Part II: Cloud 9
-Day 115-
JuJu sits on the bench press in the little gym he has in the garage. The gear was already there when the three made the home their own. He was drinking a water bottle as he looked around the neighborhood. He's wearing a black and grey long-sleeve flannel shirt with a grey hoodie under, black joggers, and his Jordan 1 sneakers, now creased and dirty. He sees Lynn in the distance practicing shooting her bow with Vonda, one of her friends. He keeps his eyes on her, slowly getting tunnel vision as he ignores everything happening around him.
"JuJu!" Yells Marcus as he taps his shoulder. "I've been callin' you for the past couple minutes. Are you good?"
JuJu snaps back into reality.
"Huh? Yeah, I'm good, what's up?"
Marcus looks in the direction JuJu is looking and sees Lynn and her friend.
"Oh," he says. "I know what's going on."
JuJu's face starts to get red.
"You like her don't you? Don't lie to me now. I know that face when I see it."
"Fuck." JuJu says under his breath. "Okay, yes, but don't be goin' around sayin' shit."
"Trust me, I won't."
JuJu sighs. "One day in my life, I want a girl like her bro. There's something about her that has my attention but, I don't know what it is. It's like my eyes are stuck on replay. I never felt like this about someone in my life."
"Hold up, you haven't had a girlfriend before?."
"No, I was too focused on sports. Plus, no one was that cute at my school if we being honest."
"You should talk to her about it then."
"That's the thing, she told me she isn't into that 'romantic' stuff when we talked back in Detroit."
"So you told her already?"
"Nah, we saw her older sister making out with her man and she was hella grossed out."
"Well, that can always change. You gotta act fast or else someone might take your spot."
JuJu sighs again, "I guess you're right. But for real, don't say a damn word about this to anyone."
"You have my word. Look, you like a lil' brother that I never had, I got you. Why do you care so much that no one should know though?"
"I don't know. I guess don't want to ruin our friendship and make things weird."
"Alright, you do you, bro. I'll catch you later."
JuJu nods and the two do a fistbump and split up. JuJu stands up from the bench and walks toward Lynn and Vonda, still practicing using their bows.
"Aye, it would be dope to learn how to use one of those," He says as he points at their bows.
"Yo JuJu," says Lynn. "I can teach you sometime."
"Sounds good. 'Sup Von."
"Hey," Vonda replies. "We're gonna go hunting in a little bit if you wanna come with?"
"I'm down. Gotta get my shit real quick. Meet y'all outside LJ's place?."
"Yup."
JuJu turns and runs to his house, up the stairs, and into his bedroom. He finds his bag under the bed, quickly grabs it, and dashes back to the front door. He then stops at the front door.
"Hold up," he says to himself. "Ammo? Check. Water? Yup. Strap? Yes sir. A'ight, we out."
He opens the door and walks to the house where Lynn and her family are staying at. At the right time, Both girls exited the house as soon as he got to the front yard. He stares at Lynn once again, showing off a little smile as she walks toward him.
"You ready?" she says.
"You know me, I'm always ready."
Lynn giggles as the three walk together outside the gates and into the open world.
"So, JuJu," says Vonda. "You ever been hunting before?"
"Damn," he replies. "I think only like two or three times. Marcus taught me."
"Is he like your brother or something?"
"Nah, how we act around each other and how we got each other's backs, we're like family at this point."
"Oh, okay. So, you never knew how to before all of this happened?"
"Nope, back in Southern Cali, there's damn near nowhere to do things like that. Especially where I'm from. All I did was ball or be on the game."
"Oh, you're a gamer too?" Lynn butts in. " Lincoln plays video games too. He's not very good at it though haha. I think Lori and Lily beat him at this one fighting game, I don't remember the name."
"Wait, ain't Lily a baby?"
"Exactly."
"Damn. That's rough."
The three keep walking until they see a deer in the distance. They hide behind a rock and peek over it, looking at the deer eating something from the ground.
"I got this," Lynn says as she pulls out her bow."
