Wishes

Chapter 4 - Secret Training

(Alicia's POV)


"Are you sure this is going to be okay?" I asked as I picked out an outfit for the day. Shane had woke me up a few hours earlier to go do some 'secret training' as he called it. He said I needed to be prepared for anything and anyone.

"Yeah you'll be safe with me, Alicia. Come out when you're dressed. I'll be right outside if you need me." With that he softly unzipped the tent and slipped out before zipping it back up. At first I thought it was a bit strange that he had wanted to do this with just me but Lori seemed to be mad at him at the moment so there was no way Carl could come without trouble.

Silently, hoping not to wake my mom and get in trouble, I stripped down and changed into a pair of black yoga pants, a grey Hello Kitty t-shirt, my red/black sweatshirt, and my Ugg boots with an 'A' inscribed on the front. Once I was finished I slipped out of the tent and pulled up my hair into a ponytail before tapping Shane's shoulder. Surprisingly he jumped.

"Here." He squatted down and held out his arms with his back to me. "Hop on. We have a little walking to do." Smiling I climbed onto his back and draped my arms around his neck. Earlier he had given me my backpack which was now secured on my back. It was quite heavy and hurt my spine but I guess that's just what you have to deal with during training.


"Alright you have the target in sight?" Shane asked as I zeroed in on our target. While keeping my eyes on it I nodded. "Okay good. Put your finger here." He guided my finger to the trigged before removing his hands completely. "Now take a deep breath and pull the trigger." Again I nodded and steadied my shaking hands. Just as I went to pull the trigger a voice interrupted me.

"What is sam hell do you think you're doing?!" Shocked my finger jerked back and shot a bullet into the walker's shoulder. Quickly I dropped the gun and turned to Lori who was clutching Carl to her side. Behind her was the rest of the group except my mom. "Shane! You cannot lure a little girl into the woods and make her shoot things that can kill her." I grumbled a bit at the last part. I'm 11 not 4.

"I was just trying to teach her to protect herself!" Shane exclaimed while killing the walker. I winced as the goo flew from it's skull. "Someone needs to teach them how!" Lori's hand reached out and grabbed my arm before pulling me towards her making me stumble slightly.

"I'm telling her mother. You will not get away with this." Quickly she pulled Carl and I through the group and to the RV. "Go inside and make up some quick med packs okay?" We both nodded and scurried inside as she stomped off to find my mother.

"Was it cool?" Carl asked once the door had closed. In all honesty, my hands hurt and my ears were ringing. "How did he get the walker?" Shrugging I sat down at the little table and started putting medical supplies into the boxes until one was full. A minute or so later my mom barged in shocking both Carl and I.

"Oh honey! Are you okay? Did Shane hurt you?" My mom asked as she checked me over for cuts or bruises. Once she was satisfied by my perfectly safe body she sighed and sit back. "Why didn't you wake me up? This isn't okay."

"I didn't want to wake you up and have you waste a pill." I eplained shamefully. "Plus I wanted to learn to protect the group." I couldn't help but sniffle as a tear ran down my face. "I wanted to protect you like you protect me." I wasn't shocked when she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close.

"Oh honey." She whispered into my hair. "You're eleven years old. You don't need to learn about protecting people yet."

"But Shane-" She covered my mouth, cutting me off.

"Shane isn't me or your father. You don't go near Shane anymore, okay?" She said before taking her hand off my mouth. Sadly I nodded and accepted the kiss to the forehead before she slipped out of the RV.

"Are you still going to hang out with Shane?" Carl asked as I sipped off my boots and curled my feet up under my butt. Silently I shook my head 'no' before organizing some bandages into a box. "Just because your mom said so?" I nodded and closed the box, pressing the latches together. "Oh. I guess that's cool." He muttered obviously bored of the one way conversation.