"I'm fine. I'm doing okay. Wanted to make that man taste his own balls..." Isaac threw his head back and laughed. "...but that's pretty average for me."

He went in front of her, walking backwards as he playfully pointed at his companion. "True. You are indeed a spicy one."

He found that he was enjoying her company more than anyone he'd travelled with in a long time. She was unpredictable and a bit of a trouble magnet, but that's part of what made her so fun. He thought of the song 'Atom Bomb Baby' that played on the radio a lot. It was fitting for this broad, for sure. He remained walking backwards for a little longer, before turning around and fall into step beside her once more.

"Mole rats seem to be my target practice today? Good, a moving object would be a great place to start."

"Yeah," he agreed half-hearted. "To be honest, you could do with some stationary targets first, but screw it, let's throw caution to the wind, huh."

"How are you holding up? Having to cart around a novice such as myself."

"Please," he waved away her comments. "You're a blast, cutey-pie." He chuckled as they arrived at the engine house and he knocked on the door. "Playing the lone wanderer is cool n all, but it's gets kinda boring sometimes. Nice to have some company."

The door was opened and a wiry old man was there to greet them. "What?"

"Here about the mole rats. Just wanted to take a look around."

Isaac raised his eyebrows expectantly, but the old man delayed. He thought about it with a grumpy expression, then looked outside both ways, before giving a sharp nod and disappearing inside, leaving the door open for them. "Don't touch anything," he shot at them.

Isaac shrugged at Zara and smiled, then went in. So began the lesson...

"What do you see, emerald eyes?" he asked Zara as they stood in the room with the generator. He didn't expect her to offer much, but it was worth a shot.

Zara smirked at the nicknames he kept giving her. Couldn't he just settle on one? Did he have to flatter her so much? She shook her head as she tried to dispel the feelings the nicknames were giving her. Cutie-pie, emerald eyes. All of them about her appearance. Well, she was determined to show him she was more than just a pretty face. It was true the gun thing had been a fiasco, but she knew more than just some protected princess. This task had just as much to do with cunning and intellect than pointing a weapon and hoping it hit the mark.

Walking up to the generator, she crouched down and looked at the base of the generator. "Mole rats have definitely been in here. There's teeth marks on the wires, scratches along the metal. See, they're trying to get into here though I never understood why. What's the fascination with getting inside something like this? Why chew wires? I'm no mole rat, but wiring just doesn't seem appealing to me. As food or bedding." She spoke more to herself then to Isaac.

Staying low, she moved around the room as her eyes scanned the floor. "Droppings, everywhere. Though it seems to be coming from this far wall." She scurried over there herself, placing her hands along the wall. Running her fingers along the wall towards the bottom, she frowned at the loose soil.

"Do you guys ever build these things on hard surfaces? Or just toss the walls up on the dirt? They're coming in under the wall. See. Scraps of fur where it's been rubbing the bottom of the wall. There's claw marks from them digging under it. They are coming in this way, we'll need to go outside to this wall to see what direction they are heading." She spoke to Isaac now, pushing up to her feet properly.

Isaac's eyes followed Zara as she walked up to the generator and crouched down. It seemed she was atually going to take a crack at it. The corners of his mouth pulled down and he nodded unconciously, quite impressed, then he followed Zara and crouched down beside her, taking a look himself but not saying anything. Her monologue as she went through the available information was classic detective work, and she worked her way over to the wall.

"Do you guys ever build these things on hard surfaces? Or just toss the walls up on the dirt? They're coming in under the wall. See. Scraps of fur where it's been rubbing the bottom of the wall. There's claw marks from them digging under it. They are coming in this way, we'll need to go outside to this wall to see what direction they are heading." She spoke to Isaac now, pushing up to her feet properly.

It was a rare thing for Isaac Storm to be lost for words, but he it certainly seemed like this was one of those times as he opened his mouth to speak but... "Err..." all he could do was nod a few times in agreement. "Yeah... sure."

