At the End (Ciara and Silence)

Chad had to make a visit to the store to see if he could find a backpack to put everything in. Eventually he did find one though it was covered with Captain America and the Avengers. "Haha look at what I found." Rolling his eyes he started toward Raylie and joined her at the house to pack it with food and anything that they could travel with. He was more fond of the idea of carrying the jerky and light things that would actually hold a greater nutritional value. Besides that he had a few cans of tuna and some vegetables.

Seemed that the further they got from the city the easier it was to walk without randomly sinking into debris. Raylie had ears like a woman for sure. She was starting to pull on his hand and he shook his head. "Nope." Then again his hearing never was that great. Dragging behind her he let the woman lead the way toward whatever it was she heard.

Oddly enough there was a person and they were checking cars too. Chad didn't see any outward reason that this vehicle shouldn't run. He was a mechanic and maybe with some work he could get it running. "Yeah it looks like it." A little grin came to his face. There was a tiny bit of hope yet. Standing next to the girl Chad cringed as she yelled her greeting. It did not get the desired effect. Instead the man seemed to go crazy and he chased after them. Who's to say that he didn't have a stash that he thought he would have to protect. "I know!" Yelling back at Raylie he tried to get his hand out of of hers. He would have better balance if she wasn't holding on.

The backpack would have flopped from side to side except that it was already too tight on him. Finally pulling his hand free Chad raced almost blindly forward until they reached a wall. He knew this place. Grabbing Raylie he hoisted her up by her waist so that she could crawl over and then jumped to get himself up on the ledge as well. "Hurry up Raylie." Her trying to help was just her getting in the way at this point. Swinging on leg up onto the wall he was about on it when he felt the man jerk on the backpack. Chad fell back onto the man.

Raising a large wrench the man aimed for Chad's head. Chad threw an arm up instinctively to protect himself. A loud crack sounded as the metal made contact. Chad rolled out of the way and started running again. He wasn't really prepared for this kind of fight and he was pretty sure that the guy just busted his arm. Every jarring step only made the arm throb a little more.

It seemed that he would outrun the guy when he felt a chunk of wood hit him in the back of the legs. Arms going out Chad tripped and tumbled in the dirt till he hit a chunk of cement. Sliding the backpack off he held it in the one good arm and decided to stand his ground. As the man approached he waited though he checked his surrounding several times. If he could get enough time between things he might make a run for it and get away. The man ran toward him again with the wrench in hand and this time Chad brought his backpack up to block the hit and quickly made a counteract to hit the man with the backpack. It was a solid hit to the head and enough to stun him.

Still holding the backpack in one hand Chad took off. Bits of dust kicked up behind him and he dodged behind the first bit of debris. Out in the distance he could see Raylie, but he needed to wait for just a few moments to be sure he could get there. Peering around the edge of the debris it appeared that the man had given up the chase. Still with adrenaline rushing through his veins Chad ran toward Raylie. "Hey its me!" To be sure she didn't run from him too he gave her a signal and waved like a mad man with the stupid backpack.

Out of breath and bewildered he caught up with her. "I don't think we should try to make contact anymore. Lets let people come to us."
 
Everything happened so fast. One minute Chad and Raylie were together, the next minute Chad was getting attacked by a stranger and it was all because of Raylie. "I am so sorry Chad!" When he reached her, she embraced him with a hug and pulled away quickly to examine his body. "Are you hurt?" There was a sense of urgency in her voice. She takes the book bag from him and ushers him to sit down.

"I had no idea that was going to happen, I really am so sorry. I won't approach anyone anymore." That is, if we even see anyone else. An unexpected tear rolls down her right cheek as she looks at him worriedly. "I'm so sorry." She quickly wipes the tear away and takes off her jacket. She then wraps one sleeve around his neck and ties it to the other sleeve, gently slipping his arm in the jacket area to give the arm a little support.

"I don't know if your arm is broken or not, but you need to give it rest and support..." She casted her eyes towards the ground, feeling guilty and terrible for being the one who caused him all this pain. She gets the water bottle out of the book bag and hands it to him so he could replenish himself after the attack. "Does anything else hurt? Were you cut anywhere?"
 
