Chapter 21: Training

"Ok Twilight, here we are. First thing I need to know, how much weight can you lift?" Rick asked as the three walked into an old gym. The weights scattered all over the floor and on some workout equipment. Treadmills tipped over, most of the workout bikes tipped and busted, and much of the other workout equipment in the same condition. Most of it is covered in blood, guts, and dead bodies.

Twilight looked around shocked and disgusted but still answered the question. "With my magic I can lift a ton, very literally. I suppose that's irrelevant though as I have no magic or my wings." Twilight grumbled out that last sentence. Twilight wasn't sure how much she could lift but she was positive that it wasn't much. Daryl came up to her with a twenty pound weight and handed it to Twilight. She grabbed the weight and then almost dropped it from the weight. "How is lifting weights going to help?"

Daryl and Rick shook their heads at the scene in front of them. They then heard groaning behind them and flipped around to come face to face with a walker. "This is why." Rick said as he punched the walker in the face. The walker stumbled backward a bit. Daryl picked up a fifty pound weight and bashed its' head in killing it. "You need to be able to lift the weapon you intend to use to kill them. If you ever get grabbed by one, you'll need to be able to knock it off you. They may not have any muscle on them but they are strong."

Daryl picked up a ten pound weight and gave it to Twilight who struggled only slightly. "Once were done with you, you'll be one strong egghead." Daryl turned around and took first watch before Twilight could respond.

"I do have one question, how is it that I'm weaker here then in my world. I can carry a baby dragon on my back for goodness sake. How is it that twenty pounds is so difficult?" It didn't make any sense at all to her.

"My guess is that you becoming human did it to you. Your entire body changed, your abilities probably did too, kind of like our ability to hold things in your world though I've got to be honest with you. Your world doesn't make any sense to us but it's probably true for you here. Now get working and prepare to sweat." Rick said guiding Twilight through her workout.

For a whole week Twilight had been put through extensive exercise. The three have noticed a considerable difference however. She now has some definition in her muscles though Rick and Daryl have much more but for good reason. Helping search for food and other supplies helped. "Am I finished yet? I really want to get the paper and get home." Twilight asked as she sat down, inhaled and soon wished she hadn't. "What is that smell?"

"That would be you, working out for a week and not having a shower doesn't help the body odor but that isn't the issue right now. Now that you are stronger, you may be able to handle carrying a gun and keeping it steady. You need to have a gun on you but also a melee weapon as well. Guns are only to be used when there are too many walkers to deal with. We always take out walkers quietly if possible. Sometimes it involves finding a rock or thick branch. In case you haven't noticed, walkers are attracted to sound. That was Andrea's mistake when she saw the walkers going for you friend. Daryl is the only one here allowed to use ranged weapon freely. A crossbow doesn't make sound." Rick was stopped by Daryl.

"Rick, let's just teach her how to use a gun already, we'll teach her about Walker behavior and all later." Daryl handed Twilight a handgun. "First off in gun training, you always aim for the head. A shot to the chest which could be deadly to a normal human has no effect on walkers. It's the brain that keeps them alive. Take out the brain and you take out the walker." Daryl turned to Rick and the two nodded. "Rick is going to set up some targets around the gym. Some will be dead bodies, others will be targets. With the dead bodies, you aim for the head and with the targets, aim for the center." Daryl pulled out a cylinder object and put it on the handgun. "This is a silencer, it will keep it quiet."

"Why don't you just use these silence things all the time?" Twilight asked confused.

"We don't use them because they are rare; this is the first we've actually found. You're lucky too because if we didn't, walkers would be all over us and you would have to practice on the run." Daryl chuckled and noticed Rick finish setting up the targets. "You ready?" Twilight looked at the gun and then at the many targets around the room and hesitantly nodded. "Good." Daryl went through the basics on how to use the gun and then Rick came and filled in the more advanced topics which were few. "Now let's see what you can do."

Twilight gulped loudly and then raised the gun into ready position. Her arms shook slightly after having just finished lifting weights. Her arms tired as well as her body. This didn't help with her aim. Twilight fired off a shot at the closest target and it missed it completely. Daryl just shook his head which Twilight noticed. "I'm tired and I've never fired a gun before, give me a break."

"I would if the walkers gave us a break. With all the running that we do, we tire easily and we still have to do more then just fire a gun. Using melee weapons are even more tiring, so get over yourself and shoot the target." Daryl criticized and then felt a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you're going to say and you know as well as I do that being tired isn't an excuse. It's either us or them and we can't allow it to be them." Daryl said and watched as Twilight failed another shot miserably. "I'll be right back." Daryl left and turned a corner into another room. Soon Daryl was seen running back into the room. "There is your new target, now shoot it." Daryl said as a walker came from around the corner.

"Are you insane Daryl?" Twilight and Rick asked at the same time.

"You're wasting time, shoot it missy." Twilight aimed at the walker and fired off a shot and missed. "Again!" Three more shots flew from the barrel of the handgun and one bullet missed the walker completely and the other two only slowed it down for a moment. The walker soon reached the three and Daryl stabbed the walker in the head with his knife. "Now shoot a stationary target."

"I really hate you right now Daryl." Twilight said fighting back a few tears threatening to fall. Twilight aimed once again at the targets and fired off some more shots when the clip in the gun emptied.

Rick went over to the target and looked it over with a smile. "You didn't hit the center but its close enough to have killed it."

"Good job, now shoot the furthest one away." Daryl showed Twilight how to reload the gun. "I'll let you reload it later, now shoot." Daryl and Rick watched as Twilight struggled to fire the gun and hit the targets. The rest of the day went on with Daryl pushing Twilight as hard as he could.

That night Twilight fell asleep as soon as her head became parallel with her body on the ground. Daryl and Rick had started talking. "What was with you today Daryl, you acted the way Shane did when teaching Andrea."

"I can't say that I agree with anything that he did but when time is of the essence, which was one thing that I think he had the right idea on. We don't have time to just kick back and relax; those that can't fire a weapon or even use a melee weapon are a hindrance, children excluded. We train as fast as possible to make sure that we can keep each other safe, I believe that was one thing that Shane had the right idea on." Daryl explained and got a simple nod from Rick. He couldn't tell if it was a nod in agreement or if it meant something else but it didn't matter. The two men were too tired to talk anymore than that. The two then fell asleep in a heartbeat.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed and please review, thank you.