Their Rebellion

I tapped my fingers nervously along the kitchen table, wondering when Connor and Murphy would possibly be coming back home. They had been gone an agonizing hour, which seemed to drag on the more I thought about it. A quiet huff danced through my parted lips as I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was almost two in the afternoon and they had yet to walk through the front door. They had asked me on multiple occasions not to fear for their safety as they walked Ireland's natural dirt roads.

They had found a few homes within the safety of their hills over their childhood and assured me that it was as peaceful as it looked. Even though I tried to fight my urges to carry a weapon or beg them to stay, I knew that they had to refuse my pleads. They were the only two in the cabin who had legal citizenship in Ireland, which resulted in them being the only ones able to go far from home. I ran my cold fingers through my hair nervously as I patted my foot against the wooden floor.

In order to keep calm and forget that Connor and Murphy had left the house a long time ago, I came to the conclusion that feeding the horses would do me good. The horses were each nearly five years old and were used mainly for keeping the sheep and lamp along their land. They were taken out for the occasional ride, but for the most part, they worked with the twins along the land. I stood from my stool and walked into the kitchen, where I was sure to snag a few carrots and apples.

There was a large barn a few yards away from the house where the horses were kept and I knew that they were most likely wanting the human attention. I had yet to go to their stalls today and felt slightly guilty for wasting my time worrying instead. I retrieved a tin bucket from under the sink and tossed a few of the treats inside of it. They loved the sweet taste of the apples and crunch of the carrots here and there. It was about time they were rewarded for being so domesticated and understanding.

I pulled the tin bucket into my arm and casually made my way toward the front door. I pulled it open with ease and found Paul sitting on the porch. He looked back at me before plucking his cigarette from his lips. He pushed it in my direction and I hesitantly took it from him. As I took a few drags, he asked, "Heading out, Miss Daisy?"

"I gotta get my mind off the boys somehow, right?"I offered him his cigarette back with a warm smile.

"You should know by now they can handle pretty much anything that comes their way."He smirked."I wouldn't worry much, Adrienne."

"I try not to."I mumbled quietly before making my departure to the barn.

I hugged my small, dark brown sweatshirt close to my body as the wind began to pick up. Ireland's cool temperatures weren't much to my liking, but I seemed to appreciate it more and more each time I remembered where I had come from. I walked up to the barn doors and with a small struggle, pulled the doors apart. I made my way inside, instantly feeling the wind get cut off from the walls. A smile cracked along my lips as I neared the horses, who neighed and patted at the ground at my arrival.

I reached in to pet Connor's horse Ei, who was a beautiful dark brown in colour. I rested my hand on his nose and gently rubbed my thumb along the peach fuzzed skin. I chuckled quietly as he reached for the bucket in my other hand. I pulled out the first carrot I could reach and gently pushed it in his direction. I ran my hand along his nose once more when he excepted the carrot, before making my way toward the next stall.

Murphy's horse, Thatcher, was large, but all the same beautiful. His deep, ebony coat brought out his unusually light eyes, which were blue in colour. I always found his horse similar to him in comparison, simply because of how he looked and acted. I ran my hand along the side of his face, but instead of reaching out for the food like Ei had, he leaned further into my hand. I placed a gentle kiss at the tip of his nose and reached into the large bucket on my arm.

I handed a deep, crimson red apple over to Thatcher and watched as he gently plucked it from my palm. I moved on to the last occupied stall of the barn and chuckled quietly at the last horse, Razza. Before Romeo had gone back to the State's to help the twins avenge their beloved Priest, they had baught him a horse to call his own. His coat had swirls of brown and white in colour and large, chocolate brown eyes. He was a mirror image of Romeo's personality when I had gotten to know him.

He would occasionally nip at Ei or Thatcher if they became to rowdy or ganged up on him and praised them when they followed his lead. If I really thought about each horse carefully, I could see the trio come back to life. I had joked with Connor multiple times, telling him that I saw Ei as his long lost twin, since they both thought with their stomachs and didn't listen as well as the rest of us would have liked. I set the tin bucket down and stepped in front of Thatcher's stall once more with a warm smile.

I had ridden with Connor and Murphy before while we had been here, but never gone out alone. I wanted to take this chance to enjoy Ireland's scenery without the bickering of two young boys in my ear, so I began to pick at the door that held Thatcher inside. My trust in Thatcher reminded me of what I had in Murphy, so taking him out for a ride was certainly my first choice. When I slowly pulled the door open, he stepped out, huffing loudly and stomping lightly at the ground with his hoof.

I ran my hand along the side of his face and whispered, "Just go easy with me, Thatcher."