And with that, they made to leave the engine house, Isaac taking a moment in passing to tell the engineer smugly, "Didn't touch a thing."

Outside, as they rounded the shack, Isaac laid eyes on the nearby edge of town and found the likely spot where the mole rats were coming in. It was a small gap in wall of burnt-out cars where some frayed chainlink fencing was supposed to be plugging up the gap, but was actually leaving a nice little rat-sized hole. "There," he offered with pointed nod. They went over. "There's no way this isn't the place. We should find tracks on the other side."

As they left town and got around to the point, Isaac started looking around. He noticed a couple of things worthy of inspection, but one look at his accomplice told him that Zara was really into this, focused, maybe even enjoying herself, and so he let her take the lead again. He too kinda enjoyed things like this. Whether taking bounties on bad guys or tracking animals - it was all still hunting, at the end of the day. Admittedly, Isaac preferred shooting people, something perhaps a little disturbing to the average person, but he still liked the little jobs.

With all this in mind, he decided against calling out how impressed he was with her tracking abilities so far and chose just to be in the moment with her. "Anything?" he asked as he scanned the area.

Zara looked over at him with an amused smirk. Was he letting her take the detective lead to see what she could do, or was he letting her take lead to hide that he couldn't. She shook her head slightly to herself. She walked over to where the mole rats were coming out. There was a lot of foot traffic from other creatures, but she could detect the prints they were after. It was as if her eyes could highlight them to her. "Come on, tender foot. Let's get going. They are leading this way." She walked with him, eyes moving around the ground. She was trusting him to have her back while she kept her eyes down.

She stopped for a moment. There were a few crossing paths going in either direction. Where was it they were going? Where was home? She kept her eyes moving along the ground, crouching down to figure these prints out. Which ones were fresh, which direction was more travelled. She ran her fingers along some broken twigs and branches. "There are teeth marks on these, they are definitely setting up a decent sized nest. They like what they are finding around here." She informed him, her eyes moving more erratically around as if she was scanning everything all at once.

Moving more towards some shredded food wrappers. "Looks like they got a traveller or two. I think they are going that way. The most tracks coming to and from are in that direction." She rose to her feet again, tugging her pants from around her hips. She glanced over to him, wondering if he had other ideas in mind. She smiled innocently enough at him, her hands going into her pockets. She wanted to go towards some rocks off to the west. Would be a decent place to set up a den for these pesky creatures. Dig under them and use the rocks and shelter. It's where she'd set up a home anyway.

He followed Zara as she easily followed the trail. In all honesty, Isaac had taken one look at the mess of animal tracks and knew he it would, at best, take him ages to decipher them. At worst, he'd be stuck having to follow each and every lead that came from the mess and just hope for the best. Zara, on the other hand, read the ground like a good-condition book, then she was off.

Eyes on the surround. Head on a swivel. Isaac watched for danger. However, he had a smirk on his face. Holy shit, she's a prodigy, he thought. We're gonna be done within hours, at this rate.

"There are teeth marks on these, they are definitely setting up a decent sized nest. They like what they are finding around here."

"Good job we bought extra bullets, huh," he replied. When she mentioned that a traveller or two might have fallen victim to the mole rats, it was just about the exact time that Isaac caught a whiff of a familiar scent. His nose twitched as he sniffed about, looked to the bushes just north of their position... "Just a sec." ...and moved toward them.

Pushing through the bushes, he found himself on the summit of a small slope. At the bottom of it, there in the mud, was the owner of that scent. The scent of death.

Isaac went down to the corpse who wasn't quite yet rotting but still didn't look great. The radiation in the wasteland changed the way things decomposed, he'd been taught. Preserved them better. Isaac couldn't imagine what a corpse this old would look like in the Before Times. The victim was wearing a rucksack that'd been torn to shreds and a fair few injuries that left Isaac with an easy guess that this was an ambush by the molerats. He squatted down and rummaged through all the pockets, taking everything of value, including caps, another gun and some bullets. Nice. "You won't be needing this anymore. Rest in peace, fellow traveller."

