All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 121: A Sheepless Night

The rising sun shot daggers of light through Bee’s eyelids. Reluctantly, they opened, glaring at the unwelcome intrusion. Glancing around, she saw dozens of headless, unmoving zombies scattered a stone’s throw away from their campsite. Another, smaller group of slashed-up zombie remains was right nearby. Tony had been busy through the night, though she hadn’t needed to see the bodies to tell. Regardless of how much she wanted to keep sleeping, though, they had to get on their way.

It seemed that whatever intelligence controlled the undead either was too far away to direct these monsters or it was not focusing on this area. These undead were scattered individuals with no direction. That was a stark contrast to the cunning traps of the much higher-level undead they had to deal with before. Almost like the plague was a storm that had already passed them over.

Crawling out of her bedroll, Bee started to put things away while Tony blew gently on the coals of their fire from last night. Sure, they had run most of yesterday to make better time, but they weren’t in such a hurry that they needed to skip a warm breakfast. By the time she had both bedrolls attached to the packs, Tony had handed her a serving of soup. Sitting on the rock they used for shelter, they ate quietly.

Bee had brought a book to read as she woke up but put it aside as Tony spoke. “I think we should be able to find sheep today. Probably won’t take us much past noon. The question is, do we want to go around Greg or try to make our way through it?”

“Tony, I don’t think either of us really want to go through Greg. Why would we do that?” Bee asked in a genuinely confused voice.

“Well… it would be faster.” Tony said with a shrug.

Bee hefted her food. “It's not like we’re in that much of a hurry.” She paused for a second. “But if you want to go through it, we can.”

Tony shook his head. “I don’t know why, but something is pulling me to go back to the city. I’m not sure if it’s some morbid fascination or what. It’s not like… I don’t think there would be anything else for us to find, not like when Void and I were here last, but I can’t help with the thoughts.”

Bee hesitantly put her hand on his shoulder. She still hadn’t gotten used to familiar contact again. The occasional hug was one thing, but physical gestures of support were still new to her. But Tony was as close to family as she had. Racking her brains, she tried to weigh the pros and cons of skipping the city versus following Tony’s intuition.

As far as she knew, Tony didn’t have any precognition skills, and Void hadn’t sent any visions that she had heard of yet. So it was unlikely that the feeling was some divine intervention or something like that. Still, maybe it would bring some closure.

“Let's go through this time, then. Maybe we’ll find something, maybe not. But better we know I think.” Bee said, giving Tony’s shoulder a light squeeze.

“We don’t need to for my sake. You had a point the first time. Why would anyone want to go through that again for no reason?” Tony argued for the other side now.

“We can go around on the way back, but for now, we can check things out. Who knows, maybe we will find something after all.” Bee said as she hopped down from the rock. Extending a hand toward the man, she pulled Tony to his feet as well. Slipping into their packs, they started off toward the entrance of the city.

The gate looked the same as they left it - imposing, silent, and open like a gaping maw. Bee could even still see the cart marks they had left in the road. Stepping into the city, an expanse of gray and black rubble met them. A thin layer of dust or dirt had begun to coat everything, only adding to the depressing atmosphere. Right past the guard post stood the remnants of a shop, now scorched black with only a hint of its original green color visible in a corner.

Besides the lack of color, the most ominous thing was the lack of sound. Not that it was completely silent. But none of the sounds that a city should have reared their heads. It reminded Bee more of the sounds of the forest than anything. There was the slight sound of the wind as it whistled through the streets, sending some signs hanging above doors creaking in the wind.

As they took a couple more steps, a group of birds exploded from the side of the road. They flew upwards, leaving behind what looked to be a food stand of some sort that had been turned over and used for some meager shelter. Bee kept listening for the squeaking of rodents or other carrion other than the crows, but it seemed that even the animals of the city had fled or perished.

“I don’t know if we’re going to find sheep if even the rats of the city are gone,” Bee whispered to Tony. The oppressive atmosphere pressed down on her, making any noise they made feel out of place. A fear that it would draw attention from something gripped her, but she had no idea who’s or what attention she was trying to avoid.

Tony seemed to feel it as well. “I don’t think the animals in the farms were all hunted down. I’m not sure about the rodents here. We might just have not seen any yet.”

He reached across his body and rubbed his arm. “I don’t like it here. Can we get moving?”

