Futuristic After Dusk

[Aura]

Nick stared at Ami balefully for a long time. He sighed and his hand unclenched, "I can't stand how am I right now either. I feel like I'm walking on a wire. There's no sure footing in sight and I just keep walking... I think that Charlie's death made me realize this. I don't have anything else to look forward to but everyone else dying." he sighed and he stood up.


"You're stronger than I am," he told her, "I'm sure that you could do it."


--


Mia laughed and shook her head, "I always assume that I'm going to miss. I'm actually a pretty good shot, but I don't think it helps anyone to be cocky or arrogant." she leaned against the side of the house and looked at him and her smile faltered, "I do this because it's better this way... the gun is helpful, but don't ever rely on it. You could miss. I always assume that I will miss so that I am always prepared. If I think that my bullet will kill one of them I might not keep moving away from them, I might not be reaching for my knife with my other hand. It's just easier to assume that I will miss and that every shot that hits is a lucky one. It keeps me from getting lazy. It may sound like a silly thing to do with soup cans, but it's something I have to do because I'm always scared."


"This is the safety," Mia said motioning to her gun and she demonstrated how to pull it off, "When you're ready flip the safety off and aim. I'll help you aim when I have a feel for how you shoot."

 

[darkminathegone]

Ami looked at Nick as he began to speak again. She gulped nervously but as he continued her expression became more sad. "Tha-" she tried to argue abut was interrupted by him calling her strong.


"Strong? I couldn't even shoot my dad after he became infected, my crazy asshole dad! And I can barely cope with that! You are doing ten times better than I was when my dad turned." Ami sighed again and turned to leave. "Just get Charlie so we can bury her, okay?"


Kenchi listened to Mia nodding, he didn't think it was silly at all but a great idea.


He looked at the gun and walked over to the front of the cans. He hesitantly flipped the safety off and aimed at a can. He hoped he looked as cool as he thought Ami did but in reality looked more scared of the gun in his hand.

 

[Aura]

Nick nodded grimly and he turned his attention back to Charlie's body. It would be better if she was buried and not lying on the floor of a bowling alley. He slid a hand underneath her body and the jacket that he had laid over Charlie's head shifted slightly exposing a piece of the gore that was hidden underneath. He took a deep steadying breath and he slid his other hand around the jacket trying to keep it wrapped around her head. He didn't want to see what remained of her face and head. He had shot her in the back of the head so he supposed that most of her face would still be recognizable, and he didn't think he could look at her and see the body.


He slowly rose to his feet and the weight of her body pressed against him. Another steadying breath. He could do this. He had to bury her. He couldn't leave her there...


He looked to Ami hoping desperately to catch her eye knowing that he was seconds away from losing any and all of the composure he had managed to gain. She didn't believe that she was strong, but regardless of that, he needed her strength right now.


"Do you..." another ragged breath, "Do you think that you could shoot him now? If you saw him?" he asked pressing Charlie's body to him. The jacket slipped slightly and he clamped his hand down harder on it to prevent it from slipping off of her face revealing a clump of hair crusted together with congealed blood. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing her face.


---


Mia watched him intensely as he aimed and she immediately noted that he was holding it off a little too the right and too low. The shot missed but the bullet splintered the fence. All five of the soup cans bounced and fell off of the fence.


Mia held up a finger, "Put the safety on and keep your finger off the trigger and I'll set them back up. That was extremely good considering how you've never shot before. You're practically an expert!" she said. She assumed that Kenchi did as she asked and she bounded across the street to set up the cans again.


When she returned she nodded at Kenchi to try again, "You were a little low and off to the right too much. Try aiming a little higher and to the left and let's see if you can nail it. Your aim is not bad at all."

 

[darkminathegone]

Ami looked back at Nick before leaving as he spoke up. She gulped at the questions as she said, "I hope so...."


As the jacket fell and Nick slammed it down, Ami ran forward and secured the jacket around Charlie's head. She looked up at Nick asking, "Are you alright? You didn't see her face right?" She already knew he was having a hard time, she didn't want him to break down.


---


Kenchi flinched as the gun went off and watched as each can fell. He sighed right before Mia spoke. He looked at her and smiled a bit as she complimented him.


