"Portland." Emma grinned as they passed a sign that told them they were only a few miles away. She was beaming and Fox couldn't help but smile at her.
The smiles disappeared when a man on horseback jumped onto the road a few yards ahead of them. Both women pulled their horses and mule to a halt. They stood there, staring at him. He didn't move. He just stood there.
Fox tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. She looked back and saw two more men on horseback coming up behind them. "Emma." She said.
The blonde turned, "We need to get out of here."
"This way." They both yelled at the same time. Fox sent the mule forward and disappeared into the forest while Emma pushed her buckskin towards the man on horseback. It took her a few moments to realize Fox had not followed her. Emma and the buckskin blasted past him with the draft close behind. His horse reared up and nearly threw him as his associates ran towards him. He was able to regain control and chased after Emma alongside the other two.
The two men and their horses caught up to the draft quickly. They slipped two ropes around her neck and pulled her to a stop. She bucked and reared and fought them to the best of her ability while the other man continued his chase. He caught up to Emma quickly and grabbed ahold of her jacket. Their horses became in sync with each other as they drove forward over the road. Emma tried to pull herself out of his grasp, but he tightened his hold and nearly dragged her off the buckskin. It was all she could do to remain atop her horse.
The two ran like that for several minutes until Fox and the mule leapt over the bushes and back onto the road. The mule was flying like a bat out of hell. Fox kept giving him quick, light whips with the ends of the reins. He just kept going faster and faster. Emma was too busy trying to stay on her buckskin to take notice of them. The man had a solid grip on her arm now and was continuing his attempts to drag her off her horse.
Fox stopped her whips as the mule continued to gain speed. As they began to catch up with the two horses, she pulled out her handgun. Once the man's horse was in line with her mule she gave the mule a quick kick and he jumped into gear. They pulled ahead until Fox was parallel with the man's horse she reached her hand out and put the gun in line with the horse's head.
A loud shot fired and everything slowed. The horse's motor functions stopped. Its front legs crumbled. Emma's attacker immediately let go of her. His first reaction was to pull the horse's head up. If the horse had merely stumbled, it would have helped, but there was no life left in the horse to regain its footing. His brain hadn't processed the gunshot until it was too late to jump ship. Both human and horse hit the ground and rolled, pinning the man under his horse.
Emma and Fox flew ahead of him as time caught up. Fox pulled her mule to a halt and turned him around.
"Thank you." Emma called over her shoulder.
"You're welcome." Fox grinned, "Gotta keep my wolf around." The mule and she started to trot back to the dead horse, when Emma and her buckskin jogged in front of them.
"What are you doing? We need to get out of here. That shoot'll attract zombies."
"I just shot a horse point blank while riding at least twenty miles an hour. I'm collecting my prize." The mule cantered up to the dead horse. She dismounted and walked around to where the man was trying to crawl out from under his horse. Fox grinned. She pulled a knife from her pocket and crouched a few feet in front of him as he struggled. "What'cha doin' down there?" She laughed as Emma rode up a yard from them.
"Please! Help me!" He cried and continued to struggle, "I can't feel my legs."
"Yeah," Fox teased, "that's probably because you've broken your back."
"Please, help me. Don't leave me for the monsters."
Fox laughed at him, "Why would I help you? To be honest, I'd like see how long you last before you pass out or die."
"Fox!" Emma hissed, "Stop it."
The dirty blonde look up at her before her eyes settled on the struggling man. She stood and walked up to him. She grabbed ahold of a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back. "Those things aren't the monsters." She whispered to him, "People like you and me are. People who survive and live. They are the monsters." She grinned to herself, "I'm the monster."
Before he could say anything, she pressed the knife to his throat and sliced it open. Both Emma and the buckskin jumped. He reared up and spun on his hooves when she let out a sharp gasp. Fox stood up, covered in blood and walked around to the mule, who hadn't moved a muscle and grabbed a rope and a small tarp that had been rolled up over her moose pelt. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"
Emma stared at her. Her jaw was open and her eyes wide.
"Do you want fresh meat or not?"
Emma continued to stare before murmuring, "We aren't eating him."
"I'm talking about the horse." She tied two ropes around the horse's four legs before laying out the tarp. "If you could tie this to Bucky and I'll tie my end to Wade."
Emma stared at her for another moment before nodding and taking her end of the rope. They rolled the horse over onto the tarp with the rope and Wade and Bucky. Fox untied the legs and tied the rope ends to the edges of the tarp.
"You said before that I was a wolf." Emma started as Fox climbed onto the back of Wade, "You were right. I'm the wolf. You're the fox."
"I thought we'd already figured this out?" Fox said with a grin.
"Yeah. Fox survive. They're smart and calculative and self-reliant."
Right." Fox smiled, "Wolves survive through others. They are reliant on each other to survive." She stared into Emma's green eyes.
The two women stared at each other for a long moment before Fox smiled, "Let's make camp. I'll have this horse skinned an' tanned in no time. Then you don't have to use that sleeping bag anymore."
"What sleeping bag? The other guys have all of our stuff. What are we going to do about our supplies?"
Fox shrugged, "Can't win every battle. We'll just have to find new ones."
They trotted off into the woods, dragging a dead horse behind them.