Free Range
Free Range
~*~*~
The Wander Inn Dude Ranch had faired well after the End of Days and if you didn’t believe it spoken all you would have to do is walked along the property and see the herd kept well fed within the fences. The miles and miles of fences that the various hands had to keep tended. Danny had stayed at the Wander Inn after word that his family had not made it, Mitch had stumbled across the Inn and been offered a job like several other of the current hands. Mitch and Danny liked each other, they were close to the same age and they had a similar sense of sarcastic humor. It came in handy when it was your turn to fix the fences.
Danny was taking a breather to look at the East herd, his eyes landed on the newest acquisition. A female that had managed to make it outside of town, no one recognized her and she wore no brand. Danny had helped to corner her and catch her. She had a fire in her that he didn’t like. It was all well and good to raise free range meat, but she had trouble written all over her. If any of them found a weakness in the fence it would be that one and she would eagerly start a stampede.
“They should just do her in and serve her for dinner,” Danny muttered and Mitch chuckled.
“Nah, Big Bill wants her to birth at least two, so far she’s avoided the studs,” Mitch sighed as he got up. “Hope you don’t mind finding the old insemination equipment.”
“Shit man, I wasn’t here for that,” Danny muttered, wiping the side of his face.
“She stays till she’s given us two back,” Mitch repeated as he pounded the rail into the ground. Most of the herd avoided them but the one female stared at them. She was smart, something you didn’t see much of in the surviving cattle.
“She’s fucking trouble man,” Danny sighed. “You can bet on it. She’s never going to give Big Bill anything back for the trouble of catching her.” With that they got back to work under the deep stare of the one female.
~*~*~
The dark night was alive with alarms, something had breeched the perimeter and Danny prayed that it wasn’t one of those beasts from the desert. They would take the youngest from the herd first and that would devastate the Wander Inn…not to mention the various survivors trying to live there.
The hands stumbled out of their beds and rushed to the fence, sure as shit there was a hole in the fence, but not made by a beast, a pair of wire cutters were on the ground.
“Fuck, I thought you had those Mitch,” Danny cried and Mitch stared back at him with a knowing gaze. “Awww shit, I told you that bitch was trouble!” They looked in on the herd. Not a head remained of the East herd.
“At least the rest of the fences are solid,” Mitch muttered as he looked at the prints in the ground. “They can’t get far, they have a bunch of little ones.”
“Don’t count on it, fear makes ‘em run farther,” Andrew sighed as he began running into the darkness. There were no horses left, the chase had to be on foot, luckily the hands were rested and long winded since the End of days.
~*~*~
Nichole Smith watched the horizon with a grin as she pushed the last boat off the shore of the river. Her kayak was safely tucked behind a nearby boulder, her mission was a success. Over a hundred humans saved and on their way to freedom. She froze as she heard the first groan. She walked to her kayak and pulled out her Smith and Wesson M&P she had taken from a dead policeman the day the world ended. She took a shooters stance and as the first shambling corpse crested the hill she shot his half-rotted head off. Three more came over the hill and took a shot. Four bullets, she had only ever seen twelve of the creatures so the clip of fifteen should cover her, as long as she didn’t miss.
There was the one that had stared at her during the day. He stared at her and then he looked at the headless ones on the ground. He made a noise and there were replies behind him. Nichole shook her head and the creature stared at her, obviously realizing she was danger. He turned and began to walk out of sight. She didn’t want to risk it and she quickly dragged her kayak to the water and pushed away from the shore. Seven corpses stood on the side of the river watching her.
The one that had watched her wiped the side of his face, the huge hole in his cheek continued to leak drool. She was tempted to draw the M & P but on the water she couldn’t risk losing control of the kayak.
“We’ll be back,” she called to the dead ranch hands as she began to paddle. The dead moaned back at her. There was at least another two groups of humans being kept as food for the walking dead and there was no way she was going to let that stand. It was disgusting, she was just glad she didn’t get branded by the walking dead.
~*~*~
“I knew you were trouble bitch!” Danny cried as he glared at the female. She floated away and he felt something as he turned to look at the fallen ones. Already he had forgotten their names.
“Come on,” Mitch sighed. “Let’s go back, we better fix the fence.” Danny nodded as he began to walk back to the ranch. Tomorrow was another day and veal was on the menu for dinner and that always made the day look better.
~*~*~*~
Just so you know, this topic was VERY difficult for me. On the plus side, I really like of like Danny and Mitch, Nichole may have to make a second rescue attempt.