Gearing Up

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “You aren’t going with us,” Han said firmly. Seeing her begin to object, he continued speaking before she could voice her objection. “When we get back, we’ll see about setting you up on one of the hunting teams, okay?”

  Eyes narrowing, Karee brushed off his hand and stomped past him. Wynn sighed, laying a hand on Han’s shoulder as he turned to go after Karee. “Son, you’re going to hurt the both of you if you try to keep her that restricted. Besides, considering the ants that attacked you at the drake, it's not like any place is really safe now, is it?”

  Han frowned. “I just want her to have the life Millhouse would have wanted for her.”

  “Then knock it the hell off,” Wynn said as he let go of Han’s shoulder. “Mill was a lot of things, but overprotective was never one of them.”

  Alvin turned away from the scene to see Shawn talking with Karee off to the side. Han joined the two of them before Shawn broke away from them. Walking over to everyone else, Shawn raised his hand, getting everyone’s attention.

  “This is just practice, so we’re going to do ear and eye protection. The first part is going to be just weapon handling, and sighting in for the weapons that you’ll be using when we leave tonight. We want to get there at sunrise and it's at least a four-hour drive normally, so we’ll be leaving at midnight, which is a little later than we originally planned. After you put a few magazines through the weapons, we’ll move onto the next part of the practice. Any questions?”

  “Where did you want these?” Wynn asked.

  “There is fine,” Shawn said, pointing. “We could use you, too, in case anyone has questions or needs help.”

  “I’ll stay around, then,” Wynn said.

  Once everyone understood where the firing line was, Shawn stepped out of the way and the first ten people took up position on the line. Becky was in the first set, Tommy gun in hand.

  “She going to be able to handle that?” Han asked as he and Karee came down the line.

  “She should be able to,” Alvin said as Becky raised the weapon to her shoulder.

  “Going hot!” Becky yelled as she put her finger inside the guard. Taking a moment to get comfortable with the stance, she fired three quick shots, much like Alvin normally did. Frowning, she adjusted her stance and fired again. Leaning a bit more into the stance, Becky fired a third set of shots. People up and down the line began firing their own weapons. The sound of Becky’s fire was noticeably quieter than some of the others sharing the line with her.

  Becky took her time emptying the drum before she let it vanish into her glove. The MP5 appeared out of her second glove, and she took a few moments to get a feel for the weapon in her hands. Once she was ready, she took it off safety and selected single shot. She did like she had with the Tommy, firing triple taps at her target. A larger smile formed on her lips as she finished the magazine. The MP5 was much quieter than the Tommy, and might have been the quietest gun on the line.

  Letting that gun vanish, she brought the Tommy back out. Looking back at Alvin, she grinned and adjusted the selector switch. Bringing the Tommy up to her shoulder, she leaned hard into the stance and held down the trigger for two seconds. The sound of about fifty rounds being fired made the entire firing line turn to look at Becky, who had a manic smile on her face. Leaning in again, she emptied the drum. Becky resummoned the MP5 and waited the next few seconds until it reloaded. She switched it over to full auto as well, and leaning in, she held the trigger down. In a matter of seconds, the magazine was empty. Letting that gun vanish back into her gloves, Becky turned to look at Alvin.

  Walking over to her, he looked downrange at her target. It was shredded. “I think you’re proficient enough with these. Once Shawn calls a halt to switch targets, we can get a better look at it,” Alvin said loudly to be heard over the noise of the other guns being fired.

  After a few more minutes, Shawn called a ceasefire and those who had been firing went out to check their targets. Becky grinned, as hers was missing the majority of its head and heart. “The ones here on the edges of the silhouette were the first few with each gun. The Tommy still kicks, but it’s a rush to have that much firepower in my hands.”

  “Fuck,” Han muttered as he looked at the target. “She’ll be fine.”

  Becky snickered, “You think?”

  “I’ll change this one,” Alvin said, taking the new target from Han. “This one is mine, after all.”

  Han shrugged as he went down the line with more targets in his hands. Karee was looking at Becky’s target with her. “How did you get that good?”

  Becky chuckled, “Shooting zombies in the head with Hero.”

  “We’ll put people to the test after this,” Shawn said as he walked over to them. “That is damned good shooting.”

  “My... father,” Becky grimaced, the word dripping with disdain, “had me shooting at age seven. We had to qualify with our guns twice a year, and if we failed, we would keep doing it every week until we did qualify. Needless to say, I got good fast so I wouldn’t have to go to the range every week.”

  Alvin gave her a squeeze. “Come on, we should clear the line. I need to give my weapons a test.”

  They were the last to get back behind the firing line. Alvin was about to step into his spot when Karee stepped around him. “Excuse me, this is my lane,” Alvin said firmly.

  Looking over her shoulder, Karee grinned. “Ladies first.”

  “Not in my world,” Alvin said, snagging her arm and pulling her back. “This is mine.”

  Smirking, Karee backed up to Becky, eyeing him the entire time. “Yes, sir.”

  Staring flatly at Becky, Alvin set his jaw. “Explain it again.”

