Day 4- Established

I ate my dinner by torchlight, then curled up on my hard wood floor to try to sleep again. Not long into the night, I was wakened by a strange moan. I peered out the window of my door and saw a terrible sight. A horse, head still showing rub-marks where a halter once hung, flesh falling off it's body in boiling pustules. I had not known, before now, that the disease could spread to animals other than rats. I considered the pork chop in my hand with growing apprehension. Finally, I decided to finish it anyway. I had to risk it, or starve.

In the night, I heard other sounds that made it hard to sleep. Rats climbed to the roof of my house and scurried around squeaking. A wolf paced outside the fence, drawn to the scent of my cooked meat, and began to harry my chicken through the fence. Thankfully, the chicken was smart enough to hug the wall of the house and avoid being eaten.

As dawn broke, I pulled my sword and killed the offending animals. With a sigh, I gathered the meat from the rats. Meat was meat, and I needed this. I felt bad killing the wolf, but noticed it's red eyes and knew it had been touched with the disease. The horse burst into flame with the suns touch, like infected people did. It left behind a glob of goo, which bounced towards me maliciously. One swing of my sword dispatched it.

Shaking my head, I took this new knowledge and went about my day. One section of my wheat was fully grown. I harvested it and replanted the seeds. I smiled again in appreciation of the magic that made harvesting easy. No need to thresh the wheat, the usable portion separated itself from the chaff in the workbench, bread and pastries were, no pun intended, a piece of cake.

Not quite finished with my work on the fences, I pulled a splinter from my hand and got back to work. Just before sunset, I stood with satisfaction and looked at the 3 pens I now had ready. One, of course, already held my lone chicken. Another, I had built a dirt shelter into, preparing to keep sheep warm after I had shorn their wool.

Thinking of sheep, I decided to take my 1 bundle of wheat and set about taming my second pet. I found one wandering close to my house, seemingly comforted by human company. I led him to the pen, and he went in of his own accord when I opened the gate. I put the wheat into the feeder and gave him a pat.

Turning back towards my house, preparing to sleep on the floor one more time, I was startled to see a horse running my direction at full speed. Unlike the horse from the night before, this creature had no flesh left on it's bones! Chomping it's teeth at me in a horrible display, it rared up and let out a shriek. I wasted no time dispatching it. I salvaged a bit of bone that looked useful, and returned to the house as dusk settled over the land, hoping to sleep past the terrible noises of infected creatures outside my door.

Rain began to fall, and I knew I would be in for a hard day, as the clouds kept the sun from finding the infected that filled the forest.

Just before closing my door against the night, I saw something that brought tears to my eyes. A zombie, who must have had a real bond with its horse in life, was still riding. The horse was also infected. Together, they searched for brains in a state of non-life. I turned from the scene and closed my door.