Getting back up, he stowed away the valuables and went back to the trail, took a big breath and then checked his second wristwatch which had the compass. "West it is then," he said to her, giving her a half-hearted smile. He hated looting corpses. He'd been doing it since he was real young. It was the wasteland way. It would be stupid not to. Still... it always felt... disconcerting.

They turned up at some rock formations and Isaac stopped to survey the area. Then he looked up and around them to appraise the trees, and he found a thick sturdy one that had branches that would take their weight. "Alright, let's get up in the trees and stake out the area." With that they climbed up the tree and tried to get comfortable. "If we go snooping around, we're likely to get ambushed and forced to fight on their terms. Molerats aren't nocturnal so there should be some sign of activity... hopefully sooner rather than later.
We zero in on their position, then we can draw them out on our own terms."

Assuming she'd want to have a branch where she could sit with her back against the trunk, Isaac got on a seperate branch, poking out 45 degrees to the right of her branch, just a little lower than hers so that his head pretty-much next to her. And there they sat for a while.

After quite some time had passed, Isaac spoke up. "So. Where'd you learn to track like a bloodhound?" he asked, relaxed and watching the rocks. "That was pretty amazing. Just full o' surprises, aren't we."

Zara followed him towards the tree and looked up to it. Well, it was as good as it was going to get. She worked her way up the tree, and got settled in her spot. She pulled out the knife he had given her and was using the tip to clean out from under her nails. She glanced over to him when he finally spoke, she wasn't expecting it. "Oh? Uh. I've just always been good at tracking. Ever since I was a little girl." She shrugged one shoulder, going back to picking at her nails. Just because she lived in the waste land didn't mean she had to look like she lived in the wasteland.

"I think that's why Hunter was always keen on me. I could track anything for miles. A creature or person would need to go through a lot of hard work to avoid being followed by me. You'd think with my ability, he would have trusted me more than as just a slave huh? Given me a role with some power to it. Even if it was just 'tracker.'" She shook her head, wondering if she'd have stayed if she had been seen as something more than just a warm body for them to plug into.

Something up in the cave was rumbling. Faint sounds of scratching could be heard approaching the entrance. It sounded like the molerats were heading out for more goodies to get. She froze for a moment, leaning forward to listen better. Slowly she moved to the middle of the branch, where it would still hold her weight. She was eager to see him shine now, see his shooting abilities.

"Yup," Isaac agreed. To think that a raider leader wouldn't have taken advantage of such an amazing skillset. Dumbass savages. It wasn't a wonder why raider gangs often flamed out as quick as they were created. If they weren't 'got' by a bounty hunter, another gang or the various wasteland scaries, then they were wiped out by their own greed. Blinded by lust for power and destruction. "Their loss."

He was about to tell her that he was in fact a world renowned hide-n-go-seek champion in his youth, and challenge her to track him down some time, but his full attention was drawn to the rock formations when the noises started. He mirrored Zara and got onto his front so he could shuffle along the branch, then decided he'd switch weapons and make use of the newly acquired pistol. For molerats, his 50 cal Raging Bull just seemed a bit overkill.

It just occured to him that this was supposed to be a lesson in shooting for Zara and giggled as he thought of the fundamentals he was taught about marksmanship. "Jeez, this is gonna be the worst ever first shooting lesson in the history of everest."

Weaver stance for right handed shooters - Feet shoulder-width apart, right foot back, left hip turned towards the target...

Lying on a tree branch threw this first part right out of the window. At least the next part, he could tell her, although it wouldn't make as much sense without the stance.

"When shooting right-handed, make sure your right arm is straight. Tilt your head slightly over your shoulder so you can see down the sights." He waited until she followed the instruction, and would repeat himself whenever she needed to hear it again. "Your left hand holds your right, cupping the butt of the pistol. Like this." He demonstrated with his gun. "Left arm relaxed, right arm straight. This should create a push-pull feeling, with your right hand slightly pushing the gun forward, your left hand slightly pulling it back. That'll give you some stability aiming and help absorb the recoil."

