THE ROMANTICIST | C. GRIMES

04 | CHAPTER THREE

Mollie's apartment was completely silent, only the occasional sound of a page flipping broke through. Until a loud knock on the front door made her jump. She set the book on the coffee table, finding it hard to tear her eyes away, before walking over and pulling the front door open. She came face to face with Carl, of all people, which surprised her. They hadn't talked or seen each other since the day of the battle.

"Hey." He smiled. "I wanted to welcome you the day you got here, but I've been busy running supplies between here the Hilltop all week. So belated welcome." His words didn't fail to make her chuckle. "How've you been settling?"

"Fine." She nodded. "It's just...very different."

"Yeah, I bet." He nodded. "So, my dad said you didn't have like, any gun training, right?" She nodded. "I can teach you, if you want. I mean, you'll probably need to know how to use a rifle anyway so someone should teach you, and I'm the only one who doesn't have anything going on."

"Really? I mean, I can use a bow just fine." She said, shifting on her feet.

"Like a composite or a crossbow? I dunno if we have another crossbow, but I'm pretty sure someone found a few composites a camping store a couple weeks back."

"No, just a normal bow." She laughed. "Like the ones made in the Kingdom."

"Oh. I uh, I don't think we have any of those." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But we've got a lot of guns, though."

"Well, I guess I should learn." She sighed, biting her lip. "When do you wanna start?"

"Hmmmm...what are you doing right now?"

"Well I was reading."

"Cool, so nothing important." He nodded. "I'll grab some stuff, meet you by the front gate? It's better to practice away from Alexandria just in case there's any big groups near by-we don't wanna draw them here."

"Alright." She nodded. He flashed her another smile before starting down the alley towards the road. She watched him for a moment before ducking back inside, realizing that she was still in her pajamas. She quickly got dressed, marking her spot in her book before grabbing her pack and heading for the gate. Carl was already waiting, a few guns slung over one of his shoulders as he leaned against the wall and talked to Tara who was up on guard.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked when he noticed her approaching. She nodded in response, and he held out one of the guns. "Cool, let's go."

"Be safe!" Tara called out after they'd gone through the gate and started down the road. Carl turned back and waved, before starting to lead Mollie into the woods.

"There's a gunstore in the town that's this way." Carl explained. "Totally cleared out, of course, but they have a gun range in the back. We haven't had a reason to use it since we found it, but I figured now is as good of a time as any."

"How long have you guys been in the area?" She asked, falling into step next to him.

"Not long, around like two years probably." He said. "Give or take a few months."

"Were you on the road before?" She asked.

"Not the entire time, but yeah right before we got here we were heading for DC. Then, Aaron and Eric found us, brought us here instead." He explained. "Came up from Atlanta over the years. What about you?"

"I grew up here in Virginia." She said. "My mom and I lived kinda far out in the woods, so when everything fell we were pretty much alright for a few years. A few stragglers here and there but it was fine for the most part. And then a herd came through, and my mom stayed back to distract them so I could run. Last thing I saw...the house was on fire. I think she was trying to draw them to it."

"Any way she survived?" He asked after a moment.

"No, she would've found me before I got the Kingdom if she'd survived." She shook her head. "I ended up there about a month or so later. I still had a pretty big group of walkers on me, I had to sleep in trees and stuff every few days-but for the most part I was just running. I didn't know how to kill them back then, so all I could do was run. One day I was doing just that, running through a small town, when I heard horse hooves. Next thing I knew, two Kingdom soldiers on horses breezed past me and took out every single one that had been following me and that was that."

"I didn't kill my first walker until..." Carl trailed off. "Um, I don't actually remember." She could tell there was something he wasn't saying, but she wasn't going to push. It wasn't her business.

"I think I was fourteen? Fifteen maybe?" She tried to think, but most of that time was a blur now. "I finally convinced Ezekiel to let me go out and actually put my training that I'd been doing to the test, so me and him and Jerry all went out. I killed five that day on my own." Her small smile shined with pride. "What's the most you've ever gotten in a day?"

"Shit, I dunno." He laughed. "Dozens. I've killed a lot of walkers." They finally emerged from the forest onto a street. It was the town farther from Alexandria, but also safer. The one closer to them was always overrun, even when they'd tried to clear it a few times it always filled up again. "Cool, we're here. The gun store is two streets over."