Bee was also starting to regret coming here as well. What were they thinking?

Nonetheless, they continued through the city. The roads were all the same, each one blending into another as most of the distinguishing marks had been destroyed or faded. Some buildings had collapsed into the road, forcing them to climb over the rubble or look for a different way around. For the most part, they walked in silence, with Bee following Tony’s lead.

He knew the city very well, and they never seemed to get lost. As they walked, she kept her eye out. Maybe something that would be useful or significant. Who knew? Maybe Void did want them to go through here.

After what felt like hours, they approached the far gate, still not having found a single thing. The trek had probably only taken 30 minutes, but the constant feeling of being watched wore at Bee. There was only one building between them and the exit, so instead of going around the block, they climbed over. It was a thin but tall house that was nestled between two larger buildings. It was probably older, which was why it had collapsed despite being sheltered by the surrounding buildings.

When she was over what must have been the second story, something in the rubble caught Bee’s eye. It wasn’t anything flashy. The time in the elements had rendered everything dull, after all. Still, the shape was impossible to ignore. It was a small carved rocking horse the size of her palm. Balancing cautiously on the unstable wreckage, Bee bent down and threaded her arm through a small hole to get to the alcove where the tiny figure rested.

Her arm was just long enough to brush the figure. It took a couple nudges to move it to where she could reach. Grabbing it, she jumped down from the pile next to where Tony was waiting for her.

“Did you find something?” He asked her.

“Not really. Just this.” She held up the little toy to eye level and dusted it off a bit. Tony looked at the figurine but didn’t have anything to say. Together, they walked quickly towards the gate and finally left the abandoned city.

***

They didn’t find sheep on the first day. Eventually, as the sun finished setting, they gave up and set up camp in an abandoned farmhouse that should have kept sheep. It had been a quiet day, with neither of them really in the mood to talk after their trip to the city.

The next morning they followed some markings in the muddy dirt that looked like they could have been sheep tracks. But when it came down to it, they had no idea if it was evidence of the sheep wandering off or if the farmer had fled, taking his livestock with him.

Luck was finally in their corner, though. After walking up a slight hill, they saw a large group of white dots in the distance.

---

I had learned more than I wanted to about farming. Not that I ever really wanted to learn too much about it in the first place. But once Trent got going, he didn’t stop. Was this what I was like when the topic of conversation moved to cleaning? No, cleaning was much more important. Still, learning how humans produced their food wasn’t bad, even if it did involve much more playing in the dirt than I was comfortable with.

At least I learned that cutting the grass was actually a helpful thing that I could do when I had time. I decided to hold onto the clippings for now, though. They seemed to stay fresh in my dustbin, and if we got enough animals, then maybe they could eat it when they couldn’t eat the grass itself. Bee and Tony were trying to bring back sheep, so that time might not be too far off anymore.

The farming lecture lasted the entire rest of the day. I thought it was over in the morning, but no, after playing with the children and doing my normal morning routine, Trent was waiting to finish my education. Eventually, when the sun had set, I escaped inside, where I spent time playing with the kids.

Our games even had a new member. Ever since the children had come to the castle, he had been skittish. Somehow this cat had weathered months of demons and the destruction of the castle, but kids… No, the kids were too scary. Kids needed to be hidden from.

Apparently, he liked hanging out with the women. If they were doing something slow or relaxed, they would often find a warm lap to curl up on, at least until one of the children entered the room. Then the furball was gone with impressive speed.

It turns out the cat was right about the kids, though. They were menaces sometimes. I hadn’t been paying enough attention, and some of the more rowdy kids had decided that the cat needed a bath. It was a sentiment I couldn’t really hold against them. I even celebrated their attention to my lessons! But I also knew that the cat kept itself clean. Also, like me, it didn’t react well to being dunked in water. The yowling brought me racing into the room only to find some very scratched-up kids, a bucket of water, and a very wet, upset cat.

I scolded the kids lightly, but I was more concerned with helping the cat. Its hairs were standing up at very strange angles for how wet it was, glaring at everyone from the corner it had retreated to. Luckily I had just the thing for liquid issues. I popped out my mop and advanced on the cat slowly, beeping with soothing noises.

Suddenly, its eyes grew wide. Its gaze locked onto the fluffy pompom protruding from my chassis. I hesitated, not wanting to upset the creature. But instead of running away like it did with everything else, the cat attacked.