Chad was still trying to catch his breath when she pulled him in for a hug. "Umph..." His arm got caught between the two of them and his other arm was straight at his side. It was kind of hard to move. Soon as she pulled away she was talking again. "I don't know." It was always a good phrase to use when there were too many things happening at one time to process. "Wait...Slow down."

Taking a seat he cradled his arm. Soon as he was seated she was trying to put him in a makeshift sling. For the moment Chad accepted it. Wincing a little he adjusted the arm a bit so that it was more comfortable. Raylie kept looking around like she was guilty. It wasn't entirely her fault. At least not from his perspective. He could still see how she would feel guilty about the whole situation. Just as he opened his mouth to speak she was asking more questions. "Ok ok..." Taking a quick sip from the bottle he handed it back to her. "I'm fine. I don't think there's anything else broken or bleeding. Then one other thing."

Meeting the girl's gaze he shook his head. "Its not your fault. I kinda froze to start with. Well...I haven't been in a fight for a long time and I was trying to make up my mind." Chad readjusted his arm again. "Just a tough lesson to learn that's all. Things have changed."

Slumping further into his spot he let his head rest against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. "Lets just rest here for a little bit and then we'll move some more." While he laid there Chad's breathing became deeper and more steady. He woke up after it was dark and she was still sitting there. "Why didn't you wake me up? We need to get out of the area before that maniac decides to try and find us."
 
Raylie appreciated that Chad noticed her guilt, but she still felt bad, just not as bad. She attempted to sleep as well, but kept waking up every half hour, too nervous that the man would return. She jumped at Chad's voice, breaking the silence and her thoughts. "I'm sorry. I just knew you needed this. I was watching and I haven't seen anything yet."

She stood up and extended her hand to Chad's unbroken arm, helping him up. She stooped down to grab the backpack and slipped it onto her back. As they walked through the dark, she made quick glances up at Chad, making sure he was alright. She knew that he didn't blame her entirely, but she couldn't help to think that if she didn't say anything, his arm wouldn't be broken.

Eventually, they made it to the stream within the woods. It was probably about 12 or 1 in the morning and Raylie was exhausted. She took the bookbag off and looked up at Chad. "Is it okay if we sleep here for the rest of the night? I don't know how much further I can go." She asks and searches for an unwooded area; once she finds one, she grabbed the blanket they packed and lays it out on the ground. "We can just sleep on this, hopefully it doesn't get too cold tonight."

She lays down on the blanket, making sure there was enough room for Chad whenever he was ready to sleep.

Raylie was awakened by the bright sun penetrating her eye lids. She sneaked off to the stream, wanting to cool off and relax before they had to start moving again. Slipping off her clothes, she dipped into the calm, shallow water and began wetting her body. She laid down, getting her hair wet, closing her eyes, and imagining herself in her bath tub at home. She smiled, relaxed for once.
 
"Well I needed a nap not a whole night." It was perhaps a bit dramatic since it was still dark. Chad had started to get himself up when he noticed her hand almost directly in in his face. At first he stared at her hand and frowned. Then he realized she was offering a hand up. Taking her hand he gave a groan and slowly got to his feet. He didn't want to pull the girl over so he supported most of his own wait.

Just as he was leaning over to grab the backpack she snatched it and took off walking. There wasn't going to be any point in arguing with her so he followed till they reached a stream. Despite having been woke up earlier he was still ready to go back to sleep. "Yeah that's fine. I doubt anyone would find us out here anyway." Gazing up at the sky he could barely see any stars. Still it was a rather strange feeling. Over the last days he had only seen the night sky for the first time. City lights had drowned it out for all his life and now he could see it. "I don't think it'll get too cold. Been fairly moderate lately." They were only a few miles away from the city and it wasn't likely going to change too much.

While the girl laid down on the blanket he leaned against a tree and watched the sky till he fell asleep. Chad slowly drifted off and sometime during the night he woke up to a falling sensation. What he found was that he had tipped over. Smirking to himself he just went back to sleep. A slow drizzle of drool started to run out the corner of his mouth like usual. Eventually he'd had enough sleep though and he couldn't continue. Pushing himself up off the ground he wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Raylie was gone! Scrambling to his feet he started to anxiously search the forest around and then circled back to the stream where he found her clothes. "What the..." Picking them up he just frowned. Then he saw her relaxing in the water. Quickly turning around again he cleared his throat. "We should probably go upstream and see if we can find the end of it today. The river." The embarrassment of finding her in the water without her clothes had left him slightly flustered and he still held onto her articles of clothing.
 
