Chapter 2: Watch your back.

Golden Eye lay on the bed fast asleep. Morning light shined through the closed windows. "Wake up!" Cutting Edge stood near the door. Golden raised her head slowly as she woke. "What?" Cutter gestured for her to follow him. He went downstairs.

Golden rolled off the bed. She followed the stallion. She found him with his saddlebag on waiting by the door. "Why did you wake me up?" The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Because we need to look for supplies. We have enough food for a few days but we need more. Don't bother getting your things. I hid them so that no pony steals it while we are gone. How are you not dead already? You sleep like a rock. If I was a bandit then I could have easily killed you."

Golden needed this pony but didn't think he needed to be rude. "Don't be so mean. I told you I wasn't ready to survive on my own. Dad always made sure I had everything I needed." She looked a little down remembering her family. It was easy yesterday because she was in shock but now she felt lonely and Cutter was no comfort.

"Apparently he didn't give you all you need or you would know how to survive." Golden wouldn't let him talk about the dead that way. "Don't you say anything about my father. He was a great stallion. He loved and cared for me, he always made me feel safe." Golden had brought back memories that she now realized would never happen again. She began to cry quietly.

Cutter noticed this. He went to the mare. He rubbed her shoulder. "I am sorry. I am sure your dad was a great stallion, but we need to get moving. He wouldn't want you to starve." Golden stopped her crying. "You are right. Where are we going?" Cutter left the building with Golden behind him. "I don't have a specific place to look but we need to search the homes around here." Golden wondered why search the homes. "Why not look at a grocery store or something like that?" Cutter had thought that few times, but it always ended being harder than expected. "Stores would be a great idea if you want to die. They are a last resort. Most of the time bandits guard them for the supplies and future supplies of dumb ponies who wonder in. To put it simply it is a death trap."

Golden hadn't thought about other ponies. "What do we do if we run into other ponies?" Cutter stopped. "We have a few options. If we need something we can trade with the right ponies. Most ponies we will need to avoid. there is a few ponies that will try to steal what we have , those ponies we will try to avoid but if it comes to it then we will kill them."

Golden had never killed a pony. "Kill them? I can't kill a pony. It is wrong to kill another pony."

"It is wrong to kill ponies? No it isn't. It is wrong to kill good ponies. If I didn't kill ponies than you would either be dead or a sex slave. Do you want that?" Golden lost her will to fight. "No. I don't want that." Edge pushed his hoof to her. "Then you will do as I say. If I tell you to kill then you better kill." He continued to walk.

They found house marked with a red X again. Cutter tried the door. It opened. "Perfect." He proceeded inside. Golden wasn't sure if to come in or not. "Doesn't the red X mean that ponies are sick in here?" Cutter answered in a hushed voice. "Quiet. Yes it meant that they were sick. Every pony that caught the virus has died by now."

Golden did as he said and talked low. "Can't we catch it from their stuff though?" Cutter began to check the home for ponies. "No. The virus couldn't last long without a host. It is safe to be here. Now check for ponies. We don't know if any pony is here." The two checked every room in the home. No sign of any pony. They then searched for supplies. They found a lot of food but not much else. Cutter found metal that he could use but that was all.

Golden did a second sweep. She could smell mildew and her body ached from her beating yesterday. 'What is that smell? It isn't mildew it smells like… I don't know, but it is horrible.' She dragged her hooves on the rug. She felt something bump her hoof. "What the…" She lifted the rug. There was a hatch on the floor. "Hey Cutter. I found something." Cutter walked into the room. "What did you find?"

"It is a hatch to a basement I think." The door came into Cutter's view. He opened it up. A wretched smell hit the pair like a wall. Golden had never smelled something so rancid. "What is that smell?" Cutter knew the smell. "That is the smell of death." Golden didn't understand. "What do you mean?" Cutter got close enough to look down. "That is what a corpse smells like while it decays. I am going down there." Golden looked at the crazy unicorn. "What? Why do you want to go down there?" Cutter began descending the ladder. "Because there might be supplies. Why else?"

