𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗡 - 𝘁𝘄𝗱

𝟬𝟬𝟯: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘

AEI: this chapter isn't very good but i used all of today's brain power on pretending to revise and trying to find my brother in the supermarket so it's been a stressful time 😍

When Tiger was younger, before the whole world went to shit, her dad used to take her hunting.

It was their own special thing. Just them. Jackie never came — because the blood made her miserable — and Boots had to be left at home because he always wanted to chase whatever they were trying to shoot. So, every Sunday morning, they'd drive off down towards the woods with Tiger leaning out of the window like a dog. Her dad laughed at her, every single time.

"Gonna get that damn head of yours knocked off." He used to say. As if something as minor as death would ever deter Tiger from anything.

She'd flash him a grin – all teeth, her eyes wide and sparkling – and he'd wink back at her.

Jay Mallory was a tough man. Rough and rusted around the edges, more likely to start a fight than a friendship, but he loved his girls like oxygen. Tiger was the spitting image of him. He was the only person in the world who always called her Romy.

Hunting was their time.

The silence in the woods, thick and cool and damp, the trees stretching over their heads to block the sun. The slowest part of the morning. Tiger used to lie on her stomach, pressing the spongy soil between her fingers, and Jay would scout out the area, searching for tracks. Once he found them, Tiger would hop back to her feet and chase him through the forest; the stickiness of the day finally creeping in.

Two weeks before the world ended, Tiger shot her first deer.

Crouched in the grass, the rifle balanced on her shoulder and her dad holding her steady. His mouth right by her ear, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Steady hands, kid. Take your time."

Tiger remembers squeezing her eyes almost closed, trying to focus on nothing but the deer. The long slope of its neck, the twitch in its tail, the smooth fur of its back. It made her whole body burn.

"Good, Romy, good. Just keep your eyes on the prize, OK? Make it quick; nice clean shot. You got this. I gotcha."

Jay made Tiger feel brave. He had a strange, undying sort of faith in his daughters. When Jackie started track, he fought his boss to leave work early for every single one of her competitions. When Tiger asked for a dog, you best believe she was getting that dog.

And, when Tiger had asked to learn how to shoot, he had taught her.

The world was not kind to little girls. Jay Mallory would be damned if he let his daughters walk into it unprepared.

So, Tiger had ended up in that forest; gripping her rifle and staring at that deer. Ready to kill it.

"Come on, kid. You can do this."

Tiger chewed on the inside of her cheek. Jay tucked her hair behind her ear. His hands – calloused and careless, the hands of someone used to handling brick – became gentle and deliberate around his girls. It gave Tiger courage.

"You want me to count you down?" Jay murmured.

"Mmm."

"Alright. You ready?"

"Mmm."

"Three."

Tiger readjusted her grip. Her knuckles whitened around the gun.

"Two."

She blew a strand of hair off her face.

"One."