Startled, again, by Chad's voice breaking the silence, Raylie swung her arm over her breasts. She couldn't help but let out a small giggle as she got out of the water and headed towards Chad, still covering her body the best she could even though Chad was facing the opposite direction. "Hey, are you gonna let me have my clothes back?" She joked as she grabbed them from Chad's hand. She hoped he hadn't seen her cut, but it was slowly healing and not noticeable from where he was standing.

After ringing out her wet hair, she slipped her clothes on and starting walking back to the camp area. "You could probably use a quick rinse. Not saying you smell bad... Actually, I might be." Being in the water and relaxing really helped calm Raylie's mood after the eventful past few days. She hoped Chad seeing her didn't make him too uncomfortable, so making jokes was her way of making light of everything.

Hungry, Raylie bit into a tough piece of jerky, jerking her head back as her teeth ripped the meat. I guess that's why they call it jerky. She laughed to herself.
 
Chad stood still as fence post. Then he realized that he was still holding her clothes. Stiffly he moved his good arm out to the side and let the girl take her clothes. He could feel her wet little fingers and droplets fall on his hand. Still he kept his back to her while she got dressed. It seemed to be taking a horrible long time. It was awkward at best to be travelling with a stranger and discover them bathing.

Then she mentioned him bathing and he frowned. "Of course I stink. Its been over a week since I've even washed this mop on my head." While he was far more shy about others he didn't care particularly what she said about him. It was true. Finally she stepped out from behind him and started to eat.

A slow smirk spread over Chad's face. He put his back to her and unbuckled his bet and got ready to get into the water. He had everything ready to strip in about 30 seconds all he had to do was throw her coat back to her. Slipping the makeshift sling off he threw it on her face. "Don't watch." Quickly scrambling out of his clothes he got into the water. "There its safe now." Ducking his head under the water he scrubbed the scalp and decided after just a few seconds that he was about as clean as he was going to get in the water. "I'm coming out." Didn't make much difference to him if she saw or didn't. In a way it did. He didn't like folks staring. Still sopping wet he pulled his shirt over his head and put his pants back on.

His arm was still swollen and sore. Wincing some he went back over to where she was sitting and pulled his knees up. They acted as a sort of support for now. "Hand me the bag." Reaching inside of it he pulled out a piece of jerky and began gnawing on it. "So you ever been upstream before?"
 
"No, I never thought it would lead anywhere." Raylie stated as she looked over at Chad. She worried about his arm. "Do you want me to make the sling again?" She knew he would probably say no, but it was worth a shot. She wanted it to heal as fast as it could so she didn't feel so guilty every time she saw him wince.

She started to fold the blanket she slept on and packed it into the blanket along with the water bottle laying beside the log. She had taken it up to the stream earlier to refill it with water. "We should probably head out soon and see how far we get," Raylie thought aloud.
 
Momentarily Chad's eyes widened. "Well the water has to come from somewhere! It doesn't just decide to randomly pop up. Even if it goes to an underground river there is a source." He was trying to think of a way to describe it to her and finally his last resort was to refer to a map. "You ever look at maps? All the streams and rivers will usually connect. Just like a lake will typically have an area of input unless its man made and they pump water to it." The girl interrupted his thoughts before they got much further with a question about the sling. "When we start walking again."

There wasn't really anywhere to go so far as he could see. Chad had scanned the area several times and it was just trees and more trees. They could follow the stream for a while and there was always water. Eventually they would get to faster waters where maybe there would be fish or other kinds of food. He was doing his best to train his mind for survival. That was a tough thing. Water was the most important part and then shelter.

As he finished his piece of jerky Raylie was talking about leaving again. "Alright then. Put the sling on me." Holding his arm in place he waited for her to put her jacket over his head again. Now that they were ready to head out he sighed. "If we find a town or a community of any kind with friendly folks you gonna stop there and try to make a living?" Part of him was starting to like the wandering. It wasn't like he had anyone to go home to. Besides he was sure if the world met disaster that there would be need of some kind of law and order.
 
