FOURTH SHOT

[dog_eat_dog]

Lee ––

I met with Joel. I don't know if you've met him, since he's hardly been here longer than I have, but he's my better half. We went out into the woods and waited it out so he could put me down, but I didn't turn. And when Joel wasn't watching me, I went down to the damn clinic, where the world's most terrified doctor hacked off the wound.

So now that my shoulder has roughly the same texture as raw hamburger, and it doesn't seem to be spreading, I can finally let you know that your advice was complete bullshit... but I appreciate it all the same.

We should get drinks. Proper ones, this time.

Tess



------



Hey, kid.

You've been here much longer than I have. Let me drill you for information and I'll make it worth your while. What do you say?

Tess

Comments

[rightchoices]

[ Ha. Lee just chuckles at that. No point in arguing. ]

You remember how to get to the Lux?

[dog_eat_dog]

Yeah, I got it. Just say when.

[rightchoices]

You busy now?

[dog_eat_dog]

I've got all the time in the world, now. [Ideally, anyhow.] Just don't keep me out too late, or Joel will hunt you down.

[rightchoices]

[ Of course they all know each other. :') Lee's pretty goddamn happy for them, actually. ]

Gotta say I'm just as afraid of Ellie, I think. Heading down now.

[dog_eat_dog]

She's not so bad. As sheltered as it gets in our time, but she doesn't have much bite behind her bark.

[Tess is sorry that so much has changed in a year, that included, but she'll say what she knows

She heads down, too.]

[rightchoices]

Could argue that bark's just as important. See you in a minute.

[ And a thump of the journal being shut. He'll be waiting at the bar for her. ]

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess is down shortly afterwards, looking very much like a new woman. Lee had seen her when she was nearing rock bottom, and now she's rapidly heading towards the best shape she's been in for decades, shoulder wound aside. A week's worth of good meals three times a day, full nights of sleep, painkillers and access to a shower does good to anyone who has been living hand-to-mouth for the vast majority of their adult life.

A week doesn't drown out the pointedness of her facial features or the scars from twenty years of struggle, but it's a start.

In jeans, a tank top and a slightly oversized cardigan to conceal her shoulder bandaging and the gun concealed in the back waistband of her pants, Tess might even pass for normal.

She slides into the seat beside him.]

Right where we left off, hmm? Almost, anyhow.

[rightchoices]

[ Lee lifts a hand when she approaches, one arm folded on the bartop. There's a drink in front of him and one to his right, clearly for her. The way his eyes track briefly over her face isn't meant to be insulting or appraising, really; comparing, maybe. He knows what it feels like to try to strip off the things from home with scalding water and clean clothes. And he only had months, not years, to try to compensate for. Jesus. ]

You cleaned up.

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess smirks and sits, hand curling around her drink immediately.]

Not bad to look at underneath all the blood and grime, huh? I'm practically a contestant for Miss Total Societal Collapse 2033.

[rightchoices]

Can't say I recall saying you were bad to look at in the first place. [ Lee reaches for his drink, pauses, and then holds one hand up at her, palm out. ] And that's not flirting -- just an observation. [ But he's rolling his eyes subtly at his own phrasing, actually grabbing for his drink now. ] How's that bite feeling?

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess chuckles.]

Good man.

[She takes up her drink and relishes it for a moment; god, it was so uncommon to get good booze. She and Joel had been savouring the last bottle of good scotch they'd acquired just months ago, but she hadn't known where their next treat would be coming from.]

It feels like shit. The doctor took off as much as she was comfortable doing, treated the rest. Scared the poor girl half to death, though.

[rightchoices]

It'll heal. [ Platitudes about how sorry he was that she was probably missing hunks of skin would probably be obviously insincere and definitely unappreciated - so, instead, he just shrugs again. The sideways glance he shoots her should be enough to indicate that he is earnestly happy for her. ] Not sure I know how to talk to you without being worried you're gonna unload that gun of yours into my skull.

[dog_eat_dog]

With any luck.

[Tess gives him a wry smile over the edge of her glass. Her next comment is playful; Tess very much enjoys being able to intimidate people.]

Oh, please, I like to make my bullets last. I only need one if I'm going for the head.

[rightchoices]

[ He laughs, a huff of sound under his breath as he takes a long pull from his drink. ]

I was a history professor before all this shit started happening, and now I'm sitting here thinking: God, what would I give to be able to shoot a gun again? Funny how fast things can change.

[ Guess what his loss is. :c ]

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess chuckles.]

Yeah? You're the first I'd leave behind, if it weren't for all that common sense you've got going for you.

I was a high school grad. I fell in with a bunch of radicals until I met Joel. What's kept you going?

[rightchoices]

[ He wonders how much he should say, how much it's his place to say -- but what does it matter, really?

Lee shrugs one shoulder, hailing the bartender down for another. ]

Found a little girl right after shit started going to hell. She didn't have anyone else.

[ Does he need to say anymore? He's not sure he does. ]

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess gives a slight nod.]

Honourable choice, I guess. I wish I could do that, but I'm selfish. A kid would only slow me down.

[rightchoices]

Nothing honorable about it.

[ Lee's answer comes quick, but it's not sharp. Simple, matter-of-fact. ]

Our circumstances are different. I hadn't lived through hell when I'd found her. Maybe it'd be if humanity was on the brink of being snuffed out for twenty years -- but finding a little girl, alone in that shit? It wasn't a choice.

[dog_eat_dog]

[Tess has always found comfort in knowing the things she does are necessary to survival. There are fewer children these days, most of them accidents, but back then there had been so many. Would she have done the same back then?

She shakes her head.]

You give humanity way too much credit. Lots of people would "choose" to let her be someone else's problem.

[rightchoices]

[ He isn't sure what to say to that. How does he explain that Clementine is what gave him a purpose? That protecting her made those months wroth it? He doesn't. That's cheesy, even to him, and sometimes even now he's surprised at how soft he can be.

So he chuckles instead. ]

Just the way I am. She's here now, you know. A couple of the people in my group are, actually.

[dog_eat_dog]

[That gets a smile in return.]

So I heard. I got you, Clementine, Ben, Carley and Molly. That everyone?

[rightchoices]

[ Huh. ]

Yeah, that about rounds it out. You met 'em all?

[dog_eat_dog]

[She looks a little smug. Tess likes knowing people better than they know her, and given her arrival, she's eager to keep the scales balanced with Lee.]

Haven't met any of the girls. You'll have to introduce me.

[rightchoices]

I think you'll get along with 'em. They're tough as nails.

[ He shoots his drink. He's allowed - it's his last one. Really. ]

Tougher than me, at least. Never quite got as good with a gun as Carley was.