to let the other girl, the one you said had scouted ahead, know where we are going?"

Ah, that explains it she thought after Mike introduced himself and the dog. She had treated a few K9 dogs in the past, she recognized Max as a police dog almost instantly.

"Mallory White, and that's Abby," she pointed at her own dog as she looked at Max, visually assessing him.

"I'll check Max out after we get the girl patched up if you'd like. I can give him a full work up for you," she smiled slightly and met his gaze. That was a man she wouldn't mind getting to know better.

She got in the cab and waited until Mike and the dog were in the truck bed. Abby whined. Mal noticed the two men talking before Randy headed off in a different direction.

"Shh, I know you want to get closer. Me too," she admitted. It had been a very long time since Mal had been with a man, she had never married and boyfriends seemed to come and go. They didn't like her 24/7 on call schedule, her control issues...well that got blown out of the water when everything changed. She put the truck in gear and made a U turn for home.

She pulled up to her clinic outside the barn garage door and rolled down the window.

"Garage door is manual, can you lift it and i'll pull in?" She leaned out the window and asked.

"You know of any way to let the other girl, the one you said had scouted ahead, know where we are going?"

I looked around trying to figure out the best way to handle this. Part of me wanted to say "Fuck'em" but another part, a part that I wasn't used to listening to, wanted to if nothing else make sure they were ok. I had a feeling that both Michael and the girl were more than capable of handling things themselves, but at the same time they hadn't had a reason to approach us in the first place. I couldn't help but think that on some level they were looking to connect to a group, even if they didn't want to admit it. We had that much in common.

"Dude, you ride with Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, and I'll take a half mile radius around and see if I can see the others. They have a bit of a lead on me, but I can move pretty fast on foot and then we can rally at the Doc's place and go from there."

We agreed and I watched them speed off back the way the truck had approached. It had been a while since I had been on my own, and a small part of me looked forward to it. I walked back to the bench Pandora's corpse still lie on and lifted her into my arms. I walked to the center of the small park that the bench had outlined and gently laid her on the grass. I walked to the filling station and after finding shovel and returning, I set about the task of burying her properly.

Both sweat and tears moistened the dirt as I shoveled the last bit over her final resting place and then smoothed it out. I chuckled a bit as I thought about how she would have called me a pussy for crying like a baby, but I hoped that wherever she was, she looked back on our time together fondly.

I nodded an agreement with Randy. I punched him in the shoulder.

"See you in a few," I told him. "Oh, you can keep the can of dip. I'll get it back from you when we meet up at the Doc's."

Max and I rode in the truck bed to Mallory's place. She stopped before the garage and asked me to open the door. I told Max to stay while I got out and pulled up the garage door. Once the door was up I made an ushering gesture, complete with a little bow, for her to pull inside.

I smelled hay. Which meant horses. It had been a long, long time since I had ridden a horse. My cousin back in Georgia had horses, and we would ride together when we were growing up. That seemed an entire lifetime ago.

Mallory watched the way Mike moved, and couldn't help but notice his nice butt as he leaned down to grab the garage door.

She grinned at Abby and then covered her eyes playfully, "Don't look Abs, we don't know him very well yet." Abby just licked her hand as Mallory looked over her shoulder, the woman in the backseat was still out cold. She made a mental checklist as she pulled in the barn of what she would need to do first.

She hopped out of the truck easily after it was parked, and felt a bit nervous about having Mike and Max here. No one had been inside her clinic or residence since the change, she wondered if she could trust him. She had quite a stockpile out in the barn. In the corner there were two large water tanks and she had converted one to hold fuel for her truck, they were originally built to be pulled behind a tractor to wet down large riding arenas. Her ATV was under a cover on the opposite side and above in the loft was a rather impressive stockpile of hay for Romeo. It was also where she hid something else, but she wasn't going to tell him about that, at least not yet.

Over time she had slowly and methodically checked the abandoned farms she knew of and taken their hay reserves. It wasn't something most people thought of stealing when they burglarized a place so most of the stores were intact. Not to mention her huge stockpile of medical supplies, while most were animal specific there was a great many that could also be used on people just as easily.