He had the safety on and was holding the gun at his side as Mia placed the can back up. After receiving her nod when she was back at his side, Kenchi switched the safety back off and aimed. He had his arms straight out in front of him and moved moved the gun more to his left like Mia had instructed. He closed one eye also to try and help him aim.

 

[Aura]

Nick shook his head, he had only seen the side of her head and the crusted blood. It was enough to make his stomach churn, but thankfully there was only a slight emotional tug. He would have lost it if he had seen her face.


"If I were to help you find him, I want you to be absolutely sure that you could shoot him. Charlie died human, but your dad isn't who you remember him to be. He's a monster now and you'll need to remember that. I'll ask you again. Do you think that you would be able to shoot him? It's a yes or a no question. There are no maybes when your finger is on the trigger.


---


Kenchi fired and much to Mia's surprise she heard the click of his bullet going through a soup can before she saw it drop to the ground. Slightly green liquid poured from the small hole and Mia grinned, "Fantastic!"


"Whenever you need to shoot always try to take the time to aim. If it takes an extra second or two to line up your shot then do that. There's no point to firing if you're not going to hit. It might not always feel like you have an extra second to aim, but you need to take the time. Those extra five seconds will seem like an eternity, but the important thing is hitting your target. Missing is something that you can't afford to do." she motioned for him to shoot, and said, "Again."

 

[darkminathegone]

Ami looked up at Nick as he spoke. She gulped as she answered. "I can do it then...now let's just get this over with alright?"


Ami walked away from him after making sure the jacket was secure again. Once she was outside she looked up at the sun. For once since this whole thing started she wished the day would just end already.


Kenchi smiled as he saw the green liquid spill out of the can. He looked at Mia and was nodding at everything she said, actually listening. He aimed once more and took a couple of breaths before shooting again.


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[Aura]

Nick nodded sharply at her deciding to accept her answer. He didn't know if she would actually be able to shoot her father if she was faced with him, but Ami was a lot like him. He doubted that he would have been able to shoot Charlie, but in the end he had managed to do that. He didn't even know how he had managed to pull the trigger, but the alternative was not present. He didn't want to task Ami with the burden of killing his sister as he felt that one of her siblings should do it... but he couldn't have imagined tasking Mia with that. Mia was still so innocent somehow, despite everything. She probably could have done it, but pulling the trigger would have changed her.


He carried Charlie's body to the large hole that Ami had dug and he laid her gently into the hole. He thought about removing the jacket from her face, but he rejected this idea quickly. Sure, part of it was because it would be hard to see her face, but at the same time he wanted to leave something of his with her. Nick took a deep breath and he stared at Charlie's body in the hole and he began to fill it in. When his task was done, he patted the grave gently with his hand.


He knelt by Charlie's grave for a long moment, before he felt his muscle slow give way to movement and he finally rose back up to his feet, "Ami," he said cautiously, in a way that almost sounded like he was scared to even speak. He had been strong for so long, and he had felt completely fragile and nearly alone since Charlie had died. A week ago, he wouldn't have been able to believe that he could ever feel real raw emotions again. She had turned from him and walked away so he jogged over to her and grabbed for her hand.


"Even just an hour ago... I was ready to kill you." he began and immediately cursed his choice of words, he was so smooth, wasn't he? "But I get it now. I still don't understand most of your reasoning or why you lied to me, but I can understand one thing. You were doing it for Kenchi, and I can respect that. I... probably would have done the same thing if I needed to. I mean, I only shot Charlie because I knew that I would be forcing Mia to shoot her if I was too weak. Anyways, I might not have any right to say this, but I forgive you."


It felt nice to say that, but it didn't feel like enough. There was more he felt like he needed to say, "That's actually the funny thing about how I feel about you... I want to hate so many things about you, but that's only because I hate those things in myself. What I'm really trying to say, is thank you. Thank you for everything. I've been weak and broken since Charlie died, but you've never made me feel that way. I like how you've respected my pain, but that you don't want me to dwell in it. I know that Mia thinks that I'm gone, and so she treats me as if she's lost me, but you've been... you're special to me." he said slowly and as if he was chewing on every syllable. He had never talked to anyone like this before, so he hoped that his meaning was understood.