Raylie sighs, "I don't know. The only person I can trust right now is you, so it just depends I guess..." Her thoughts wandered off as she caught direct eye contact with Chad for a brief moment. She bit her lip and quickly turned her head the other way, picking up the back pack and putting it on her back.

"Well, are you ready to go?" She asks, not really wanting to think of the possibilities anymore. She didn't want to get her hopes up but she also didn't mind exploring with Chad. Even though he was a little distant, he made Raylie feel safe. As they walked, she examined the woods around her. She knew they were going to be walking for awhile and didn't really believe that there was going to be anyone in the woods. If anything, she thought more would have been in the city.

"Chad?" Raylie looks over at Chad as they continue to kick through the leaves and branches on the ground. "I forgot to ask what you would do. Would you stay in a community if we ever run into one?"
 
The walk was nice and quiet. Chad was enjoying that much. In fact he had even forgot that he asked her a question. All he remembered is that it seemed he had inherited a new person. Wasn't as though he had originally set out to get a lady. She just sort of happened. "Hmmm?" It took a moment for her question to sink in and then he shrugged. "Oh I don't know. Depends on the area. We still don't know what happened around the area. It could be much worse or it might get better as we go." Running his tongue around the front of his teeth he made a clack sound. "Might look into some law and order around here. They're gonna need it. People like that guy we ran into would create mayhem."

There was an awkward silence for several minutes and then he shrugged. "Its a thought anyway."
 
Raylie nods, "Yeah I agree." She was a little upset that he didn't really think of her as a companion yet. Their responses compared to each other were very different. She kept on walking, watching as the sun moved through the sky as they trudged on. She liked the walk and the fresh air. There wasn't the smell of literal death everywhere.
 
Over the next few days the stream widened. Before they could even get to the river there was plenty of evidence of more folk living. An older man was out riding on his horse. It almost looked like he was on a patrol with it. Chad motioned to the girl to stay down. "I'll see if this guy is crazy." Stepping out from the forested area he waited for a moment to be sure that the man saw him.

Slowly the man rode up to him. "What are you doing here?" He didn't recognize the fella standing in front of him. Not by a long shot. It could be a trap and he was more than ready to do something about it.

"City was leveled. " That was answer enough so far as Chad was concerned. Whatever else the man wanted to know would come in time. Chad could feel the man slowly look him over as if he was assessing him. It was almost expected and at the same time Chad was making a little inspection for himself. The man carried a gun and he seemed to be out here guarding something. Peering around the horse he spotted a few cows and a house. "I can work." Currently that was going to be his bid for someplace to survive till he learned more about the ground. Surviving wasn't so difficult if you knew the environment and he didn't know it around here well enough.

"What?" The man just stared at the blond in front of him for a moment. "With your arm like that? I don't need work done. I need someone that knows how to shoot."

Chad's eyebrows raised slightly. "I can do that. Give me a rifle and I can shoot anything you want." Whatever the man wanted shooting for Chad figured it had to do with trouble makers. "What's going on around here anyway that you'd want shooting?"

"Trouble with wild animals and neighbors." The man gave a toothy grin. "Since the disaster we've had plenty of wild animals picking off the cattle. I've tried to keep a smaller number of them here at the field close to home. Then the neighbors been coming around shooting things up trying to get to the water. I lost two good hands already and one of my boys. Then I got a neighbor upstream that keeps talking about damming it up."

It had really gone down hill. People were literally killing each other out in the country too. Back to water rights. Pumps and water hauling didn't work anymore. Had to be on the water. Chad nodded. "I think I could do what you need." Motioning to Raylie he watched the man carefully. "Brought uh..." He wasn't really sure how to describe the girl. She didn't look like a sister and he hadn't thought of her much in a romantic way. "Well she kind of found me I guess." Seemed it was a good enough explanation and the man pointed them to a house.

"Back there one of my boys will see how well you can shoot." Nodding to them he watched as the two walked on.

Chad glanced to Raylie. "Well we got ourselves a place for a while. At least till I know more about the ground around here. Sounds like its pretty bad. They're making their own law." More than likely that was how it was going to be. By the time he reached the barn he could see that there were guns on them from various angles. Still he continued and pretended not to notice. "I was told you'd see if I could shoot."