Mallory was a very smart woman, Cornell didn't admit dummies to their vet school, she wasn't caught unawares when things had gone badly. The walkers had spread slower to the outlying rural areas and she had managed to plan accordingly by stocking up before everyone went too crazy.

She watched Mike carefully as he surveyed the inside of the barn.

"Lets get this one in an exam room so I can start checking her over," she said as she opened the back door of the truck and waited for Mike to come help her.

I wiped my hands on my jeans and then my eyes with the back of them. I grabbed my pack, and rifle and slung them both on my shoulder. I grabbed the shovel and decided that as low as I was on ammo, I would have to hand to hand on anything that I found unless absolutely necessary.

I looked around for any sign of the girl with the bow. She had a pretty decent head start on me, but I figured as silently as she had moved in on us earlier, she must be fairly cautious, which might mean she was taking her time. I started walking toward the tree line, taking careful measured steps. the last time I had been in these woods, some asshole outfitted in Kevlar had took a few reckless shots at the walkers, and ended up leading to Pandora's death. I would definitely even the score if I ever saw that fucker again.

I walked along the edge of the trees, looking for a sign of where she had entered. it was a tactic I had used a million times when I was bow hunting. If I had hit one good, but it had run across grass, I would stick an arrow in the ground and then walk along the tree line looking for the blood trail. It saved countless hours of crawling through a field where blood could disappear in the long blades of grass. I wasn't looking for blood this time, but the disturbance of leaves or a broken twig could be just as easy to spot if you knew what you were looking for.

I looked ahead about ten yards and saw it. Hanging on a limb, waving in the breeze was a small strip of fabric that had been tied securely. I smiled as I touched before moving in a straight line into the woods. A flag like that not only meant that she knew how to leave a trail, but that she wanted it to be obvious enough that any idiot could follow it. I guess it was her lucky day because I was just such an idiot.

Carrying the carcass to the nearby creek, Olivia was careful enough to check for any walkers unlucky enough to be washed down stream. It was common for them to get caught on the logs and rocks lining the creek, and unsuspecting survivors often never noticed until they were within biting range. But not this little duckling, she was better than to be taken down by some water logged creeper. This section of the creek was open, and checking the edges led to the discovery of a few rock pools and a sand bar. Already her back and chest, along with her arms were sticky with dried deer blood, and she wanted badly to stop the flies from buzzing around her like she was some walking buffet.

Submerging the deer into the rock pool, she placed several rocks on top of it so that none of it was above the water line. For a while it would be the refrigerator to her outdoor kitchen. Crouching down, she washed her hands and arms, splashing the cold water over her body to wash away the filth and grime from the attic. Being outside was much more refreshing.

Whilst she couldn't risk leaving her gear on the edge in case someone stole it, she did walk into the shallow sand bar and soak her feet. But the call of the waters was too strong and she placed her backpack, rifle and bow on a large rock before slowly submerging herself.

The water was so clear it was practically impossible for something to be hiding nearby, and even the salmon scooted for cover knowing such a fact.

Coming up again, she ran her hands through her hair before slipping out of her tank top. Rinsing it, she laid it out on the rock and did the same to her pants. For now she would keep her black bra and purple hipster panties on...lest someone be spying from the shadows.

Plus, she couldn't really wash them better than a swim could.

Diving under again, she forgot about the world above for a moment, before resurfacing.

Walking back towards the rock, she jumped up onto it and lay back...the sun drying out her clothing and recharging her batteries.

The woods were thick here and at times it was difficult to travel without alerting everything in the surrounding area that you were coming. The floor was mostly a bed of pine needles that hid small twigs that would snap and crack with every step.

The girl was smart to have chosen this path. She could relax, maybe even sleep and be surrounded by natural security system. After a few hundred yards of sneaking and peeking my way, things started to open up a bit. The hardwoods outnumbered the pines, and although the canopy deposited leaves every fall that covered the floor, they didn't have lower layers of dried dead braches that fall and get covered up like the pines. The visibility was much better and I could plan each step to make sure I caused the least amount of disturbance.

