I kick the horse hard in the sides and begin to ride towards the screams, Delphine waking up as the horse speeds towards the noise. I want to ride straight in and help the people, but Delphine breaks the bandages, grabs onto the horse's mane, and yanks. He snickers, rears, and kicks the air with his front legs. When he returns to all fours he shakes his head and whinnies, obviously upset about Delphine yanking chunks of his hair out. Delphine dismounts, yanks me off the horse (she also catches me and stands me up), and uses a dusty rope (where did she find that?) to tie the horse in place. Then, she motions for me to get down and follow her. I fall to the ground and crawl after her, careful not to get dust in my eyes. We crawl onto a small dune and look down the hill, a monstrous scene unfolding before us. Five people are being scanned by three soldiers (I know they're soldiers from their uniforms), but one person is on the ground screaming. It's obvious why, blood is pooling around him. He obviously fought the soldiers scanning him, and now he's paying the price. A slow death while his friends watch. I draw my shotgun from my back, but stop when Delphine places her hand over mine and shakes her head. I put the gun back. Probably for the best, I'd just get shot for my efforts. So, Delphine and I are forced to watch the scene play out.

The soldiers scan the citizens, shoot two of them, and drag the surviving citizens away. When the soldiers are gone we grab the horse and go down to the bodies, examining them for loot. We find a few rounds of 9mm ammunition, five cans of fruit, and a good hunting knife. Delphine gives me the knife and three cans of fruit, keeping the rest for herself. When the loot is divided we look at their clothes, and mix up our outfits. Delphine grabs a pair of gloves, changes her pants (hers are slightly torn), and changes her worn socks (she snatches the other pair when I tell her mine are fine). I change into some good shoes, grab a hat to protect my head from the sun, and take the woman's bra. When we're certain they're free of loot we remount our horse and ride away, making sure to remain silent. As we ride I ask her, "Why did they kill them? I didn't see a bite mark anywhere on their body.". My elder shrugs and says, "I'll never understand why people do anything, just accept that those people's deaths help us. We have a little more food, some more bullets, and better clothes.". I nod and tell her, "You can go back to sleep.". The woman shakes her head and tells me, "I'm too awake.". I nod again and ask her, "Where do you think those soldiers came from?". Delphine simply answers, "It doesn't matter, don't worry about it.". I try to take her advice, but it doesn't help ease my guilt at standing by and watching those people die.

Delphine POV:

We're at the Texas Oklahoma border when we stop, the horse near dead. Last night we thought we heard the soldiers, and we saw lights in the distance. We had no choice but to push the horse as hard as we could, the beast never stopping or getting rest. I think we lost the soldiers a while ago, but I don't want to take any chances. Once we cross the border the soldiers will lose interest, they only care about what goes on in Texas. When we're rested I want to go to Oklahoma City, but I know we won't be ready to go for a while. The horse looks ready to fall over and die, I feel like shit, and the teenager has bruise like bags under her eyes. I tried to get her to switch positions with me, but she refused. I dismount, catch the girl, drop her to the ground, and start sitting up for an extended stay. The shelter I form is crude, but it'll protect us from unwanted attention. It looks natural (it's a few piles of natural rubble hiding a dip in the ground), and is big enough to hide two people comfortably. Our horse will have to stay outside, but he has a bad temper and will kick anyone who isn't me (the teenager nearly lost her head when she walked by him). So, we aren't in danger of being sneak attacked. Zombies wouldn't survive in the middle of nowhere (no food), bandits won't come out this way, and soldiers wouldn't think to look here.

I make a fire, roast a bit of that armadillo meat, and take my canteen from my hip. I take a swig of the dwindling liquid, pass it to the younger woman, and put it back on my hip when she returns it. Only a few more gulps are in the canteen. We need water. Badly. It's looked about ready to rain since we looted the shot citizens, which is what scares me. A little rain can be wonderful, but a downpour could be our demise. It would get the horse sick, soak through our clothes, and rejuvenate zombies. The bastards seem to thrive in wet environments, hence why Florida is overrun with the living dead. I can only hope the rain is light or at least doesn't come at all. I take the armadillo meat, divide it, and kick dirt over the fire. Night is falling, and fire would give away our position. When we've eaten a dinner of gamy armadillo and disgusting fruit we go to bed, both of us curled away from one another. Maybe an hour later I feel the first drop of rain, and a few seconds later the second. I grumble, rise, and sit my opened canteen outside. The canteen is cube like, so it'll stand on its own and collect water. I elbow the teenager and ask her if she has a canteen. When she hands me the bone dry canteen I place it beside mine. Every drop helps. I close my eyes and easily fall asleep, gaining a well deserved rest.