One of the men stepped out of from behind his shelter. "Alright then. I want you to shoot that coyote out there."

Squinting a little bit Chad could see the wild coyote out a ways. It was thinking about getting close. "Give me a moving target to start?"

"Well nothing stands still when you shoot at it."

"Fair enough." Chad pulled his arm out of the makeshift sling and propped it against the fence. He wanted some kind of added stability. Following the coyote for a few seconds he took a deep breath and let it out. During the exhale he squeezed the trigger and the dog fell. "There." Handing the gun back to the other man Chad grinned. "I shot a moving target. Got a place to stay now?"
 
As the men walked off to watch Chad shoot, another man approached Raylie. "What good do you have to offer?" The man nods down at Raylie, adding a little smirk to his statement. "I mean, besides the obvious." He winks at her, making Raylie feel incredibly uncomfortable. She crosses her arms and tries not to roll her eyes. She wanted to give this a chance, especially since Chad seemed to like the idea of staying here.

"I know a few things about animals and plants..." Her voice trailed off. The man was staring down at her boobs and not attempting to make eye contact or even act like he was listening. "Excuse me?" Raylie's voice had a hint of irritation.

"Oh yeah we can use someone to milk the cows. What plants you know about?" The man's eyes drifted towards the field, listening to the gun shots out in the distance.

"Well, I just know about poisonous plants in the area..." She didn't know if that was helpful. She didn't know a lot about cows, but she was a quick learner. "Is there another girl around here?" Raylie asks, skimming the area.

"Nope, thank god," The man chuckled but Raylie was not amused. "We don't need nobody to help with plants so looks like yer gonna be tending to the cows. Let's see them pretty little arms get to work," He creepily smiled at Raylie and started walking to one of the makeshift barns where he started to explain the procedures and the cattle. "So, this one over here is pregnant. How she managed to have sex while all this was going on is beyond me."

Raylie didn't enjoy the man's humor and kept her distance behind him, keeping her eyes glued to her surroundings and off of the bearded man. Once he was done explaining everything, he walked up to one cow, pushing a bucket underneath it. "Okay, let's see what you got."

Raylie got on her knees and wrapped her thumb and forefinger around one of the teats. She began to squeeze it and milk squirted into the bucket. She wasn't the best but hopefully good enough to stay around, especially if Chad is staying. The man nodded and walked off saying, "Okay, good enough. I'm gonna go do the fun stuff now,"

She had no clue what he meant by that, but she left the cattle's barn, heading towards the gun shots and eventually making it to Chad and the other men. "So, how did it go?" She asks him, adding a little smile. She hoped he was happy here.
 
Chad had his arm back in the sling but he had a gun now. It wasn't anything fancy. Still it was enough to get them started. They would need the protection of a group for a while. At least until his arm healed and then he was certainly thinking of getting out of here. In a way rancher had given him the heebie jeebies. Wasn't often that someone struck him that way. It was only a short time later while he was at his post that Raylie came over to see him. "Oh it went fine I guess." Looking over at her he sighed. "Not sure if it s a permanent setting. How about you?"

Somehow he didn't like the overall tone he was getting. It sounded somewhat like Raylie was in trouble here. "Yeah well. I don't know where else we're gonna stay till my arm heals up. Just stick close to me. I've got a bunk out here in the barn and you can sleep with me." More than likely it wouldn't be comfortable, but it was better than having some of the other men assume they had rights to her.

"For now the story is that you're my girl." Chad stared off into the distance. He didn't like this one bit. "You know we could leave now if you feel like we'd be safer out there. I don't want you around those guys if you think they'd hurt ya."

By the time night came the men had a good dose of beans and rice to serve on bits of wheat cake. Wasn't much for taste, but it was more than nutritious. Chad made sure to sit next to Raylie. While he wasn't feeling like he could be ready for another woman it was his job to keep her safe for now. Taking his injured arm out of the sling he wrapped it around her back while he used his other hand to eat. That seemed to catch a bit of attention from one of the men. It was, Chad assumed the same man who was pursuing her earlier in the day.

"Well now..." Smiling the man sat on her other side. "Don't you like to be the center of attention. I don't mind sitting on the side and waiting my turn."