I looked around planning my next step when my eye caught something that looked like blood. It wasn't the black goo of walker blood or the deep crimson of human, but the bright red almost pink frothy foam of a lung shot. I recognized it instantly having seen it many times myself when hunting. When you had made a lung shot, the broadhead would exit through the chest cavity and leave a hole for the hyper oxygenated blood of the lung to spray out. A smile crept across my lips.
This girl had killed something to eat, and since I hadn't heard any shots, she must have killed it with her bow. I was liking her more and more with every step.

I went a few yards further and could hear the babbling of a creek or small stream ahead. I was dying of thirst and need to rinse some of the grime from my face so I headed toward the sound. I topped the edge of a small knoll and stopped. Just a few yards below, she lay on a large flat boulder, dressed in what looked like a bikini sunning herself. I could see her weapons laying off to her side, but I had learned to never underestimate anyone. I placed my hand on my Kimber and took a few more steps, cracking a small limb intentionally to my arrival.

"World goes to shit and you still find time to work on your tan, I like it." I said letting my eyes roam over her.

While the woman at the truck and the others were talking I turned around and took a knee to rest myself and keep a look out. Having a truck on the side of the road and people talking we could become complacent and expose ourselves to an ambush. She looked friendly, but we still had to keep our guards up. I looked at the tall grass around and wondered if there was a zombie crawling through it, like a ninja or a Ranger, a silent killer that might be able to sneak up and grab one of us. It had me shaken when I realized that I had been alone in my safe house for so long and now out here where the real danger was. I pulled down on the cuffs of my shirt to cover up a half inch more of my skin thinking it would save me and then glanced around at the trees and the blue sky. It was lovely out, quiet except with those people, my new companions talking, and I felt that I was watching their back and staying close.

((I had an awesome post written and then I had to run off and lost it all...stupid battery going flat))

The world inside the mind of someone tanning themselves on a beautiful day was something wonderful. For Olivia is was remembering her times at school, and how all of her 'friends' would compliment her on her tan, believing it was fake. But she just loved swimming, and drying in the sun or in the back of a truck was too good to pass up. Damn those spray tans that turned you yellow or orange, nothing beat a light tan from constant time outside. The moisturizer body soap helped avoid the nasty dry skin, and even now she was the smoothness of her cheerleading past.

She was one of 'those' girls. Beautiful and natural looking on the outside, with a touch of mystery. That mystery equated to riding horses, hiking mountain trails, diving off high ledges into crystal clear water and above all else, camping and hunting with her father.

Even as the sun heated her bared skin she remembered her family. Her father had been a miner, spending weeks at a time away from home. But when he was home they often skipped a day of school to spend it together. Her mother had worked at the local hospital, a nurse, which led to her being the first in the family to get bitten. Her younger brother, Lucas, had been in school and had survived on the run with the rest of the family for almost four months. A snake of all things had claimed his life. After that her father had become a rather dark minded man.

Snap

Hearing the stick break, Olivia was once again in the present, those thoughts lost to the hazardous moment. Her rifle was loaded, with nothing in the chamber but the magazine was full. Her bow lay nearest, the arrows stuck into the foam filled quiver that was attached to its side. In just her underwear she wondered if she might have caught the spy off guard, a walker wouldn't even care, but a man or woman alone was bound to feel something seeing her laying as she was.

But then he spoke, and she opened one eye, having previously not moved a muscle. Letting them know she knew they were there held no positive. She blocked the sun with one hand and ran the other across her toned tanned stomach. The little silver belly button stud catching the light as it moved.

"It's the next best thing to coffee, and unless you have some, I'm not in much luck in that department..." she sighed, sitting up to look at him. She bent one knee up, leaning on it, the other foot dangled in the water delicately.

By now her sandy blonde hair, naturally curly had partially dried, and her skin was warm to touch. The few freckles on her cheeks made her look playful and innocent, but the sapphire blue eyes gave her away. She was complex, determined, mature...and something else. Predatory?

She had the eyes of a female wolf...

Picking up her shirt (still with blood stains, which were almost impossible to wash out simply by rinsing it in a river), and pants, she draped them over her shoulder to keep them out of the water, and slowly picked up her rifle (never indicating she had an intention of using it) and slung it over her shoulder. Dropping down into the thigh high water, she grasped her bow in one hand and slowly made her way to shore.

