Chapter 199: 199
We could hear Rin’s footsteps slowly disappearing but Kaley doesn’t know what to do with herself as she’s still covering her face with her elbow. I pulled it out while I moved her hands covering her face to look at her expression. Her face is flushed and she’s looking at me with a mix of emotions.
“Really?! We’re coming?!” she blurted out with embarrassment.
“Two birds with one stone!” I exclaimed proudly.
She hit me lightly on my chest and then I kissed her. We started to get passionate again but we stopped ourselves since it’s time to eat.
“We’ll continue this later.” Kaley said as we stood up.
We quickly went for a shower and we headed down to eat with everybody which are already in a line on the table with food. I had two bowls where my meals are separated. I would eat a spoonful of rice first before eating a small chunk of the beef and vegetables then sipping some of the soup by lifting the bowl towards my mouth.
The taste of everything inside my mouth refreshes my body and it refilled my energy after the work and ah… the other exercise we’ve done.
“Where are we heading next kid?” Oscar asked.
“Hmm… Ken, how about the status on Woodlands?” I asked him.
“Oh yeah, they’re still remaining stupid over there. A few of their people are still trying to get supplies outside but one time when I flew my drone over, some of them are actually fighting with each other. The situation on the camps are slowly stabilizing though even if there’s less people than before.” he replied.
From the past week, we made a small trip towards Woodlands to have some sort of partnership. They have high walls, huge plots of lands, and big houses. The problem with their place is that aside from that the location is too unfavorable since it is right next to the highway, there are too many stuck-up rich people that still think that the money on their accounts would still have value for something still inside. They still act as if we have a caste system that dictates who’s a better human being than the other. There’re still a few people that are reasonable but it immediately ticked me off when the others started on asking for a whole lot to the point that we would be doing all the work without their help.
What I proposed back then is access to some of the plot of lands that are empty to be used as farms. Another part of the deal is we’d build a bridge that would connect our bases and we’d station a few of my people on their front gate for security. We’d also place one of the relays we made to further increase the range of Ana’s reach. What I ask for them is that they should be the ones to take care of the plants we would be planting and we’ll split everything down the middle if harvest comes. They’re not utilizing their place fully and all the food that they have on them is only from their runs outside and their own stocks from before it hit.
“They’re fighting?” Oscar asked.
“Yeah, I don’t know why though but some of them have come to blows.” Ken said.
“What are we gonna do about them though?” Jared asked.
“We wait a few more days until they get desperate. We’re more equipped than them and that makes us able to get more supplies outside much easier than everybody else. Sooner or later they’ll run out and the sound of tilling soil and watering plants will be the best job offer they’ll ever have. We can survive on what we have here but it’s not bad to have more places where we can have another reliable food source.” I explained.
“What if they do something to the food?” Johnny asked, concerned.
“It would be very stupid to do that since they would also be eating those. I have a few countermeasures in mind so we should rest easy. However, first time they do it or if something slipped past us, will be their last.” I said.
“I agree with that. An attempt on one’s life more so when you’re trying to help them is bounds for our retaliation.” Johnny said.
“Retaliation? You mean…? That?” Allan trailed.
Johnny and I just nodded with serious expressions.
“Well, obviously! What would you do instead?” Oscar chimed.
They were all just silent.
“Anyway, let’s continue with our work here and let’s worry about it at a later date.” I said.
“Wait a minute kid. What do you think about the trainees?” Oscar asked me.
“The results are fine for a few days of training but there is still a lot they could improve on. A bit on following orders but a lot more on using guns. Honestly, my group could kill them a few times over if we ever get into a gunfight.” I said honestly.
“Hmm, I agree. I mostly trained their bodies first by doing the exercises everyday. They mostly get their practice on guns when I bring them outside.” Oscar said.
“I agree with that too. They need more practice, correct?” Tatiana chimed as well.
“What?! Are you f.u.c.k.i.n.g serious?!” Brian heard us and he can’t believe what we said.
“What do we need to improve on?” Marvin asked.
