The Hard Worker

Skill Set Charlie Hard Worker Jay Blake 28 08/29/1987 Bigender SheHer Pronouns Aubrey Plaza

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Locked & Loaded|| Jay & Henry

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sgtblake:

The last zulu continues to shamble towards them, and when Jay looks over at him, Henry’s already begun to move. He crosses the small distance between them and jams the knife into the side of its head. The blade slips free when Henry jerks it back, and the zulu crumples to the floor. The forest is silence around them, and Henry strains to hear anything to warn them. When there don’t appear to be any more hostiles in the area, Henry calls it luck and turns back to Jay. They’ll need to move, soon, just in case the gun fire draws in any unwanted attention.

“You did good Shortstack,” Henry says when he’s by her side once again. He’s proud of Jay. Shooting isn’t easy, especially when it’s a live, moving target that wants to kill you. She’s gotten slightly better, about as good as anyone can get without enough ammo to practice or a range to go to. Every new skill learned is on the fly, without the time, exercises and materials to do it, you do the best you can.

“Let’s get back to base, see if we can find you some spare ammunition.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Locked & Loaded|| Jay & Henry

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sgtblake:

hardhat-jay:

Jay can’t picture anyone who would actively search out zeds but here she is asking Henry to help her do just that. It’s weird and if Jay wasn’t so determined to get better and didn’t have it stuck in her head that only this would do the trick then she might have said never might and turned around. She can hear her heart thumping in her ears as they get farther away from the farm house and the group.

She can hear them shortly after Henry does. It sounds like more then one and Jay gets more nervous then before. But Henry doesn’t look to worried. It is that that Jay holds in mind when she takes a deep breathe and calms slightly. Even if she is the one who asked for this and if she wants it, it is still worrisome slightly. While with Henry there Jay is sure nothing bad could happen to either of them, she is still on edge.

Jay takes a few more deep breathes as she stands near Henry and looks between the three zeds not to far from them. She looks them over. Making sure she knows exactly where all three of them are. Jay pulls the gun from her holster and switches the safety off before nodding at Henry and raising it to the first.

While a tree is a stable target and Jay hadn’t been doing much practicing with the actual shooting to save ammo, she has had a few practices sessions where she gave the tree a few good hits. While she is far from being a sharp shooter, Jay can tell she is getting better. Thought it is a slow progression and Jay wishes she could be good at this over time like she was with construction it just isn’t happening.

There are ten bullets in the magazine and Jay lines up the shoot on the first zed Henry told her to go for. Luckily with out much stimulus for it here the thing is pretty still and Jay gets a solid center of chest shot in. Of course the sound of the gun and the hit gets not only it’s attention but the attention of the others. Jay takes a deep breathe quickly and lifts the aim just slightly before pulling again.

It hits slightly off center but the head and the first one drops. Jay can’t help but smile but with the attention of twos others now she can’t exactly be to proud of herself. They are moving now. Stumbling over the rough Georgia area in their direction. They are moving now, unlike the tree and the first one, and Jay knows this is what she really needed practice for. She aims at the one who is slightly closer. She is glad they are all far enough away that she can move quickly but still have time to aim. The first shot goes shoulder, barely, but Jay takes no time to line up and pull again.

Stomach, left ribs, lower chest, right below the throat, and then finally head. The second drops and Jay is pretty sure if she counted correctly that she will only have two shots left. The third is still not extremely close but Jay speaks quickly. “I can’t kill him in two shots.” She looks down at her mallet and Henry’s knife. She knows she can’t kill him in two shots and while she would like the practice she doesn’t know if she could waste the ammo or not.

Henry’s been trained to count bullets. He knows that Jay has ten in her magazine, and he stands at the ready, crouched down and low. There’s a small gap between them. Henry doesn’t want ringing in his ears while she’s shooting. In the small change that anything goes wrong, he needs to be at one-hundred percent. Her first shot rings out and he sees a zulu stumble back. The second bullet connects with its head, just barely, and one out of their three targets are gone.

It’s easy to disappear behind the noise and trees with all that’s going on. This training will be useless if the zulu turns to come at him instead, so Henry makes sure that doesn’t happen. In any other situation, it would be laughable that someone would see Jay’s small frame and not him, but she’s the one with the gun, out in the open, and zulus aren’t known for their intelligence. She turns towards the other two, which are slowly groaning towards them. Thankfully, the Georgia hills are a natural obstacle, and one of the hostiles falls over a thick tree root. It’s arms flail as it falls over, and that leaves one natural target for Jay as it attempts to get back onto its feet.

Five more shots ring out, and Henry hears the body fall under the loud sounds of shots fired. He aches to pull out his gun, a pure instinct at hearing live fire, but doesn’t. Jay can take care of herself, and Henry reminds himself that over and over again.

“Shoot,” Henry demands. If she misses, they can take care of it no problem. But Jay needs live targets, and this is the best she’s going to get. If she can’t hit it with her last three shots, he’ll still consider their little adventure a success.

When Henry tells her to shoot Jay doesn’t hesitate. The only reason she paused to comment was to save ammo. Ammo has never been something that they have extra in. As much as Jay wants to learn how to shoot she had to think about how much they need ammo, just for a second.

Thought when Henry answers her Jay pulls the gun back up and aims. Her first shoot hit the zed in the shoulder. The infected stumbles from the contact and Jay takes the second to aim again. She waits for it to be head back. While they don’t have the best walking patterns it was better then trying to aim when it was stumbling since she had the space to wait.