"The name's Olivia," she introduced, extending her free hand. She seemed at ease, approaching him. She had watched them for a while, and he hadn't killed or raped that other woman (who was naked, for christ sake) and he seemed to speak with the others. Olivia had something to offer him, she figured he might decline simply killing her for the time being.

I took a look at my grimy hand and wiped it on my jeans before taking hers.

"You'll have to excuse my appearance, I had a mani/pedi scheduled here at three, and I haven't had a chance to clean up yet."

I let go of her hand and then took a step back retaking hold of the Kimber. She was beautiful, in fact more than beautiful, she was perfect...and that was the problem. Nothing was perfect anymore, and whatever was usually was that way because it had managed to take what was yours to stay that way.

"Nice to meet you Olivia. Name's Randy. You from around here?"

It was a simple question, and the answer didn't matter. It was just a way to gauge what kind of person I was dealing with. She was young, but definitely not child. She was shorter than me, and petite, but she was lean and strong looking and after the day I had would no doubt be a bit faster than me. I was pretty sure that she had killed something with that bow, and I didn't want to be next.

"Nice bow, where'd you learn how to shoot?"

Laughing as he took her hand, she let him get away with stepping back and getting defensive again. Was she likely to strike out? If she knew some sort of martial art, which she didn't, perhaps. But unless it was ranged she was liable to hurt herself more than him in a fist fight.

"They are so slack with home visits, aren't they?" she grinned, before stepping back into her jeans. Doing up the zip, she fastened the final button before sitting on a rock to put her socks and hiking boots on. They had left home in a rush, as did most other people, but although she wasn't wearing them she carried some green pants, a loose checkered shirt and a jumper in her pack.

Looking over to the pool of water, she decided to keep talking.

"Robinville, a few towns over...I came second place at the last state Women's Archery Competition, under 25's. Before all of this I only hunted for a rabbit once or twice, but you learn quickly I guess, and walkers are easy game."

Had he ditched the others? Usually they wouldn't take so long, unless they really weren't built for the mountains. Maybe he had killed them all, the blood on his clothing was mostly black goo, but there was some red stuff, dried by now. So not too fresh...but it hadn't faded either.

"So, are you hungry?" she asked, looking him square in the eyes as she stood up again, slipping the t-shirt over her frame to cover her ample breasts, the water soaking through from her still damp bra. The scar on her arm still visible, although the bandages were no longer necessary. They had floated away down the river earlier.

"If you don't mind the company, or aren't in a hurry, I have a few strips of venison to spare. Maybe even trade? Do you have anything worth trading?"

A typical conversation about bargaining and trading, swapping, buying and selling. There wasn't any use for coins or notes much in these parts. Cigarettes, condoms, medicine, food, ammunition, clothing etc...that was what people needed. She had managed to take a large plastic sandwich bag full of medicine from the pharmacy, so that was worth more than most goods.

feistyphoenix said:

Mallory watched the way Mike moved, and couldn't help but notice his nice butt as he leaned down to grab the garage door.

She grinned at Abby and then covered her eyes playfully, "Don't look Abs, we don't know him very well yet." Abby just licked her hand as Mallory looked over her shoulder, the woman in the backseat was still out cold. She made a mental checklist as she pulled in the barn of what she would need to do first.

She hopped out of the truck easily after it was parked, and felt a bit nervous about having Mike and Max here. No one had been inside her clinic or residence since the change, she wondered if she could trust him. She had quite a stockpile out in the barn. In the corner there were two large water tanks and she had converted one to hold fuel for her truck, they were originally built to be pulled behind a tractor to wet down large riding arenas. Her ATV was under a cover on the opposite side and above in the loft was a rather impressive stockpile of hay for Romeo. It was also where she hid something else, but she wasn't going to tell him about that, at least not yet.

Over time she had slowly and methodically checked the abandoned farms she knew of and taken their hay reserves. It wasn't something most people thought of stealing when they burglarized a place so most of the stores were intact. Not to mention her huge stockpile of medical supplies, while most were animal specific there was a great many that could also be used on people just as easily.