The molerats were scurrying around in clear sight now. Three of them. And, no doubt, more inside the cave.

"Now listen; when you fire, you squeeze the trigger. Don't pull it with your finger. Squeeze the whole gun like your getting the last of the toothpaste. And there's gonna be a shocking amount of recoil. Don't be scared of it. But brace yourself, okay."

His voice got quieter as the molerats closed in. "Take your time. You only have six shots for this lesson. If you even manage to hit one, then you're already a better student than I am a teacher. Let's rock."

And they started shooting. Lay on their belly, balanced on tree branches, trying to hit moving targets. This was Zara's first lesson. Isaac was laughing his ass off at the absurdity of it all.

Bang! Bang-bang!

He took one out and injured another. His gun was a crappy condition Beretta, but it fired well enough to hit something. Two more adult molerats came out of the cave to join the fight, only to find that they couldn't reach the two wastelanders. Mostly they just ran around, or scratched up at the tree trunk. Isaac was slow with his shooting to give Zara a chance to empty her cylinder, but once she was done, he started cleaning house.

He fired in bursts of up to three shots, angling his body around, dangerously shifting his weight in such careless fashion that he'd turned himself 180 on the tree branch and was hanging off by a single leg and hand for the last kill.

Bang!

He hung from one hand for a second before dropping down to the ground, keeping an eye on the cave in case anymore tried to rush them. "Hit anything?" he asked as he got out some more ammo, thumbing bullets into the empty magazine.

Caught mid reload, there was suddenly a growl and the patter of feet. One last molerat looking for blood and revenge, charging right for them. Isaac dropped everything in his hands immediately and drew his primary weapon.

Taurus P90 aka The Raging Bull. 50 cal tip already sitting in the chamber.

Stay ready so you don't have to get ready.

Isaac smirked as he looked sidelong down his sights at the charging creature....

BANG!

Zara wasn't near a good enough shot like he was, though it was to be expected at her first round of actually shooting the pistol. She had no idea how to properly aim or how to actually brace for the recoil it gave her. This was not something she was eager for but it did have to happen. He needed to know where to start with her and where she was already skilled so he could properly teach her.

First shot - missed. Went no where near the mole rat she was aiming for. That poor rock now had a dent in it's side. Second shot got close but only because the mole rat had jumped towards the raging bullet. Third shot wounded one in the rump as it attempted to flee from them. Her next three shots were way off mark again, the recoil of the gun actually hurting her arms. It wasn't a very big pistol, the recoil wasn't actually that much. She just wasn't used to it at all.

Once every single one of them were did, she holstered the gun, swung her legs down and dropped out of the tree. Oddly enough, the sound of her feet touching the ground was fairly silent, as if someone had put her feet on mute. She smiled up at him nervously. "I think you got that one. I need to work on my shooting skills, though I can fight melee just fine." She blushed softly.

Slowly she began to make her way up to the den. She wanted to make sure there was none left and see what goodies they had taken. Maybe one of the mole rats had stolen some good weapons or armour. It had been known to happen once in a while.

The molerat's head blew up with a spray of red, it's body skidding and tumbling to a stop before Isaac's feet. The wastelander looked at the corpse dispassionately for a moment, before thumbing the safety back up on his Taurus and holstering it. Then he knelt down to grab his things off the floor and resumed reloading the Beretta, sparing a glance up at Zara as she spoke while he did it.

"Hey, don't sweat it. That was the dumbest shooting lesson in the world. Besides..." he sharply pushed the magazine back and jerked the slide to load a round, then looked at her properly. "...pretty sure you hit one," he told her, his eyebrows raised as if daring her to be proud of herself. "Not bad, huh?"

