Once Infected, Twice Dead.

I'm an Independent Woman!

Waking up made me uneasy.

Another day. I could die.
But only God knows what I'd do if Jason died.

I woke up alone on a cold floor. It was about fall time, and it was getting pretty cold. Mayla had been with Jason and I for a few weeks now. We'd sheltered inside the local police station a couple of towns away from the old, rusty hotel we used to be in.

And, the zombies? More and more of them each day. Occasionaly one of us would come across a familiar face, like one of Mayla's ex-boyfriends, Jason's college professer, my kindergarten teacher, and...more of Mayla's ex's. She had a lot of exes.

"Caroline?"

My eyes fluttered open. Mayla.

Her hair was piled on top of her head in a huge bun, and her baggy clothing and naked face made her look unrecognizable from the cake-face I used to know.

"What?" I grumbled, hiding my face under my thin blanket.

Mayla crossed her arms across her chest. "Jason told me to come get you. Y'know, you need to do work, too."

"I'm an independent woman, I can do whatever the hell I want." I muttered, sitting up.

May la raised her overly-plucked-eyebrow. "Doooon't give me that crap. Anyway, he's outside in the shooting room and waiting for you; don't make him wait too long."

I rolled my eyes as Mayla exited the room. "She wants him."

*~*

"Hey," I told Jason as I basically limped outside. Rough sleep.

Jason glanced over at me and smiled. "Hey-yo." he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "We're going to teach you how to operate a gun."

"Shit," I said under my breath, "I'm gonna shoot someone."

Jason's bright grey eyes twinked. "I doubt that."

I shook from his grip and pointed at him. "Don't doubt me, it offends me."

He winked at me, and handed me a pistol. "I'll remember that."

The gun in my hand felt like a foreign object, a virus in my body that my blood cells are trying to fight. But instead on my blood cells, it was my humanity. I didn't want to lose my humanity for the sake of humanity. How did that even make any sense?

Jason pointed at a target across the room. "That's your walker. Hit 'em right between the eyes."

"Which is?" this was just a normal yellow-centered target.

"The center, that's the eyes. Here, let me help you with the safety-"

I pushed him away. "I know how the safety works, douche."

"You do?" Jason said, as I fumbled with the safety.

Shaking my head, I laughed. "Nope."

Jason chucked softly and grabbed the gun. "Like this," he demonstrated how to work the safety, and aimed at a target. He shuffled his body in a position where he could see and aim clearly, and

bang.

He'd shot the gun. I was taken aback at the noise at first; it was so loud. He grabbed a device off of the table and put it on the gun.

"This," Jason explained, adjusting the object, "is a silencer. It will minimize the loud 'bang'."

I nodded nervously. I swear, I was on the verge of sweating profusely.