Spoiler Alert

[Applesintime]

((Matthew Bell continued from HBIC))

The two had stopped by the waterfront of the town, but nothing there, not even a dinghy. Made sense: after all, they didn’t wanna give people an easy way out. On their way to their new destination – up by the mountain, maybe looking to see if they could spot any fires or anything from the military blowing shit up – Matthew and Shawn stopped in a house near the bottom of the hill leading up to the town’s church. Shawn needed to take a break after, y’know, watching someone getting his brains blown out in front of him.

Matthew was OK with it. Letitia was gonna kill Shawn if he hadn’t done something, so, yeah, he wasn't gonna fault Shawn for needing to stop and breathe. While Shawn chilled downstairs, taking a five minute breather, Matthew was crouched up in a room with his new rifle, both examining it and keeping overwatch on the streets outside. The papers in Letitia’s bag identified it as an M28/30. Used by the Finns when they were sniping commies during that part of WW2. The gun probably had a storied past, and now here it was, in the hands of some kid in the middle of a terrorist game attack thing.

As he glanced out of the window again, someone poked their head out of the church, stepped outside for a second. It kinda looked like… Evie? Real difficult to see from this angle and distance, but... yeah, she was the closest fit. She’d been making quite a name for herself on the announcements lately. But by the time Matthew could focus that rifle on the door, she’d stepped back inside, and the moment had gone.

Alright.

Now this stop had some merit to it. Evie and Letitia in one day? That would be fantastic. Cherry on top would be Katelyn, but... mm. Cross that bridge when you get to it.

He didn’t think she had seen him — hell, she probably couldn't see him from this range, so Matthew kept his gun affixed on the door. He didn't know if she'd step back out again, not just after leaving for a second, but... well, while he waited for Shawn, might as well keep an eye on the church. He didn't fancy the idea of a frontal assault on the building, too risky, but if he could put a bullet in her from this distance, Matthew could be happy. Even if it wasn't a kill, hitting her would be enough. And hey, might as well see how the Mosin performs.

A minute later, someone stepped out of the door, and he got his answer, putting a bullet somewhere in their... something. It was kinda hard to see where exactly he’d hit from this range without a scope.

As they doubled over, collapsed, it was then he realised that wasn’t Evie. Not the same clothes, not the same look. It was uh… ah, shit, it didn’t matter who it was. What mattered was that he’d squandered his one chance at taking Evie out. But hey, he’d got to test the sniping capabilities of the Mosin. They were with Evie, so, uh, they weren’t exactly an innocent party either way.

Racking the bolt back and loading a new cartridge in, Matthew ran through the possibilities in his head. Wait for Evie to try and drag her buddy back in and see if he could hit her then? Hope that she wasn’t gonna try and fire back first?

In the end, he chose to cut and run with Shawn out the back of the house. At this point, Matthew had the luxury of picking his battles. Getting into a gunfight again wasn’t something he wanted, especially after how Shawn had nearly fucking died just a bit ago. One of the only reasons they were still alive was knowing when to cut and run.

There’d always be another opportunity.

((Matthew Bell and Shawn Bellamy continued in Colour In Your Cheeks))