He accompanied her to the den, Beretta in one hand and knife, reverse-grip, in the other. There might be one or two more defending the nest, but if he could get away with it, he wouldn't waste any more bullets. The Sheriff was going to shit a brick when they came back so quickly to report the job complete. Isaac reckoned he would just give directions to the den and then wait around while someone from town went to go and see the evidence that the job was done. Even so, they'd be back on the road in record time, thanks to the tracking skills of his new buddy, Zara Singh.

Pulling her weight already, who'da thunk it.

When the coast was clear, he waited on guard while she checked for loot. "Anything good, emerald eyes?"

"Hit one? I'd be surprised if I did. I didn't kill any of them. All of them were fallen by your skills. I may just stick with sharp pointy things and my own two hands." She smirked as she glanced over to him, shaking her head as she felt warmed by his pet names. They were mildly infuriating, seeing as he only seemed to compliment her looks but they also made her feel seen. He wasn't complimenting her chest size, or her slender waist, or how much he'd love to bend her over. He was actually complimenting over looked parts of her.

Turning said emerald eyes back to the task at hand, she nodded softly. "A few caps, a couple decent knives actually. Stuff we could sell for caps to merchants. Though I don't know how laden we want to be with random junk. I could patch up this teddy and sell it for a few caps." She picked up a stuffed bear that had a missing eye and a few patches where the mole rats were digging for it's fluffy insides. She kept moving around the den to see if she could find more. There was a small pile of canned foods that they hadn't figured out how to break into yet, though her attention wasn't there.

"Hell, we could even set up shop here for a couple nights and rest our heels if we needed to. Though I am rested enough right now." She added to her own thoughts, thinking about moving away from her captors.

At Zara's report of the goods in the cave, Isaac commented, "Score." He checked both ways for danger before walking into the cave to stand beside her at look at the teddy bear. "Cute. Yeah, see what you can do with it."

He appraised the knives they'd acquired, testing the grips and looking down the edge of the blades for nicks and rust. Zara was right, they were decent indeed. They took everything of value, including some choice canned foods that would make a decent meal on the road, then exited the cave together. "No need to stop here, the day's still pretty young. We can still make some distance to Liberty Point before dark. Let's get back to the Sheriff. Tell him job's done."

And they did.

A deputy was sent down to the molerat den to confirm the job while Isaac and Zara hung around in the Sheriff's office. Isaac was sat leaning dangerously far back two legs of a chair, his feet up on the windowsill as he looked out at the sky.

"You two drifters?" the Sheriff suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had fallen on the room. Isaac looked at him. "Which way is wind takin ya?"

"Over the ways to Liberty Point," Isaac answered the second question. "Got some people that way."

The town's leader nodded a few times, sticking a pinky finger in his ear to dig a little wax out, then flicking it on the floor. "Good folks up yonder. Good folks." Isaac agreed, then the Sheriff continued. "Colour me surprised you got our little pest problem solved so quickly."

Isaac pointed at Zara. "You can thank her for that," the wastelander replied.

The Sheriff raised his bushy grey eyebrows in approval and tipped his hat in salute to Zara. "That was your handiwork, was it?" he said to her. "I had a couple men take a look for where those pesky rodents were coming from. Musta been half a dozen times I sent them out. Couldn't find anything past their noses. I thank you for your service, young lady." He then asked, "You do this kinda thing often?"

Eventually the deputy came back, then Isaac and Zara got paid. When the Sheriff asked if there was any loot at the den, the deputy looked at the two wastelanders and said that everything had been taken. Isaac smiled and shrugged at the Sheriff who conceded a shrug back. First come first serve, as always in the wasteland of New York.

Zara had taken to sorting out a pin that she could use as a needle to stitch the bear together. She remained silent throughout most of the conversation, only giving a slight shrug or nod where appropriate. At the comment of it being her doing, she gave a small shrug. "It is a group effort." She spoke, though didn't indulge how it had been. She didn't want to give away that she was useless with a gun in her hands.

