Nell's pov:

Nell doesn't want to go into the training room.
She doesn't know anyone here and most definitely doesn't trust any of them.

But, after a quick talk with Cooper, he convinced her to enter the room.
Listen, they will kill you. If you don't train and become useful to them, then you aren't important to them, Cooper said.

At this statement, Nell hesitantly agreed, but only because she had to.

A few heads turn in her direction as she enters the training room, making Nell insecure.

Her hand is tightly latched onto Cooper's, afraid to let go.
She slightly hides her face behind his arm, embarrassed at the sudden attention.

Everyone always told Nell she was mature for her age.
Her teacher used to call her an "old soul."
Nell may only be twelve, but she has the independence and maturity of a sixteen-year-old, thanks to her rough childhood.
But right now, cowering behind Cooper, she didn't feel old. She felt like a baby.
Like a scared, helpless little girl.

The training room looks scary.
Weapons being thrown left and right, muscular and scary-looking people, but something else Nell notices is that almost everyone in the room is a kid.
"Kid," meaning no one older than like 20.

Some kids are as small as Nell. Even though she is the same size as them, they look much younger.
She assumes they are around eight. Some may be as young as five.

And these five-year-olds are tougher than me.

The kids were chucking knives and shooting real guns at cans.
These kids are crazy.

Cooper must have noticed Nell frozen in place because he tugs her arm and says "C'mon Grace, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll show you around."

Nell nods and cowardly follows behind him, still grabbing his hand.

Cooper drags Nell to the left of the room.
The knife-throwing area.

There were ten human dummies lined up against the wall with kids standing far away from them.
The kids lunge back, a sharp knife clutched in their hand, and as they lunge forward, they throw the knife as hard as they can.
Eight out of ten knives landed directly at the dummy's temple.
The other two missed by a couple of inches, and the kids who wielded the knives scoff in disappointment.

Nell's eyes widen.

These kids are good. Like REALLY good. I probably couldn't even hit the dummy if I tried, let alone hit it directly in the head.

"Don't be scared," Cooper says for the hundredth time. "Some of them are actually pretty nice. Some. Be careful who you befriend." He says like it's a warning.

Trust no one.

"I'll show you the nice ones," Cooper says and Nell grabs onto his hand again like a toddler holding their mommy's hand so they won't get lost.

He brings her to the fourth dummy. The girl who was throwing the knives at dummy number four stopped when she saw Nell and Cooper.
She tucked the knife away into her belt.

"Hey, Coop." She says. "Who's this little one?" She asks, crouching down to Nell's level.

Oh, Nell hates it when people do that. She is not little. She's twelve years old! Thirteen in a few months! This girl is probably only a few years older than her anyway.

"This is Grace," Cooper says, nodding his head toward the girl's direction, hinting to Nell that she should stop hiding behind his arm and go talk to her.

Nell looks up into Cooper's eyes and glares at him.
She didn't want to talk to this strange knife-throwing girl who thinks she's a baby.

But anyway, she obeys, lets go of his hand, and walks a single step in the girl's direction.

The girl is wearing the same uniform as Nell. Her hair is about the same length as Nell's too, but the similarities end there.
The girl's hair is pin-straight, greasy, and black.
She has her hair parted on the left side of her face.

Her eyebrows are sharp and thick, matching her dark eyes.

Her full lips curve into a smile as she introduces herself to Nell.
"My name is Zara. I've been here since almost the beginning of the apocalypse, so if you ever need a big sister for anything, you can always come to me. Cooper's usually busy a lot."

Nell nods at Zara.

"Anything you wanna tell me about yourself?" Zara adds.

She reminded Nell of her teachers on the first day of school.
'Go around and say a fun fact about yourself!'

That's something Nell will not miss due to the apocalypse.

Trust no one.

"Um, my name's Grace. And I'm twelve." Nell had to make sure that Zara knew that she was in fact, NOT a child.

"That's a lovely name, Grace. Do you know how to fight?" She asks.

Does "fighting" count as almost dying from a brain-muncher?

"...no..." Nell says, embarrassed.

"Well then, you'll just have to learn!" Zara says happily.

Zara looks much scarier than she really is. Usually, Nell would avoid people like her at all costs.

"The beginner's section is over there." Zara points across the room to the far corner. A tall man is teaching a bunch of people like Nell how to properly hold weapons.

"Thanks," Nell says and Zara smiles at her.

"See ya round, kid," Zara says and gives her a gentle pat on the shoulder.

Not a kid.

When Zara goes back to throwing her knives, Nell looks back up at Cooper, unsure of what to do.

"You heard her." He says. "The beginner's section is over there. I can't hold your hand forever." He says it metaphorically, but it is quite literal.
Nell quickly lets go of his hand.

"You're leavin'?" She asks.

"Yeah. I've got things to do, I'm the leader of all the warriors. I have other kids to look out for other than you." Cooper tries to say it nicely to not hurt Nell's feelings.

"If you need something, you can go to Zara. But for now, head over to the beginner's section. After training, it's dinner time and you can make some more friends." He says.

Cooper's bright blue eyes look down into Nell's sad brown eyes.

"You got this," He encourages. "Bye, Grace."

"Bye," Is all she says as she watches Cooper walk out of the training room and disappear down a corridor.

To the beginner's section.

Nell takes a deep breath and walks across the room, to the far corner full of newbies.