The second and last shot its it in the chest and Jay frowns even thought she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be able to take it out in two shots. Even if she knows the gun in empty she flips the safety on and holsters it quickly and grabs for her mallet before looking at Henry to see if she should take it out herself or if he is going to go straight for it. 

[countrygirlholden-blog]

Hunting for Luck || Jess & Jay

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countrygirlholden:

She mules it over for a moment, they’ll be on the move but if Jess can find good spots when they’re getting closer to the place they’ll set down for the night Jess can set traps and then just backtrack later once camp is set up. “It would take some timing, but I could set them as we get closer to wherever we plan to set up for the night. We’d just have to see where we are.”

She hopes for something bigger too, Jess can feel her mouth watering at the idea of having a fat deer steak, something big and hearty to fill their stomachs, they’ll need the energy the meat gives them and Jess knows they’ll have to plan things right, they’d have to butcher the meat and do things quickly, they don’t want to risk bringing any zulus to the camp since they’re going to be out in the open more and the risk of something coming to them is greater.

“I don’t see why not, the farther from zulus we get the better chance we have of finding something big. We’ll just have to be careful, it’s too bad we don’t have any game bags, it wouldn’t take me long to butcher a deer in the field, we’d be able to take the meat with us and leave the rest behind. But I’m pretty sure that no one really wants to carry blood meat around in their bags.” Maybe she’ll need to start looking at other things to use as game bags. Something to make it easier and faster, it wouldn’t take her very long at all to breakdown a decent sized deer, and it would be even faster if someone wanted to help.

Jay snorts and pictures Maya objecting to that really quickly. “Maybe we should put zip-lock bags on the supply list or something like that next time.” Jay doesn’t feel the need to say that she would be willing to carry the meat. It is meant then getting a good dinner? Jay wouldn’t care at all about it and would do it in a heart beat.

They move a little farther. Idle chat and Jay watches and ask small questions about the traps as Jess sets them up. It takes real talent that Jay knows for a fact she herself doesn’t have. It’s amazing watching Jess move so quickly as she does it though. Like it is second nature to her almost. “I swear you need to teach me all of this one day.” She has asked Jess before this. And she has does a good job of explaining and letting Jay help when she can. Still Jay always wants to learn more about everything.

Jess’ attention is down on the trap while Jay keeps watch for zeds. It is a common way they do these trips. But for once Jay spots the game first. At first she is pretty sure she is just a hungry hallucination but then she sees a second follow and Jay all but jumps for joy and she backs up to nudge Jess. “Turkeys.” She points with the mallets to the direction the the second followed the first behind some brush. “Fuck just one of those would be great.”

She waits for Jess’ lead. This is where she just follows in silence making sure no zeds steal their meals. “I thought all larger things would be gone?” She ask at barely a whisper and knows she might have to wait for an answer until after as Jess moves already in the direction of the birds.

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Locked & Loaded|| Jay & Henry

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sgtblake:

“Don’t thank me just yet, Shortstack,” Henry says, the beginning of a grin on his face. He can’t help the giddiness that comes from the adrenaline of the hunt. It’s impossible to ignore as the energy under Henry’s skin practically thrums in anticipation as he leads Jay further away from the fence, keeping all of his senses alert as they actively look for Zulus. It’s a strange feeling, looking for zulus, when Henry spends so much time wishing that they weren’t there. Henry doesn’t actively sit around, moping about it, of course, but the feeling is still there. It has to be there for most people.

But today, they are the hunters, not the hunted. There’s an exciting kind of power in that sentiment that reminds Henry of another time. They circle to the southwest, and when Henry can hear some of the low, guttural sounds of the zulus. They’re spread out, among the natural barriers that occur in Georgia hills and forests. One is downhill from the small clearing they’re hiding in, and two more are further away, through some foliage that’ll slow them down and bends that could trip them up.

There’s one zulu in particular that catches Henry’s eyes, but he motions for Jay to follow him as they go a secret sweep of the area. Henry is careful to walk slow, making sure his boots don’t crunch against twigs and he doesn’t get too close to the zulus. Once he’s sure there are only three within the small clearing, he leans in very close to Jay. His voice is barely above a whisper.

“Take out the one at the bottom of the slope first, then the other two,” Henry motions further back. He’s got his knife out, just in case Jay’s shots don’t hit true to form. He trusts her, he believes in her, but he’s there, just in case. Not a single bad thing is going to happen to her on his watch.

Jay can’t picture anyone who would actively search out zeds but here she is asking Henry to help her do just that. It’s weird and if Jay wasn’t so determined to get better and didn’t have it stuck in her head that only this would do the trick then she might have said never might and turned around. She can hear her heart thumping in her ears as they get farther away from the farm house and the group.

She can hear them shortly after Henry does. It sounds like more then one and Jay gets more nervous then before. But Henry doesn’t look to worried. It is that that Jay holds in mind when she takes a deep breathe and calms slightly. Even if she is the one who asked for this and if she wants it, it is still worrisome slightly. While with Henry there Jay is sure nothing bad could happen to either of them, she is still on edge.

Jay takes a few more deep breathes as she stands near Henry and looks between the three zeds not to far from them. She looks them over. Making sure she knows exactly where all three of them are. Jay pulls the gun from her holster and switches the safety off before nodding at Henry and raising it to the first.