Chad's head almost snapped off at the comment. Handing his plate to Raylie he reached right in front of her and punched the man. "Not much for sharing. You keep it all to yourself and them damn cows."

The man stood up with an ugly snarl on his face. Bringing his own fist in a left uppercut he narrowly missed Chad as the younger man leaned back. Tipping off the log he was seated on Chad rolled away and popped back up. He held one arm close to his body and held the other in a fist ready to retaliate. Ducking and then weaving Chad came up with a right hook and caught the man at the apex of his jaw. While he staggered back Chad stepped in and threw another punch. This one was straight to the gut and the next one was an uppercut. As soon as the man fell to the ground Chad stood over him. "I don't like folks trying to hit me. You got anything else you wanna say?"
 
As soon as the men started fighting each other, Raylie stood up to try to separate them but didn't get very far. Once the man was on the ground, she touched Chad's back and ushered him to sit back down on the log. She frowned, "Chad you shouldn't have done that." She was actually really upset with him. She knew he didn't want to have to protect her like this and he has already been hurt once getting in a fight with someone because of her.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, she stood up and starting walking towards the barn. The man Chad knocked to the ground went inside as soon as he could regain his strength and didn't say anything to him or Raylie. She felt like Chad was really uncomfortable with the situation and wanted to talk to him in private.

Chad eventually came around to the barn and Raylie was sitting in a bed of hay, looking up at him with hurt eyes. "Chad, you don't have to feel like you have to protect me or act as if you like me. I know you lost your wife and kids and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I'll be able to protect myself, I don't want you getting hurt over me anymore." At this point, she was standing up and looking at him directly in the eyes.
 
It was entirely confusing. What did Raylie want? One day she was trying to be all nice and he thought she was flirty sometimes and now she didn't like that he was trying to keep her away from a creep. Frowning he kept his eyes on hers until she got up to leave. Chad watched from where he was to be sure that the man didn't follow her. After a while he got up and wandered around the barn area a few times before he finally stopped just outside the door.

Taking a deep breath he pushed it open. The creak sounded like it would bring the whole barn down. Almost cringing he pushed it closed behind himself and wandered over to the loft. Once he was up the stairs and into the hay he saw Raylie there. Glancing away from her he let a breath out. "Its not about my wife or the kids. Doesn't even matter if I like you in that way. Raylie."

Carefully putting a hand on top of hers he stared right into her face. "This is my duty as a man. You came to me...Well not exactly, but for all general purposes we'll say you did. It's my responsibility to see that you aren't hurt. That's just the way I was raised." Taking a seat in the hay he slowly laid back. "Do what you like, but until you decide not to follow me I'll keep an eye out for you."
 
(Sorry I'm just now getting on, I've had a long day & didn't have time to reply)

Raylie was a little offended that he thought she was following him. "I'm not your puppy, I haven't been following you. I thought you wanted us to stay together. Sorry if I acted like I needed you, because I don't." She might have sounded harsh, but what he said really got to her. She's never been one to rely on anyone, especially a man. For him to say that she was following him, like she needed him to survive, caught her completely off guard. She didn't ask him to help her find new clothes, she didn't ask him to stick together, she didn't ask him to fight with the man hitting on her.

She stormed out of the barn, having no idea where she was going to sleep. She didn't know if she should leave the place entirely or not. The pros weren't necessarily outweighing the cons. Pros: having a place to stay. Cons: being around a pervert and a man who treats me like I'm a helpless piece of shit. She didn't want to make a rash decision when her emotions were all over the place, so she found a wooded area near the house and leaned up next to a tree. She curled her legs up to her chest and blanketed her jacket around them, closing her eyes and drifting off into sleep.

She was woken up by the same man that they first met. "Girl, whatchu doin' out here?" He looks her up and down, pulling her up by the arm and taking her to the barn. "You slept out here all night?" He laughed and added, "Guess your little boyfriend didn't please you in the barn, did'he?"

Raylie wasn't amused. She yanked her arm away and stopped walking beside him. "He's not my boyfriend and I don't want to go back to the barn if he's in there." She stood still, crossing her arms. Raylie has never been one to hold a grudge, but she also hates feeling helpless and dependent on someone else.

