Wild Desperation

Chapter 10

Adrenaline. The body's way of preparing to take flight or fight, a heart pounding rush to the system that I had learned to use at my advantage, like now. I was currently taking refuge in one of the buildings I had rigged for trapping anyone in hot pursuit of my life. How did I get here you may be wondering? Well I may have shot a buddy of a fool for grabbing me and revealing my gender, it had only been a flesh wound but the idiots buddies decided to exact revenge and gave chase of me when I ran, so yeah I had ducked into one of my designated safe zones.

 I had various buildings rigged as my safe zones throughout town for occasions like this one, many had proved useful in the past year of slinking about this horrid town. I honestly didn't know why the idiots that lived in the town decided to patrol it considering how many non-residents I had come across, like the ones that were now trying to catch, rape or kill me at the moment, maybe even all of the above and I was not about to let any such things happen. 

I checked my little security cam to see how close they were outside and silently was pleased at how easily they had been led to my trap. "One dummy, two dummies, three dummies, four, which of the dummies will make it through that door." I hummed to myself as I slunk away from the door they were going to enter, knowing the moment the door set off the trip wire lives would be lost and I wasn't going to be one of them. I just wanted to be left alone in peace from all the crazy men in this horrid place, so that I could find the stupid thing my father said he left me, and after a year of searching I was starting to think the old man had been more than a little wacky in the head.

 I had searched the rubble building, the mall, the houses scattered about, the store, the pharmacy and pretty much every single building other than the one where all the towns fools lived. I had learned of their base after following one of their patrols, I now knew their habits and how and when to avoid them. I could sometimes just pass through the open when in my little wig and baggy clothing disguise but other times like now that didn't always work. I slid out the back window, my feet hitting the ground just as the front of the building exploded with a loud BOOM, I didn't even flinch at the thought of the men's deaths, they had only been few of many lives I'd had to take and I knew that there would always be more.

 We were all living in these desperate times, and the men I came across seemed all desperate to capture me, as I was desperate to never be caught and in that desperation I did what was needed to survive even if others had to die. I had learned a lot from the books in my little library and had used the knowledge to do various things, one of which was set traps in my safe zone buildings, but there were many more that I had memorized as well. 

I strung another arrow into my bow as I made my way back to where I had been heading in the first place, I whistled a soft tune and smiled as I saw the large black beauty come trotting up with a soft greeting of his own. "Hey my handsome devil, you behaving yourself?" I called softly as I scratched the side of the black stallions neck. I had come across his herd of horses after a few months of hanging around town, he had been fighting another stallion over a few mares and foals. I watched him lose his battle and get chased off only to follow him myself, luckily he didn't kill me or Arrow in our first encounter. 

 I had read up on horses from some library books to get an idea of what I was doing, then it was all just trial and error. I ended up taming him though and eventually after a lot of hard work and a few intimate meetings with the dirt and my behind I had learned to ride him. I had even made a hackamore bridle for him out of some rope, meaning I could control this giant gorgeous stallion without a metal bit in his mouth. It had taken me a while to get him to come when I called and it seemed to help when he learned my whistle for him, but he would occasionally come to the call of his name.