“Quiet.” William whispered to me as we were hunched over in a bush. “Make sure it stops moving.”
The deer pranced right in front of us and bent its neck down to eat some of the overgrown grass. The chomping of its teeth and the tearing at the grass filled the air as some birds chirped. The sun beamed down on us on the hot summer morning.
I had my rifle aimed directly at the huge mass of its body as it kept feeding itself. I aimed down the iron sight and made sure my aim was steady, resting it on my bent knee.
“Now fire.” He commanded me.
My finger hovered over the trigger and in one millisecond it was pressed down. The rifle fired off a bullet, gaining massive recoil almost knocking me on my ass. The bullet traveled through the air and hit the deer in its side. It jolted to the floor and let off a really loud whimper as it fell to the ground. It squirmed around for a bit as blood stained the grass around it.
“Now let’s put it out of its misery.” He stood up from the cover of the bushes and over to the worming deer.
I followed alongside him and approached the deer. I grabbed the holstered knife that was around my waist and whipped it out. I kneeled down to its face and saw its eyes peer up at me as it continued to quail. I didn’t hesitate to take the knife and plunged it deep into its skull, making it come to a shocking stop and its body to go limp.
“Great, that was your first big kill!” He patted me on the back as he congratulated me. “Better than your last time.”
“I know.” I responded. “I’ve been getting better every time we do this.”
I was used to just killing small rabbits, but now ever since we’ve got one of the rifles we found in a closet working, we’ve been able to hunt bigger animals.
“Soon we’ll have to teach Fred.” I said as I began to skin the deer. “He needs to know sooner or later.”
“He’s too focused on guarding the farm. He won’t even get off his post for even a second.”
“I know, and he’s helping a lot. But what if we need someone else besides me to hunt.”
“Fair point. You’ll just have to talk to him.”
I completely skinned the deer, leaving its bloody meat exposed. I hoisted the fur over to William, who put it over his shoulder. I picked up the rest of the carcass, struggling to get up over my back.
“Speaking of teaching people.” William continued on. “Aren’t you going to teach Alice how to shoot a gun?”
“Yeah, it’s just that she’s been shaken up ever since she killed someone.”
“Understandable she’s pretty young, yet so are you.”
“I’ll teach her first thing when we get back.”
“Great, there should be a pistol in the parents bedroom.”
We started trotting along the faded path we followed out through many truffles of bushes and greenery. Both of us conversed about how we’ve progressed so much even though we’ve taken control of the farm for only a month now. Time seems to fly by so much that it’s really relaxing to take it all in and look back on it. At the same time it hurts looking back at all the pain we’ve suffered just to get here. Mom and Dad dying, Eric getting killed right before my eyes. And…
Slinca, Ian, and Penny.
Before I could sulk even more about the departed we walked out of the shaded forest and onto the sunlit farm. Outside was a thriving garden growing with a variety of crops, ranging from corn to radishes. Multiple beautiful flowers blossomed and glowed exquisitely in the light yellow cast from the sun. Nancy was there gracefully watering the plants alongside Alice. Alice perked up with excitement as her glance shot our way as we made our way to the front gate.
“They’re here!” She exclaimed in excitement. “And they brought us food.”
Nancy tilted her head up towards us, watering the crops as she did. “Damn they brought back a huge haul.”
I approached the front gate and William reached inside his pocket and whipped out the keys. Jangling through them he found the correct one that fit in the key hole and opened it. Walking through then shutting it behind us, Alice blindsided me with a hug.
“Took you long enough to get back.” Alice said muffled as her face was buried in my chest.
“Be careful.” I said. “You almost knocked this fresh meat in my hands.”
“Sorry.” She let go.
“It’s ok, you’re excited I get it.” I walked past her, almost forgetting to say something. I turned around and looked at her. “Alice!”
“Yeah?”
“When I’m done with this. I’ll teach you how to shoot.”
She didn’t respond, her eyes only widened as I turned my back to her. She told me before that she doesn’t like guns, but she’ll get killed unless she knows how to defend herselves. It’s an important and harsh fact that she’ll have to deal with.