Mallory was a very smart woman, Cornell didn't admit dummies to their vet school, she wasn't caught unawares when things had gone badly. The walkers had spread slower to the outlying rural areas and she had managed to plan accordingly by stocking up before everyone went too crazy.

She watched Mike carefully as he surveyed the inside of the barn.

"Lets get this one in an exam room so I can start checking her over," she said as she opened the back door of the truck and waited for Mike to come help her.

Click to expand...

I stepped over to her, slinging my M4 across my back as I did. I realized I had just presented her with the ultimate show of trust when I did that. In the military, the only time you'd see a guy with his rifle slung over his back was when he was inside the wire and even then it wasn't that common. It was standard rule if you went out, you carried your rifle in single-point configuration. Slung across the back made it a few seconds longer to bring it around and into firing position. (Only in the movies did SEALs fire from the hip). Those few seconds might mean going home alive or with a flag draped over you.

I got a good look at Mallory as I helped her move Erin from the truck. I tried to hide my roaming eyes by saying hello to Abby. Max, of course, nosed in and gave Abby a good sniffing over. I wondered absently if Abby was fixed? Max was not. It was a standing rule with me to never neuter a working dog. I believed, as other trainers did, that it toned down their drive.

"Is she fixed?" I asked Mallory. Then to Max, "Don't get any ideas, Bubba. Besides, you two just met."

I watched him carefully, knowing I was completely unarmed save for my knife in my right boot. I breathed out when he slung his rifle over his back.

"No she's not," I answered, wondering if I had just seen what I thought I saw. Was he checking me out or assessing me from a tactical perspective?

"Abby was a patient that got abandoned with me when everything went downhill. Her owner bred and competed dogs in herding and agility. I decided to leave her intact in case I needed the anaesthesia for something more important, like a more serious injury." I explained.

Just then Romeo decided to make his presence known by whinnying a greeting, I smiled in response.

"Romeo was a slower than mud racehorse who got a bad abscess. He was abandoned here too."

I slid open the door to the empty stall next to Romeo and told Abby to kennel up. She looked at me and then at Max, I repeated the command and she sauntered into the stall and laid down in the clean sawdust before I slid the door shut and addressed Mike again.

"Do you have any medical training besides CPR? I'm probably going to need an extra set of hands in the exam room. You can put Max in a stall or in another room but I can't have him contaminating a sterile environment with a human patient," I told him authoritatively. I hoped he understood it wasn't personal but just a precaution.

"They are so slack with home visits, aren't they?" she replied as she pulled on her jeans and boots.

Her easy smile was intriguing. I had never considered myself scary looking or even all that intimidating, but I was surprised how at ease she seemed with me just showing up out of the blue. There was a confidence there, that I hadn't found in very many, especially those that were so young.

I switched between watching her as she talked and moved about, and looking around for anyone else that may have decided to follow her. Confidence was good, but overconfidence could be deadly and although I didn't think she had immediate plans to kill me, there maybe someone else that might.

She told me that she was from the area and that she was an accomplished archer, having placed in a local contest and killed a few animals. My thoughts went to the lung blood that I had found earlier, and along with my quick glances for others as well as walkers, I looked for any sign of what she may have killed. I had been hungry several hours ago, but now I was downright starving.

"So, are you hungry? If you don't mind the company, or aren't in a hurry, I have a few strips of venison to spare. Maybe even trade? Do you have anything worth trading?" she asked pulling on her still damp t-shirt.

I didn't answer for a moment. I just looked at her wondering if she was some sort of psychic, able to read my thoughts as if I were saying them aloud. I dismissed the notion quickly though based on her lack of reaction to what had been going through my head as I had watched her dress and before when she was still lying on the rock.

"I'm starving actually. I feel like I haven't eaten in days." I said honestly. I looked at my clothes, and my dirt covered arms, and thought it might be nice to use some of the cool creek water to clean up.

"If you want to start the fire, I kind of want to clean up a bit. Then we can eat, and think about getting out of here and finding shelter for the night." I said sliding my rifle from my shoulder and walking toward a small pool, a few yards away.