salvation → g. rhee

toy soldier

"Come on, people, we still got a lot to do here," Shane cleared his throat, smoothing over the awkward silence that had followed Aubrey's comment.

Glenn handed her his bottle of water and she took a sip before making her way back through the cars. She showed up as Carl hesitantly pulled open the door of a pickup truck and reached inside; she could clearly see a body sitting in front of the steering wheel through the dust-coated window.

"Carl, don't!" she yelled, startling him enough to make the boy fall backwards onto the road.

"Sorry, sorry. What were you reaching for?" she asked, looking into the cab. She could see the blade of a hatchet sticking up from the dead man's lap.

"He's got this leather thing next to him - I thought it could be useful," Carl replied, getting up from the ground.

"Here, I'll get it. Just in case he's not dead dead -" Aubrey took her knife from it's sheath and handed it to him, "Take this and aim for the brain, okay?"

"Okay," Carl nodded, holding the knife so tight she saw his knuckles going white.

Grabbing the steering wheel to hoist herself up, she reached carefully for the leather bundle sitting next to the dead man with her right hand, keeping her eyes on him the entire time.

She took her left hand off the steering wheel when the leather bundle proved harder to move than it looked. She gave a hard tug with both hands, dislodging it with a grunt-turned-scream as she also dislodged the body, sending her sprawling to the pavement, clutching the leather to her chest. Carl jumped forward in panic and stabbed the still-dead man in the head. Aubrey got to her feet quickly, dusting off the seat of her jeans with one hand.

"C'mon, let's show my dad," she said, nudging him forward. They started jogging back.

"Shane!" Carl yelled, finding the man bent over the inside of a car's hood.

"Carl, what happened?" Lori asked, running over in panic.

"It's okay, Lori, we just found something cool," Aubrey assured her.

Carl took the leather pouch from her and unrolled it in the dead grass in front of the car Shane was working on. Shane stopped working and straightened up.

"Check it out," Carl panted, uncovering a small arsenal of knives, machetes, and hatchets.

"That's cool, bud. Why don't you go give them to Dale," Shane suggested, turning back to his work.

"Check this one out!" Carl exclaimed, pulling out the hatchet.

"Be careful, don't play with those," Lori said in her mom voice.

"They're really sharp!"

"What did I just say?" Lori asked him pointedly.

"Can I keep one?" Carl asked hopefully.

"Are you crazy?" Lori asked rhetorically, snatching the hatchet from him.

"No way," Carl whined. "Shane - Shane, tell her to let me keep one."

Aubrey took a small step back at the look on Shane's face.

"Hey, man, I said go give 'em all to Dale. Now! Go," he said, turning back to the car again.

Carl casted a hurt look at Shane, took the bundle from Lori and ran off. As Lori went after him, Aubrey looked between her dad and Carl's retreating back.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Shane asked offhandedly, shutting the hood of the car.