I walked inside the house and placed the skinned deer on the kitchen table. I wiped off some sweat off my forehead and took a moment to catch my breath.
Man, I need to workout more.
I thought to myself as my arms felt sore. I cracked my back and my neck as I sat down on one of the wooden chairs, the same chair I was strapped to when they took a piece of my flesh.
The smell from the carcass started to kick in when I realized I’d been just sitting down for ten minutes, not really thinking or moving at all.
“God.” I heard Jesse’s voice. “Could you at least try to cut it up before you lend it over to me.” She stood with a hand on her hip and one annoyed look at me.
“Sorry.” I apologized.
“It’s fine, no big deal.” She walked over to the sink near a cutlery board and pulled a knife out from it. “Do we still have enough bags?” She opened the fridge.
“We should. There were like one hundred of them last time I checked.”
Inside the fridge were multiple brown paper bags filled with meat from various animals, mainly rabbits. The smell didn’t reek like you would expect, either we’ve all gotten used to it or somehow it didn’t ooze out a horrendous smell. Either way we’re lucky.
“You didn’t even dry it out.” She scolded me. “There’s still blood leaking from it.”
I looked and saw a puddle of blood that formed in the middle of the table. “Sorry, just been out of it recently.”
“It’s fine, I can easily clean it.” She walked away and headed towards the basement. “I’ll go get the tarp and hacksaw, and you can finally help me cut up the meat.”
“Oh, I’m going to teach Alice how to shoot a gun, so I won’t be able to help.”
“Really now?” She turned around to look at me. “Well, what’re you waiting for? Get out there.”
I complied and forced my body off the chair, and walked down the hallway. Passing by Jesse she gave me a pat on the back and playfully pushed me forward. My body basically limped over to the master bedroom where William and Nancy slept. It was a large queen mattress bed that took up most of the room. Beside them were two dressers with lamps on them. I walked over to the one on the right and opened it. The only item in there was a six round revolver, a very old one and was surprisingly bigger than I thought. Sitting beside it were a couple of boxes of ammunition, some loose bullets rolling around as I opened it.
I snatched up the gun and opened the chamber to see if there were any bullets inside. Sure enough, six loaded bullets were tucked nicely in. I pressed the lever in the back and the bullets came falling out and onto the dresser drawer. I picked them all up and placed them inside one of the boxes of ammunition and left the room, taking that box with me. I stuffed both the ammo and gun into my pocket as I prepared to leave the house.
Before I left, a light bulb lit inside of me. I went into the kitchen and rummaged through the trash. I remembered there were a bunch of empty beer bottles. I could use this for aim training for Alice. I was right. There were about six of them scattered throughout the trash, along with dirty napkins and some other unrecognizable stuff. I grabbed a small plastic bag and put all of the assorted bottles in there, all of them clanking as I threw them in. When all of them were packed in there I went back to the front door and opened it.
Outside Nancy was sitting on the grass alongside Alice and they were both sharing a sandwich together in some sort of picnic. Fred was along the outskirts of the fence, holding the rifle in his hands looking for any threats. William was walking alongside him and the both of them appeared to be talking to one another.
“Hey Lee.” Nancy waved at me. “Care to join us?”
“Sure.” I made sure the gun was holstered on me. I walked across the batch of grass and sat right by Alice, who was busy munching on a sandwich.
“Heard you were going to teach her how to shoot.” Nancy said to start off the conversation.
“Yeah, after you’re both done eating we’ll start.”
“You excited Alice?” She asked.
Alice was mid bite when she stopped and peered her eyes up at Nancy. She finished her slice and chewed down very slowly. “No.”
“I know. But you’ll have to learn someday now.” I consoled her. “Either now or never.”
She took another bite. Slowly chewing as she did.
“It sucks but it’s true.” Nancy spoke for her. “Kids like you two need to fend for yourselves out there.”
Alice gulped down the last of her sandwich. “I’m ready.” She declared.
“You sure?” I tried to clarify.
“Yeah, let’s just get it over with.”
I got up from the ground and pulled Alice to her feet as well. Nancy looked at me and smiled as I led Alice to the shed in the back of the farm. It was a fairly small and metallic box that was very rusted on the outside and worn down. It had two sliding doors that were connected to each other with a padlock.
