《TROUBLE [twd]》trigger happy

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A knock on the door cuts the conversation short. Carefully, the door is pulled open to reveal Carol and Sophia.

"Hey," Carol greets, "We didn't see you at dinner. Thought we'd bring you your plates."

Sophia walks around the bed Daryl and Sakiko were occupying, Sakiko sat against the headboard as Daryl rests on the pillow below her. She hands Nanami one of the plates, giving him a soft smile before setting the other on the nightstand beside Sakiko.

Carol follows her daughter, bending down to kiss Nanami on the cheek before stepping to Sakiko. Sakiko eyes her wearily and Carol delicately smiles, placing a gentle hand on her leg.

"We're glad to have you back," Carol tells Sakiko.

Sakiko doesn't answer, instead looking to her hands in her lap.

"Have a good night," Carol smiles, setting the third plate by Sakiko's for Daryl, "Rest up."

"You, too," Nanami smiles.

Carol holds Sophia by the shoulders, leading her daughter out of the room, closing the door carefully behind them.

There's a few seconds of silence before Nanami speaks up.

"See? It's good we're here. We don't need to leave."

Sakiko shakes her head, knowing their conversation before the interruption was more so an argument on if they should leave or not.

"It was always the plan to go," Sakiko reminds.

"We're safer in a group. If there's more people like those guys out there-"

"Then, it's best we stay with numbers we can get along with," Daryl finishes.

"Who says we can get along with the people out there?" Sakiko asks.

"Carol and Sophia just brought us dinner because we weren't sitting with the rest," Nanami says, holding his plate up to further his case, "Glenn, Ryan, T- they were helping look for you."

"And Shane already side eyes everything I do, Lori is selfish, we don't know these people at this farm, and Andrea shot Daryl," Sakiko runs down.

"Shane was a mistake, Lori is just trying to help Carl, 'these people' at the farm helped patch Daryl and Carl up and are letting us stay here, and Andrea thought she was protecting us," Nanami counters.

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"That doesn't make things better. That mistake changed the way he looks at us, we'll always come last compared to others here, these people could flip a switch at any second, and that means Andrea is too trigger happy."

"Y'all settle down," Daryl groans, bringing a hand to his head that was pounding in pain.

"Sorry," Nanami mutters, stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes to avoid a fiery comeback to his sister.

"But, it doesn't matter what we feel to the group. Going off on our own was the plan since before Atlanta," Sakiko continues, regardless.

"Kiko," Daryl grunts, "Tone it down."

Sakiko looks down to him, pursing her lips and slumping further in her spot, "Sorry."

"We'll figure it all out. But, till I'm able to get around better, we stay here. I need to be able to protect you both out there and I ain't in the shape to do much of nothin' right now."

Silently, the twins nod in compliance.

"But, hey.. Group's doing some gun practice tomorrow. I want y'all to go."

"Gun practice?" Sakiko asks, finally relenting and grabbing the plate full of food- she'd been living on snacks and the steak smelled too enticing.

"Target practice. Rick and Shane are taking some out to get the hang of things. Y'all should go. Get some practice in. Never hurts to be prepared. 'specially with me down for awhile."

"If I shoot Andrea, it was an accident," Sakiko mumbles.

"What?" Nanami asks.

Sakiko shovels food in her mouth.

--

"Now, it's gonna have a kick back so be careful," Rick instructs, "And it it flies up, watch your face."

From where he knelt on the ground, he picks up one of the guns from the bag, turning the handle to Sakiko. She hesitates, remembering how heavy and cold it felt when in the RV.

"You wanna just watch the others for a bit?" Rick offers.

Silently, Sakiko nods. Rick gives her a smile, assuring her that was fine before passing the gun to Nanami and standing up.

"Here, let's step back," Rick urges Sakiko.

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Patricia is the first to fire her gun, making Sakiko flinch and instinctively move closer to Rick. Then, Jimmy fires. Then, Andrea.

Taking a deep breath, Nanami holds the gun in the way Rick taught, aiming for the can that sat on top of the fence and firing his own round. It misses and Nanami forces himself to not feel discouraged before taking another shot that hits the fence below the can.

"You'll get the hang of it," Rick supports Nanami.

Before too long, the guns are shooting at a constant, the noise becoming too much for Sakiko. She holds her hands to her ears, though it doesn't begin to drown out the ruckus. With her ears covered, she hears her own breathing pick up speed.

As Sakiko's eyes dart around in a panic, she sees Patricia finally land a shot on the can- though Sakiko could only see the geek biting the man from yesterday. Within seconds, her breathing turns to something more along the lines of hyperventilation. Rick takes notice, placing a hand on her shoulder and asking if she was okay. At the touch, Sakiko jumps away from him defensively. She looks up at him wildly, seeing that his mouth was moving though she couldn't decipher what he was saying.

The sound of a bottle shattering as Carol shoots it makes her flinch again. Her breathing becomes rapid, her surroundings feeling like they were so far away from her. She takes a look to Nanami just in time to see him shoot the can down- the image of the geek in the car running through her mind.

Terrified, Sakiko breaks into a run back to where the cars were parked. Rick begins after her out of concern only for Glenn to hold his hand out with a look. The men trade a nod before Glenn runs after Sakiko.

Once Glenn finally reaches Sakiko, she's on her knees beside the car, dry heaving and clawing at her legs anxiously.

"Hey.." Glenn softly calls, kneeling beside her.

As Sakiko flinches, bending more into herself, Glenn holds a hand out to her, "It's just me. You're okay."

His eyes turn soft, seeing the teen trembling in fear as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Look, just take some deep breaths," Glenn instructs, "In.. and out.. Breathe in.. and out."

Sakiko tries to follow, her strung out breathing making her feel lightheaded. Glenn rests his hand on hers, continuing the relaxing tone of voice to bring her out of the episode.

"You're all right.. Everything's okay," he assures, rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

Sakiko watches the motion, her breathing coming to an even pace as she feels more grounded to earth.

"There you go.." Glenn nods, "It's all gonna be okay."

Tiny gasps leave Sakiko's mouth, her tears coming to a stop despite her still shaking insides. Glenn gives her a smile, patting her hand and telling her she was doing good.

The gunfire ran in the distance, Sakiko flinching every now and then until Glenn talked her back down. When it was clear there was no slowing down her fear, Glenn helped her stand and placed her in the backseat of the car, closing the door so the noise would be more muffled.

Just as he was beginning to climb into the passenger, Rick makes his way over.

"Everything okay?" Rick asks.

Glenn glances to where Sakiko was still taking her deep breathes, staring at her fingers mindlessly.

"She had a panic attack," Glenn answers.

Rick frowns, heart aching for the teen. Biting at the inside of his lip, Glenn shakes his head at a loss.

"She's terrified of guns.. What does that mean? How is she gonna.." Glenn sighs.

"We'll figure it out," Rick assures, "Do you want me to stay with her?"

"No, it's okay. Could you just keep an eye on Ryan?"

"Sure thing," Rick nods, beginning back to the practice area.

Glenn opens the door, climbing in as quickly as he could and closing the door so Sakiko wouldn't hear more of the gunfire. Turning in his seat, he gives Sakiko another reassuring smile, reminding her that she was doing good with her deep breaths.

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