youbetyourstarspangledbutt:

         ”Fuck.”

The word is a hissed exhalation between chapped lips as she ducks under what used to be an awning to a shop’s facade. There should be a level of just how many ways a gal could fuck up before she got herself killed. Carol’d probably top the list. At least she wasn’t running from zombies—this was the last place that she would go to lose them. But to lose people? This was perfect.

The blonde waited a few beats before moving. One….. Two…. And silence was her answer. Pushing herself back to her feet, she brushed her pants off watching the dust float into the wind. Perfect. She was dirty and annoyed. A perfect, wonderful combination.

Her steps were careful as she picked her way through what used to be civilization. She was passing a gas station when she realized she wasn’t alone. A silhouette caught her eye and she stopped, drawing her gun faster and training it on the shape with a steady gaze.

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          “Best say something or I’ll blow your head off just to be sure.”

Everyone knew zombies couldn’t talk.

          } Of course those limping corpses couldn’t talk. Clint almost sighed in relief, he almost lowered his weapon and greeted her, he almost considered asking for help. The sight of another human being in, what, a month? A whole month with nothing but static on the radio he couldn’t shut off and  siphoning gasoline from abandoned cars, he was jumping for joy on the inside. Briefly. Then he heard Tasha’s voice echo in his head.

          The only thing more dangerous then them is people, Clint, watch yourself.

                              This was far from the first person he encountered, but it was the first with a gun. Everyone else had crowbars or knives. Or, in one case, a shovel. but that was beside the point. He wondered if there was an actual bullet in the chamber. 

         Clint didn’t lower his weapon, but he did greet her.

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                                    “Ain’t dead yet,” he said into the fletching, “and I don’t plan to be. Do you?” It was almost a challenge. He was daring her to try it, try anything, because it took one wrong move to put an arrow through the back of her skull.

                             This would be far from the first person he killed.

                                                                  But it would be the first with a gun.