Run

Chapter 2

•Emily: Year Four•

I watched as Jackie steadily aimed the gun at the deer's head. She had asked me to watched how she aimed, judging by wind resistance and direction. At first I had refused, I was much more skilled in the area of knives. Kat only fought with her pointy stick. I kept my eyes on her hands as she switched off the safety, but as much as I resisted, I still had to look away when she pulled the trigger. I had no issue with killing Walkers. They were a danger to everyone I cared about. This dear on the other hand, had done nothing to us. It was completely innocent.

Snapping back into reality, I looked back towards the scene in front of me. Jackie was bent over the deer, inspecting it thoroughly for any signs of bites or the Fever. Finding none, she called me over to help her drag it back to camp. We lugged the deer into the clearing and put it down a few feet away from Kat, who was lying back against a tree, her injured arm resting on her stomach.

Plopping down on the ground next to her I gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, again, about your arm." I gestured towards the bullet wound in her shoulder, "Does it still hurt?" She shrugged, and winced, answering my question without even having to speak.

"It wasn't your fault though. You never could have known I wasn't a Walker. I don't blame you for taking the precaution," she smiled. I shook my head, absolutely amazed at how this fourteen year old girl could be so forgiving. The truth was, I hadn't thought she was a Walker. Jackie had been attempting to teach me how to shoot for the fifth time since we had left the group, and I had missed my target drastically. I was lucky I hadn't killed her.

Since then I had stuck firmly to my knifes. I was pretty strong and had exceptional aim that I hadn't even known about until three years ago. And now with all of the practice I had gotten, I could hit a Walker in the head from roughly ten meters away.

I had been thinking about what I would do if I ever lost my knives when I suddenly became aware of Kat saying my name.

"Sorry, I was just thinking and- never mind, what were you saying?" I sighed, knowing that explaining myself was pointless.

Kat laughed, "I was just wondering if you remembered why we left everyone." I strained my mind, searching for the answer, but not coming up with anything.

"Sorry kiddo, I don't really know," I admitted, shaking my head. Kat smiled sadly. I remembered that parting ways with her cousin Sarah had been hard on her.

"I remember," she looked out towards the trees, "I thought that I had been bitten, I didn't want to endanger anyone else and so I left. You two followed me, and thank God you did or I would have died within minutes." I nodded, realizing that sounded familiar. "Turned out to only be a dog bite, we figured that out when I remembered hearing something barking in the distance," she continued, "I felt so stupid afterwards, causing us to become isolated from everyone else."

I touched her shoulder gently, "You never could have known what kind of bite it was with all the confusion of the attack," I whispered, the memories flooding back in of streets filled with Walkers and large canines. I was about to continue when I realized why Kat hadn't responded, she had fallen asleep with her head leaning up against the tree.