While a tree is a stable target and Jay hadn’t been doing much practicing with the actual shooting to save ammo, she has had a few practices sessions where she gave the tree a few good hits. While she is far from being a sharp shooter, Jay can tell she is getting better. Thought it is a slow progression and Jay wishes she could be good at this over time like she was with construction it just isn’t happening.

There are ten bullets in the magazine and Jay lines up the shoot on the first zed Henry  told her to go for. Luckily with out much stimulus for it here the thing is pretty still and Jay gets a solid center of chest shot in. Of course the sound of the gun and the hit gets not only it’s attention but the attention of the others. Jay takes a deep breathe quickly and lifts the aim just slightly before pulling again.

It hits slightly off center but the head and the first one drops. Jay can’t help but smile but with the attention of twos others now she can’t exactly be to proud of herself. They are moving now. Stumbling over the rough Georgia area in their direction. They are moving now, unlike the tree and the first one, and Jay knows this is what she really needed practice for. She aims at the one who is slightly closer. She is glad they are all far enough away that she can move quickly but still have time to aim. The first shot goes shoulder, barely, but Jay takes no time to line up and pull again.

Stomach, left ribs, lower chest, right below the throat, and then finally head. The second drops and Jay is pretty sure if she counted correctly that she will only have two shots left. The third is still not extremely close but Jay speaks quickly. “I can’t kill him in two shots.” She looks down at her mallet and Henry’s knife. She knows she can’t kill him in two shots and while she would like the practice she doesn’t know if she could waste the ammo or not.

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Coffee Break || Jay & Colton

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The smell of burning tobacco fades and is replaced by that of coffee. A much more welcoming scent if you asked any person. Minty menthol isn’t all that great, even smokers can admit to that. It’s the little things like that, drinking coffee together on a rooftop with no major concerns crossing his mind, that make Colton feel at least temporarily normal. He will take what he can get no matter how fleeting the moment may be.

When he hands over the tool kit to Jay, she likes it. It’s written all over her face, and it draws out a subtle smile of his own. He likes that what he found has that affect. It meant he accomplished what he wanted. When she returned from the first supply run with a pack of Marlboro’s for him Colton worried too much about it being held over his head. He never expected for her to keep him in mind. Now he did the same exact thing. He found something to bring back for Jay.

“Yeah, Chief.” Colton takes another sip of his coffee. “For when you brought me that pack of cigarettes back. I owed you for it, like I said I did, and now…” He motions to the mini tool-kit. “We’re even.” It may sound petty to make sure all debts no matter how small are repaid, and considering Jay’s character he doubts she never would have held it against him down the line. But, it is not in his character to brush that off without aching paranoia. He nudges her with his elbow and jokingly adds, “Except, of course, now I owe you for this cup of coffee.”

Jay can’t help but snort a bit. “You didn’t owe me for the cigarettes.” Jay shakes her head slightly before downing the rest of her coffee. It seems like Colton still thinks that people can’t just help each other out here for no reason and Jay is slightly amused by it. “Though I will not say no to the tool kit.” She flips it back closed as she finished looking it all over.

In fact she could get to work with it right now. There have been small mindless things inside the house that don’t really help much for protection but if they are going to be here for a bit still then Jay feels the need to fix them. “You don’t owe me anything.” Jay shifts. Getting up slightly and starts moving to the window. “I want to go play with my new toy though.”

Jay smiles wide holding the tool kit up again before sliding back into the window with out a real bye.

[countrygirlholden-blog]

Hunting for Luck || Jess & Jay

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Jess smirks at Jay’s comment and she can’t hide the laugh in her voice, “in a way it is like riding a bike, but I haven’t been riding this one for a while. I know I can get something if the locations are right, I just haven’t made one in a while. And it’s trapping, I could never forget how to hunt.” She throws a wink as she moves into another clump of brush and drops to her knees to set up the next trap, this one is more hidden and she sees the small trail where the rabbits move through, this one will be a good chance at finding something.

“Even if we don’t get many, which is more likely, just a few rabbits will make a decent stew. It’ll be a nice change from having everything canned.” They eat what they need to survive, well all of them except Martin but Jess doesn’t like to think about him, she guesses it’s more meat for the rest of them. She makes quicker work of the second trap and before she knows it her and Jay are back on the trail headed farther down the trail, as they go Jess stops ever now and again, and Jay stays and keeps watch.

She makes a mental note to add more twine on the list, if she’s going to be making more traps she’s going to need more twine to help make them, the wood is always easy to find given they’re surrounded by woods but twine can be harder to find, she may need to start looking for something to replace it with. When they’re on their own she can try using some rope, she thinks about splitting it and making it into smaller pieces, and possible using other pieces of flexible wood.

“When we get on the move, we should have a better chance at getting more.”

Jay gives a quiet laugh. She has no clue about any of it. Hunting, trapping. It is all a big mystery to Jay. Sure she has been able to catch and learn a few things from Jess. She now knows what a deer print looks like in the dirt. Rabbit too. Still if Jess left them no one who ever be as good as she was at this. Jay knows they are lucky to have her around and from what she remembers of Jess when they first found her, Jess is lucky to have them too.

Her stomach almost growls at the sound of Jess mentioning a stew. Real home cooked food that didn’t come out of a can was all to rare now a days. Hell she is pretty sure if Jess just skinned it, cleaned it, and throw it over the fire Jay would chow down so fast. Anything is better then canned meat. Jay has grown use to it and she never was a picky eater which really does help now a days but she mouth still waters as she thinks of Jess cooking up something to night.