I walked over and whipped out the key that was in my pocket and unlocked the padlock. It fell to the ground as I wasn’t even bothered to pick it up. I grabbed the handle on both sliding doors and pried them open. It let out a huge irritating screeching noise that had Alice covering her ears.
The shed was very dark, even with the sunlight beaming into it. Multiple cobwebs clouded the floor and little cockroaches skittered around into the darkness. There was an overabundant amount of dust that flew up into the air when I opened the door, making me cough up some of it. Inside were multiple gardening tools and a rundown lawnmower. There was also a wooden bench that was sitting loosely in the dark.
I stepped foot inside and grabbed the bench and brought it outside. I put it up against the fence that faced the forest. I took out the bottles in my bag and lined them up against each other in a row. Evenly spaced from one end to the other.
“Alright.” I started off as I walked up to Alice. “Let’s start with the basics.” I unleashed the pistol from my pocket and held a couple of bullets in my hand. “I’ll teach you how to properly hold it, then we can get to shooting. Is that ok with you?”
She nodded her head.
“Good, now grab the handle.” I leveraged the gun in front of her, the handle facing in front of her.
She reluctantly reached out her hand and grabbed the gun. She looked surprised as she tried to grip it. I saw her hand drop a little, like she thought it was lighter than it actually was.
“Hey now.” I said. “It may seem heavier than it actually is but once you get the hang of it it’ll become easier.”
What was I even saying, of course it’s so obvious that it’s really stupid to point it out. I’m not really a good teacher, hell not even a good learner. My whole time during school I would space out and just not pay attention, I don’t remember a single thing from my time in school.
“Ok. Is this how I do it?” She asked me as she held the gun out straight towards the bottles, her arms outstretched and locked in place.
“Right idea, just bend your arms a little.” I instructed. “Because when you fire the recoil will bounce back into your arms, so you need to make sure your arm is flexible enough to control it.”
She nodded along and relaxed her arms a little.
“Everything else is perfect. Your stance is great, now let’s get to the real deal.” I gave her the bullets I had grasped in my hand. “Let’s teach you how to load it.”
I took the guide of her hands and opened up the chamber. “Now, see those empty bullet slots?”
“Yeah.”
“Use the bullets I gave you, and carefully insert the bullets in there. Make sure you put them in with the round end facing forwards.”
She complied with exactly what I told her, though her hands were a little shaky. Once the last bullet was inserted she looked up at me, waiting for me to give more instructions.
“Alright, now close the chamber by pressing it on the side.”
She clicked the chamber back right in place.
“Now there’s a lever on the back of it. Pull that back, and do it with mild strength.”
She used her index finger and tried to pull it back with all her might. I saw her close her eyes and her arms were shaking, but she was able to cock it back in place.
“Nice.” I congratulated her. “Now be really careful where you point that thing. It’s now ready to fire. Remember, whenever you have no intention to shoot, never put any of your fingers on the trigger. We don’t want an accident to happen.”
“Ok.” She nodded.
“Now, raise your gun and aim at one of those bottles. Anyone you want to shoot at.”
Her arms started to shake even more as she started to breathe heavily, but also quietly. It was obvious that she was nervous. To calm her down I placed my hand on her shoulder and crouched down so I was behind her.
“When you’re ready to fire, carefully glide your finger to the trigger and get ready to pull down. Also be careful of the recoil, that revolver packs one hell of a punch.”
I saw her quivering finger slide over to the trigger.
“Take a deep breath.” I said. “And make sure your arms are steady, we always want to make sure when we shoot, we’re going to hit our target.”
I can tell she tried her best to calm herself, but her arms just weren’t stabilizing. I then took control and grabbed both of her arms and made her aim at the middle bottle.
“I understand you’re scared, so I’ll help you shoot for the first three shots until you get more used to it.” I said.
“Thank you.” She said,
“Now press the trigger.”
