Time To Put Childish Things Aside
"I still can't believe they gave you a gun and I don't get one." Jimmy had been whining ever since they left camp. Apparently it was okay for Rick, T-Dawg, and Shane to get one but he was the guy in this temporary partnership. He should have been the one allowed to carry.
Jess did her best not to snap at the kid. After all, the male ego was a delicate thing in a grown man. Jimmy was a 17 year old boy who now felt emasculated by the lack of a weapon he didn't even know how to use. "For starters, they didn't give me anything. This is my gun. I agreed to relinquish it like everyone else because we are guests but make no mistake. This is my gun to use whenever I see fit. Secondly, it would be a waste of ammo to hand it over to you."
She could see that he was going to protest but stopped him. "I'm not trying to be cute or put you down. I just had to learn the hard way that using a real one of these is very different than playing Halo. It kicks. There's wind. It gets hot. You get scared. It takes a lot of shooting to overcome that natural instinct to close your eyes when you shoot. I still do it. The only way to compensate doing that is to let them get closer and then you run the risk of panicking. Though none of that scares me worse than the idea of you getting jumpy, hearing a noise and accidentally shooting Sophia."
Shame seemed to silence him long enough for Jess to nail a yellow scrap of fabric to a tree. "Do you honestly think she's still alive?" He asked softly.
Jessika had to think about her answer. In the end she shrugged. "I don't know. Three days is a long time but that little girl has been through a lot. I guess I'm banking on the idea that she's learned a few things." Kids could be resilient when they had to be.
They walked a little further then Jimmy stopped her. "Hey, what do you make of this?" He asked pointing to a tree. There was fresh blood and a hole. Jessi glanced down at the ground then smirked when she saw the tracks. "My guess it's squirrel for dinner." He looked confused. "Daryl. We must have crossed over his path. Well, more like he wandered into our grid. See the hoof prints? Looks like he was headed for the ridge." She started walking again continuing east.
"Hey wait, shouldn't we head for the ridge?" Jimmy asked. She just chuckled. "What for? Daryl can handle himself."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth that there was a loud pop. "What was that?" The boy to her left whispered, white knuckling his knife. Jess just hushed him so she could listen. There was more rustling and then a groan. Walker. She wasn't good enough at this yet to know if there was more than one but there was no confusing that smell. She circled slowly. It was hard to tell where it was coming from and the bushes were so dense it cut visibility. Grabbing Jimmy's sleeve, she started pulling him down the path a little further.
They were almost clear when there was a groan that sounded like it was right on top of them and Jess found herself being tackled to the ground. Landing on her gun arm made it impossible to get a shot off and she couldn't afford to waste anytime on it. Putrid breath huffed in her face as gnashing deteriorating teeth were just inches from her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jimmy frozen. They really had been sheltered out here. He obviously hadn't spent much time with these things up close. She was just about to yell at him to do something when another walker stumbled out of the bushes. Both walkers were dressed in camo. The one behind Jimmy had a ripped orange vest. Hunters. "Jimmy! Behind you!" Jess called from the ground as she managed to get fully on her back freeing up her right hand. Without thinking she took aim and shot the one closest to the boy. She could have done the same with the one on top of her but she didn't want to run the risk of infected blood getting in her eyes or mouth. So she thrust her pelvis up and used her left leg to roll them both over so she was on top. She could feel the brittle bones snap and squishy flesh shift underneath her. It was gross enough a feeling that she may never ride cowgirl again but there wasn't time to think about that. She aimed the gun then heard "WAIT!"
Jimmy screaming gave her pause but the dead thing under her squirming and trying to claw at her made sure she wasn't distracted long. The sound of the shot seemed to echo around them. As Jimmy fell to his knees beside her, Jessika stood up.
"That was my dad." His voice was weak and almost child-like. Her chest tightened but glancing at the corpse there was no question that it was long dead before she ever got her shot off. Half of his face was missing.
She tried to keep her voice soft, she did have sympathy but that thing tried to kill her. "Look at him, Jimmy. There was no helping him. I did him a favor. Nobody deserves to end up like that."
