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Cleaning the skulls I was told was a morbid ritual that should probably be taken out of the book. I disagree, that's why it's in the book, Of our two hero's she is the one who most quickly comes to realize that they have got to start being a little more primitive in their behavior. She is the one most willing to adapt to the new way of the world. But she has to have a mechanism to deal with it all, a connection to the past. Her way of honoring the past, the dead and dealing with the new way of things is through this skull ritual. I originally had in mind a kind of Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) ritual where she paints the entire skull and places it at the tomb in Mt. Holly cemetery because I like the look of sugar skulls but after thinking about it that would just take up too much time. Besides not everyone as we later see takes the time and care that she does to prepare the skulls. some just took the head and placed a drivers licences in the mouth and were done with it. Her thorough cleaning of the skulls however was in some way on some level cathartic for her. if you notice she is usually very quiet after she cleans each skull.
The F-150 was a reward to them. I thought they had made it this far in the story they should get something good and since they had crashed a car in the beginning of the story why not give them a new car. Well, the Page family who's home they were in really didn't seem like car people so the F-150 seemed more appropriate. It also solved a lot of problems with moving a lot of lumber for the rooftop garden. too bad they didn't really get to use it a lot.
Predator/Pray the first encounter with the black truck. I had just given them a truck, I had just given them a gun safe they couldn't get into, I couldn't let them enjoy it! Actually I had thought for some time that the people would be worse than the zombies because we can be a very nasty animal when we want to be. The Predator/Pray thought came from a Russian animation film that held just that theme of predator/pray. I had seen it several years ago late one night I don't remember where. The film was about a wolf who was hunting a flock of sheep while at the same time being hunted by a human. the wolf was both predator and pray at the same time. The wolf was very philosophical about it at one time sitting by a river looking from the sheep to the human and going predator- pray and finally looking at his own reflection and saying; "I am both predator and pray." he goes on to say a lot of other things but like it said it was a while ago and I don't really remember but that stuck with me.
I know I rather bluntly introduced that idea into the book but to me it seemed that the situation dictated the reader like them be thrust into the danger they were facing. I think it worked, one of my test readers said she was clutching her chest throughout that entire sequence so I think it was a good decision on my part.
Archery and the mind. There is a think in archery known as the "Archer's Paradox". There is a math formula that explains it perfectly if you speak math formulas. I don't; so what it basically explains and what man has known since we invented the bow is that when you shoot the arrow you are not aiming at the bulls-eye. You, like shooting a gun at am moving target lead the arrow. You don't shoot straight at the target but somehow the arrow straightens itself out and hits the bulls-eye. Look it up or better yet watch a video on it.
So you ask how does a guy who is good with guns, who knows gun models and other gun fanatic things, how is it he can not shoot a simple bow? Again I refer to the Archers Paradox and the complicated math formula of hitting the target. The idea is the same, the principle is the same but the mechanics of it are complexly different. Gun enthusiast will say; "NO it's not." Pure archers will say; "YES it is." And those who do both will tell you it's somewhere in the middle. I'm going to let them argue that point because there is no winner in it. My general point here is that they do have differences and just because you have mastered one doesn't mean you are a natural or can even understand the other.
Our hero's and their ability to shoot a bow was more of a reflection of pre and post Apocalypse teaching. She had classes, time to practice a skill and had instructors to help make her better. He was in a life or death situation. He needed to learn to hunt or starve to death. And let's face, if the internet had been available he would have used that and learned to shoot a lot faster as many kids do today.
It's so much easier with YouTube. As I have said before My house is over 100 years old and I am no carpenter. I hate reading How-To or DYI books. it's much easier to just search the web for the thing I want to fix and watch someone else walk me through the process and copy them. Most of my home is repaired that way. If only our hero's still had that access; like i said above he would have learned a lot faster. enough said.
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