I braced for the impact as she shot. The recoil jerked her back into my arms and she gave off a little shriek as the loud boom of the gun echoed throughout the whole area. The bottle shattered into many different shards that flew out and scattered all over the grass. Alice was trembling in my arms as she got back up on her feet. I heard her sharp deep breaths she did to calm herself down.
“You hit it!” I tried to cheer her up. “Nice, next time make sure to fully plant your feet on the ground and brace yourself more.”
“A-alright.” She quivered.
“Now aim for the bottle from the right of the one we just hit.”
“Lee!” I heard Fred’s voice come from behind me. “Everything ok? Did you shoot?”
“Sorry Fred. I’m teaching Alice how to shoot.” I responded.
“Oh, thank god.” He sighed in relief. “Next time warn me before you start blasting off shots. You know I’ve been on edge recently.”
“Sorry, I should've told you. I’ll warn you next time.”
He turned his back and went back to his post, giving me one last glance before he turned the corner.
“Now let’s continue. Let’s keep shooting these bottles.” I forced her arm to aim. “Whenever you’re ready.”
She pulled the trigger once again, but instead of falling backwards into my chest, she surprisingly was able to stand her ground. The bottle exploded again and shards flew everywhere.
“Nice!” I congratulated her in a higher pitch tone. “Now let’s see if you don’t move at all.” I helped her aim again, but this time I let go of her arms as she shot. Her arm jolted back violently. She squealed as the bottle shattered.
“Nice, you handled that better than I expected you to.” I said. “Now, I want to see how you’ll handle it all by yourself.”
I got up off of my knees and leveraged myself up. Leaving Alice standing there, still like a statue. She loosely aimed the gun at another bottle. Her arms were still shaky and her aim was unstable, if she shot, she would miss no doubt.
“Keep your arms steady.” I coached her.
I can see she tried her best, but some fear was overtaking her. She just couldn’t do it.
“Dammit.” I heard her say under her breath.
I walked up behind her and patted her on the shoulder. “Are you still scared from your first kill?”
I didn’t see it, but I assumed that she shook her head.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. But, you saved my life.” I took her by the shoulders and lowered the gun for her and turned her to face me. “At the end of the day, your kill was justified.”
“That’s not what I’m upset about.” She said, “I just don't like guns.”
“You told me before, but is that really it?”
“Yes. I know that I had to kill that guy to save you, doesn’t mean I didn’t feel bad about it. I mean, he was a bad person wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, he tried to eat me alive.”
“But what about Sam? Did he deserve to die?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. Yes, he did try to kill me, but wasn’t he just trying to defend himself from me? Also how his parents treated him, it would make sense that would shape him into that. Is it really his fault that he grew up in such a bad environment? And am I really better than any of those people I’ve killed? Who really deserved to live in that situation? Us or them?
“I don’t know.” Is what I came up with.
“He was shot by his own dad. I want to think if we were living before all this killing happened, I think he would’ve been a great guy.”
“I like to think that too.”
“Guns just take people away from us. They never bring them back. Same thing happened to mom, then dad, and Sam.”
“I know. It’s just that without guns, people would be defenseless. There’s no way to abolish them. People will always use it as leverage no matter what. You just can’t change that. There’s no other way but to abide by it.”
“It fucking sucks. I hate it! They just keep taking away the best people in this world and replacing them with the shittiest in history. Fuck Runasi Haruhiko! Fuck those thugs who killed mom and dad! And fuck Eric!”
She whipped around and aimed the gun perfectly at the bottles and fired. She was right on point with her shot. The glass shattered and scattered around. She even handled the recoil well and didn’t jitter at all. She then aimed at the remaining two and nailed them.
I was so impressed my jaw was left agape. I couldn't believe how well she transformed into this grade A sniper. It was like something was triggered inside her, something sparked up and exploded. I think it had to be from the immense anger she had built up inside of her. Like she imagined the bottles to be the people she hated the most.
“Wow.” Was all I could muster out. “That was incredible.” I hugged her from behind her. I was too overwhelmed with the joy that I didn’t realize that she had tears streaming down her face. I didn’t let go of the hug, I only tightened it.
“Please don’t die on me.” Alice said. “You’re all I have left.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnBmFOx0ll
