"Hey princess, let's go" Daryl whispers to me across from my cell at the entrance. I sit up from the top bunk and jump down. I grab my socks and shoes from the corner of the room and slip out quietly as to not wake Beth. I sit down on the floor and put my shoes on quietly as Daryl shines a flashlight at me to see. We go outside and I go towards the bike "nuh-uh. We takin' a car" he says going over to the light green one.
I eye him "why are we taking a car?" I question once we are inside. He starts it and drives down to the gate where Glenn comes out of the tower to open for us.
"goin' far enough someplace we haven't hit yet, might get some good supplies." he says while driving out. I nod, understanding now and look out into the night. It's easy to forget what the world is like surrounding us while we drive in the dark. The walkers are visible only when directly in front of the car, and Daryl is easily able to avoid them.
I jolt awake, the car bumping against the road. I look over to Daryl "how long was I out?" I ask rubbing away the crust from my eyes.
"Couple hours, 2 or 3" he says. "You know you snore when you sleep?" He asks.
"I do not!" I argue staring at him in disbelief. His lips twitch into a small smile as he tries not to laugh "I don't!" I push again seriously now.
"no, but you do grind your teeth. Like damn, how does someones teeth even do that!?" He comments.
I laugh "I wish I knew! I've been doing it since I was a kid" I tell him.
He pulls onto a street and makes a few turns, finding somewhere to park. He pulls into a driveway and gets out. There's only a few walkers on the street and he takes down the 2 closest by before walking towards the house "yew gon' take one down?" He asks as I stare at a dead being slowly sauntering towards us.
"No, don't think I'm ready yet" I tell him honestly, fear taking control of me. He bangs on the door to the house and puts his ear to it. Once he's satisfied that it's clear he opens it. The homes on this block are more new than some others we passed "so why here?" I ask from behind him as he looks around corners and behind doors.
The walls, doors, and windows are all intact, and the kitchen is incomplete as a renovation on it was probably happening when the world fell a part. "Only house with a fence" he explains as he walks up the steps to check the top floor. The three bedrooms and bathrooms are clear of any living or dead and we make our way back outside "alright, see that tree?" He points to the largest one between the others at the end of the yard. I nod to tell him I do "that's your main target." He drops his bag on the ground and pulls out a spray can. He walks to the tree and sprays a small target on it. He walks back and picks up the thing I've been eyeing since he got it out of the car. A bow different than his "found this one a few weeks ago, it's an older one but will do for learnin'" he hands it over to me. I stare at the less complex bow and sigh in relief, this is something I can start with. "Stance first" she says coming over to my side "feet should be shoulder width apart" he shows me with his own feet "and toes directly perpendicular to the target." I follow along in those first 2 steps "If you're more comfortable move yer feet closer or farther apart. I go wider, it's sturdier that way" he informs me showing what he means.
"Alright, I'll try that" I say widening my feet out a lot and keeping my toes perpendicular to the tree.
"Ready?" Daryl asks me. I nod telling him he's correct "that will be the hand that holds the bow. How you hold the bow will have an influence on the accuracy of your shots, so try to avoid torquing."
My eyes widen with confusion "torquing?" I question.
"twisting, rotating," he tries to define it easily for me. I nod, pretending to tell him I understand what torque means in reference to the bow. He catches to my lie though and tries to explain it further "if ya put pressure on the bow that ain't directly on the center point of, here" he shows me with his hand on the bow in my hand "will cause torque."
"Alright. I'll try and remember that." I tell him.
"When you hold the bow, the grip will rest in your hand where your thumb meets the center of your palm, try it" he says after I just stand there and try and picture it. I lift the bow up, holding it mainly with my left hand "not bad" he says before coming over and adjusting my hand "there, like that.. it feels uncomfortable now but you'll get used to it." He goes and moves my elbow next, hitting it lightly "that needs to be stiffer" he says. I stiffen my elbow and he taps it again, this time refusing to jolt away as easily "better" he comments. "Your right elbow and forearm will be positioned directly parallel to the bow, like this."he brings my arm up as if I'm about to shoot to show me. I nod, taking note of his direction.
"What's next?" I ask him.
"Well, loosen up a bit, and we'll practice the stance for a while. You need to get comfortable and automatic with it" he explains. I release my arms and lower the bow to my sides. I move my feet a little, ready to try again and get into place. He nods for me to show him and I do my best to get into the stance quickly. We do this for about an hour before he's ready to move on to shooting.
"You're going to have your own kind of release Sadie-Mae. You'll need to practice over and over again until it becomes natural to you." He tells me.
I shake my head "but what the hell is a release?"
He smirks "Ima show you" he pulls at my arm to move me closer to the tree "your gonna shoot from here until you know what a release is" he lets go of my arm.
"What?" I question looking at where I am standing "I'm like 5 feet away from it." I say dumbfounded.
His smile grows "ya but your eyes are gon' be closed"
"are you serious?" I spit out.
"deadly. Let's go, get into position" he demands waiting.
I do as he says, his face now serious. I adjust myself to the position with my feet, slowly moving it until I feel comfortable. Daryl puts the bow into place and hands it to me. "okay, like this?" I ask him.
He shakes his head 'remember your forearm needs to be parallel to the bow." I remember as he says it and adjust it. "iight, close yer eyes and release." he says.
I close my eyes and hear him take a few steps back. My heart raises and I can feel my hands starting to sweat, I nervously let my finger go and the bow gets just a tad lighter as the arrow shoots off. I open my eyes and the arrow is sticking out from a tree "it hit?" I question smiling like a goon.
"Not bad" he says back to me with a small grin on his face as well. It didn't hit the target, not even really close, but it stuck to a tree which made me feel good.
We repeat that for a couple of hours, as time goes by I get more used to the release of my bow and understand what he was talking about "I get it now, I need to know when exactly the bow will be released, pressure and all, right?" I make sure I understand.
"Yup" he says out back to me "and muscle memory. So now we work on aiming, ready?" he nods.
I shrug my shoulders, moving them backwards in a rotation, already getting sore "let's do it" I tell him and he hands over a quiver with bows as I start to shoot for as much practice as I can get.