Just as the deputy arrived, she managed to separate the pin from the front of it. It went flying off with her force. She blushed bright red as she scurried over to pick it up. Maybe they could trick some poor person that it was a rare cap or something. With some weight to her own change purse, she followed him out of the office. "A job well done. Do you think we will actually make it there by dark?" Zara inquired, her hands going into her pockets as she walked next to him. The adrenaline of the hunt was over and now she was back to being bored.

"A pleasure gentlemen," was Isaac's farewell as he and Zara left the office and rolled out of town. "Nice work, Zara. You cut the time on that job in half with those tracking skills of yours."

"A job well done. Do you think we will actually make it there by dark?" Zara inquired.

"Nah," was the answer. "We should make it the old Manhattan area, but we'll have to hole up in some ruin for the night. Should make it by the end of tomorrow though." Off down the small roads they went, heading for main road that ran from Grasscroft westward to Liberty Point. "You ever been in the old Manhattan area of New York?" he asked her. "Buildings there are so tall. I've never seen anything like it anywhere I've been in the wasteland. New York must've been something special in the Before Times."

...

When the orange-tinged afternoon was showing signs of drawing to a close, Isaac and Zara reached the edge of the skyscrapers that'd had been on their horizon all day. The two checked buildings, one after another, looking for one that was defensible from critters, raiders, the wind and the rain. They eventually found a good place with a decent view of the surrounding area and went up to the second floor to drop their stuff.

Isaac walked over to the window and put his hands on the sill as he looked out on the surround, squinting a little as the orange light of the sun shone on his face. There was no sign of danger, but he did sight some tin cans and bottles in the yard below, which pushed him to the decision of redeeming himself as a teacher, and giving Zara a proper lesson in shooting.

"Hey, let's go outside and get some real shooting practice in," he said to her before leaving the window view. "If you're not too tired. I could set up some cans, show you the Weaver Stance technique properly. Wha dya say?"

Hearing his plans for the evening caused a groan to come out of the woman. They had been walking all day and her feet hurt. There was one thing that had to be said for her past life. She was mostly safe to spend the days in the compound as long as she did her tasks and required jobs. Setting her bags down the a flomp sound, she rubbed her face and smacked her cheeks to make herself more alive. She knew he wanted to teach her to shoot. It would be wise if both of them could at least hit the broad side of a building. Her inner voice began rattling off things she'd rather do then to work on her technique.

Silencing it though, she nodded her head. "Alright, that sounds decent enough. I do need to work on my gun skill. Can't cover your ass if I can't aim the damn thing. What if I go through too many bullets? Shouldn't we try something less.. important? Like a sling shot and pebbles or just tossing rocks in general?" She inquired, though she figured she knew the truth. She needed to get used to the recoil of the gun to be able to master actually hitting the target.

"After some target practice, can we have some food? I grabbed some meat off a couple mole rats so we can fry them up and turn them into steaks." She suggested, hoping the sound of a decently hearty meal would distract him. There was a difference between wanting to do something and needing to do it. Right now, that distance felt as apart as the sides of the Grand Canyon.

Isaac suppressed a laugh, scratched his head and nodded. "Sure. Mole rat steaks sound pretty good, right about now, if my stomach growling is any indication."

He was actually about to relent on the shooting training when she groaned, thinking that maybe he was being a bit over-zealous and pushing her too hard. Fact was, he hardly knew her - they were perfect strangers - and here he was determined to give her marksmanship lessons. Not to mention, she'd just escaped slavery - likely malnutrioned, overworked and now walking the lonely miles, all day. Give the girl a break! But right before he could say anything, she gave him a solid answer. She was tough alright, but she'd already proven that.

"Alright, let's step outside," Isaac quipped ironically. "After you, doll-face."