---


Mia watched Kenchi carefully as he took the time to aim at the next can. She couldn't understand why Ami had never let him hold a gun. He was practically an expert. It had taken her two long weeks of constant practice to be able to consistently line up her shots like he was doing after ten minutes. He pulled the trigger and she heard the slight clinking noise of a hit before she turned her eyes off of Kenchi and towards the fence.


The can had fallen off of the fence because of the hit, but she couldn't see any green liquid pouring out from it... the bullet must just have skimmed the can.


"Okay, knock the rest of the cans off and hit that can again. The bullet didn't puncture that can." she said. She had no doubts that with enough time spent aiming that Kenchi could hit the other cans, but the real challenge was going to be to revisit the can that he hadn't punctured. It had fallen to the ground and could now only be hit by a precise shot as the fence in front of the can now served as an obstruction. It wouldn't be enough to simply aim at that can, but he would have to think about angles to avoid shooting the fence instead of the can. Mia was interested to see how this would go. She checked on the sun nervously, they had plenty of time to continue shooting, but she wondered where Nick and Ami were.

 

[darkminathegone]

Ami had helped Nick with barring Charlie, but while Nick was kneeling by her grave Ami turned towards her bike to give him a moment alone. She was contemplating if she should just leave but she knew Mia was waiting for him and Ami didn't know if he'd go back by himself. When Nick suddenly grabbed her hand and turned her towards him, she stood there stunned and almost worried about what he might do. She never expected him to say what he did.


She really wasn't surprised when he said he was ready to kill her, but everything else she didn't think she'd ever say anything close to it. "U-uh," Ami stuttered after Nick finished. "Th-thank you for forgiving me but you don't need to thank me for anything, I didn't do anything. I know you say that I treat you differently but that's only because I know what your feeling. I know we have different circumstances but they have the same feelings of guilt and mourning that come with them...." Ami glanced up at Nick as she spoke. "But your special to me too, only because you understand me in this forsaken world."


~


Kenchi frowned as he only skimmed the can that fell. He looked at Mia as she spoke before aiming at the other cans again. He was working harder on his aim, making sure he hit his targets until he got to the fallen can. He could see it barely, but just took a step to the side to see it better. As he was aiming, Kenchi realized the can was to far back for him to hit it without hitting the fence. Kenchi knelt down, aimed, and took the shot finally.

 

[Aura]

"That's it..." he said quietly to himself, "You understand me." Nick said relieved to hear the words that he had been unable to find. It was so bizarre that he hadn't been able to find words that were simple, but he had never had to put anything like this into words. He and his siblings had always complemented each other, one filling in the weakness of another, but Charlie and Mia never quite understood him. They mistook his sometimes cold demeanor for something else, while Ami understood why he behaved this way. She understood what it was like to have younger siblings and to felt the weight of every action and decision.


He had done a considerable amount more with Ami, but when he leaned in it was different than the last time he had been physical with Ami. He leaned in closer to her and pressed his lips to hers. It was gentle and hesitant, as he was half-expecting her to push him away and he was prepared for that if she didn't want to kiss him back... but he hoped that she would kiss him back.


---


As Mia watched she felt a smile tug at her lips and when Kenchi crouched down laughter tore its way out of her throat, "You're a natural!" she laughed. She hadn't expected him to do what needed to be done so quickly. She remembered her first few days of training, where she likely would have just blasted her way through the fence to hit the can rather than adjust to fit the angles. She felt the urge to laugh again when she wondered if maybe she had just been unusually terrible.


"Fantastic! We should head back inside before your sister comes home and catches us then." Mia said with a wink, "I'll see if we have anything really good in our van to cook for supper unless you've got something delicious. Life is too short not to treat ourselves."

 

[darkminathegone]

Ami eyes widened as he kissed her so gently. She couldn't force herself to push him away though, instead she kissed him right back and even stood up on her tippy toes


--


Kenchi was confused at why Mia was laughing at him. He had watched his dad and sister aim and shoot all his life.


"I can make breakfast mostly..." Kenchi muttered. "So you can try to make something...."


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