paradisa | FOURTH SHOT

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FOURTH SHOT

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She focuses on her own drink for a moment.]

So what do you do around here, to pass the time, then?

I read, play video games, regular teenage stuff. [Albeit mostly alone because he's still getting the hang of spending TIME with regular teenagers again] I play basketball in the gym. I used to do that before everything fucked up.

I haven't done any of that since I was your age. Or close, anyway. At least I got to graduate.

That's gotta be something. [Even if it led to hell down the line, having the chance must have been nice] What about you? You can't just plan all the time, right? You've gotta have downtime, too.

Yeah, I guess. So far I've mostly slept and eaten and popped painkillers like no tomorrow. I don't even know what this place has to offer for fun, yet, other than booze.

So ask me that again in a few weeks, and we'll see.

Okay. I'm sure there's something here that'll interest you.

Any ideas for me, kid?

[He mulls it over for a moment]

There's a shooting range nearby, if you haven't seen that yet.

I have. Just waiting for my shoulder to heal up more, so Joel doesn't kick the shit out of me for aggravating it.

And speaking of, give me a few good reasons why I shouldn't haul you down there with me and make you as good as Carley.

[He's surprised by the offer really, giving a small smile]

Hey, I'd welcome the chance to get better at it. I kinda suck at it right now.

If you're so eager, then what's this shit about being dead weight and suicidal?

[She smirks and then knocks back the rest of her drink, just like that.

And he can just owe her.]

I don't want to be a dead weight. I need to make things up to my people somehow. I'm still more scared of hurting them again than I want to die.

[Welcome to his fucked up teenage logic, Tess]

If you think of yourself that way and describe yourself that way, you're just giving people reason to treat you that way. Nobody's going to bother with someone who is a self-proclaimed waste of time.