Angel in the Apocalypse

22

I went with Maggie to the shed so we could saddle up the horses. There were three horses in the barn, but Maggie was only saddling two.

"You ever rode one before?" Maggie asked me.

"Only once and Rick was controlling it," I told her.

I went to walk over to the last horse, but Maggie stopped me.

"Oh, you don't want to take her. That's Nelly. As in nervous nelly." Maggie explained. "It's like she's afraid of everything. She doesn't like new faces, sometimes she doesn't like familiar faces."

The horse neighed and threw its head back as if to agree with Maggie.

"It'll only take one spook and she'll be running away faster than you'd ever imagine," Maggie said.

Ignoring her warning, I walked closer to the cowardly horse. Nelly began to rear her head and stomp her hooves, not liking that I was approaching her.

"Woah. Easy." I said with my hand stuck out.

I slowed my walking and allowed the horse to feel my grace. The second Nelly realized that I would never be a danger to her, she calmed down. She put her nose to my hand, allowing me to pet her. Maggie stood in complete disbelief.

"How did- you just... you just calmed Nelly down. No one's ever been able to do that." Maggie said.

She tried to approach the horse with the saddle, but Nelly began to get uncomfortable again.

"It seems that she only likes you."

With that, Maggie handed me the saddle and had to give me step by step instructions on how to properly saddle a horse. While saddling the horse, Maggie decided to start up a conversation.

"You always been able to calm down animals?" Maggie asked.

"I suppose so," I answered while securing the saddle onto the horse. "It is a common trait shared between my siblings and I."

Before Maggie could say anything else, we heard a commotion outside. We walked over to some of the group, who were looking down in the well.

"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." We heard Lori say.

"We got to get it out," Shane said.

Maggie and I shared a confused look.

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head. I'll get a rope." T-Dog planned.

At that statement, Maggie and I both figured out that they had been talking about a Walker. Apparently, one had managed to fall into one of the Greene's wells.

"Whoa whoa! Guys, no." Maggie protested.

"Why not? It's a good plan." Glenn told her.

"It's a stupid plan." Andrea countered. "If that thing hasn't contaminated the water, blowing its brains out will finish the job."

"She's right," Shane confirmed. "Can't risk it."

Andrea said something smart? That's new.

"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asked, bewildered.

"So to speak," Shane said.

"And how are we going to manage that?" I asked.

Everyone in our group all looked at Glenn. It was not long after that, that Glenn found himself being secured with a rope. He looked uneasy about the turn of events.

"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut? You have a nice shaped head." Glenn said, trying to flatter Shane.

"Don't worry about it, bud. We're gonna get you out of here in one piece." Shane promised.