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Jesse shook his head lightly from the next stall and Ellie’s hand freezes on her saddle bag. They’d come back from a 3-day supply run into Cody and had reason to suspect the extra product they’d stashed would cause a bit of a stir. They had talked, at length, about the need for discretion until they could agree on a distribution process – after pulling the best weapons and ammunition for themselves, of course.
Charlie smiled at them both and filled up the feed troughs in both stalls before moving on.
Only once she was sure he’d gone back into the tack room did Ellie quickly flip up the cover of her saddle back and retrieve the bright blue and orange bow before tucking it under her arm and covering it with her jacket.
Her pack was stuffed with several pistols and two larger disassembled rifles. Jesse had all of the ammo, the only compromise that made sense to ensure they didn’t turn on each other.
“We’ll need to meet up later, my parents are waiting,” he said quietly, eyes darting back to the tack room and over to the entrance.
“Tomorrow morning, the utility shed behind the greenhouse, while everyone is at breakfast.” Ellie replied. “Hide your shit when you get home. We need to control how this gets out.”
Jesse nodded and shouldered his pack, “See you tomorrow.”
They agree, looking over their haul in the early dawn, that strategically placing loaded pistols around the school seemed a good bet. After pulling a rifle for Dina, of course, the remaining weapons are scattered with reasonable optimism that they’ll be found and used for their intended purpose without incriminating them. They’ll claim to have found theirs just like the others.
The first day there are a few foam darts left on the street, and Ellie is hopeful.
The day after is quiet.
On the third day, Ellie realizes, dropping behind a bush to avoid a whizzing foam bullet, that children cannot be trusted with guns.
She hastily reloads her bow and stands up to shoot at little Brenan who thought he had her pinned. She looses her arrow and pegs him in the chest. Ellie cheers in her righteous vengeance, and Brenan, who is 7, cries.
Later that evening, Maria stands imposingly over her, arms crossed, Joel is unhelpfully leaning back against the counter.
“Ellie,” she says in stern warning, “you know something.”
Ellie shrugs and Joel rolls his eyes. “Honey, out with it.”
She shifts in her seat, silent.
Maria continues, “We have had 4 children in the clinic with various close range Nerf gun injuries in 3 days. The kids are driving sticks into the foam so they and I quote ‘have more substantial impact’.”
“Jesus,” Joel groans, “Ellie how many are there? You ain’t gotta rat anyone out, just tell us how many guns there are so we can collect ‘em all.”
Ellie huffs, “They’re just toys. How is it my fault if the kids somehow found out that you can make the bullets better?”
Maria leans down to brace her hands on the table, fixing her in place with a glare that makes her blood run cold. “How many?”
She blurts out her reply reflexively, “10 pistols, 2 rifles, 1 bow. Fuck”
Maria stands and smiles, satisfied. “Thank you.”
Joel gives her a quizzical look. “You got the bow upstairs.” He says, like he knows, because fucking of course he does.
“Dude,” Ellie hisses.
Maria snaps her fingers and gestures up the stairs, her demand clear. Ellie huffs but pushes away from the table, stomping up the stairs to retrieve her new prized possession. Joel and Maria are discussing in hushed tones what they’re going to do about the rest as she leaves. When she returns, Ellie pauses at the entrance to the kitchen, the bow still clutched in her grip.
“What if I just keep it here. It never leaves the yard.” She says quickly. “I promise – “
Joel cuts her off with a wave of his hand, “No, Ellie. Everything’s gonna go to the armory.” He looks over to Maria, “We can pull ‘em out for special occasions. Supervised, with rules. Could be good teach the younger ones how to respect a weapon.”
Maria nods in agreement, “I like it.”
She holds her hand out and Ellie solemnly trudges across the tiled floor, holding out the bow with what she hopes is such a pitiful look that Maria might just –
“Thank you,” Maria says, taking it easily and without a second thought. She pats Joel on the shoulder and thanks him for his help. Ellie turns to him, brows furrowed in anger as the door closes behind her on her way out.
“What?” Joel asks finally.
“Snitch,” Ellie accuses. “How could you?”
“How could I have a problem with some kid getting their eye taken out or you makin’ a 6 year old cry in the town square?”
Ellie throws up her hands in frustration, exclaiming, “He was 7 and I know it didn’t hurt, he was just being a baby.”
“Ellie, he is a baby.” Joel counters. “I know you and Jesse – “
“Jesse snitched,” Ellie growls. “That goody fucking two-shoes asshole. Did he tell you he has the other rifle?”
Joel smirks, chuckling softly, “Why don’t you go check the hall closet.”
Ellie pauses, eyes going wide before she darts into the hall. She rips the door open, and sure enough the long, bulky blue thing is propped up against the wall just inside the door frame.
She pulls it out and settles it across her crooked elbow as she walks back into the kitchen. “For the record, I never once thought you would actually betray me.”
“Sure, alright.” Joel smiles, “Now, you go teach Jesse a lesson about turnin’ on you and make sure he don’t do it again, then you bring that straight to Maria. All the ammo too. You got every chamber loaded in there and I expect it to get to the armory in the same condition. Got it?”
Ellie offers a rigid salute before bounding to the door, stuffing her feet into her boots and poking her head out the door. “All clear,” she says, looking back over her shoulder. “I’ll be back.”