The Day I Tried to Live

[Frozen Smoke]

Faith's arm retreated to her side as Connor brought himself to his feet, offering him a smile that was a mirror of his own, as she let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. It hadn't been the best pep talk of her life, but it had been true, and that had been enough. Things weren't actually better, but they felt better, and that was more than she could say for any other day in the past week.

She turned to the side and scooped up her bag, rummaging through the empty wrappers and bottles that filled until her hand hit what she was looking for, and she pulled her compass out of the mess. She held it between her teeth for a moment as she zipped the bag back up, her partially completed fishing rod sticking awkwardly out of it at the front. With that done, she took it out of her mouth and held it in front of her, flicking it a couple of times with a nail to make sure the needle was adjusting properly.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

((Faith Clementine Marshal-Mackenzie continued Elsewhere))

[Cactus]

Connor wasn't exactly sure what they would accomplish once they arrived at the village. Between the two of them, they had barely one functional weapon that would serve as defense, and nothing that would provide them any protection against someone who wanted to greet the two of them with bullets. Connor didn't let anything shine through his smile but his mind was spinning still at the entire concept of someone walking into a room and shooting them without a second thought.

School shootings were a reality, but no one expected it to happen to them — not until it did. Even then, there were always warning signs, there were ways to be adjacent to it. Someone always knew a cousin or a friend who was touched by one of those.

This wasn't a school shooting.

This was a damned terrorist attack on them all. Getting shot wasn't a faraway possibility, it was a statistical probability. Connor knew statistics, he understood math rather well.

Sometimes, he wished that he didn't. Life would have been so much simpler had he just been a dumb jocky football player. But he wasn't. He was Connor-fucking-Lorenzen and for all of the ways that things could go awry, he had confidence that when push came to shove, he would be ready.

"Let's keep our heads down, stick to the woods."

For what, he wasn't sure. With luck, he wouldn't have to find out.

Yet.

((Connor Lorenzen continued in Do It, Try It))