I grabbed the reigns Murphy used for him and gently pushed the main part into his mouth. I had requested that we use saddle bags, but Connor had implied that riding a horse without them was an image true rider. I took in a deep breath and gently tapped at Thatchers front, right leg. With another huff, he lowered himself onto his knees, allowing me to get on much more easily. I took a tight hold on the reigns before gently kicking him in his sides. Thatcher rose and shook his head to get used to the uncomfortable reigns.

"Let's go, boy."I kicked him forward and smiled as we began to move.

Once we were safetly out of the barn, Thatcher came to a slow stop. It was as if he were patiently waiting for me to make the first move, which I did with much satisfaction. I cracked the reigns playfully and shouted, "Run, Thatcher!"

He took off at a quick jog and I sighed quietly. I was unusually comfortable with riding alone, with the main reason that I had taken the one horse I trusted the most. Ei was slightly tempormental when it came to other riders, so I was sure not to chose him. Razza was exactly how Romeo was; crazy. I began to pull harder on the reigns as we neared the sheep, since I was afraid I would force them to scatter unevenly across the grassy hills.

I stopped, however, when a faul, consistent stench caught my attention. I slowed Thatcher to a walk and looked around the hills. I felt my eyes widen slightly when I saw what had been giving off the rotten smell and stopped Thatcher's stride completely. I quickly jumped from his back and landed hard in the grass, grunting quietly at the pressure put on at my knees. I slowly stepped toward a down sheep and cupped a hand over my mouth.

It's once white, frosty coat was coated in layers of clotted and fresh blood. The closer I got, the more the stench of his death got to me. His stomach had been torn open, revealing the bright pink and nuetral coloured insides he had to offer. They were roughly bitten into, as if the prey was too impatient to neatly pull them out. I knelt closer to the dead animal, hand still over my mouth and grew incredibly confused. Wolves or coyotes would have gone for the throat, but this animal seemed to be torn to pieces.

It's head was twisted unevenly in a horrible direction, like it had been thrown head first into the ground. It's rear right leg had been torn from it's body completely and was lying a few feet away from it's original place. I suddenly felt light headed as my old memories came crying back, almost screaming for me not to forget them. The way those infected tore apart at their prey was very similar to this in almost every way.

Quickly, I raced to my feet and begged Thatcher to his knees. Tears stung at my eyes as I raced back to the barn, sure to lock the horses away safetly from the outside. I left the tin bucket behind as I made my race back to the cabin, where Abby and Paul awaited for my arrival. I had a gut feeling that this was no preadtory animal that had made a rare visit into the twins' land. I couldn't even muster the words from my lips when I threw open the door, receiving Paul's worried question of what's wrong.

I kicked the door shut behind me and with shaking hands, managed to lock it securely. Connor and Murphy would bang obnoxiously loud on the door until someone had answered, so I knew that I could anticipate their arrival back home. Paul stood from his seat at the kitchen table and met me halfway across the living room. He took me tightly by the upper arm and asked, "Adrienne, what's wrong with you?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but even though nothing came out, he seemed to understand me. Paul only watched as I tore my arm from his grasp and breathed, "Lock up!"

He closed the wooden shutters over the windows and locked them tightly in each room. I stumbled into Abby's bedroom, nearly scaring her to death when I threw her door open. She giggled quietly and said, "You scared the hell out of - "

She stopped for a moment to study my erratic movements. I had been sure to keep my duffle bags of guns under her bed, just in case something like this had happened once again. I prayed that this day would never come, but it seemed that they had gone unheard. I pulled the bag from under her bed and dropped it heavily onto her thin mattress. Abby stood from her kneeling position on the floor and said softly, "Adrienne, you're scaring me."

"It's okay, Abby."I breathed."Just stay in your room, you hear?"

"Why?"She came forward, but froze when I pulled my hand guns from my bag.

I slid each magazine from it's once permanent spot and grew worried at the small amount of bullets they all had. I shoved my original pistol in between my hip and jeans before turning back to Abby. I held another gun in my right hand, which would surely go to Paul when I saw him once more. Abby quickly grabbed onto my sweatshirt pocket, catching my attention in a matter of seconds. I looked down, finding that those adolescent eyes had welled significantly in tears.

I pulled her into my chest, feeling her shake as she began to cry. I swallowed hard and choked out, "It's alright, Abby."

She pulled away and wiped at her eyes quickly. She looked up, asking, "Is it them again, Adrienne? Are they back?"

"I'm just bein' safe, sweetheart."I forced a warm smile, but it didn't seem to calm her any.

"Where's Connor and Murphy?"I let my head dip down low as I thought about them walking the dirt roads unarmed.

I had begged them multiple times to arm themselves, even with a single silencer as they took their long strolls into town, yet they assured me that this would never happen again. That we were safe within the well secured walls Ireland had managed to build up over time. I chewed tenderly on my bottom lip and whispered, "They should be home any minute, darlin'."