He foraged a few tin cans from the immediate area, then set them up on the fence-posts that marked what was once... a garden maybe? It was hard to tell, the ground everywhere around here was a mix of concrete silt and dirt, broken up periodically by torn up roads of tarmac. Isaac wasn't bothered. He didn't really think about the state of the environment much, nor what it might've been before. Once upon a time, as a greenhorn vault dweller newly emerged, that was all he thought about. Constantly comparing the pictures and words he'd seen and read in books, to reality. That kind of thinking only led to despair and he soon grew out of it.

"So; Weaver Stance," he started as he walked back from the targets, towards her. He smiled and bounced his eyebrows in mock excitement. "You'll need to set your feet shoulder-width apart, right foot back, left hip turned towards the target." He demonstrated for her, then walked up to her and checked her feet. He tapped his foot against her back foot, "Move it back an inch. There. You're good. Now: Take aim."

After going over the details of what he'd told her in the molerat shoot-out, he repeated anything she needed to hear again and showed her his own stance to give her the visual. He looked over her form and nodded, then without thinking about the potential consequences, he moved up against her. His chest touched her back, his right hand on her right shoulder as his left hand adjusted her aim slightly. He was busy looking down the gun sights when he suddenly realised he could hear her breathing, and that's when it occured to him how close they were.

"?" Her smell, her body heat - it all completely distracted him from what he was meant to be doing and he looked at her. Eye to eye - this close up - that vivid green gaze was just as interesting as ever.

Zara walked with him back out of the temporary home they had found for the night. She could tell it had once been very beautiful in it's day, before the bombs sent it into rubble. The garden lay outs, the paths, even some of the detail in the concrete was pretty. She'd love to find a place and work towards restoring it's beauty. Would he ever settle down and work on making a home beautiful? She didn't think so. He seemed like the kind who liked always being on the road and moving. Tonight, for instance, they could have just relaxed and rested but he had more lessons to teach her.

With an audible sigh, she looked over at him setting up the cans. He figured she could hit these? She couldn't hit a mole rat four times it's size. Oh well, he wasn't expecting perfection. He knew how inexperienced she was. "Alright, got it. Like this?" She asked him as she tried to mimic his stance. After a few adjustments, she figured she had it straight. She thought she had him mimicked quite sufficiently. Apparently not because his chest was against his back.

Anything he said after the first inhale of his natural scent just fell on deaf ears. Her breath hitched in her chest and butterflies sprung up in her stomach. Her lips curled up into an uncontrolled and unaware smile. He was standing so close, she could feel his breath on her neck. She could feel the heat of his body seeping in her clothing and mixing with her own. Why? Why did he have to stand this close? Instinctively, she leaned back a little into him and turned her gaze upon his face. The way the setting sun sent different shades of colour over his features. His eyes were so blue, they almost seemed unreal in his head. The shape of his lips, oh.. those lips. Were they as soft as they appeared, or were they rough and chapped?

Heart racing, she tilted her head slightly upwards which closed the gap between them. Her lips found his and for the first time in her life, she was kissing a man she had wanted to kiss.

A five second kiss. A moment that lasted a lifetime.

Eyes closed - the hand on her shoulder pulled her into his embrace just a little. For the time they were connected, Isaac forgot the wasteland around him. The dirt and rubble, the tin cans, the torn up roads... all gone. It was just him and her in a void - a vacuum. Nothing else mattered. When it was over, his eyes opened, still locked on hers. He smiled.

"Hmm," was his note of pleasant surprise. He gave her another peck on the lips. "I could definitely get used to that."

He let the moment hang in the air a little longer, then looked back down the gun sights, his hands gentle as they steadied her form. "Remember; squeeze the trigger. Like a tube of toothepaste."

He stepped back and waited to see how she would do. She managed to hit one the molerats from the awkward angle of the tree branches. Was it just luck? It didn't matter really. With some practice and the right knowledge, Isaac had no doubt she would progress in no time. What truly seperated good shooters from the rest, was the mental side of things. Can you aim and squeeze under the pressure of return fire? Can you stomach the idea of killing? Do you have the steel to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs? These were the things that would take decidedly more practice. Unless you already built for it. Zara seemed the type that would have no problem in this department. And that was why he was so confident in her. Wether she hit the tin cans or not, it was only a matter of time before she got the hang of it.