“You need to improve a bit on accuracy but the most pressing thing is speed. You need to get your heads cool too. Also, when they started to get too close, your fingers started to go wild. You definitely shoot faster but your accuracy suffers. It’s also not bad for some of you to always aim for headshots but most of you still took the same time acquiring the target even if the target is close. You need to keep those two things on high standards.” I explained.
“How do we reach that standard then?” Ashley asked.
“Easy. Practice, over and over.” I replied.
“Wouldn’t that take a lot of bullets? Do we even have enough for that?” Marvin asked.
“Well, you’re right about that. However, each bullet meant for practice is worth it. What use are 1000 bullets if you could only kill 5 or less? When we’re only a few here, I made the people that are starting to learn just enough to learn basic stuff. I made them use a lot at first to get the feel for it since they are just starting but you don’t always need to splurge on ammo to get better.” I explained.
“Then what do we need to do?” he asked again.
“Oscar, want me to train them for now on using guns just for this afternoon?” I asked.
“Sure, go ahead kid. We got a lot of supplies today. I think we could forgo one run so they could see what we mean.” he replied.
“I think I saw a place we could hit that has still supplies. Someone still needs to go outside, correct?” Tatiana chimed and I nodded.
We went to our shooting range that has a roof and walls now. The targets increased and we have the cardboard and paper ones aside from the steel targets.
“Okay, you’re gonna train with my team and you’ll learn what we’ve been doing this past week. Jared, show them how to do the drills.” I said.
Jared placed a target about 7 yards away from him and he took his stance while I’m holding the timer.
*BEEP*
Jared raised his AR-10 and fired a shot to the cardboard target. After it hit, he went back to his stance then I looked at the timer.
“.53 seconds, again.”
*BEEP*
“.51 seconds, again.”
*BEEP*
“.48 seconds, next thing.”
*BEEP*
Jared raised his AR-10 again and he fired a shot on the same target. However, after he fired the shot, he pressed the mag release and the magazine fell down on the ground. He pulled the other magazine from his belt and then he placed it on his AR-10 then he fired another shot at the same target after he chambered a round.
“3.21 seconds.” I said as I let him reset.
*BEEP*
“3.33 seconds, again.”
*BEEP*
“2.98 seconds whoo! You got lucky there.”
“Heh, would’ve done it faster if everyone is not looking at me.” Jared said.
“Yeah, yeah. Do the next thing.” I said as I raised the timer.
This time, after the beep, he pulled out his Glock 19 from his holster as he fired two rounds and then switching to the AR-10 and firing another two. After that, he switched to the Glock 19 again to switch magazines and switching again to the AR-10 to switch magazines. It took more time since he had to clear the chamber for the AR-10 since it jammed. He did it again for a total of three times and Lois suddenly popped up in the range to join our class.
“The f.u.c.k are you doing here? I thought you would be sleeping by now?!” Jared exclaimed when he saw Lois.
“Pssh! I smelled was happening and it seems I was right.” he said as he caresses the gun I gave him.
“Well, you’ll be the last to try since you came last.” I said.
“B-but don’t you want to see me beat everyone else here to set a record?” he said cheekily.
“Even me? You think you could do that?” I smiled then he scratched his head.
“If I practice a bit more, I think I could!” he exclaimed.
“Hmm! That’s good but better practice to be on time next if you want to join our drills, not just when you want to okay? You’d still go last.” I said as he almost became lifeless from facts.
Jared did more drills with even more variations. The group Oscar’s been training is watching intently at the speed Jared has been showing not just on shooting the target fast and precisely but everything else. It involves clearing a jam, switching magazines, stock placement, target acquisition, recoil control, and etc.
“The speed I’m talking about is not just about how fast you shoot. It involves everything that you saw Jared did. You’d get better faster if you put parameters and challenges upon yourself and not just blindly shooting a target over and over. You’d also need to practice those other things too. If you want to conserve more ammo, dry-firing works as well. It would need a few adjustments when you get back to live ammo but that’s the next best thing if you want to get good.” I explained.
“Dry-firing? I thought that shit never works?” Brian chimed.
“Oh boy.” I thought to myself.
“Lois, call Nicole over.” I said, smiling.
“Ah crap. Not sis.” Lois gave a glum expression.