She tries to stop thinking about food and get back to watching as Jess sets up the last trap. “When we leave the house will you still be able to do traps like this?” Jay knows it is more of an if then a when but she still likes to think positive that they will be getting out soon. “Or will it be harder since we will be moving around so much?” Jay voice is only a whisper and she stops talking when Jess tells her too. She is good at reading her surroundings and Jess to know when to shut up and when it is okay to talk.

“Rabbits are great and all but I just hope what ever direction we leave in will be closer to something bigger to eat.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Coffee Break || Jay & Colton

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Colton’s grin stretches across his face. “You remembered the sugar? Be still my heart, I think I’m falling in love.” He pulls the cigarette from his mouth and smothers the lit end against the gritty shingles they’re both sitting on. He can smoke later, but if he waits to finish it and the coffee gets cold then it will be deemed undrinkable. He takes a sip, and it’s the right level of sweet that doesn’t overpower the bitter flavor of the coffee. “If only we had a little bit of cream, then it would be just right.” But he understands their lack of dairy resources, so Colton smiles thankfully.

He shrugs. Referring back to that day doesn’t bring any ill feelings. Colton isn’t one for grudges, especially over something so trivial. In the moment he wanted to make his remarks, but he’s done and over it now. Henry was right when he told Colton to not interfere with her when she was in that zone, it was his fault for not listening. Besides, in the short time he’s known Jay he is aware her heart is too big for her to ever truly be ice cold mean without reason. He let it all roll off his shoulders before he would ever take it personally. Colton takes another sip of coffee.

“No worries, Chief.” His head tilts away from her, but Colton’s smiling eyes land on her face. “I don’t drink, so coffee is just fine.” Sure, he may have worked behind a bar but consuming anything alcoholic was always avoided. In the few times he surpassed the buzzed stage, his anxiety heightened and he lashed out at people. Then he would feel panicky and sick. That made Jack and Logan lucky enough to have a permanent DD the nights they went out.

“I have something for you.” Colton sips at the coffee again so that when he places the cup down on the slant of the roof it doesn’t spill over. She never hangs around long, too work-oriented to let too many minutes that she can be working go to waste. He reaches around to his backpack and pulls it onto his lap. He didn’t expect Jay to be hanging around but he was glad he had his bag with him. What he fishes out for her is a pocket tool kit. The term pocket is used loosely, it would never fit in anyone’s pants, but it hardly takes up any room in his own backpack that it’s travel-sized and convenient. “I found this on the supply run. Figure you could use it. And now we’re even.”

Jay can’t help but laugh. “Be it construction or coffee. I never forget something involving either.” Jay is pretty sure she can remember how each of her roommates that she had drank coffee. Be it there were only two of them besides the every so often Henry. But still, they were when she first got the apartment which feels like ages ago. 

She is glad that Colton doesn’t seem to be holding any grudges to her about the other day. She still feels guilty but it slow starts to fall away. When he tells her no worries she believes him that is really isn’t a big deal and Jay fully relaxes on the roof and takes a long pull from the coffee. It warms her up which is good now that they days are starting to get colder. Jay knows Halloween is right around now and she wishes she could be getting ready for her party she always hosted.

Jay has debated going to Martin’s room in the attic and looking for decorations to put up just to make herself feel better. She is sure others would like the comforting normal feeling of them too. But with two deaths Jay isn’t sure if they deserves of comfort feeling. It might make them feel safer here and Jay doesn’t think that should happen. They need to not feel safe here any more. It has become to dangerous.

When Colton says he has something for her Jay is snapped from her thought. Her eyes light up like a small child entering a candy story when he hands over the tool kit. While it may be small it has a good variety and Jay never things there is a such thing as to many tools. Her eyebrow pops up in confusion. “We are even?”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Locked & Loaded|| Jay & Henry

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“She’s looking for you,” Henry hears Maya call out. It stops him on his walk into the kitchen. After morning endurance, Henry is incredibly thirsty. His legs and arms are achy and sore from near-overuse, and perhaps he shouldn’t have been out working on the water pump. If he didn’t do it, though, someone else would have to, and Henry would have to explain everything and be outside, sweating, anyways. He’d much rather just do it himself, so he did, and now his body will suffer.

Whenever he leaves the house, unless it’s for training, he always has his pistol on him. It’s not anything new, but Henry likes feeling the weight of at least one of his service weapons at his thigh. His knife is in place, always, from the moment he leaves the room he shares with Leo to just minutes before he goes to sleep. So Henry has to double back to his quarters, strap on his pistol, and head out for where Jay left instructions.

Henry looks at her for a second before he realizes the gun is in her hands. It’s the same gun he gave her, weeks ago. They train, every so often, but bullets are so damn scarce they haven’t for awhile. It comes as no surprise to Henry that his sister has been practicing. Jay likes to be perfect at everything she does, and shooting is one of the most important things to perfect. Anyone can find a gun, sure, but understanding a gun, and when and how to use it, is a priceless skill. Using a gun without knowing what you’re doing is a fine way to get yourself killed.

“Then let’s go,” Henry motions to the woods outside of the fence. If they stay within a mile of the farm house, they won’t be breaking any rules. Waiting for zulus to come to them is unreliable, and if Jay wants to be thrown into the fire, then Henry will be there, right beside her, in case something goes wrong. He flips the catch on his holster up, so he can have easy access to his hand gun, and motions for Jay to come with him. Henry’s never been one for words when actions can suffice.