She gets an arrow from her quiver and pulls back the string until letting it fly through the air as it hits the deer in the neck."
"Damn," whispers JuJu. "Nice shot LJ."
The deer runs away with the arrow still on its neck.
The deer won't be alive for long," says Vonda. "Let's follow it and take what we can. Look, there's a blood trail."
They follow the blood trail until they hear growling in the distance.
"Shit, roamers."
JuJu takes out his Honey Badger and turns the safety switch off. They see a roamer on the ground, half of its body was crushed by a fallen tree but it was reaching out its arms trying to grab one of the three teens but it couldn't. JuJu fires a bullet at the head of the roamer and its head drops to the floor as its golden eyes fade away.
"Sad that someone left them like this," Vonda says.
"You ain't lyin'" JuJu replies.
The teens look ahead and they see the deer from before but they were too late, around five roamers got to the body and started devouring it.
"Come on!" yells Lynn. "Seriously?"
"Aye, It's all good, we'll find another."
Lynn sighs as the three walk away from the roamers' feast. They continued to walk and chat, getting to know each other better as they traveled deeper into the wilderness. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the ground. JuJu couldn't help but steal a few glances at Lynn, his heart racing every time she looked his way. He was grateful for the opportunity to spend time with her. As they approached a clearing, they heard a rustling in the bushes. They all quickly drew their weapons, ready for any potential threat. Lynn stepped forward, bow in hand, and cautiously approached the bushes. Suddenly, a rabbit hopped out and scurried away, unharmed. The three of them laughed in relief, holstering their weapons.
"That was intense," Vonda said, still catching her breath.
"Yeah, it's always better to be safe than sorry," Lynn replied.
The rest of the hunt was uneventful, but they all enjoyed each other's company, sharing stories and jokes. As the night went on, JuJu found himself becoming increasingly drawn to Lynn, her infectious laughter and knowledge of sports making him fall for her even more. Vonda is starting to notice, but she keeps her mouth shut.
They returned to the house as the stars came out, all of them exhausted. JuJu said his goodbyes, trying to fight the urge to ask Lynn out. He didn't want to risk ruining the good thing they had going. But as he walked back to his house, he couldn't help but think about what Marcus had said. He needed to act fast, or else he might lose his chance with her. He made a mental note to work up the courage to talk to her soon. But for now, he was content just to have her in his life as a friend.
-Next Day-
JuJu was back in the garage hitting a punching bag so he keeps his stamina high until the session was interrupted by Lynn staring at him with her arms crossed, leaning against the entrance of the garage. Her ocean-blue eyes once again lit up the room.
"Ya know," she says. "You and I are very much alike. Only difference is that we support different teams."
"Yeah," JuJu replies with a smug grin on his face. "I like the better teams."
"Come on bro. The Lakers and Padres are just as bad. Also, what happened against the 1 and 15 browns? Exactly."
"Touché LJ, but that shouldn't be coming from a Lions fan. We were gonna smoke y'all if the Roamers didn't take over and you know that."
"Whatever makes you feel better bro. Anyway, you down for me to teach you how to use a bow?"
"Yes ma'am, let's get it."
The two walk out of the garage and head to the training area that Lynn and Vonda made.
"Von's not joining us?" JuJu asks.
"Nah, she had somethin' else to do today.
Lynn then takes her bow off her shoulder and hands it to JuJu.
"Here, you can use mine for now."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I don't mind. It's a good bow."
JuJu takes the bow, feeling its weight and balance of it. He looks at Lynn with admiration.
"Bet it took you a while to learn, huh?"
"Not really, It isn't as hard as you think but It's a good skill to have when the world's gone to hell," Lynn replies with a grin. "No one's perfect at this, shit, I'm still learning under Vonda. We get better every day, but I think you know that already."
Lynn starts teaching JuJu the basics of archery, from proper stance to the right way to pull the string. JuJu finds that it's harder than it looks, but with Lynn's guidance, he starts to get the hang of it. As the lesson goes on, JuJu misses some shots and Lynn notices him getting frustrated as he goes and retrieves the arrows he shot.
