Sitting up, I rub the bleariness from my eyes as the early morning sun filters through the rough drapes hanging in the window, and the sound of birds chirping reaches my ears at last. The ground is much softer than I remember it being, and as I glance around, I quickly notice that it's not the ground I've been sleeping on, but the bed. Next to me, Dani stirs with a small noise of protest, and the arm she has draped across my waist pulls me a half-inch closer.

Now fully awake, the realization that I had just shared a twin bed with Dani in the night sets in, and her fingers gently brush the soft skin of my hip, making me tense. Carefully, I detangle myself from her as I will my heart to stop thundering in my chest, lest it wake her, and I sit at the edge of the bed, my arm aching under the bandages. There aren't any Ferals inside the cabin, even with the windows busted and the door looking like it's hanging on by a thread, and with a cursory glance out of the window above the bed, it seems as though there aren't any hanging out behind the cabin, either.

With a sigh of relief, I peer over to Dani, dead to the world and gently snoring, her mouth slightly open. She looks younger somehow, the crease usually between her eyebrows gone, and tension no longer visible on her face. I thought she had looked vulnerable when we spoke yesterday, but now, she's simply at peace, her mused hair in her face, and a bit of drool on the pillow I hadn't noticed until now.

I chuckle at the sight, gently brushing the hair out of her face, and she stirs, groaning as her breathing changes and she begins to wake up. I quickly glance away as her eyes open.

"What are you laughing at?" She grumbles, slowly sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

I point to the drool on the pillow with a grin. "You drool in your sleep."

Blinking, she glances down at the pillow, blushes, and quickly wipes her mouth before running her fingers through her hair and doing a quick detangle before she stretches.

"When did we fall asleep?" I ask her, standing to stretch as well.

Dani shrugs as she stands. "It got dark before the Ferals finally gave up. You passed out quickly, close to dusk, so I put you on the bed to rest."

The image of Dani picking me up and laying me in bed makes my heart skip a beat and I turn away to hide the blush that creeps to my face. "Oh," I say. "Thanks."

She hums, glancing around the loft before she starts to take the sheets off the bed and knot them together. "Gimme a hand real quick?"

Between the two of us, we made a rope from the sheets, climbed down the broken stairs, and crept out of the trashed cabin. The stench left behind by the unwashed infected is much more noticeable downstairs, but once we're outside, it's easier to deal with. Frantic and erratic footprints mark the snowy ground, many of them with blood splatters from the wounded Ferals, though there aren't any in the immediate area around us.

We head back to the farmhouse in silence, plucking what few arrows can be scavenged from the corpses that littered the property. The skeletal remains of the house are in shambles, still smoking. Though most of it remains standing, we give it a quick look over for whatever supplies might have survived, and it's unsurprising to see that just about nothing useful is left over besides a few canned goods and some of the water from the pantry that didn't melt in the fire.

The barn is untouched except for the doors being thrown open, and with a cursory glance inside, I shudder at the sight. The truck, which Josh had parked on top of the trap door, is lying on its side next to the entrance of the bunker, and one of the doors leading down has been broken off completely, the metal dented beyond repair.

"Looks like we found out where the Banshee and those Ferals came from..." I mutter, crouching to peek into the underground tunnel.

"What do you think is down there?" Dani asks.

I shrug, my heart racing as I peer into the dim darkness. "If that thing came out of here, I think I'd rather not know."

"What if someone's down there?"

"Then that sounds like a them problem to me," I note, standing. Dani looks taken aback at the comment, and I sigh. "Our priority should be finding the others and making sure they got away safely, not digging through an unknown bunker that may or may not have even more of those things inside it."

She looks skeptical, shifting as she glances around the barn at the carnage the Banshee had brought. "You don't think they would have gone inside, do you?"

I shake my head, gesturing for us to leave the barn. "No, they were in the van when we left, and the van isn't here anymore. Plus - and this is the good news - we haven't seen any of their bodies either."

Her shoulders relax if only a little, and she nods. "I saw their tracks headed for the main road," Dani notes. "It's going to take forever for us to catch up to them, though."

"Yeah," I sigh, scratching the back of my head and noting how long my hair is getting. "Hopefully we can track down that horse in the area and see if it'll be willing to give us a ride."

Dani's jaw sets as she gives me a disapproving look at the mention of riding a horse. "I think I'd rather take my chances walking or finding a vehicle that still works."

I blink at her, chuckling. "What? Why?" She mutters something under her breath as she glances away, looking mildly annoyed. "What was that?"

She grumbles, rubbing her face. "I said I don't like horses very much..."

Her cheeks are red at the admission, and I can't help but laugh again at the absurdity. "What did they ever do to you?"

"I've been thrown off at least three of them when I was a kid," she mutters, looking embarrassed. "And I got bit by the last one. I don't like horses very much."

It takes a heroic deed to hold back the wave of laughter that bubbles in my chest at the thought of kid Dani holding a grudge against a horse, and I somehow manage to swallow it down and give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Well, it sounds to me like horses just might not like you," I tell her. She swats at me as I laugh. "Don't worry, if we find Spirit, I'll make sure she doesn't throw you off."

"Spirit? She?"

I nod. "Yup. I named her Spirit, 'cause she's still kicking after this long in the apocalypse."

"You named a wild horse..." Dani mutters as we exit the barn.

"What? I couldn't just call it ' The Horse'," I return. "And I'm pretty sure that was her name anyway. The barn has a bunch of riding gear with that name on it, so it just makes sense."

She shakes her head with a roll of her eyes but pauses outside the barn and I nearly bump into her. "I think I found your horse," she says, casually pointing off to the fields.

I follow her gesture and spy the brown pelt of Spirit as she stands in a sunny patch, munching on something in the snow and looking no worse for wear. "Oh, perfect! Now we just have to lure her to the barn so we can saddle her up!"

"Hold on, 'we'?"

"Yup, we. As in you and me." I rush over to the greenhouse - which is surprisingly still standing - and browse the rows of produce that Felix had planted weeks ago until I spot the carrots. They're certainly not large enough for an average harvest, and my inner farmhand is yelling at me for harvesting several of the carrots before their proper time, but if we're going to lure a skittish horse, we're going to need bait.

"Alright, Dani," I say as I exit the greenhouse. "I'm gonna need you to help me lure her in so I can put the lead on her and take her to the barn."

"You really like taking me out of my comfort zone, don't you?"

I grin. "It runs in the family. Now come on, we have a ride to catch!"

Dani cringes at the poor joke made at her expense and begrudgingly takes the carrots I shove in her arms as I take hold of the lead. Approaching Spirit is easy enough once both Dani and I are calling it by name and start waving the carrots before her. Once we're close enough for Dani to start feeding her, however, Dani tenses and tries to back off as Spirit goes to nibble on the first carrot in her hand, and Dani drops it in the snow.