Jay is glad he agrees. While she isn’t sure why he would tell her no when he always says practice makes perfect. Jay wants to be perfect at this, or next to it. She needs to be. It means life or death now and she just wishes she would have asked him to take her to a range before the world went to hell where practice wouldn’t mean life or death and each bullet wasn’t like a piece of gold considering how much ammo was worth now.

Thought Jay didn’t expect Henry to still say no she was still slightly holding her breathe waiting for his answer. When he says lets go Jay lets out a small sigh. She double checks the safety on the gun before sliding it into holster she now wears right along side of the tool belt. Even if the gun normally stays in her room still, she keeps the holster on to get use to it. 

The added weight of the gun in the holster is still something Jay is getting use to though. She keeps it on her left side. She had to shift a few things around on her tool belt when she first started to wear the holster but how she knows where everything just as well as she did before. Even if she wants real training with the gun Jay feels better with the mallet still in hand reach just in case.

Jay follows Henry. She can easily keep up with his quick pace. She had to learn how to as a child if she wanted to stick by his side. “Thank you.” She states once they our out of the fence and a good distance away from the farm house.

[countrygirlholden-blog]

Hunting for Luck || Jess & Jay

[hardhat-jay-blog]

“It’s been a while so hopefully I still know what I’m doing.” She grins and leads Jay towards the woods, her feet barely make a sound and she toys with the twine in her hand, Jay is about one of the only people she’d admit feeling unsure about something to, but she knows jay wouldn’t say anything to anyone and Jess trusts her, “we won’t be getting anything big, with us and the zulus in the area, any deer and that have been pushed off. Animals are smart like that.” Her tone is slightly bitter but she keeps moving, she wants to get her and Jay beyond the more trafficked area as quickly as she can.

“There’s this place, I hope it’s not too traveled, and it’s not a place for deer, so I hope we have a decent traps of something getting caught in the traps. It’s a bit of a longer walk, a little uphill, but honestly think it’s our best chance of getting anything at all.” She keeps her voice low as they enter the woods and she leads them on her familiar path towards the clearing, but before they’d arrive there she leads them up a hill and off in another direction, she’d been this way before when she was alone, and she’s surprised she didn’t find the farmhouse sooner.

They keep moving for some time before Jess stops motions for Jay to stay, and takes a few short quiet steps towards a small trail leading through some brush. Moving back towards Jay she smiles and leans her rifle on a tree next to them, and starts to gather the things she needs from around her. “There’s a small trail there,” she points back towards the brush, “it looks like a fresher trail, I think there might be rabbits bedding in there.”

It comes together to set up, the process coming to her quickly once she gets to work and she motions for Jay to get by her, “they’re most likely off for food for now. We make this quick and we can set a few more as we go, check them as we come back.” She’ll gather up the spare ones and save them for later, when she thinks she’s good she tests it and it grabs her wrist and a smile grows on her face. It works and she resets it before standing. “Lets move.”

Jay nods and follows Jess out. “Wait you are telling me that hunting isn’t like riding a bike?” She can’t help but laugh slightly. Jay can’t picture Jessica ‘forgetting’ how to hunt. It would be like Henry forgetting how to be a soldier or Layne a nurse. It just seems impossible and completely unlikely. Jay is pretty sure the only time that would happen would be if they were dead. But she doesn’t like that thought.

They travel and Jay nods but knows when she needs to be quiet. This isn’t her first hunting trip with Jess that is for sure. Jay is just glad Jess is always willing to take her long even if she can’t shoot yet, at least not well enough to hit anything with out going through the whole magazine. Jay is glad to be out of the house and off the farm. She is glad to be away from all the mess that seems to be happening there. 

If she was just hanging out with Jess then Jay would bring up how she thinks they need to go. She knows Jess agrees. Half of the people in the house agree. The others are scared and Jay sure as help can’t fault them for that. But she is getting to the point where she feels like they need to suck it up. Live scared or die seems to be the only options now a days.

When Jess tells her to stop Jay does so. Watching her work Jay tries to keep watch around them. The area seems less travel which is good. Jess is right. The first thing Jay really learned from Jess is animals are smart. They even know something fucked up is going on in the world. When Jess says lets move Jay stays close behind her but still giving her her distance before going forward and following.

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Coffee Break || Jay & Colton

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Colton sighs and sucks on the back of his teeth. It’s a content sound that escapes his mouth while the cigarette between his fingertips burns and ashes sprinkle from the orange embers at the tip of it. He’s taking it easier today, and the weather is just gorgeous. Sweat hasn’t collected along his hairline and his shirt is dry and not sticking to his back. He’s comfortable. While he doesn’t rival Martin in his need to be alone, solitude is something he can enjoy in spurts. He’s finding himself sliding into some good places with people here, and he can say that he only feels somewhat anxious now but collecting his thoughts while by himself feels good.

He does jump a little when he hears Jay’s voice, but he peeks back to her with an eyebrow quirk. The last time they truly talked the exchange wasn’t anywhere near what he’d call stellar. But by no means is Colton holding that against her. He’s amused by it still, only having felt put off in the moment. Nonetheless, Colton gives her a wave, two fingers to his head in a mock salute, and flicking them away in a casual motion.

“Not unless zeds can climb.” Colton retorts, a hand grasping at a mosquito he can’t quite catch. “I have a knife in my bag if that counts.” He points to the backpack next to him, and then turns to spit over the edge of the roof and onto the ground below. He takes note of her light tone, and it brings a flighty smile to his face. He doesn’t feel like his space is being intruded on, either. Jay’s presence is always a welcome one.

