Michael silently slid his bow from his back, his movements smooth and practiced. Tali followed suit, her eyes locked on the Hollowers tearing flesh ahead. Heart, meanwhile, loudly cocked his pistol.
Tali hissed, "Heart, you dumbass—put that away! You'll attract more with that damn noise!"
Heart scoffed, lowering the gun with a roll of his eyes. "Oh quit your crying, Miss Katniss Ever-annoying. Next time you fight 'em with a goddamn rock."
Tali ignored him and looked to Michael. Their eyes met. A silent nod passed between them.
Thwip! Thwip!
Two arrows flew—one slamming into the side of a Hollower's skull, the other impaling another through the chest. Both collapsed with wet, snarling gurgles.
The last one raised its head, eyes glassy and blood-rimmed, bits of raw flesh still clinging to its jaw. It let out a low, guttural growl and began to stagger forward.
Tali leapt off her horse and landed light as a whisper. She unsheathed her knife in one fluid motion, the blade glinting in the sun. The Hollower lunged, but she was faster—planting her boot, ducking under the lunge, and driving the knife straight up into its skull. The body jerked once, then slumped against her shoulder before she let it fall.
Michael and Heart dismounted. Michael quickly lifted Marcus from his saddle, holding the boy close and setting him down gently. "You alright?"
Marcus nodded, wide-eyed. "Yeah…"
Michael turned toward the carnage. "Is it one of Randal's men?" he asked grimly, stepping over a body that was half-devoured, its torso shredded open like wet cloth.
Tali knelt beside one of the corpses, examining what little remained. "Hard to tell. Could've been… Could've just been unlucky travelers."
Michael crouched beside her. "Do Randal's people have anything that marks them? Tattoos, colors, patches?"
Heart rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Do they have a giant 'R' branded on their asses or something?"
Tali tilted her head, voice sarcastic. "Hmm, I don't know. Why don't you come check, since you're so interested in asses?"
Heart raised a brow. "The fuck do I look like—a woman? That's a woman's job. Poking around half-naked bodies ain't in my resume."
Tali stood up slowly, brushing dirt off her knees. "Fuck you, Heart."
Heart smirked. "You'd need a ladder."
Michael waved a hand to shut them up. "Alright, enough," he said with a small smirk. He turned to Marcus, who had crept close again. "Wanna catch some fish?"
Marcus's eyes lit up. "Yes please!"
"Alright," Michael said, smiling genuinely for once. "Kick off your shoes. We'll go old-school."
He tugged off his boots and lifted Marcus in one arm, carrying him down the short slope to the river. The cool, clear water sparkled under the sunlight, babbling softly like a lullaby. Michael set Marcus down gently, and they stepped into the stream barefoot. The boy wiggled his toes, giggling a little.
Heart stood up on the bank, exasperated. "Jesus Christ, we actually doing this?"
Tali chuckled, already pulling her boots off and rolling up her pants. "Yeah, old-head. Try to keep up, will ya?"
Heart muttered something under his breath about "hippies and river-people" but sat on a rock to watch.
Tali dropped her pack beside a fallen log near the river, then stepped into the shallows beside Michael and Marcus. She shivered as the water touched her skin. "Cold as hell," she said with a smile, "but good for the soul."
Marcus splashed a little, laughing. "Can I try to grab one?"
Michael nodded. "That's the spirit. Just be patient… and quiet. You gotta wait for the right moment."
The three stood together in the river—Tali, strong and focused; Michael, calm and alert; Marcus, innocent and eager—while Heart sat on the bank grumbling to himself, the wind blowing gently through the trees.
After an hour under the sunlit canopy, the river shimmered with splashes and laughter. Michael pulled the last wriggling trout from the water and tossed it onto a pile of already-caught fish. Seventeen in total—fat, healthy, and enough to feed everyone back at the chapel.
Marcus clapped. "That was fun!"
Tali stretched her arms above her head, water dripping from her fingertips. "Man, it sure has been a while since I've done this. Almost forgot how peaceful it can be."
Michael wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded. "Yeah… It feels good not killing or running for once. Just standing in cold water, catching fish, and having… a second to breathe. No blood. No screaming. Just peace."
Tali gave a rare smile. "Almost makes you forget the world's gone to shit."
From up the bank, Heart called down sarcastically, "Oh yeah, real poetic. I'm over here starving while you two turn into woodland hippies."
Michael glanced up. "You get anything else, Heart?"
Heart stood with a smirk. "Nooo, totally not. It's not like I went crawling through thorny forest bushes just to grab a handful of berries and maybe got scraped like a dumbass."
Tali snorted. "Your attempt at being funny ain't working."
Heart grinned wide. "And your attempt at being a bitch? Oh, that's working perfectly."
Tali didn't give him the dignity of a reply. She turned and grabbed the fishing sack, now heavy with their haul, slinging it over her shoulder. With a grunt, she strapped it to her horse's saddle and swung herself up effortlessly.
Michael lifted Marcus gently. "Alright, up you go, kiddo." He helped Marcus back onto the horse before climbing up behind him.
Heart sauntered to his horse, mounted, and clicked his tongue. "So Tali, what do you say? You wanna help me kill that bear?"
Tali didn't even look back. "Nah, I'd rather let you do it alone and watch you get mauled. Good entertainment."
Heart chuckled. "Aw, don't be a pussy. Literally."
Tali rolled her eyes. "Sure, I'll go after the bear… when we have actual guns. Not just bows and arrows like it's medieval times. I get it, Mago thinks it's smart—silent, infinite ammo, no noise to bring the Hollowers running—but if we're up against real threats? People threats? Then we're screwed."
Michael nodded. "She's not wrong. The bows keep us alive in the woods, but if we're ambushed or cornered by a real group—Randal's men, raiders, anyone—we need firepower."
Tali added, "Exactly. Bows are great until you're getting shot at. We need something with bite."
Heart leaned forward slightly in his saddle, his tone more serious now. "No shit we need guns. Hopefully Jennifer and the others get lucky… find some ammo, find something. Because next time, we might not just be fishing."
Tali snorted. "So you can shoot like a stormtrooper? Miss every shot, waste every bullet?"
Heart smirked. "Nah. So I can stick one up your ass. Or better yet—just shoot you and get some goddamn peace."
Tali clicked her tongue. "Not if I shoot you first, sweetheart."
Michael sighed, grinning despite himself as the three of them rode beneath the trees, the forest thick and green around them. Birds fluttered overhead. The stench of the dead they left behind faded with every hoofstep. And for the first time in a while… the argument almost felt like normal.
Almost.