Edge's hoof hit the floor. He hopped off the ladder. It was dark and he couldn't see far. He used an illumination spell. The room lit up. Dust floated in the air. Cutter could finally see where the smell was coming from. Meat laid on counters along with blood splattered everywhere. Bones laid in the corners of the room. A pyramid of pony skulls lines the back wall. "Aw shit." Cutter heard a scream come from above. He rushed up the ladder. When stood in the room he saw Golden being held hostage by a earth pony. He had her on her hind legs with a blade up to her throat. Each of his fore hooves had straps with the blades attached.

Golden tried to explain what happened. "She snuck up behind m-" The earth pony smacked her with his hoof and quickly put it back to keep control. "Shut up!" The Earth pony looked a Cutter. "You! You will tell me why you are in my home or I will slit this slut's throat." The earth pony licked Golden's neck. Golden cringed and had tears in her eyes. She had no clue what to do. Luckily Edge did. "How about you release her and we leave peacefully."

"No! you will leave and then I will let her go. If you don't do as I say then I will kill her."

Cutter drew his sword. "Go ahead. Kill her." Both the ponies had questioned looks. 'If you kill her then I will kill you and you lose. This mare means little to me. I have only known her for a day. I will lose nothing. Hell! I will actually gain from having her food and not having to feed her."

The crazed pony didn't know what to do. She couldn't take on the stallion with no leverage. "I will let her go if you don't harm me." Cutter held his fighting stance. "Deal." The earth pony released Golden Eye. "Now keep your end of the bargain." Cutter waved his sword in the air. "I don't think so." He swung his sword at the pony's neck slicing a huge chunk out of her neck. The pony's eyes went wide as she covered her neck. Cutter brought back the sword and plunged it into the choking pony's head stopping her dead in her tracks. She fell over onto the floor.

Golden scuttled away. "Why did you do that!? She was going to let us leave." Cutter sheathed his sword. "No she wouldn't have. As soon as we turned our back she would have tried to kill me and then you." Golden remembered that Cutter had told the earth pony to kill her. "Why the fuck did you tell her to kill me!" Cutter was getting tired of Golden's dumb question. "Because she wouldn't do it. She would have no leverage and die by my hoof." Golden wasn't satisfied. "And what if she had gone though with it?" Cutter wasn't going to lie. "Then I would have killed her and kept your stuff for myself. It was your fault that you got into this situation. If you hadn't let her sneak up on you then you wouldn't have nearly died."

Golden sat on the floor staring at him. Cutter didn't care what she thought. "Get what you can. We are leaving as soon as I get the rest of the stuff." Golden did as he told and gathered the supplies she found. Cutter went back to the basement and after a few minutes returned. Golden could tell that he had put some stuff in his saddle bag. He grabbed the blade off of the dead pony. The two left with their stuff. Golden and Edge sat down to eat before laying down for the night. Golden was curious. "What did you find in the basement." Cutter answered calmly. "Just some dead ponies and knives." Golden was shocked. "Dead ponies?!"

Cutter continued eating his food. "Yeah. That mare must have been chopping up ponies. She might have even been eating them too." Golden had never heard of this. "Eating them? But that is so wrong!" Cutter shrugged it off. "What makes it worse is that we can't even digest meat. The cannibals throw it up after they eat it." Golden felt like she was going to hurl. "Why do you think she was eating them?"

"Well she was chopping them up for certain and I think I saw bite marks in the chopped pieces. I would dismiss it but I have found communities that had sacrifices they ate. Most of the time it was outsiders. I found out because I walked into one. They were really nice. They offered me food and shelter. The way I found out was when I was suppose to be sleeping, I overheard then talking about it. I high tailed it out of there as soon as I could. I killed one on the way out. Serves the bastard right." Cutter finished his meal. "Well goodnight."

He went upstairs leaving Golden alone with her thoughts. 'Damn it! I have nearly died two days in a row. Will he kick me out if I don't straighten up? I can't risk it. I have to do better. I have to make myself useful.'

A/N: That is the second chapter. Hope you enjoyed.