It was a long, quiet trek back to the house. With no sign of Sophia and Jimmy not speaking to her, Jess returned frustrated. She was content to go back to her tent to be alone when she heard Andrea shout from the top of the RV. "WALKER!"
Jess did her best not to snap at the kid. After all, the male ego was a delicate thing in a grown man. Jimmy was a 17 year old boy who now felt emasculated by the lack of a weapon he didn't even know how to use. "For starters, they didn't give me anything. This is my gun. I agreed to relinquish it like everyone else because we are guests but make no mistake. This is my gun to use whenever I see fit. Secondly, it would be a waste of ammo to hand it over to you."
She could see that he was going to protest but stopped him. "I'm not trying to be cute or put you down. I just had to learn the hard way that using a real one of these is very different than playing Halo. It kicks. There's wind. It gets hot. You get scared. It takes a lot of shooting to overcome that natural instinct to close your eyes when you shoot. I still do it. The only way to compensate doing that is to let them get closer and then you run the risk of panicking. Though none of that scares me worse than the idea of you getting jumpy, hearing a noise and accidentally shooting Sophia."
Shame seemed to silence him long enough for Jess to nail a yellow scrap of fabric to a tree. "Do you honestly think she's still alive?" He asked softly.
Jessika had to think about her answer. In the end she shrugged. "I don't know. Three days is a long time but that little girl has been through a lot. I guess I'm banking on the idea that she's learned a few things." Kids could be resilient when they had to be.
They walked a little further then Jimmy stopped her. "Hey, what do you make of this?" He asked pointing to a tree. There was fresh blood and a hole. Jessi glanced down at the ground then smirked when she saw the tracks. "My guess it's squirrel for dinner." He looked confused. "Daryl. We must have crossed over his path. Well, more like he wandered into our grid. See the hoof prints? Looks like he was headed for the ridge." She started walking again continuing east.
"Hey wait, shouldn't we head for the ridge?" Jimmy asked. She just chuckled. "What for? Daryl can handle himself."
No sooner were the words out of her mouth that there was a loud pop. "What was that?" The boy to her left whispered, white knuckling his knife. Jess just hushed him so she could listen. There was more rustling and then a groan. Walker. She wasn't good enough at this yet to know if there was more than one but there was no confusing that smell. She circled slowly. It was hard to tell where it was coming from and the bushes were so dense it cut visibility. Grabbing Jimmy's sleeve, she started pulling him down the path a little further.
They were almost clear when there was a groan that sounded like it was right on top of them and Jess found herself being tackled to the ground. Landing on her gun arm made it impossible to get a shot off and she couldn't afford to waste anytime on it. Putrid breath huffed in her face as gnashing deteriorating teeth were just inches from her mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jimmy frozen. They really had been sheltered out here. He obviously hadn't spent much time with these things up close. She was just about to yell at him to do something when another walker stumbled out of the bushes. Both walkers were dressed in camo. The one behind Jimmy had a ripped orange vest. Hunters. "Jimmy! Behind you!" Jess called from the ground as she managed to get fully on her back freeing up her right hand. Without thinking she took aim and shot the one closest to the boy. She could have done the same with the one on top of her but she didn't want to run the risk of infected blood getting in her eyes or mouth. So she thrust her pelvis up and used her left leg to roll them both over so she was on top. She could feel the brittle bones snap and squishy flesh shift underneath her. It was gross enough a feeling that she may never ride cowgirl again but there wasn't time to think about that. She aimed the gun then heard "WAIT!"
Jimmy screaming gave her pause but the dead thing under her squirming and trying to claw at her made sure she wasn't distracted long. The sound of the shot seemed to echo around them. As Jimmy fell to his knees beside her, Jessika stood up.
"That was my dad." His voice was weak and almost child-like. Her chest tightened but glancing at the corpse there was no question that it was long dead before she ever got her shot off. Half of his face was missing.
She tried to keep her voice soft, she did have sympathy but that thing tried to kill her. "Look at him, Jimmy. There was no helping him. I did him a favor. Nobody deserves to end up like that."
It was a long, quiet trek back to the house. With no sign of Sophia and Jimmy not speaking to her, Jess returned frustrated. She was content to go back to her tent to be alone when she heard Andrea shout from the top of the RV. "WALKER!"