Safe and Sound | TWD

Chapter 10

                 Isabella's POV:
   <Two weeks after the accident>

Learning how to use and shoot a gun wasn't as easy as I was expecting. Aiming is harder than it should be, loading the thing with bullets is surprisingly easy, although cocking the chamber is difficult.

The kickback is what scared me the first time I fired one.

Training with the others on how to use a weapon safely wasn't something my mom was super fond of. She was more worried about Carl using one than she was about me. Dad convinced her and some of the others that it would be crucial-beneficial; to learn.

I'm starting to get the hang of it. Getting used to the weight in my hand, unloading and reloading. Aiming, firing, cleaning the weapon. It's a lot more maintenance, but it keeps my mind busy.

Shane was talking about teaching us how to take apart a fire arm, clean it and then reassemble. I've never been very good at building things so I'm not sure how that will play out.

It's kind of embarrassing how big my target is and I still can't manage to hit it. Silas, of course, has no problem at all. Must be the perks of being a farm boy. Every time he hits the target and I miss, he flashes me a cocky smirk and a shrug. 'Easy Peezy' he seemed to say.

That always earned an eye roll.

Dad, bless him, has been super patient with me. The hands of a poet grasping a deadly weapon was not on anyone's bucket list. But he's been helpful. Correcting my footing, and stance. After emptying a whole clip and still not hitting the target, he suggested we take a break.

"I don't understand how it's so difficult. Aim and fire should be as easy as it sounds." With a huff, I plop down on a log far from the firing range, watching as Shane coaches Carl and the others further.

Dad chuckles as he takes a seat next to me, pats my shoulder and sighs. "When I was younger and going through police training, I had a hard time with shooting too."

Surprised, my eyes meet the side of his face. He grew up on a farm, so hearing that he had as much trouble with it as I do was comforting and unexpected. "Really?"

"No, I'm just trying to make you feel better." He nudges my shoulder with a chuckle. I scoff, nudging him back which earns a grunt of amusement from him.

"I hate to say that it was almost working, old man."

"Old man?" he tilts his head, and incredulous look on his face, "I'll have you know that I'm around 35."

A deep laugh resonates from within me as he tries to convince me of his youthfulness. "You've been around 35 for like five years now dad."

A scoff, "Alright if you're just gonna bully me, I'm gonna go back to my favorite son." His playfulness is clear. It feels good to be back in our bubble since the world around us went to shit. Like we have a piece of the old world with us still.

————

Carol suggested making dinner as a way to say thanks to Hershel and his family for helping us. Saving Carl and letting us have a safe place to come back to with the searching of Sophia. Still no promising news. Carol is having a hard time, but she seems to be handling it well.

I know Carl is worried too.

Having everyone together like this, dinner on the table, everyone having their own conversations feels like old times. I almost forgot what lies outside.

What really catches my attention is Maggie talking with Silas. I swear I hear my name being brought up, but every time I look to them, I know i'm just going crazy.

I did catch a glimpse of a small paper being passed between Glenn and Maggie, it sparks my interest enough to give Glenn a mischievous brow when he catches my eye. His cheeks turn a slight pink before he distracts himself with his fork on the plate infront of him.

It's almost...odd how normal everything feels. I'm probably the only one who finds it that way. We're all strangers, having dinner together like we've known each other forever.

The necklace around my neck that I usually mess with like a fidget, broke. I don't remember when or how. It must have been when Carl was shot. But now that I don't have that to fidget with, I've resorted to bouncing my leg, and folding my fingers over each other like origami. 

I once made a shape that was so freaky, that when I showed Carl, he through I broke my hand. I smile at the memory.

After dinner, I was back outside near our campsite. My journal in hand. Words have seemed lost to me ever since I thought Carl wasn't going to make it. It's like everything I knew about writing and poetry was gone. Like it didn't matter anymore.

I guess it doesn't.

I kind of turned it into a book of my thoughts. Some things that I'm not so sure I should say out loud, or things that don't make sense to me. Thoughts that I needed out of my mind, but somewhere close by.

Marissa used to tell me that journaling helped with her overthinking. That it helped clear her mind, but she always had them around as a sort of comfort. I never understood it until now.

I wonder where she is.

When the fall happened, she was supposed to be on a trip with her family. Did she ever make it there? Is she even alive? Is anyone I knew, anyone from my old life still around?

Best not to think about it I suppose.

————

"There's walkers in the barn."

The camp goes still. Glenn, with his baseball hat and worried expression stands before us. Clutching his fist into a tight ball to his side, eyeing the group of us. Dale watches us. Assessing how we'll handle the news that he seems to have already learned.

"What?" My voice doesn't sound like my own. The moment I speak, Shane steps up with his usual cold demeanor. Glenn looks to me instead.

"They're keeping walkers in the barn."

If chaos was the right word to describe the state everyone is in right now...that would be an understatement.

                              ***

i'm so sorry this took so long for me to post!! i'm not going to make any excuses, but i am going to be better and get new chapters out as soon as possible! I have a whole plan for these characters and this story so i hope you'll stick by me for what's to come!

thank you for being patient, and thank you for 200 reads!!! i love you all!!!

until next time...

 

             *loving nose boops*