Chapter 29: The Useful and the Useless

Already inside the place, Jack hit the wooden door with his healthy hand to make his presence known. The only thing that seemed out of place was Ray, the stallion, laying on the floor in the middle of the stable, between the two rows of stalls. Ellie and the Danny, both seated on the floor next to the animal, were focusing their attention on the wounded horse.

"No greetings for wounded Jack?"

He walked towards them, the horse had bandages covering his left hind leg, his broken leg, but what was really astonishing was the hole on the back of his head.

"Hi, wounded Jack" Ellie responded, keeping her eyes on the horse.

Danny stood up and they shook hands. As usual, Jack felt somewhat intimidated by his towering figure, but he forgot about that feeling as soon as he started talking with his soft, calm voice. "Good morning Jack, nice to see you"

"Same"

"Good kid. C'mon, join us"

Danny went back to his original position besides Ellie.

"Later, maybe" he walked towards one of the stalls at his right, a little sign nailed next to one of the improvised doors readed 'Callus the Second' "May I?"

"Of course, you're his first rider after all"

He opened the door, the familiar horse stared at him, with his ears foward, while Jack closed the door behind him. Callus greeted him by nickering and moving a few feer closer. Unlike the first time they met, he seemed calm. "Hi buddy" he scratched the horse's nose with his healthy hand. Callus offered little to no resistance. "How's Danny treating you?" The horse remained silent, Danny taught him to identify the signals of disconfort or annoyance, Callus didn't seem to find his contact discomforting "getting used to this place?"

Just 4 months ago, Callus was a wild animal. Now, he was one of the best horses in Jackson. Danny was extremely proud of himself for achieving this transformation in such a short time.

"You turned out to be a good guy in spite of everything" he said "you found yourself in a new world you didn't know existed. But you adapted, and turned into the most badass horse in the land" he moved his hand to his neck, scratching it gently. Callus's ears poited toward the sides "you like that?" He remembered the first time he tried to pet him. Danny had one of his rare outbursts 'No! don't slap him, no one likes to be slaped on the neck! Scratch him, dammit!' Fortunately for everyone's mood, Danny's bad temper only showed on rare occasions.

The door behind them slowly opened, Callus raised his head, got away from Jack and released a loud snort, staring at the entrance of the stall. Jack rushed towards him "Don't worry, Callus. It's Ellie. Ellie's a friend. Please calm down" Danny told him horses have a particularly sensitive spot on the back of their ears, so he scratched that spot. It worked, Callus calmed down.

Jack turned his head and looked back at Ellie "you could've knocked, you know"

"Sorry" she said, slowly walking towards the horse with her hands in the air. When she placed her left hand on the horse, Callus accepted it without resistance. "Still getting nervous around people, I see"

"Maybe he just doesn't like you"

"That's ridiculous. See? He loves me" she scratched the back of his ear as well. Callus seemed to like it. "By the way, what you just said to him, that was cute"

"What?"

"People can still perfectly hear you on the other side of that door, you know"

"Oh... yeah, sure" Jack didn't know. He felt his blood rushing upwards to his face. With his pale skin, he was probably looking like a tomato.

He heard Ellie's chuckles coming from the other side of the horse. "C'mon, we should leave this big guy alone"

The boy started following her to the door. "Take care" he said when passing in front of Callus. The animal snorted, he seemed to dislike the fact he was leaving. "Sorry" Jack said before closing the door behind him.

Danny was still next to the wounded Ray, checking on the hole on his head.

"He'll make it?" Jack asked.

"I'm positive" Seeing one of his beloved horses in the conditions he was in was very upsetting for him. Ray had been presenting some worrying symptoms, Danny seemed to think he may be suffering brain damage, but it was impossible to know if it was permanent. "Let's not draw any..."

Someone knocked the front door, interrupting him mid-sentence "Danny, it's Tommy" Joel's younger brother voice reached them from the other side.

"Oh, god" Danny murmured, his face adopting a fearful expression. He gave one look at the horse, Ray was laying on his side, no sign of movement other than his breathing. "Come in" he said .

Tommy opened the door and got into the stable, Jack deduced almost immediately he didn't get any sleep last night, he was clearly exhausted, grey circles were showing under his red eyes. He was also dragging his feet a little bit.

He walked towards Danny, but focused his attention on the two teenegers behind him. He didn't wish them a good morning as Jack expected "When I finish my business here, I'll need to talk with you two".

"Your business?" Danny seemed increasingly nervous.

"Don't pretend to not know why I'm here, we already discussed this"

"B-b-but it's too soon, Ray will get better any day now, I promise"

Jack suddently understood where was the conversation going. He felt the urge to intervene, but he knew Tommy's mind was already made. He looked at the horse on the floor, the way he was aimlessly staring at the ceiling sent a wave of impotence through his body. He could see Ellie was having the same struggle, the only difference being that she would most likely act upon her instinct to protect the animal.

"The thing is" Tommy seemed troubled as well, this was clearly no easy decision "supply runs are on hiatus, hunting trips are also on hiatus. And we can't afford to waste anything on a useless animal, doesn't matter how small the cost may seem"

"Just give him a week, that's all I'm asking for" Danny was almost begging him.

Tommy stared at him with the most piercing look his tired eyes could achieve. "I'll give you a choice, then" he crossed his arms "Either we put him down today or we don't put him down at all"

It seemed like an easy choice at first, but the more Jack thought about it, the more he understood Tommy's position. What if Ray never gets better? What if he was never coming back to be the horse he was before? What if they waste precious resources and time taking care of him for nothing? Was it worth the risk? The only thing they knew for sure was that the horse was useless now, and there was no reason to believe things were going to change.

