Outbreak

Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Marlowe

Avi and I wave as Reyes backs out the excessively long gravel driveway in his old, loud truck. "Be good!" He calls out.

"He's going to be okay." Avi says. She is speaking to me, but I think she is really just reassuring herself.

"Yeah." I nod, not sure how to respond.

We return to the fence and continue to pull weeds in silence. It's broken when Avi questions, "Do you think he was a Seal?"

"A what?"

"Well he was in the Navy, do you think he was a Navy Seal?"

"On that's true. Maybe he was." I agree with her, and wipe sweat from my forehead.

"Maybe he'll teach us cool Karate moves. Or spear hunting!" Avi picks up the shovel and pretends to throw it at me like a spear, smiling mischievously.

I giggle at her antics and continue pulling the tough weeds. "Or maybe he'll just teach us to shoot a shotgun." I laugh.

"Kill joy."She pouts, throwing a dandelion at me.

We finish up the west side of his property and decide to call it a day. We trek back to the little house and drag ourselves inside. The humid air stinks of manure.

We both collapse on the dainty couches in his living room, exhausted.

We turn to each other suddenly, thinking the same thing. "Dibs on the shower!" We say simultaneously.

"Alright," I sigh, "you can go first."

"Really?" She asks excitedly.

"Pfft! No!" I laugh. I throw a pillow at her to slow her down and sprint upstairs slamming the bathroom door.

"Not fair!" She yells from outside the bathroom.

I turn on the water. "Oh, how refreshing this is..." I tease.

"Ughhhhh!" She sighs in exasperation.

After I finish showering, I jog down the stairs, drying my hair with a small towel. I leave it down, allowing it to form itself into long waves and curls. I always used to wear it that way before the Collapse.

I look around for Avi. "Avi, I'm done, you can shower. Avi?" I peak out the kitchen window, and see Reyes old truck back in its place. I glance at the clock. Only 4. It must have been a quick run.

I slide open the screen door and skip down the stairs. Before I can react, an arrow whizzes past me and into a hay bale, sloppily painted to look like a target. Several other arrows are scattered throughout the bale.

"Hey! You're in the line of fire!" Avi calls out. Reyes stands behind her, his arms guiding hers on a cross bow.

"Whoa," I watch her shoot another, missing the center by several inches, "where'd you get that?"

"Old hunting store just outside town. I completely forgot it was there until a few days ago, when I was on that run." He pauses."I knew the owner. He kept his keys on the doorframe." He grinned.

"Well, what about me?" I ask, "Can I try?"

"Sure. But I have something else in mind for you." He replies.

He jogs to his shed. When he returns he has a pistol, and a human shaped target, as well as some sort of rifle.

"No, that's too loud. We shouldn't do that here." I worry.

"Nah, I've got a silencer." Reyes pulls out a weird looking attachment and puts it on the front of the pistol. " He leans the target up against Avi's hay bale.

"Hey..."Avi whines jokingly. "Why does she get the gun?"

Reyes replies earnestly, "Because you are pretty trigger-happy and I only have so many bullets." He grins at her and she laughs.

"Now let me show you the basics, Marlowe..."