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Jinora was sitting against the wall, defeated. Her father had been bitten, her last family member she knew for sure to be alive, and she was about to lose him.
-"Tie me to this beam, Jinora," he said. "I don't want to hurt you when it happens."
"Don't say that. It's not over yet."
She looked around. They were taking refuge in an old barn, at least it was somewhat sheltered from the elements so they could say their goodbyes properly. One moment where they lost focus, and that's when they were jumped by a zombie. Tenzin was bitten on his shoulder, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
That was six hours ago, which meant he was close to the end now. His breathing was already speeding up, and sweat was beading down his forehead. "Please," he said. "When I turn, I need you to shoot me. It's not fair that it has to be you, but I don't want to wander the Earth as one of those monsters, killing people randomly and causing even more pain. Least of all to you."
Jinora sighed. "Okay, Dad." She found a length of rope, and tied it securely around both of his wrists so that they would be up against the beam. He wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
-"I love you, Jinora. I love you more than anything in this world."
Tears started filling her eyes. "I love you too, Dad."
-"Please... Just because this happened to me, don't give up looking for your mother and your siblings. They are still out there, somewhere. You can find them."
She took a deep breath. "I'll try."
-"That's my baby girl," Tenzin smiled through his pain.
And that was the last thing he could muster. After that, his body fell slack against the beam, until his chest stopped moving entirely. Jinora's hand gripped the handle of her gun a little bit tighter, because she knew it would only take a few minutes now.
Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. After a few minutes, his eyes shot open again, but rather than being their familiar grayish-blue, they were now a sickly white in the irises, and he stood up, growling at Jinora. He tried running at her, but three years of surviving out in the wilderness had definitely taught her to tie a good knot. He was stopped when the slack on the rope ran out, and from there, all he could do was hiss and growl at her.
Jinora took a deep breath, and raised her pistol, aiming right at his head. One bullet between the eyes, and he could finally rest. Nobody would win if she didn't pull the trigger, herself included. She would just have to go on, living with the knowledge that she couldn't even fulfill her father's last wish, simple as it was.
And yet she couldn't do it. With a frustrated yell, she lowered her pistol again, because all she could think of was that this walking husk of a man was still her father somehow. The one fixed point in her life since before everything went to hell, and even after that. All because she had volunteered to go with him on their daily trip to the grocery store when the city was overrun, and they couldn't make it back home anymore to find Pema, Ikki, Meelo, and Rohan. They ventured out into the countryside alone, and it had been the two of them against the world for three years.
Three years, in which he taught her everything, making fires, driving cars, stitching up wounds, and even shooting guns. All over in the blink of an eye if she pulled that trigger.
Jinora slumped back down against the wall, same position she had been in for the past three hours since they decided to spend his final few hours together in this barn. He was still standing with the rope taut, growling and hissing at every turn, trying to bite her.
What she couldn't have predicted was someone kicking down the backdoor of the barn, who then yelled "Get away!"
Jinora took one look, seeing a young man standing there with his gun drawn, and her heart dropped at what was going to happen next. "No!" she yelled, but it was too late. The shot rang out through the air, and Tenzin's body slumped to the floor once again, this time for good.
-"You're welcome," he said in a smug tone of voice, but his demeanor changed when he saw that she wasn't grateful, but sad. Jinora knelt down next to her father, and started untying the knots on Tenzin's wrists.
"I suppose it's easier when you don't know who they were," she said to the stranger.
He took a deep breath, and nodded. "I suppose so," he replied as Jinora laid her father flat on his back, and folded his hands over his chest. "Who was he?"
"My father."
-"I'm sorry."
Jinora sighed. "I suppose I should thank you, for doing what I couldn't do." She took a better look at the stranger, and saw that he was quite handsome with his dark skin and green eyes. "Are you alone?"
He nodded. "I am, and all I know how to do is survive. I'm Kai."
"Jinora." She stood up and hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders again, knowing there was no way in hell they could spare the time and energy to bury her father. "Well Kai, I have a dying man's last wish to fulfill, so if you're not going anywhere, you're welcome to join me."
Kai stopped her before she could walk out the barn. "Wait. I'll go with you, but we can at least use some of this straw to cover him up. Caring is what sets us apart from the monsters."
Three weeks later
-"You know, I think that's sharp by now," Kai said.
Jinora looked up at him, slightly confused, until she remembered that she had been sharpening her knife for far too long by this point and had completely zoned out. He was right though, if she kept going like this, she soon wouldn't have a knife anymore. "Yeah, thanks." She ran a hand through her hair, and even though she would have called it short before, now, that same length was far too long for her liking.
-"What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," she coldly replied. "Just zoned out for a moment."
Kai raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced by that answer. "You know, we would work a lot better together if you would trust me."
"I do trust you."
-"You trust me not to steal your weapons in your sleep and leave you for dead. We've been traveling together for three weeks now, and the only things you talk about are finding food, places to stay, building a fire, and the occasional zombie we come across." Jinora did not have a good response to that, because he was right. "You're not the only one to have lost someone," Kai tried carefully after a brief pause. "I'm happy to listen if you want to talk about it."