He puts his cigarette in between his lips and leans over to grab both mistmatching mugs of hot coffee. “Did you make me a cup?” he asks, voice a bit muffled with his mouth holding the butt of the Newport from falling down to the rooftop. He’s surprised, to be honest. Jay has offered him some on a handful of occasions, but the gesture is unexpected.

Jay can’t help but chuckle a bit. She trying to picture the completely uncoordinated zeds trying to use a ladder or climb on each other shoulders to get on the roof. “Don’t think they have got that skill yet, think we pretty safe here.” Plus if they could or there was any real danger of being on the roof Jay would have been much more angry when she found Henry out there when he was suppose to be on house arrest weeks ago.

Colton takes the cups and Jay makes her way out of the window. Getting comfortable before she reaches for a cup back. “The blue one is for you.” Jay mentions as she grabs for the yellow cup. “Just a little bit of sugar added in there.” She hopes she remembers right. Then again, Jay normally isn’t one to forget something if it involves coffee.

Once the cup is back in her hand she lets out a sigh. Part of her debates taking the cigarette from his mouth but the smell isn’t bothering her to much. She got use to it working jobs before hand a lot of the people smoked on the site just as a reason to get more breaks. It is a short debate and once she sees Colton take a drink with out making a face to the coffee being to bitter Jay speaks again.

“Before hand most of the guys I worked with knew well enough to leave me alone when I got into ‘psycho super work Jay’ as they called it, mode. But the few who would still piss me off when they happened I would take out to the bar after and buy them a few founds to make up for it. Can’t exactly offer to take you to a bar anymore so I thought coffee was a nice replacement.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Locked & Loaded|| Jay & Henry

Jay sat on the ground back behind the house. The tree off to her left was the same one Henry had her do target practice on a few times before. Letting out a sigh Jay looked down at the smile collection of parts in front of her. It took a while when Henry first started to show her how to take the gun apart and put it back together clean as new for Jay to get a hang of it. Now she did it at least once a day just to remember how to.

The 10 bullets she had felt heavy in her pocket. She needed to ask if they found more of the kind she needed on the last run but when they came back with Alex dead she forgot about it. Now Jay wanted even more to learn how to shot. She needed the practice. Real practice, not just a picture on a tree. Jay leaned over the parts, sliding them one by one back into place.

It was repetition now. Jay almost did it with out thinking about it. Which was good. The more comfortable she felt with the gun, the better. Jay hoped they would be leaving the house soon. Moving on to somewhere else was the best thing for them. Out there, Jay needed to be comfortable with the gun in her hand so she could learn to use it better. The tire iron she normally carried was getting a bit to beat up. Her hammer had such a short reach on it Jay hated being that close to zeds. It made her feel exposed.

A gun was the fix to that. But knowing to to take it apart, clean it, and put it back together did nothing. Knowing how to load and unload, how to hold it, those skills were more important but with out knowing how to correctly aim? She be useless and just as dead as she would be with the hammer if the zed got to close.

Jay left a message with Maya to tell Henry were to find her so she wasn’t shocked when she heard someone coming up behind her. Jay put the last piece into place before the gun was back together and Jay took the bullets to load the magazine while turning to look at Henry. “I want to practice.” She pauses knowing he we know she meant shooting.

“I want to shoot zeds. It going to be the only thing that makes me get better. Shooting what I will actual need the gun for.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Coffee Break || Jay & Colton

Jay watched as Richard left with Leo on the afternoon patrol. She had spend most of the day outside working her ass off. Or trying to at least. Since going on the hunt with Jess, Jay found herself getting more distracted out there alone. She moved out of her obsessive workaholic stage as she came to terms that she could never make the fence strong enough with that they had. She was at the point with the supplies they had that there was really nothing more she could do.

When Jay went through these obsessive moments before and would tell a worker off she would just buy them a beer, or six, once the job was done and all would be back to normal. Most of the guys that worked with her learned at this point how she acted. They would carefully just stay out of her way and work their asses off and then get free drinks once they site was done.

Colton wasn’t on her team before hand. He wasn’t a trained worker like her or the guys on her team. While he had no way of knowing how she got when things got like this, she had no way of buying him a beer to make up for it. Instead she settled for making a pot of coffee and filling to two mugs with it. Jay had seen Colton make coffee before on the rare times he was actually up early when she got her morning cup. She mixed in a spoonful of sugar before heading up the stairs.

His and Richard’s door was open but yet Colton couldn’t been seen in the room. Jay almost turned to leave knowing he had to be in the house somewhere since she hadn’t seen him outside before. Luckily she caught the glimpse of the window open out of the corner of her eye. She peaked through first. Seeing Colton’s back sitting on the roof. “I wonder if this counts as outside and you need a weapon and someone to protect you?”

For the first time in the few days her voice was slightly joking and not tense. “Hold these so I can get out here with out spilling the coffee.”

[countrygirlholden-blog]

Hunting for Luck || Jess & Jay

[hardhat-jay-blog]

countrygirlholden:

Jess knows that the area is mostly lacking in wildlife, with the amount of times she’s hunted and the loading of zulus coming in most have moved on to safer land. She can’t help but feel bothered that while the animals run, they stay. The wildlife knows this area is a threat now so there’s no reason for them to stay. She waits on the porch now, Jay should be here any minute for them to go out and hunt. Jess hopes to find something, anything and Jess plans to set a few snares, maybe get something small just to make sure her skills are up in that regard. She knows eventually that they’re going to be on their own, out there in the woods and Jess doesn’t want to set off gunshots all the time while hunting and bring some zulus their way. Trapping was quiet and clean, and would often gather plenty of kills if you knew what you were doing. It’s been a while since she’s done any, and she wishes she had thought of doing this earlier.

