The Snipers of the Apocalypse

Misadventures Part 7- The Good...

I woke in the bed of the truck with a start, sitting up so quick that I could feel all the blood rush from my head and down my neck.

"Hey, hey. It's okay, it was just a bad dream." Doc was next to me, a worried look etched onto his face. With a slight nod, I ran my hands through my hair before putting it back up, remembering that I took it down before falling asleep. Silence passed as I looked around, realizing that the only one left in the truck, other than myself, was him.

I also took note of the fact that we were parked on the side of a random two-lane road, in the middle of the woods.

"Where is everybody?" I questioned quietly, heart rate slowly retreating back to normal from the flashbacks.

"They're checking up ahead, 10k saw something through his scope and everybody got curious. We didn't wanna leave you in the truck alone, so I hung back."

"Just saying that he saw 'something' is giving me bad vibes, if I'm being honest." I know Doc hates when I mutter, but my head is killing me and I'm not wasting what little pain killers we have for something that minuscule.

"I guess he saw people?" Doc shrugged, popping a cashew into his mouth. "Surprised he saw anything since he was so focused on you."

"People or Z's?" I remarked. Don't worry, I'll be coming back to that last part shortly.

"I dunno kid, he said people so the team went to investigate."

"Don't we normally leave people be? Our whole 'mission' is like the lethal version of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'." With a chuckle, Doc simply shrugged his shoulders, offering me a cashew. I took it and rolled it around in my hand for a few seconds before looking back up at my elder friend.

"What did you mean by, 'he was so focused on you'?"

"Oh, you were talking in your sleep. Kept saying something about your parents, it wasn't very coherent." I fell silent after that, not wanting to continue the conversation after the newly acquired information.

I talk in my sleep? What exactly was I saying? Was it embarrassing? Oh, please let it not have been embarrassing. You know what, I don't even wanna know.

"So, what were these 'people' doing?" A quick change of subject was the best I could think to do.

"Oh, I don't know. The kid said they just walked across the road, pulling some kind of wagon lookin' thing behind them." With another shrug, Doc sealed up his cashews and slid them into his bag. "Got Warren curious."

"And Murphy? Where's he at?"

"Went with them. He's been acting real weird, as you know, so Warren wanted to keep a close eye on him. Besides, he was getting stir-crazy sitting in the truck."

"Fair enough." Another pause. Man, you'd really think that there would be more to talk about, but considering we've spent the past, what, nearly three years together, I guess you run out of stories from before the apocalypse. At least, that's what I thought.

"So, you've never told me about how you became so good a shot."

"No?" I questioned, the point taking me by surprise. I could've sworn...

"No, I mean you said you hunted with your family, but other than that, nothing."

"Oh."

"Wanna taco 'bout it?" Shaking my head, I let out a soft chuckle at Doc's word play.

"Sure. I mean, there isn't much to say. As you know, I hunted with my family quite a bit. Like, whenever we had the chance. My uncle and grandfather were the big hunters, so I was normally with them. Well, I actually really enjoyed it. It was peaceful, quiet. And then when you had that shot, the adrenaline kicked in. Anyway, I guess right off the bat I was a pretty lucky shot. I started with a bow and got that down quickly, but-" Doc cut me off, his interest more peaked than it already was.