"You need to relax your muscles bro, you look too tense when you pull the string back. Just stay calm and stay on target. Pretend it's a baseball and you gotta get it into the strike zone."
"Okay."
JuJu takes a deep breath and pulls back the string slowly and breathes out as soon as he lets the string go. The arrow flew through the air and gets a bullseye."
"Boom!" Lynn yells. "I told you! Nice shot. Just keep practicing and you'll get the hang of it. A bow will benefit you more in the long run than a gun."
"Why's that?"
"Well, at some point, we'll have no ammo left in the world but you can make more arrows with things like rocks and twigs."
"How do you even know that?"
"Funny thing, I overheard my brother watchin' one of his favorite shows one day before the outbreak, 'Rip Hardcore' or something like that and I guess that fact just stayed with me."
"Ah, got you."
Lynn then gets a look of realization.
"Oh shit!" she says.
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot I had to do something with Linc and Clyde today. Sorry."
"It's all good, here's your bow back."
"Thanks, JuJu, I'll see you later."
"Oh! One last thing."
"What's up?"
"You know where Leni is? Gotta talk to her about some."
"Uh yeah, she's at the house with the others."
"Got it, see you later."
The two split up as JuJu jogs toward the Louds' residence. He gets to the front and knocks on the door. It opens and he's greeted by Lana, the 'handyman' of the family.
"Hi JuJu!" she says as she hugs him.
"Hey Lans," he replies as he's being squeezed. "Got a tight grip I see."
"My bad."
"It's all good," JuJu says as he pats her head. "You know where Leni is?"
'Yeah, she's upstairs. Third door on the left."
"Thanks."
JuJu runs up the stairs and heads to the front of Leni's room and knocks on the door.
"It's open!" she says.
He opens the door and sees the blond-haired girl laying on her stomach on the bed, kicking her feet in the air as she's knitting her ripped gown together. She turns her head and greets him.
"Hi, JuJu!" she says.
"Hey, Leni, can I ask you something? I heard you can do it pretty well."
"Sure! Always glad to help."
"I heard that you're good at lockpicking, you think you could teach me? I believe it could be useful for me in the long run."
"Of course I can!" She says with a big grin on her face.
"She reaches over to her nightstand and gets a small chest with a lock on it.
"There isn't anything to it," she says.
She takes a hairpin out of her hair and puts it in the lock, jiggles it around, and it opens.
"How?" JuJu says, impressed.
Leni giggles and says, "It's all about feeling for the lock thingies inside and applying the right amount of pressure."
For the next hour, Leni teaches JuJu the basics of lock picking and they practice on various locks.
"Is it only the hairpin that works?"
"Oh no, it can be anything around this size or anything small enough to fit the inside of the lock. This just works for me the best."
"Okay, you think this could work?"
JuJu pulls out his father's pocket knife and shows it to Leni.
"Hmm, not sure. We can always try!"
She locks the chest once again and lets JuJu give it a try using his father's knife. After a few tries, JuJu finally manages to pick the lock with it. He and Leni both cheer in excitement.
"That was awesome, JuJu! You're a natural," she says with a big smile.
"Thanks to you, Leni. You're a great teacher," JuJu replies. "Never thought someone so pure and innocent would know how to do somethin' like this."
"Aww, thanks!"
He continues practicing and perfecting his lock-picking skills until it was time for JuJu to head back home.
"Thanks again, Leni, I really appreciate your help," JuJu says as he puts his pocket knife back in his pocket.
"No problem, JuJu, happy to help. And remember, keep practicing," Leni says with a wink.
"Yes ma'am."
He leaves her room and heads back down the stairs. He then sees Lana again.
"Got what you needed?" She asks.
"Yup, it'll help a lot in the future for sure."
He leaves the house and walks down the sidewalk seeing other survivors at their homes living life as if everything was back to normal.