A Breath of Fresh Air - e.w.

20

Lia found the best part about weed was the sleep. That night, she slept soundly and woke up without the feeling of being sick or even a bit of panic. Ellie walked her back to her place once it was dark. At first, Lia wasn't sure about being in the house alone (Ellie even offered to stay or have Lia sleep at her place), but the girl quickly passed out when her head hit her pillow.

A few weeks later, Leo wanted to teach Lia how to shoot a gun. Lia was fine with her knife and bow, but he wanted her to be prepared for anything if they ever ended up outside of Jackson. They've had some issues with more infected and hunters, so who knows what will come for them one day. If something ever does come.

"I prefer my bow," Lia mutters as she holds her pistol, "It's silent."

"A gun causes more damage up close. Can take someone out with one shot, if you do it right. Besides, we can find silencers or even make some."

Lia rolled her eyes at Leo's statement, So can my bow and knife," the girl muttered as she looked at the targets Leo had setup.

"Just keep practicing," Leo smirked at his sister with a slightly annoyed tone to his voice. Lia rolled her eyes, holding up the BB gun. She aimed at the bottles, controlling her breathing before taking the shot.

She missed. Badly.

"Wow, I thought I was a shit shot," Sadie snorted as she walked over to the girl. Lia turned to see Ellie, Jesse, Cat and Dina following Sadie, "You said you weren't interested in patrol. Guess it's more cause you'd prob die from those shooting skills."

"I'm better with my bow and knives," Lia defended herself as she lowered the BB gun. Her eyes turned to Ellie, frowning when the girl avoided her eyes. Ever since movie night, Ellie hasn't made eye contact with her once and avoided conversation with Lia. Lia had no fucking idea why - it was completely out of the blue.

"Beauty, right" Jesse pointed to Lia's bow that was leaned against the wall, "Found it in an abandoned lodge up north. Was a but busted but Joel and Tommy fixed it up."

"Yeah," Lia nodded, looking away from Ellie, "Shoots nice, too. Better than anything I had."

"How do you know how to shoot a bow but not a gun?" Dina asked cusiously.

"Leo traind me secretly. Needed quiet shit to practice."

"Secret training?" Jesse questioned.

"Our place was selective on who got to train and who didn't," Leo says quickly, cutting the conversation off.

"Well, let's see!" Sadie muses, "See if that practice did any good."

Lia looks between the group, shrugging before walking over to her bow. She grabs a few arrows, puts them in her bag and walks over to the target area. Lia nocks an arrow, pulling the string back before exhaling and releasing the arrow. It breaks the glass easily and sticks itself into the wood behind it. Lia smirks when Jesse let's out a low whistle.

"I think you can do better!" Ellie calls out Lia, making the girl frown at her. Out of all the things to say after weeks not talking, that's what Ellie has to say?

So, Lia smirked to herself an accepted the challenge. She turned to Leo, nodding to him and Leo immediately knew what his sister was asking. He chuckled, grabbing the glass and throwing it up in the air. Lia quickly drew the arrow back, aiming quickly then releasing it. She smirked at Ellie when it broke the glass.

Lia frowned when Ellie avoided her eyes when Cat stepped closer to the auburn-haired girl. So, Lia grabbed one of her knives and threw it at the bottle, taking the top off. She turned to Ellie to see that the girl was still avoiding her eyes, but an impressed smirk was painted on her face.