Dash Dash Dot Dot

The Faction

"Hey Matt, how'd you get so good at shooting your bow?" Willow asked, she had been watching him on the shooting range, at least ninety percent of his arrows found their target, he was also teaching others how to shoot. He looked up at her, red crept into his face.

"Well before all of this I used to do archery as a hobby, I came second in the last tournament, but the guy I lost to had ten years of practice on me."

"That's amazing, nothing to be embarrassed about," she replied, offering him a smile. "wanna show me how it's done? I really want to know how to use a ranged weapon. I mean, I love my bat but sometimes close combat sucks."

He laughed. "Agreed. I definitely prefer the bow over a bat, but when those zoms get too close then the bat comes in handy." He pointed towards a spare bow lying on the table. "But you should also talk to Raj, learn how to wield a sword too, not that we have too many of those, but he's an excellent swordsman, the best to learn from."

Willow nodded and picked up the bow and an arrow, "I definitely will do that, any weapons training I can get will make life easier, especially when I join the supply runs."

"You know you don't have to, it is an optional thing," He took a step back, "Now, come stand here, show me your stance and how you hold the bow." Willow did as instructed. "Okay, now shoot at the target." He nodded as she shot. The arrow hit the ground a few feet from the target. "That's pretty good for your first shot. Now grab another arrow and get it cocked, I'll do some adjustments before you shoot this time." he stepped up next to her. "Lift your elbow, here, yeah, and put this foot here, very good, and separate your fingers like this, perfect." He stepped back. "Okay, now shoot again."

Willow let loose the arrow, she watched it fly through the air and strike the target, a little lower than bullseye but she hit the target. "Alright! Awesome! Thank you." She threw her arms around Matthew and gave him a hug.

"Uh," he went bright red. "You're welcome." He mumbled.

"Sorry," Willow let go of him. "I should, uh, go see what Tiffany is up to." She placed the bow on the table and gave him a smile before hurrying off to find her friend.

***

The girls had been able to take warm showers and even got some new clothes to wear. Clothing had become a luxury, and if you owned more than three pairs of underwear you were lucky. Life in the faction was as close to comfort as you could get these days. The fresh fruit and vegetables were a welcome change from the canned goods that they had eaten during their time outside. It had only been five days since they arrived but Willow wanted to get outside and go for a supply run.

She and Tiffany sat together during the morning meeting. There were two scavenging groups scheduled to leave today, it had been a few days since the last one had come back. One of the groups were a set team of four, they had worked together since the beginning and always went out together. They had bicycles so were able to cover more distance than the groups on foot. The committee ended the meeting and everyone went about their duties. No one was forced to do anything but there were plenty of things to try, so there was always a job for someone.

Tiffany had spent a lot of her time in the gardens, learning how to take care of the crops as well as the chickens. The youngest members of the faction attended lessons taught by a surviving teacher. Reading and writing were still seen as important things to learn, but then they also spent time with the adults learning the skills needed for survival in the faction. Willow spent her time at the archery field and training with different weapons. Not only did they learn how to use proper weapons but they also learnt how to wield makeshift weapons. If you were outside the gates and ran out of ammo or the weapon you carried with you became broken or lost you needed to be able to use whatever you could find to defend yourself.

Raj had shown her how to wield a sword and how to hold a knife properly to reduce damage to oneself. The girls had wandered all over the school, meeting the factions members and seeing all the ways they were surviving. The kitchens were manned by Nirmala, a lovely Indian lady who had all sorts of tricks up her sleeve for the food they had for the faction, turning the bland ingredients into food that was tasty to eat. Then there was the metal and wood working rooms where they manufactured the weapons and traps, John had a lot of knowledge for that. A lady by the name of Lizzie ran the sewing and crafting area, making clothing, blankets, quivers for the arrows and other weapons belts.

The inside fence had vehicles backed up against it for extra strength from the zombies, as well as making vantage points to see over. Heather and Banjo looked after the vegetable gardens and animals that had been procured. The school already had a few animals but others had been found on scavenging runs and brought back to the faction. There was close to two dozen chickens, with a couple dozen eggs being incubated. Their feathers helped with making arrows and their eggs for food. There were plans to raise half the chickens for meat for the future. Kangaroos were also a source of meat, the national symbol of the country ran free outside the fence in droves. Their hides were tanned and used for weapons and clothing. There was very little that went to waste. Leftover food was fed to the animals or was used as mulch in the gardens.

Willow caught up to Matthew. "Hey, can i come with your team outside? I want to help."

"That's fine with me but we need to check with the rest of the group first. We're doing a short run to the shopping centre so it should be a nice easy one for you to tag along with. The other group are heading down the street for other supplies, but they don't let anyone else go with them." He lead her over to where the other three from his team were waiting, she recognised Tahla who gave her a smile and nod. "Guys, this is Willow. This is Piper," He indicated to the only girl in the group. "And this is Jonesy," He pointed to the last member of their team. "Willow was wondering if she could come along on our run."

"Fine with me." Tahla replied.

"Sure." Jonesy said as he lifted his spiked bat over his shoulder.

"Whatever, if she slows us down, she's your responsibility." Piper said snarkily to Matthew.

"Oh, ignore her, she got up on the wrong side of the bunk this morning." Jonesy said and threw his arm around Willow's shoulder. "She never likes the newcomers, give her time and she'll warm up." Piper's gaze threw daggers at Jonesy who only laughed in response.

"Let's get this show on the road." Piper declared and stalked off in the direction of the gate.