  “Yes, Hero,” Becky said, leaning her head in next to Karee’s ear and beginning to speak.

  A few people had already begun to fire by the time Alvin brought the UMP up and sighted down the reflex sight, getting used to it. Switching from safety to single shot, he took careful aim and squeezed the trigger. The sound was much quieter than he’d been expecting, even after Becky’s turn on the range. Firing the next two single shots, he resettled the gun and began firing his standard triple taps until he emptied the gun. He waited for the gun to reload, looking down the line to see Han and Shawn moving along it and offering advice to a couple of people.

  As soon as the gun reloaded, Alvin refocused on the target, switched over to full auto, and held the trigger down. There was some recoil, but not as bad as the Type 56, so he was able to keep it on target even if it did wobble across the silhouette. Once he ran empty, Alvin let the UMP vanish into his glove and summoned his Remington 700. The bolt action rifle had more weight to it than the Type 56 did. As Alvin was trying to find a good grip for it, Shawn stepped over and showed him a trick of wrapping the sling around his forearm.

  Thanking Shawn, Alvin got ready and aimed downrange at his target. He fired once, then realized that since it was a bolt action, it would require him to shift his hold on the rifle to chamber the next round. Frowning, Alvin managed to chamber the next round, but the feeling of taking a long time between shots bothered him. He fired the first ten rounds much slower than anyone else was firing.

  Dropping to a knee, Alvin got the bipod out and settled in on his stomach. Taking the time to aim, he proceeded to empty ten more rounds into his target. He was the last one to finish as he sat up and closed the bipod down. Letting the gun vanish, he got to his feet as Karee, Becky, and Han walked up to him.

  “Shall we?” Alvin said, leading the others downrange after Shawn called a ceasefire. His target was much more intact than Becky’s had been, but only because he’d used less ammo.

  Han whistled softly, “You appear to do fine with the 700.”

  The head of Alvin’s target was cored, with only two rounds outside the center group. “My first two with the rifle,” Alvin said, pointing to the missed shots. “The UMP were these,” he pointed to the heart location on the silhouette, which was shredded, “and the first few,” he said, pointin
g to the few shots just outside the central area.

  “Seems you’ll be fine with the rifle,” Shawn said, coming up behind him. “I want to check something after the others have had their go on the line.”

  “Sure,” Alvin said as he hung up a new target.

  Karee took the spot Alvin had just used as they retreated behind the firing line, bringing a rifle to her shoulder. Taking careful aim down, Karee fired the first round out of her AR-15. She kept up a steady rate of fire, until all thirty rounds had been fired.

  With barely any pause, she switched magazines and went back to firing. Alvin and Becky exchanged glances at that, not having had to actually exchange magazines in such a long time. Once she finished the second magazine, Karee set the rifle aside and pulled the handgun off her hip. The gun barked repeatedly, but didn’t have the intensity of Alvin’s 1911. Switching to a second magazine, she emptied it as well, then holstered the pistol and picked her rifle back up.

  Han came down the line and stood next to her, looking downrange at her target. Soon after, Shawn called the ceasefire, and the shooters filed out to check their targets. Karee’s target was perforated in all the right places, but the groupings were much larger than Alvin’s or Becky’s.

  “See,” Karee said pointedly at Han, “I’m good enough to go with.”

  “You do fine with normal target practice, but that isn’t the same as shooting to live.”

  Karee’s nostrils flared, but Shawn interceded. “She’ll run the course with the others. If she can place in the upper half, she can go.”

  Han turned on his brother. “No!”

  Shawn stood his ground, his jaw thrust out. “Do you want to make an issue of this?”

  Seething, his hands clenching and unclenching, Han stormed off. “You’re going to get her killed.”

  Karee gave Shawn a fragile smile. “Thanks, Uncle.”

  “You have to earn the spot,” Shawn said. “It took a big chunk of XP to set up the next bit. Don’t think it’s a given.”

  “I’ll get it done,” Karee said with all the overconfidence of a teen.

  Alvin shook his head. “What is next?”

  “Live fire, urban combat scenario,” Shawn said, a smile forming on his lips. “I always wanted one of these courses.” Raising his voice so everyone could hear him, he cleared his throat, “Okay folks, follow me.” Shawn led them back toward the compound and around the hill just behind it. He stopped at a tunnel leading into the hill. “This is the course. It starts here and ends a few hundred yards away over there,” he pointed off to the left. “Inside are a number of facades and pop-up targets. The goal is to get through without letting a bad guy live for more than three seconds, and not killing any of the innocent people. Targets only go down if you land a killing shot, but a non lethal shot on a bad guy gives you an extra second to knock it down. If you hear a loud buzzer, you’re dead. Finish the run even if you die, so you get practice dealing with surprise enemies. The course times your run and the number of shots fired.”

  Silence greeted his announcement. Shawn waited a moment, but still no one said anything. “Since there are no questions, who wants to be first?”

  Karee stepped forward. “I’ll go.”