"Don't get'cher panties in a wad now, missy. He's out huntin' with my boys. You go milk the cows and do whatever pretty girls like you do." Raylie rolled her eyes and walked off to the barn. She started milking the cattle and after awhile started talking to them as if they were her diary and she was writing an entry. She took a special liking to the pregnant one, stroking the cow's stomach as she talked. Crazy? Maybe. But this whole situation was pretty crazy.
 
(That's alright I'll probably be a more late night responder for a while. Starting some college classes back up and then work.)

Chad couldn't help frowning. He hadn't intended for it to sound like that at all. How did she think that he had considered her in that way? Somewhat flabbergasted he watched her rush out as if her hair was on fire. "Sheesh..." Saying it under his breath he shook his head. "What did I say?" He hadn't thought it sounded all that bad. They had sort of made an agreement to wander around together and she just followed him wherever he thought was good sounding or looking. It was impossible to figure her out, so he just mashed a kind of hole in the hay to lay in. It would at least keep him somewhat warm.

Sleeping on hay was less than comfortable. The next morning Chad was pulling bits of hay out of his hair and his arms were covered in scratches from it. There were even some scratches on his neck and then a few on his face though he had figured at some point not to lay on his side. Wherever they left the blanket he couldn't remember. In fact he was pretty sure that Raylie had all that stuff last.

Awkwardly making his way down to the regular part of the barn he walked out to meet with the other men for some hunting. Once more he was given a rifle and they took up posts.

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The day had gone by slowly and it seemed that the old rancher had been a little overboard in his estimation of danger. Nevertheless he was providing everything that Chad and Raylie needed to get started. He was laying alone in the barn again and then he heard something. There were hoofs pounding the ground outside. That wasn't right. He had all the horses in their stalls below. Getting up he peered out the loft window to see men with torches.

Scrambling out of the loft he saw that a wall on the barn was already catching fire. Snatching the gun from the hooks he rushed to the main doors and pushed. The doors were latched from the outside. Left him with only a few options. Staying inside wasn't going to be possible. Already he could hear the voices of men yelling outside. They were going to engage the men surrounding the barn but it was quickly becoming an issue to breath with all the smoke and some of the hay had caught fire. Chad found a weak spot along one of the walls and busted it out.

Chad fell out of the barn and started running for the front of it. They wouldn't have much if all the livestock burned inside. Peering around the edge of the barn he could see that no one was there guarding this end. Darting out he quickly unlatched the doors and threw them open. The sandy hair was highlighted in orange by the flames and he ran inside to open the stalls.

Slapping the cows and horses on the rump he ushered them out and charged out of the barn after them. There was no time to save it since they were under attack. Riders immediately started to round up the cattle.

Instinctively Chad brought the gun up level to his shoulder and began to pick the riders off the horses. A sharp sting went across his ribs and he moved once more before he continued shooting.
 
Raylie was out in the woods picking different types of plants that could be eaten. She also grabbed a few flowers, wanting to put them in the pregnant cow's hay. It's not like the cow would know what it was, but she liked flowers and wouldn't mind looking at them while she milked all the cattle.

While she was picking the last few plants, she heard commotion back near the barn. She saw smoke rise to the air and immediately started sprinting back. She couldn't help but think that Chad was in danger. When she reached the edge of the woods, she saw strange men on horses burning down the barn. Tears started rolling down her cheek. She didn't know what to do.

Standing there in awe for a few moments, she saw what looked like Chad chasing behind the cattle and horses. He must have let them go to save them from the fire. She heard gunshots and saw a man drop dead off of a horse. She had to go help them. She dropped the plants and flowers and started sprinting towards Chad and the animals. They were going towards the house that the other men lived in.

She head that way too and was spotted by one rider. He slapped the back of the horse and started after Raylie, a huge grin on his face as he did so. He didn't point his gun at her, for whatever reason, but she was still scared for her life. She eventually caught up with Chad and stayed close by his side.

They both made it to and around the house, heading back towards the stream where the men found Chad and Raylie to begin with. After a few minutes of running, the riders stopped following them and Raylie looked up at Chad, bewildered. "What the hell happened?!" She was completely flustered and out of breath, her butt collapsing on a log behind her.
 
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