She sighed, because it was selfish of her to think otherwise. Why else would Kai have been completely on his own? "I know." Jinora let his words sink in for a moment as she stared into their campfire. It wasn't much, but it did give them some semblance of protection. "It's just difficult."
He nodded. "There's no shame in missing him. Moving on from such a fixed point in your life is hard, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try."
"I will. Thanks, Kai."
The next day proceeded much like the previous. They packed up their meager possessions, walked, Kai killed a zombie, and made camp once more, this time in the first house on the outskirts of an old suburb. Going downtown was too risky, but sticking to the outskirts would speed up travel and increase their chances of finding something useful.
Jinora had tasked herself with finding food, and managed to snare a rabbit. Nasty business, capturing one by the hind leg, but she did what had to be done; snapped its neck so that it wouldn't feel any pain. The smell of it roasting over their fire still wasn't too appetizing to her, but considering all she and Kai had to eat yesterday was a couple of unripe blackberries they found by the side of the road, she'd take it.
Kai didn't seem too bothered by it. He was practically salivating at the smell, given how hungry he was. "This will be the best dinner I've had in weeks," he smiled.
She took a deep breath. "I used to be a vegetarian, you know. Before the outbreak."
-"Quite the huntress for a vegetarian," he said with a raised eyebrow.
"Lost the option of being picky a long time ago," Jinora said with a dry chuckle, before her expression turned a little more somber. "My dad taught me." She looked over to Kai, waiting for him to say something, but he just looked at her expectantly. "At first, he took care of it, hunting, killing. I could get over it then, until he decided that I needed to know what it was like. He said we wouldn't eat until I caught something and killed it myself. At first, I resisted. We didn't eat for two days, but on the third, I got so hungry that I gave in. Caught a pigeon, snapped its neck, and then my dad helped me clean and cook it. Hardly any meat on it, but I would have told you it was the best thing I ever ate."
Kai nodded. "I know the feeling. Did you hate him for it?"
"Not for a moment. I knew he was right, that if I didn't learn how to kill for my food, I'd get into trouble eventually." Jinora took the rabbit off the fire, and cut off one of the back legs for both of them. It was actually quite juicy when she bit into it, and far from the worst thing she had eaten since the outbreak. Especially since they were in an abandoned home, the spices they found hiding in a kitchen cabinet made it extra tasty.
-"That's good," Kai happily said as he polished off the last bone. "You'd have made one hell of a chef."
Jinora smiled. "Well, wouldn't have been cooking meat if it wasn't for the outbreak. I wanted to be a history teacher, never got as far as figuring out if I wanted to be at a university or a high school level." It seemed so irrelevant now, and yet, talking about it like this really did feel like a little bit of normalcy returning to their lives. "What were your ambitions?"
He blushed a little bit. "You're going to laugh, but I wanted to be an artist." He was right, Jinora did laugh a little at that. It was very hard to imagine Kai as an artist the way he was sitting in front of her, pistol still on his hip and a rifle laying beside him. "Hadn't worked out the fine details, but I did know I wanted to draw for a living. Animator, commissions, hell, I'd have taken tattoo artist."
"Well, if we ever find the tools, I'll let you do one on me."
-"Really? You'd let me tattoo you?"
"Sure." Jinora thought about saying that she wouldn't live long enough to ever regret it anyway, but decided against that kind of gallows humor. The mood was too good for something cynical like that. Habitually, she ran a hand over her head, once again annoyed at how much hair she had on there.
Kai had seen her do this plenty of times, but now he decided to ask. "Why do you always look so sour when you run your hand through your hair?"
Jinora sighed. "After the outbreak, I decided to go bald. It's more hygenic, doesn't give opponents handholds in a fight, and it's safer." She got the idea from watching her father, and he actually agreed once she explained her reasoning. When Kai shot her a confused look, she clarified. "Makes it harder to pick me out as a girl at a glance. Keeps away unwanted characters. Anyway, my dad and I shaved each other's heads once a week, but..."
There was no need for her to finish that sentence, given how Kai nodded understandingly. This was when an idea popped into Jinora's head. "Actually, would you do it?"
She pulled her sharpened knife from its sheath, and held it out to Kai. "Wait, you want me to shave you?" he asked.
"Yes," she simply stated. "I trust you. Plus, you wanted to be an artist, I'm sure you have a steady hand."
Kai smiled as he took the knife. "I like to think that I do. Been a while though, so don't blame me if you're an ear lighter in ten minutes." He took position behind her, and soon the hair started falling onto her shoulders. He was definitely cautious, but to Jinora, it was actually a great feeling, finally getting back into this routine. She could close her eyes and pretend it was her father shaving her again, and even though that was wishful thinking, it helped her feel close to him once again.
It took Kai 20 minutes, but when he was done, Jinora found a shard of mirror, and had to conclude that he had done a great job. As an added bonus, no blood had been spilled, and both ears were still attached to her head. "Thanks," she said genuinely.
-"Now we just have to find a tattoo gun. Bald and tattooed, you'll look like a certified badass."
Jinora smiled, and for the first time in weeks, found something that she was looking forward to.