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SIX
P R E P A R A T I O N _______________
IT WAS Acooler bout of weather that day. It couldn't have been more than seventy degrees outside, in the shade at least. I watched people have to take off some of their layers cause they had dressed too warm, just as I saw others run inside and put on sweaters cause they were cold.
I had always been someone who got cold easily, so layers were always my best friend. I remember so many nights, before the outbreak, where I would wake up in the middle of the night and have to turn off the air conditioner to the house.
Mom always hated that.
Do gunfights get tiring? I found myself wondering this as I sat there watching patrols on the wall, my eyes never leaving that gate for more than a minute.
I've never been in any gunfight myself. I was there when a lot of bullets were flying in the direction of the dead, but never between two groups. I imagine having to dodge from cover to cover worked up a sweat. Not to mention the adrenaline that must be pumping through one's veins as they narrowly evade being pierced by sharp bits of metal.
Holding that gun the other night felt…weird. It felt wrong. I had never been taught by anyone how to use a gun, despite my mother being a veteran and my father sometimes spending his spare time out in the woods, hunting deer or turkey or squirrels. I was kinda glad neither of them got me involved in their lifestyles.
I was also kinda…worried. If Mom and the others failed, and the invaders from the other night came here again, I would have no way of defending myself. Reese couldn't protect me, cause he was still in the hospital. Kat probably could, but for how long?
With the world the way it was, I needed to be ready for conflict. I couldn't just run and hide with a gun in my hands that I could maybe shoot if someone came at me. Maybe when Mom came back I would talk to her about a subject change for my survival lessons.
I must have been sitting there, watching the wall for hours, before I felt someone touch my shoulder and I couldn't help but jump.
"Hey, you okay?"
I turned my head and looked up, finding Cadence standing over me with a glass of water in her hands.
"You want something to drink?"
"Thanks," I nodded, and took the cup of water from her.