Atom bomb baby.

"When you're ready, strawberry-lips."

As the two parted from the kiss, Zara's cheeks went crimson. There was no way to hide the fact she rather enjoyed the kiss. The kiss she initiated as well. She had never initiated a kiss with someone before. Why him? What did he have that attracted her so well? Maybe it was because he was the first man to truly look at her like a person. Maybe it was because he seemed to respect her and want to help her to her feet. At the chased kiss, she could feel the warmth spread down her shoulders and chest.

"Uh, toothpaste. I can do that.. I can do that." She tried to focus on the task at hand. He wanted her to work on her aiming and her target practice. She let out a shaky breath as she tried to control her heart. Smiling softly, she leaned against him and followed his instructions.

Feet apart, one slightly behind her. Tilting her head, she looked down the sight. The first shot sent her arm back as she didn't brace for the recoil. Her hand had raised which sent the bullet off into the rubble behind the target. She frowned a bit and readjusted herself then tried again. This time she managed to hit the can and send it flying back.

The squeal that she released when she saw the can move filled the air. She bounced excitedly on the pads of her feet. "I got one! I did it, Issac! I got one!" She was proud of herself.

"You got this," he said in encouragement as he stood, arms folded, leaned against a lone fencepost.

I do not aim with my hand, I aim with my eye.
I do not kill with my gun, I kill with my heart.

As Isaac watched Zara, his bottom lip in his mouth as if to get the last taste of their kiss, he couldn't help but be taken back to his early lessons with The Courier, Cairo Storm. The veteran roamer of the wastes - bane of the bullies, hero of the weak - hadn't wanted to take on an apprentice. He refused when young Isaac first asked. The kid wore him down. Half a hundred requests, fourty-nine rejections. After following him two miles north of the New York area and almost getting killed in one helluva showdown, Isaac's tears, passion and perseverance finally got him the answer he was looking for.

And now he was teaching someone else. How to aim. How to kill.

"Nice!" the man cheered, walking over and giving Zara a high-five. He wanted to kiss her again - grab that tiny waist and pull her in tight. Best to keep it casual. Isaac was usually a good judge of character when it came to the fairer sex. He'd seen enough, to be sure. Zara though - she was different. Hard to figure out. On the one hand, she was fierce like fire; would probably like a guy who could match that energy - take the initiative. One the other hand, she was just getting out of traumatic situation. Who knew what could trigger her - set her off. And as stated; she was fierce like fire - he'd probably lose an eye or something. "Let's go again."

He watched her practice for a little while, pointing out any flaws and making sure she didn't grow any bad habits in her technique. Where he could, he'd praise her like royalty. Just like his teacher.

"Alright enough," he finally said. "Let's go eat. Them mole rat steaks sound even better, right about now."

And with that, they headed inside, Isaac giving her a pat on the lower back. "You'll be a shooter in no time, emerald eyes."

Zara had managed to hit most of the targets down when he finally spoke up about being enough for the day. She smiled so proudly of herself as if she hadn't expected to do so well with her target practice. "Shall I be the one to cook the steaks or will you, as a reward for doing so well in my practice?" She asked him with a sly smirk, biting her lower lip. She was so hopeful that he'd fancy her and that she'd have a chance at a real relationship. One that wasn't dictated by a man's sex drive or the need to control every aspect of her living moment.

Stepping closer to him, under the guise to pass through the door, she enjoyed the simple touch he was giving her. A hand on her lower back. Just to pat her back but it was rather enjoyable and gentle. She was in love with it and find herself wanting to find more ways to encourage that type of attention. Running her fingers through her hair, she managed to shake some volume into it. "Tell me more about yourself, Mr Issac. You seem to know plenty about me." She commented softly.