  Han stomped off toward the exit, his face dark, but he didn’t say anything. Shawn watched his brother go with a shake of his head. “Okay Karee, you’re up. Everyone else, form a single file line. When the light above the door goes green, next one goes in.”

  Becky stepped over and spoke quietly to Karee while handing over her pistol and MP5. “Use these so you have enough ammo, and bring them back when you’re done.”

  Karee gave Becky a hug before exchanging guns with her. With the new pistol on her hip and the MP5 in hand, Karee paused in front of the opening. Taking a deep breath, she mumbled something, then went into the doorway at a fast walk, the MP5 up to her shoulder and ready.

  The light went red as soon as Karee went into the tunnel. A line formed as the sound of gunfire echoed out of the tunnel. Becky and Alvin walked toward the exit, where Han stood waiting, his hands tucked into his armpits and right foot tapping impatiently.

  He glanced at them, but didn’t say anything. Alvin shrugged and waited patiently while Becky carried Karee’s guns. Almost five minutes later, Karee came out of the tunnel, breathing heavily but grinning. A display above the exit showed her time, body count, and number of shots fired.

  “Fifty-nine rounds of 9mm and fifteen of .45,” Han said with a sniff. “You wasted a lot of ammo.”

  “She got all of the bad guys in time, didn’t kill any good guys, and completed the course in 4:48,” Becky said as she exchanged guns with the teen. “She wants to give me a run for my money. Too bad I’ll smoke you, Ree.”

  Alvin and Becky walked back to the entrance, leaving Karee and Han talking. Han was still scowling and glaring after them. They joined the end of the line, amusing themselves with a game of hot hands as the line slowly moved along. Eventually, the person in front of Becky went in, so the game came to an end with both of them shaking red hands.

  “Fucker, you were trying to make me quit,” Becky said as she kissed her hands.

  “Need an edge to win this,” Alvin said. “I know you’ll give me a run for it.”

  “Are we going to make this a bet?” Becky asked with a mischievous grin.

  “Sure, a one-time request that can be asked of the other, that precludes what we’ve already discussed,” Alvin said.

  Becky’s lips thinned, but she nodded. “Okay. I still want a favor, so it’s on.”

  Alvin smirked. “Put up or shut up, bitch.”

  Eyes widening, Becky shook her head. “You're going down. Now and later.” Walking toward the entrance of the tunnel, she summoned her MP5.

  Grinning at her sudden fire, Alvin watched her stand before the tunnel. As soon as the light went green, Becky took off running. Alvin watched her go, chuckling as he walked up to the entrance and summoned his UMP.

  “You two are odd,” Shawn said. “Think you’re going to beat me?”

  “Maybe. You set the course, though,” Alvin shrugged.

  “It’s automated,” Shawn said. “There are things that use electronics in the store that seem to work. Maybe that means we can get all the old stuff working again, or at least some of it.”

  “That would be good,” Alvin said as the light above the entrance went green. Blinking, he looked at his watch. “Three minutes, give or take a few seconds. She’s going to make me work for this.” Rolling his head, Alvin took a deep breath. “See you on the far side.”

  Alvin sprinted into the tunnel without waiting for Shawn to reply. Dim lights illuminated the tunnel, and he could see where it opened up in front of him. He brought the UMP up as the hiss of hydraulics warned him that a target was coming up, but he didn’t pull the trigger as he saw a child looking back in fear. The hiss behind him brought Alvin around to see a werewolf looking creature snarling at him. Two shots to the head knocked it down.

  Alvin started moving through the room, which was broken up by cutouts of houses with doors and windows. Moving toward the far side of the room, he shifted his aim from side to side as more hissing targets popped up on either side. Moving as quickly as he could, he cleared the first section and found another tunnel. Sprinting down the new tunnel, he wasn’t expecting the hiss behind him. Going into a slide, he turned and fired twice before he registered the target. Luckily, it was a giant ant. Jumping back to his feet, Alvin took off running again, silently cursing the momentum lost.

  The next section was much like the first, but the layout was altered and had two stories, which meant he had to keep checking above as he went through it. He had to switch guns after four targets, as his UMP ran dry. Letting it vanish into one glove, he pulled his .357 to finish the run. Ten targets later, Alvin took off sprinting toward the exit. Holstering the pistol, he put his head down and ran all out. The light grew brighter as he ran and, seeing everyone outside looking at the scoreboard, he
pushed harder and came out of the tunnel with no intention of slowing. Luckily, no one was in his way, so he slowed and came back to the group, breathing hard.

  Looking up, he saw that he’d cleared the course in 2:59, with thirty-nine rounds expended, no innocents killed, and all twenty bad guys downed. Grinning, he turned to Becky. “How did you do?”

  “3:01, thirty-seven rounds, all enemies killed, and no innocents,” Becky grumbled.

  “Looks like you owe me,” Alvin chuckled as he put his arms around her.

  “How did you do that?” Karee asked from a few feet away.

  “I got a lot of practice with this sort of thing in the first few days,” Alvin said. “Now I just abuse my stats to make things easier.”

  “You suggest raising stats first, then?” Karee asked.