Chapter 68 - .22 Practice - Words of wisdom (1/2)

Johnny's family finally finished loading up their vehicles and we opened the gate and cleared a few on the street before we started to drive towards our compound. The trip has been uneventful and we safely reached the fences. I saw that the side where the fences was connected was reinforced and the fences themselves were also. It was made heavier by adding another roll of the chain-link on it and attaching a metal strip to hold it together. It's sturdier than the earlier version of it though it is much heavier. We parked Raphael's pickup inside the compound while Johnny parked their vehicles outside.

”This is the place. From this fence towards the end is a safe zone. What do you think?” I said.

He gives a solemn expression and Oscar came outside to meet them.

”Col. Oscar Goodman, US Army Veteran. You must be Sgt. Johnny Smith, Marines, right?” they both shook hands.

”I'm retired too, very recently. This place is definitely much better than ours.” he said.

”Oscar, I'm thinking of letting them stay at your house, there's nine of them and I think a single room might not fit them.” I said.

”How about the other houses here then? Are they all occupied?” Johnny asked.

”Right, we can let other people stay in the other houses now.” I said to myself.

”Most of them are looted though, we did a run by them for a few days. The electricity and the water are still running in the other houses though we don't know for how long. Just flip the main switch on since we turned them off. We have panels in the compound though we're gonna start on conserving the usage of electronic devices to further the lifespan on the panels in the future.” I explained.

”I think we would like to settle in one of the houses here. Can I pick anything?” he said.

”Sure, there are only two occupied houses here. The one near the court and the gated one near the fishing areas.” I explained.

”Hey, can I stay inside the compound?” Bobby asked.

”Sure. Just pick an empty room when we go inside.” I said.

I made a small orientation on how things work here. Johnny and his family picked the house where we found the cat that was left there. We left them to their own devices for a while and I said that we have a meeting after dinner and he said he would come with everyone. Their supplies other than their guns were taken to the storage area though everything is accounted for in the inventory that Rin made. Bobby went to the room next to Allan's and Jenny's since the third room has no one occupying it since the two became a couple.

Oscar told me the details of the broadcast and it's the same details like yesterday.

There's still more daylight to burn so I invited anyone that who would like to join a class for basic firearms training. I brought a few pistols with me to the court and I started on training a few. Alex, Esther, Jonathan, Nicole, Alicia, Mark, Dong, Lois and Russel came to the training while Kaley came to watch.

”Hey, Lois is Jared's brother, right?” Kaley said.

”Yeah, why?” I asked.

”Can he shoot like his brother?” she asked.

”Well, he's a special case. He'd only excel at things when his interest is piqued. When he starts to get bored of it, his performance suffers.” I explained.

”Really?” she said.

”Yeah, he's a quick study too, the only problem is that he gets bored easily. That's why his brother goes to lengths like even taunting Lois just to get him to move.” I said.

”What made him want to go to practice now?” she said.

”Not sure, we'll know later.” I replied.

We assembled on the concrete bleachers once more and I gave a small lecture, the same as last time to drill into their minds the importance of proper handling and discipline when operating a firearm. Since there were exactly nine of them, I brought out the .22 pistols which are all the same Walther P22s. Instead of them shooting at the same time, what I did was I let them go one-by-one so that they could observe the first one first and ask them what they observed from it. We could then have a discussion on what the person did wrong and what improvements on their posture or grip can be given.

”Lois, go first yeah?” I said.

He grabbed the first one, laid it in the table, stripped it and assembled it again. He loaded the magazine with the bullets provided and he aimed at the target and took a shot.

*BANG*

Right at the head. He exhales and he fired another shot.

*BANG*

It hit the torso this time.

”Go two shots per breath now.” I instructed.

*BANG* *BANG*

One hole near the earlier one in the head and one a bit off in the right but still at the head area. He exhales and fires the other two.

*BANG* *BANG*

It hit the torso once more but one is very offset.

”Good job, you really don't want to join the scouting team?” I said.

”Hmm, maybe, but I'd like to stay at home though.” he said.