Sorry, I know it is really short, but I swear the next few chapters will be much longer. I'm used to having a lot done so I can update an already written chapter on the days I work. But, I want to thank those of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!
Now, Sophia stood on a hill, about twenty miles from where she had last seen any of her former group, and she couldn't help but worry. Was her mother alright? How about Carl? Were all of them okay, and were they worrying about her as well?
"So, are you just gonna sit there all day?" Ren frowned at her, pouting as they looked out over the fields. Bella had promised to return by nightfall, she was going to go look for a safe spot to camp out for a few days. The blonde haired girl was a little nervous to have Bella leave them, the eldest didn't have anyone to watch her back.
"No," Giving Ren a raspberry, who stuck his tongue out too, they both glared at each other. "I'm just watching for anything." Sophia continued to look out, so far, she hadn't seen any walkers, which had to be a good thing.
"Well, I'm supposed to teach you how to use a slingshot, but you aren't even watching me." He whined while shooting another pebble down at the ground, hitting the makeshift target. It was a ring of stones, three rings in fact, the smaller sitting in the middle of the next larger one. "You think you could go pick those up?" The two were seated on a low hanging branch, kicking the air, and the bag that usually held marbles or pebbles now was empty.
"You're the one that shot 'em," Narrowing her eyes playfully, she managed to claw her way to the trunk of the tree, her left foot finding a niche she had used to climb up. "I get to shoot these then." Watchful of her surroundings, she felt somewhat safe with Ren watching her back. While they fought playfully, he was nice.
There had to be at least 50 stones that littered the ground, almost all sat within the smallest circle, Ren was clearly a good shot, and Sophia wondered idly if he had a slingshot before all of this had begun.
- - Sophia - -
Before long, Sophia sat next to Ren, sighing in frustration as yet another pebble landed far from where she had intended it to land. He made it look so easy, but every time she pulled the rubber back, it soared awkwardly through the air.
"Do you think Bella would train me how to use a gun?" Asking hopefully, she couldn't think of how she could learn to use a slingshot like Ren had, and as well as he did too. At this rate, she would never progress to a level where she could actually help.
"No way. You heard her, no guns. Maybe you could learn to use something else." She shot an odd, rusty brown-colored rock, and it didn't even travel three feet before nosediving into the dirt.
"This sucks."
- - Sophia - -
Bella kept her word, and just before the sun was consumed by the horizon, she came into view, carrying two backpacks which she hadn't left with. She had some new bloodstains on her, (hopefully not her own) clothes, but otherwise looked healthy.
"Hey guys, how'd learning how to use a sling shot go?" Sophia kicked the ground, shrugging. Ashamed to admit she hadn't made any headway was embarrassing. How was Sophia supposed to expect these two strangers to keep her around if she couldn't shoot a kid's toy. "That bad huh? Ren, would you go organize these? I want to have a chance to talk to Sophia." After she handed the bag off to her brother, Bella sat down, and patted the grass beside her. "Can I tell you a story? A story of a girl, one who had to find courage?"