"I mean, like I say, knowing Emerson, he'll cancel all use of meat immediately. He's pretty stern about that."
She tilted her head, and her gaze flickered to him worriedly. She gave a small shrug, the action moving smoothly through her body as she tucked her braids into a large bun, the response clearly a nervous one. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I mean, Emerson took control when we all were around 10 years old. It just became policy that you didn't kill animals."
He looked ahead again with a frown. "Well, good," he said, his tone sarcastic. "You won't have to kill the animals. That's my job."
"Don't be like that," she protested, tilting her head, her brows furrowing slightly. "That's not fair. We're just trying to work out a solution here."
"Well," he said, climbing slowly up a pile of rusted and broken cars with a low voice, "I think it's time to adapt." He settled, looking over the crest of the cars and raising his bow. He set an arrow and aimed, pulling the string back. His hand released and it cut through the air. She would be able to hear the final cry of a turkey as it struck.
She flinched, looking up at him with wide eyes, her mouth squeezed shut as she stepped back from him. Her gaze was something of horror and she said nothing, only watching with those wide, blue eyes.
He didn't seem to notice, hopping over and approaching the kill. He took the arrow sticking from it, wiping it off and returning it with the rest. He picked up the Turkey, returning to her.
He now noticed, tilting his head with a slight frown. He might have looked a little worried. "Are you okay?"
“You... you killed it,” she said in a small voice, watching him as if he might strike at any moment. “You killed it.”
He softened, his brows furrowed as he looked at her worriedly. "I had to.." His face hardened again, as if remembering something. "I shouldn't have brought you along when I'm hunting. Go look for your car."
She said nothing, looking almost ashamed at her reaction before turning and heading for the deeper junkyard.
She paused by an old junker and knelt down next to it before lying on her back and crawling under it.