I slowly wake up, a throbbing in my head. I rub my skull as I stand, examining our soaked horse. He's panting and barely standing, but he'll live. Hopefully. It'd be a shame to lose a treasure as valuable as a horse. The teenager is awake, sitting by the embers of our fire. I sit beside her and open my last can of fruit, the peaches and apples tasting like sawdust. I choke down my breakfast, retrieve my canteen, and take a few gulps. My stomach grumbles in anger at its breakfast, but I ignore it and take the teenager's canteen to her. She thanks me and takes a drink, her shoulder slumping. I give her a light kick, collapse beside her, and tell the girl, "Cheer up, we're done with Texas! Oklahoma is going to be ten times better, just you wait. Labor omnia vincit.". She throws me an odd look and says, "Were people crazy before the zombies or are you just a special case?". I can tell from her tone that she's joking (she doesn't sound happy, but at least she has the energy to poke fun at me), so I elbow her and tell her, "I'm just naturally crazy. Trust me, one day I'll teach you what labor omnia vincit means. And, I'll teach you a lot of things the government has shielded you from. World War One, World War Two, the Civil War, The Cuban Missile Crisis, the War in Afghanistan, the Gaza Wars.". She asks me, "How many wars were there?". I shrug and tell her, "Too damned many.". She throws a rock near her and says, "Seems like the zombies deserve to have this place.".

I turn towards the woman and say, "Okay, something's up. I've only known you for a little while, but I know this isn't like you. What's wrong?". She looks at the ground and answers, "We sat by and watched those people die. We're no better than the soldiers that shot them.". I crouch beside her, lay my hand on her shoulder, and tell her, "Those people knew that they might die when they left their city, but they did it. And you know what, it's better to die free than live trapped. If we had revealed ourselves, then we'd just be rotting corpses beside them. Or worse, we would have been drug back to the city and been forced to live like cattle. We might not have done the right thing, but we did the smart thing. Don't gnaw on it like a dog chewing on a old bone, nothing will change what we've done. Accept it, and move on. Live your life for those who can't.". She keeps looking at the ground, but nods. I'm not sure if what I said truly helps her. I hope it did. She rises when I stand up, and we make our way over to the horse. As we climb onto him I tell her, "We'll only go a few miles today, so the horse doesn't die and we still feel like we accomplished something.". She doesn't answer or nod, but I go ahead and assume she understands. I kick the horse in the side, our faithful steed flying into Oklahoma.

Survivor POV:

Delphine slowly guides the horse into the new state, the beast below us panting. The world around us slowly forms into a forest. Good, we might have better luck surviving here. We're only a mile or two into the woods when we stop, our horse about to collapse. Delphine gets off and catches me, then places me on the ground. I look around, but find nothing of interest. We set up camp early, but don't go to bed until late at night. I try to go to sleep, but the cold winds are keeping me up. The Texas sun was scorching, but this area of Oklahoma is a lot cooler. Within an hour I'm shivering, and roll closer to Delphine. The woman moves away from me, but I crawl closer. The pattern keeps going until Delphine comes face to face with a tree, and resigns herself to her fate. I curl up next to the woman, our body heat and my fat the only thing keeping me warm. After a little bit my teeth stop chattering and I'm able to go to sleep, Delphine right beside me.

Note: As some of you might know, I write two stories at a time. My other story (The Queen and Her Cat) is done, and I want to write another story. Last time I gave my readers the chance to vote on which one I would do next (choices were in chapter 2). But now there's a problem. There's a tie. I might end up writing both, but one's going to have to come before the other. So, here are the two choices. Fell free to review or message me your vote.

Maven Black-Briar/Female Dragonborn, Suspense/Romance. Maven is looking for any chance she can get to claw her way up in the political world, and getting in good with the queen's lapdog is the perfect way. All she needs to do is make the woman fall for her, but everything might not go as planned. Ending is up in the air.

Serana/Female Dragonborn (Vampire), Romance/Suspense. After Harkon died everything was suppose to be fine, but that's not the case. The Dawnguard is hounding the vampires, the court is ripping itself apart, and the vampire finds herself an incapable leader. Serana can help her, but first she has to get the vampire to trust her. This ending is currently in the air.