Nina threw an arm around the girl.
“I’m just saying, I don’t want anything to happen to you. That’s all.”
“I know,” she said.
“Now c’mon, let’s squeeze off a few more rounds there, Annie Oakley.”
Denise asked, “Who is Annie Oakley?”
Nina thought for a second, shrugged, and answered, “I don’t have a clue.”
Jim Brock’s voice took them by surprise with a sudden and not particularly friendly, “Hey!”
As he jogged toward them Nina said, “I thought you were taking the kids to scavenge up some winter clothes?”
He slowed to a walk and asked, “What’s…um…what’s going on?”
“Nina is showing me how to shoot,” Denise answered the question.
“Shoot? Nina, could I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure, Jim,” Nina smiled politely although she easily saw the wary look in his eye.
Nina made sure the gun was completely empty and then returned it to Denise.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Practice your grip,” Nina instructed.
Denise considered then, in fact, practiced her grip by pointing the weapon down range, probably seeing Mutants and Deadheads instead of old soup cans.
Jim and Nina walked along the dock. He held his words until out of Denise’s earshot.
“Nina, I mean, I don’t know about this gun thing.”
“Yeah, I know. I take it today is the first time anyone let Denise hold a gun? Didn’t you guys have any all these years?”
“There were some folks here in Wrightsville Beach that used them, sure. Not me. Me and the kids, we got along by hiding. But, I mean, that’s not my point. Like, I understand that shooting things is, well, kind of necessary these days. Hey, you don’t have to explain to me, I know things are different.”
“But..?” Nina led.
“But she’s just eleven. She doesn’t even know how to drive yet.”
Nina nodded and told him, “I see your point. We’d better teach her to drive, too.”
“I’m serious, Nina.”
“So am I,” she countered as her brow furled. “You’re going to wait until she’s sixteen to teach her to drive? There aren’t any licenses anymore. Driving might just save her life someday. The gun even more so.”
“But at eleven?”
“Jim, if she’s strong enough to hold the gun then she should be taught how to use it. You know how nuts the world is. Odds are that someday she’ll have to use it.”
“I thought your Empire was making things safe again. I thought you were chasing away the monsters and we weren’t going to have to worry about that type of thing anymore.”
“Not going to have to worry? Hell, Jim, even before the invaders came our world had monsters in it. I was a cop, and the first thing I told people is learn to watch out for yourself because the police don’t usually get there in the nick of time. Nowadays? Are you kidding?”
He said, “I just want her to have as normal a life as possible. I want her to be a little girl.”
“In less than two years she’s going to be a teenage girl. This world we’re in, it’s still full of danger and not just from aliens. I’m just saying, she needs to know how to protect herself. Sometimes there’s no where to run, or hide.”
He scratched his head and retreated on the subject.
“Yeah, well, I mean, I just wish…I just wish-”
“You wish I had asked your permission first. Is that it?”
He did not respond.
“Maybe I should have,” she conceded.
He smiled, her answer apparently pleased him.
She went on, “Are you going to have a hard time giving these kids up?”
Brock answered with a question of his own, “That depends. I mean, what’s going to happen next?”
The two stopped and enjoyed a nice view of a long-dead marina. The condition of the small yachts and luxury fishing boats there ranged from half-sunk to pristine.
She explained, “Assessment teams due down here tomorrow. They’re going to come through, register everyone, and ask a bunch of questions.”
“Register?”
“That’s right. To track the people who have been found or freed from slave camps.”
“Why? What’s the purpose?”
“Lots of reasons. First would be for medical needs. There aren’t that many doctors around, so the first thing is to identify any health issues like if you’ve been exposed to any communicable diseases. Like, if the chicken pox went through Wrightsville last year or something then they’d have to try and keep you guys from places where people haven’t been exposed. I guess. That type of thing. That and establishing what type of skill sets you and your people have.”
“Skill sets?”
“That’s to help them make a recommendation as to where you could best help out.”
Jim cocked his head to the side and said, “I don’t follow.”
“Well, no one gets paid to work these days. It’s all a question of everyone pitching in to help the war effort. You got some people out there doing some crappy jobs but it’s all they know or can do, so that’s how they pitch in. But if someone was a doctor or an engineer or worked construction back then, well, then there might be some special jobs you could work.”
“Wait, they’re going to tell me where I have to work?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. No forced labor. I think they give you a list of what they’d recommend and what’s needed. You then choose. Or maybe you choose nothing. But there aren’t any welfare programs anymore. The people who fight, work, or produce get the rations and the medicines first. Of course, there are lots of people who barter for stuff. They’re all over.”
He smiled a nervous smile. “Denise, she’s too young to get drafted, right? I sure wouldn’t want that. That’s no way for a girl to grow up.”
Nina’s brow grew taut again and she said, “Sure, she needs to learn how to walk in high heels and bake cookies first, right?”
Jim gulped and closed his eyes.
“Sorry. That came out wrong. No insult intended. This is still new to me.”
Nina relaxed her glare. “She is a little young to go into a military unit, but she’s not too young to learn how to protect herself. In fact, that’s way past due.”
An awkward silence came over the two, at first broken only by the call of seagulls, then eventually broke by Jim Brock’s wavering voice as he asked, “So, you’re just doing the target shooting today?”
“I want to keep this up for a while until she gets the hang of it. After that, I have some big plans for the rest of the day.”
His mouth widened, his eyes bulged, and he said, “You’re not thinking of taking Denise out to hunt down some monsters? Are you?”
“Relax, Jim, we’re going to do something really girlie-like. You’d approve.”
His cheeks turned a shade red.
She told him, “We’re going shopping.”
By the time they finished with target practice, Denise Cannon managed to knock a couple of cans off the railing. She required many more hours of practice before her aim would be satisfactory, but the novelty of the weapon faded, allowing the girl to focus on her marksmanship. Nina also made Denise disassemble and re- assemble the pistol.
With their day at the range complete, Nina fulfilled her promise to take Denise ‘shopping.’ Although the word ‘scavenging’ would be more accurate, ‘shopping’ sounded a lot more fun.