Sighing she plays with the roll of twine she found, feeling it in her hands, the one things he’s grateful for, having found the twine that was actually the kind she’d really need to use. She doesn’t really care if she finds enough to make a large meal out of it, she simply wants to see if she’s still decent at it and able to make a snare that would hold something.

Looking to the sky Jess breaths in deep, the air is cool due to the early morning and the sun has been steadily moving up in the sky, she’ll set the traps as they go, and check them as they come back. Gathering any and all snares she made that didn’t get her anything, she didn’t want to risk them getting anything later and leaving a trail of fresh kills leading to the house like breadcrumbs left by Hansel and Gretel.

The creaking of the door draws her to Jay as she comes out of the house, and Jess smiles, she’s excited to get moving and doing something outside of just sitting around and worrying. She holds up the roll of twine and starts moving off the porch. “I though I would set some snares, I want to see if I still know how to do it.”

After everything that has happened Jay spends far less time on patrols. Trading with others every chance she gets just to have more time working on the fence. It is almost mended back to how it was before. Or before Jay first started working on it when they got to the farm. It is still far to weak and there isn’t enough supplies that they could get here to make it strong enough.

Jay tries to ignore her self along with everyone else. Wishing more and more for some sort of ipod or mp3 player to keep herself distracted from everything going on. When left alone working her thoughts get to her. Loosing both James and Alex so close to each other and still being on the farm makes her want to jump out of her skin. It doesn’t help that they are low on coffee again and Jay has taken to rationing herself more to keep from fully loosing it like she thinks she will with out the caffeine. 

When Jess says she wants to go hunting Jay jumps at the chance. She needs a break for working on the fence and being with Jess maybe she won’t get lost in her own head as much. Finishing tying her boots Jay walks outside meeting Jess on the porch. She gives a smile at the idea of setting traps. Hopefully they will be able to come home with something. “Sounds like a plan.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Respect for the Dead || Jay & Cam

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Cam gave Jay a quick nod and lifted the shovel out of the grave. Laying it parallel with the longest side, she pressed her palms against the ground and jumped out of the hole. Dirt covered every inch of her hands and arms. She approached the wheelbarrow in small, short steps, hesitant to touch the body lest it fall apart in her fingers. It had to be done, though, and the less they put it off, the better for everyone involved.

She stood beside the wheelbarrow and took in James’ body for what it was: a shredded corpse. He still had the rosary around his neck, hanging dangerously close to the tear in his gut. Blood stained the cross and some of the beads closer to his neck. Cam reached down and took the cross in her hand. Carefully, she lifted the rosary over his head and lowered the beads into her palm. She made a silent promise to take good care of it, then slipped it into her back pocket and took her position at James’ head.

They lowered him into the grave with as much care as they could manage. Cam hooked her arms under his shoulders and Jay took his legs. His limbs had already stiffened. Once he was lying against the earth, Cam stood back to look over him again, before jumping out of the grave. Picking up the shovel, she began the far quicker task of finally burying James.

Jay tried to block everything out. To not act like she was moving a member of the group from the wheelbarrow to the grave. It was easier to disconnect then to concentrate on that fact. They lower him into the grave quickly as they can before starting to fill it back up with dirt. It goes faster then the process of digging. Take less energy to cover James’ with dirt. They work in silence again. Jay takes the silence to help her move faster. She wants to get back inside the fence. So far they haven’t had anything to worry about with zeds coming up, Jay wants back inside before they have a problem.

Still she wants sure they do everything right. He deserves the best that they can provide. Jay just hopes that he is happy with the location Cam picked for him. The silence lings in the air until the last shovel filled with dirt is put back into place. With James finally away Jay doesn’t feel any better about the situation. Not that she thought she would but she hoped it would make sure feel a bit more closer then what came.

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Respect for the Dead || Jay & Cam

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Her fingers ached from gripping the handle so tight and for so long. She felt where exactly on her palms blisters planned to form. Cam drove the shovel back into the empty grave and heaved another heap of earth out onto the sides. The deeper the hole grew, the quicker it seemed to take. Whether it was an illusion borne of repetition or not, she lacked the ability to care.

She paused when the weight of Jay’s words hit her. Cam leaned against the shovel, driven into the ground and stood upright, and looked at her. She watched Jay adjust her hair and take a drink, and decided she meant what she said. Plucking the water bottle up from the ground, Cam took a swig, set it back down and resumed digging. “Yeah,” she muttered, “he does.”

Once again, they continued in silence. Dig, inhale, dig, exhale. Every so often she lifted her head to take another look around them, and seeing no change in their immediate surroundings bar the gentle shifting of leaves, went right back to work. When Jay spoke again, Cam stopped to make sure she heard correctly.

She stiffened at the mention of her relationship with James, but found herself nodding. Slowly, she glanced sideways at the body in the wheelbarrow, but drew her eyes away within the second and fixed them on Jay instead. “Some God he believed in,” she said, her voice low and controlled. “Killing his greatest follower.” She flexed her fingers on the shovel’s handle, then stabbed it into the ground again. “He died alone. Where’s the justice in that?”

