''Sneaking'': Part One

I woke up from the Cock, announcing the sun was rising and we had to get up. "Egh I don't wanna, just a few more minutes." I whispered to myself trying to convince me it couldn't do any harm. It couldn't to me anyway, but I had been given a job on the ranch to contribute to the daily lives of everyone who resided here, and not showing up on time for work was frowned upon. Like it was before this zombie outbreak in "the real world" I guess. But I've always had trouble getting up in the morning, especially since I was now part of the kitchen and I had to get up before the others to get breakfast ready.

I groaned and turned around, trying to stay in my blissful dreamland, but soon after I felt something crash on top of me, walking over me and around me. "Toooosti noo, it's to early. Down boy, get down." With every word I spoke I could feel the intensity of my dog going up and I realised it was pointless. He had heard the alarm probably even louder than I had and the pup was excited to start the day, so full of energy.

Training him had been somewhat hard for me in the beginning, especially since he was my first dog, but I was glad I had done it anyway and pushed through, because in this apocalypse it turned out to be useful to have a well trained dog. Having been assigned to mainly indoor house jobs, I wasn't able to get out much, or at least not for longer periods of time, and I wasn't keen on letting Tosti out on his own. I didn't want him to cause any trouble by chasing after the cattle or the horses, nor did I want him to run off to far and get surprised by a zombie.

I was beginning to build up new relationships here and even though I valued them highly, Tosti was the only part I had left from what was once my family. I missed my father terribly, and Tosti was simply a reminder of the good times that I used to live in. No, I kept him close to me out of selfish reasons, even if that meant he didn't get all the exercise that he should be getting. I tried to go for a longer walk around the ranch at least three times a week, after my shifts had ended, and it took the edge off of his energy, but not enough, as was showing now from the pup bouncing throughout the room.

Well, pup... he was already closing to his second birthday. Soon, he'd be a proper teenager, with all the pros of that age coming with it. I would have to stay strict with him, for both of our sakes. But as I sat on the side of my bed and got myself dressed, slowly and yawning all the way through, I couldn't help but feel some pity for the Wiltshire. He was in need of a playmate and the time to run around. Maybe I could sneak away after breakfast? I mean the worst that could happen was getting told off, but if I made sure no one would see me leave, there couldn't really be an issue, right ?

"Alright, c'mon boy, let's go downstairs. Quietly though!" I opened the door and he rushed past me, towards the stairs and the front door. He already knew where we were going, it was the same thing every morning. I sort of enjoyed the routine, yet it also became a bore. I just didn't wanna ask for a different job, cause I didn't wanna go outside of the fences and protected area all the time just to scavenge for stuff. Sure, sometimes going for it was fun, but everyday? Everyday facing the danger of getting ambushed by zombies? Nah man, didn't feel like it.

The other option was working as a rancher with the animals, but in the past year a lot of people had come to live on the property and a lot of people seemed to want to work with the cattle. The ranch leaders had put a stop on new people helping out, unless it was in the high season and extra help was needed. Oh man, I love animals so much, and yet I'm unable to work in that field. When I arrived here there weren't as many people and I could have applied for a ranch job instead, but I didn't know how to ride a horse, I still don't know but don't tell anyone, and I would've been found unfit. Or I could bring other people to danger because of my lack of experience.

Maybe one day, if people would leave, or god forbid, die, I could get into the animal business, where I felt my heart belonged. I came to a stop at the front door, and after checking through the window next to it it was safe outside, and the outside fences hadn't breached like they had a few months ago, I opened the door. Tosti bolted outside, running from left to right, back to left again, sniffing up all the new scents that had appeared in the past 8 hours. Sometimes he would run further away, but a soft whistle from me would grab his attention and he would bolt again, in the opposite direction.

The walk towards the main house wasn't far and so by the time we arrived there, Tosti had only lost a portion of his energy. We went inside, him checking out every corner of the house of course, like he did every morning, and I went to the pantry to get supplies for this mornings breakfast. Eggs, Bacon, some mushrooms that had been gathered. Even though I was getting bored of the routine, I did enjoy the cooking. Partially because I had to "taste" whether everything was seasoned right.

I put everything in bowls with lids on them, so it would stay warm for a little bit longer, and put everything on the table. I threw some of the bacon towards Tosti, he always loved that, and when he was finished devouring his meal, I decided to do it a bit different from today. Instead of going to clean right now, I would sneak off to the barn, to the horses.

I would enjoy it, Tosti would enjoy it, the ranchers would be at breakfast for at least half an hour, so it was a win-win right? For me at least. I could already hear people approaching from outside, hearing their soft chatter and laughter. So I quickly grabbed my coat, gestured for the pup to follow me, and snuck towards the backdoor. I opened it gently, trying to make it open as quiet as I could, and closed it again after I had stepped through it.

I waited until I had seen most of the people walking from the bunkhouse to the main house, and then sneaked around the house and sprinted towards the barn. I plucked some carrots from the storage supply and closed the barn door behind me. Finally, something else, some distraction, somewhere where i genuinly felt comfortable, and somewhere where Tosti could have some fun with animals. Of course not all horses were fond of dogs, but he wasn't crazy. Animals could sense each others energy, and the pup would make sure to stay out of the way of the horses that didn't want him near.

I walked towards some of them, of which I knew they were more gentle and easy going, and gave them a carrot. If I fed everyone in the house with good food, then why shouldn't I do the same to the horses? Some of them seemed less fond of me, especially when it appeared I had run out of carrots, and two of them even turned their butts towards me. How rude. I backtracked a little, to where I had given a carrot to a mare who seemed exceptionally sweet, and I opened her stable door to get inside. I took the brush I had picked up earlier at the entrance, and started brushing her from tip to toe. This was the good life. One could almost forget about the horrors outside of here. In some ways, I guess I was back in my blissful dreamland.