Vanguard | Post-Apocalyptic YA

Part 15: Hot Shots

The men immediately grab two guns that they must have already been eyeing, leaving me and the two women to debate who should get what. I give them first choice and they leave me with the biggest - and what I'll soon find out to be the most cumbersome - gun.

Jed asks Freddy to demonstrate the preferred shooting technique and contrary to his clumsy weapons skills from when we met, he hits five out of five objects.

"I shouldn't even be wasting the ammo with you guys, but I guess we need to make this fair for everyone," Jed addresses the two men in camouflage. "Go ahead, Nate."

Nate plants his feet slightly sideways, turns his body parallel to the target and after a small click, shoots off his first round.

A green bottle on top of the crate in front of him bursts open, littering the ground below with sparkling glass fragments. Barely a moment later, his second shot takes down the metal can next to where the bottle previously stood. He readies himself for a third attempt, but Jed interrupts. "Hold your fire. That'll do. You're in. Bram, you're up."

The other man repeats the same performance and soon it's the woman's turn.

I'm worried that I'll have the worst outcome, so I'm a bit relieved to see that she's less sure of herself than the others. As proof, her first two shots both hit the crates instead of the intended targets. Freddy, however, helps her adjust her aim and the next shot hits its mark.

"One more like that, Pam and you're in," Jed encourages her, but her newfound confidence betrays her and Pam overshoots the target completely. Learning from her mistake, she takes her time with the last shot and it grazes a can, making it wobble, but not knocking it down.

"Not perfect, but it's a hit," Jed pats her on the back before stepping up to Ellen. "Do you need me to show you again or do you think you've got this?"

"Show me again," she demands and we watch as he slowly goes through the preparatory motions, sets up the shot, and pulls the trigger.

As soon as the can falls to the ground, Ellen pushes him out of the way. "I think I got it."

She mimics his stance perfectly, takes her time to aim, and pulls the trigger.

Nothing happens.

"What the hell?" She turns toward us while still holding the gun out in front of her. We instinctively crouch, while Jed - who's still closest to her - grabs her arm and forces her to point the weapon toward the ground.

"That's something that I do not want you to ever do again," he enunciates every syllable to make sure we all understand. By the redness that immediately creeps into my sister's cheeks, I can see that she's already regretting her mistake. "You left the safety on," he continues, snapping the switch and finally letting go of her.

Ellen's hand is now slightly shaking, but she wisely aims at a group of objects tightly clustered together and hits her first target. Her confidence quickly returns and I can see that on her second try, she deliberately focuses on something farther away. Missing the bottle on the far left makes her hesitate again, but on the next shot, she manages to take that out, as well.

"Not bad," Freddy says from behind us, obviously not expecting this outcome. "Your turn, kid."

I've been holding my gun so tightly that my hand has cramped up, so I first shift the weapon to my left hand and flex my free fingers. Next, I make sure to undo the safety trigger. Then I take up the recommended stance, spreading my legs and placing my left foot slightly closer to the target than my right. Finally, I grip the gun with both hands, locking my right arm and twisting at the waist to put the target in my sight.