Most people would have to be blind or not giving a fuck to not know that Cam and James were close. While from Jay’s stand point it looked like the strangest friendship. Not one that would make logical sense if it was before the outbreak. But then again things that made sense before don’t now so who is to say that things that wouldn’t have been logical before, aren’t now logical.

Jay got along with James. Most people did. He was a hard one not to be nice too. Even if they believes in different things, from God to if they should stay or not, Jay enjoyed talking with James when she got the chance to and watching his work in the kitchen. He deserved so much better then a hole next to the berry bush. But that was all they had now and Jay meant what she said when she told Cam she was sorry for her loss. Even if she didn’t get along with Cam, or trust her much, losing anyone you are close to is painful.

Even now when death happens every where around them Jay still gets mad about it. She could yell and curse and question her God but there was no point in it. For Cam though, who Jay could guess wasn’t a believe in any God, it was easier to blame someone you didn’t believe in it seemed.

Jay shoved the shovel hard into the ground, throwing the dirt like the action would make her feel better about loosing someone. “There isn’t any.” Everything had a reason, Jay didn’t always know what that reason was but there was still one. Still there wasn’t justice is how James went. They kept digging again and Jay finally stopped, tossing the shovel out of the hole. “I think this about as deep as we can get.”

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Work Hard, Then Work Harder || Jay & OPEN

[hardhat-jay-blog]

When Jay stops and drops her hammer, Colton ceases movement. She’s a tiny thing, but when she points back and tells him to leave Colton bites his tongue. He wants to make some remark like he always had. Something in retort to her comment about him hindering her work. He wants to, but Colton also doesn’t have the energy to do it. He spent all the last night wide awake and tossing and turning, then spent the morning by himself until Henry checked on him. He’s exhausted emotionally and physically, and he can see with his tired eyes that Jay isn’t being herself. He won’t hold that against her. Now is not a time to argue about who is right and who is wrong.

So once the onset of annoyance simmering beneath the surface comes and goes, Colton tosses her a closed-mouthed smile, dips his head and takes a step back from the tools. He sawed exactly what she needed, it’s not like he’s abandoning any other orders. “You might not need my help, Chief, but we need you. Don’t forget to come back in for dinner later, alright?” There’s just a hint of feeling in it, but it is sincerity. He can talk about this with her later if she wants. If not, then they can go on as the friends, or whatever they are, without this disagreement causing any issues. 

With a final nod Colton retrieves the bats and turns back around to make a bee-line to the house. He can’t be out by himself, after all. That would be breaking the rules.

Jay ignores him. She knows he is talking to her but she does her best to block it out. Only listening to hear the sound of him walking away. She does a double check over her shoulder just to make sure that he isn’t actually there anymore. When he is gone she gets back to work, faster then she was before. He was right. She was needed. Needed to get this fence up. To protect them for as long as they stay. Even if she believes they need to leave, this is her job, how she helps out the best. She can’t stop doing it.

Her drive keeps her going past dinner. Only stopping every once in a while to take a drink and adjust her hair tie. She would keep going longer if she had the light to do so. Damn the fall for starting the creep closer and make the dark come sooner. Jay cleans up her mess. Returning everything to it’s exact correct location before heading back inside and right to her room for the night.

[hardhat-jay-blog]

Work Hard, Then Work Harder || Jay & OPEN

[hardhat-jay-blog]

The defensive way Jay responds to him brings Colton back to the day he was working on the well with Henry. He glances at her eyes, her glare is fiery, but Colton meets them stoicly. He has never been at the business end of her temper, but he isn’t intimidated. He’s far too frustrated about other things to be personally upset with her, and his mellowed out demeanor keeps him from snapping back. Instead, he shrugs, and continues talking about a topic that maybe he shouldn’t press on.

“I’m not telling you what he needs to worry about, but by all means misconstrue to your heart’s content.” He begins sawing through the second plank he measured out, forcefully now. He was just a little concerned and wanted her to slow her roll before she hurt herself in one way or another. “But he does, and he does it on his own. He worries about every damned person and thing inside this fence, but guess what, Sweetheart? You’re at the top of his list.” He jerks the freshly sawed piece in her direction and gets started on the third.

But if their main carpenter falls ill to heat stroke or dehydration, or tears a muscle then who will do the mending? He can’t do it all on his own, and he’s not one hundred percent sure that there is anyone else with the time and capabilities to keep up with this work. At least if Jay is well she can direct orders. If not, then the project may be put on hold, and much like Jay wanted to put her brother in a bubble, Henry will be doing the same to her.

Jay pauses. Debates just walking away. Colton is grating fast on the last nerve that Jay has right now. He is interrupting her work. She thought before giving him something to do when he walked up to her would make him be quiet and work. Clearly that didn’t happen. He kept talking, kept saying something that made Jay more and more annoyed. She needed to be working. Not arguing with a kid. Jay was sure he wasn’t taking James’ death well either. But she wasn’t able to deal with it herself much less someone else.

Finally Jay stopped working. She dropped the hammer and pointed back at the house. “You can go. I don’t need your help Colton.” Her words are bitter and sharp. “I can do better and faster on my own.” She has to stop herself from pulling the saw from his hand and forcing him inside. Hopefully he will listen to her. But she isn’t even looking at him anymore. If she decides to stay she is going to ignore him, at least until she can’t anymore and Jay hasn’t dealt with people interrupting her well when she was in this mood in the past. She is sure this time won’t be different. Hopefully he is smart enough to get out of her dodge right now though.