Danny seemed to understand this as well.

"So?" Tommy urged him to answer. "We don't have all day to..."

"Okay..." Danny looked back towards the horse one last time "You... you're right, it's the reasonable thing to do" he sounded a little bit more confident than before.

"Danny, what the fuck..." Ellie tried to approach the big guy on the other side of the horse, but Jack grabbed the back of her shirt with his unharmed hand and pulled her back to where she was standing a moment ago, taking her by surprise.

"Be reasonable" he whispered in her ear, hoping that would be enough to calm her down. He let go of her.

"This is bullshit" she angrily muttered, crossing her arms and looking down at the disabled animal.

"Okay, then" Tommy continued a moment later, relieved he didn't have to take care of an angry and stubborn girl. "Come in" he said to the door. The front door opened and 4 people Jack didn't know came in.

"So... it's settled?" The guy leading that small group asked Tommy.

"Settled" Tommy pointed towards the horse "he's unpredictable, so be careful"

The stranger nodded and the four men approached the horse. "Sorry for this, Danny" one of them said to him.

They bound Ray's front legs together with a rope and tied a second rope around his chest, paying attention to any movement coming from the animal. "Okay, let's take him outside" Tommy ordered. Using the ropes, the four men managed to move the horse, dragging him across the floor. Ray didn't seemed scared or angry, instead he raised his head to take a better look of the people pulling him to the entrance, apparently confused.

"I'll make it as quickly as possible" Tommy told Danny once the group of men dissapeared behind the door with the horse. He promptly followed them.

"Please, wait here" Danny said without trying to hide his distress. He followed Tommy outside, leaving Jack and Ellie alone.

The girl walked towards the nearest stalls and rested her back on a wooden beam between two doors. She sat down on that spot, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them.

"You're okay?" Jack asked. He didn't sat down like Ellie, instead he walked around the place, anxiously waiting for the imminent gunshot.

"Sure" the tone of her voice did not express anything positive. Jack felt like an idiot for asking, of course she wasn't okay.

"I'm... I'm sorry. You know, before..."

"Don't worry about that... stopping me was probably the right thing to do" she raised her head and looked at him "it was a lost cause" her head fell again on her knees. She was focusing her attention on the floor, keeping a blank expression on her face.

A moment later, the sound of a gunshot reached them. It wasn't as loud as Jack expected it to be, but it still made him jump. Ellie didn't react at all, but she took a big breath once it was over. Ray was dead.

None of them broke the silence as they waited for Danny's return. It took almost a minute for him to come back. He got inside without closing the door behind him. "Tommy's waiting for you two outside" he said, on the verge of tears.

Leaving him alone was probably the best thing they could do. He needed privacy.

"Ellie" Jack called for her, already standing in front of the open door, facing outside. From there he could distinguish Tommy's figure, seated at a nearby porch, waiting for them.

There was no response from the girl. He turned around to face the interior once again. Danny was already gone, apparently he was now in what used to be Ray's stall, but Ellie was seated on the same spot than before. Apparently she didn't hear him. "Ellie!"

"Mm?" She responded, absentminded. "What?" This time paying more attention to him.

"Tommy... Outside"

"Oh, yeah. Sure" She stood up and made her way towards him.

"You sure you're okay?" Jack asked, a little bit concerned for her.

"Why I wouldn't be?" Stupid answer to a stupid question. 'Of course she is not okay' he reminded himself once again.

The boy decided it was better to stop questioning her mood. It wouldn't be productive for anyone. "C'mon, Tommy's waiting".

Both of them came out of the building and walked towards the porch of the nearby house where Tommy was waiting. Ray's body and the group of strangers were nowhere to be seen. Joel's brother raised his head as they aproached him. Jack had never seem him so tired before.

"Where's he?" Ellie asked before Tommy could speak.

Jack knew that was a question she didn't want answered. Knowing how Tommy worked, Ray was probably in his way to a Freezer.

"Where the corpse is isn't important. The horse is dead, Ellie" Tommy said with a raspy voice.

To avoid any sort of escalation, Jack spoke up before Ellie could reply "So why you wanted to see us?" This has been a sucky morning, and the only thing he wanted to do now was to go back to the house, lie on the couch, and remain like that for the rest of his life. A thought he found very attractive.

"I'll be direct. I want you two on watchtower number 2. First shift tonight"

"But Joel said..." Ellie said before being interrupted by Tommy.

"I don't care about what Joel says, he doesn't call the shots here. I'm in a tough position, and I can't afford to waste a helpful hand. You help or not?" Tommy knew she wanted to help as much as possible, she have been wanting a shift on the watchtower for a long time. But Joel's position on the subject troubled her.

"So?" Tommy urged her.

"Okay..." she doubted for a second "okay, I'll be there"

"Good" he seemed satisfied by her answer "Jack, instead of having the morning shift tomorrow, you'll have the first afternoon shift, okay?" The boy nodded "Ellie, you go with Jack, his schedule is your schedule, understood?" The girl nodded.

Tommy stood up "okay then, if you excuse me, I have a lot to do" he walked down the stairs of the porch.

"You should rest" Jack said when Tommy started walking through the street.

"No time" Tommy answered as he walked away from them towards his next assignment.

Jack and Ellie watched him dissapear behind a corner "let's go back to the house" Ellie said with the same sad tone she've been using lately.

"Sucky morning" Jack stated once they where on their way.

"Sucky morning" Ellie agreed.