Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

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

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

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

"Old man, 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 all." 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 thought 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?" Johnny 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 replied.

I gave 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. He was still taking things in but he said he would come with everyone. Their supplies other than their guns were taken to the storage area but everything was accounted for in the inventory that Rin made. Bobby decided to stay in the room next to Allan and Jenny's since the third room had no one occupying it ever since the two became a couple.

Oscar told me the details of the broadcast and it was the same details as yesterday.

There was still more daylight to burn so I invited anyone who would like to attend a class for basic firearms training. I brought a few low caliber pistols with me and I prepared equipment for hearing and eye protection. Alex, Esther, Jonathan, Nicole, Alicia, Mark, Dong, Lois, and Russel came with me to train while Kaley came with me to watch. Kaley and I were a bit late so the two of us were walking alone to the court.

"Hey, Lois is Jared's brother, right?" Kaley asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"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 asked.

"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 him just to get him to move." I replied.

"What made him want to go to practice now?" she asked.

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

We assembled on the concrete bleachers once more and I gave a small lecture. It was 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 were all the same Walther P22s. Instead of shooting at the same time, what I did was I let them go one-by-one. Doing it that way could allow them to observe the person shooting at the targets and gain insight so they could gain something just by watching. What I didn't say yet was after each one finished, we would discuss a few things that needed improvement.

"Lois, go first yeah?" I said.

Lois picked up the Walther P22 from his holster, cleared the chamber, laid it in the table, stripped it, and assembled it again. He loaded the magazine with the bullets provided then he aimed at the target and took a shot.

*BANG*

Right at the head. He exhaled 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 exhaled and fired another two.

*BANG* *BANG*

It hit the torso once again but one was very offset.

"Good job dude. You really don't want to join the scouting team?" I said.

"Hmm, maybe. I'd like to stay at home though." he replied.

"Okay, no problem. There's plenty of us anyway but I might drag you a few times. Try using your left now." I instructed.

"What? I haven't tried that yet. This is gonna be bad." he said.

"Just try it." I said.

Lois made a couple of attempts but the distance was way off compared to the shots he made earlier. A few hit the target but he needed more time before firing each shot. He was annoyed so I gave him another full magazine to get his rhythm back by using both hands. The groupings were now much better than before and he started shooting faster with great accuracy. It took a few seconds then we heard the click that indicated that the gun was empty. I looked at the group in the back and they had a mix of expressions.

"He's good." Kaley commented.

Lois smiled cheekily and he took a seat after giving a short bow.

"So, what can we learn from that?" I asked the group.

A few of them gave their answers and we started to discuss.

"In the future, I'd like you all to at least be able to do what Lois can. He's already in the next level, even more, if he continues to practice, which he doesn't. What we learned from his display is that if you make shots in succession, the accuracy of the following shots starts to move away from the intended target. What we need to do to counter that is that we always keep a steady grip and a proper position for everything so that the successive shots or even our normal shots won't veer off from where we intend to place it. Alex, go next." I said.

The rest of them took turns and we discussed every time someone finished. We continued training until it was starting to get dark.

"Bro, I noticed that the guns we're using give less noise and it kicks less. It's weaker, right?" Russel asked.

"Yeah, it is a lower caliber and it's best for practicing not like the shotgun you let loose in the gas station." I said.

"Oh, that was fun though!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, that was crazy." I said.

"Hey! I haven't got the trade for the shotgun I gave you yet. Can I have this instead? I know this is weaker but I want to start from this before I go back to that shotgun, is that okay?" Russel asked.

"Sure, I'll give you a holster for it later but always keep it in check. That never leaves the holster unless there's an emergency and keep it out of your little sister's reach, okay?" I said and he happily took it.

After talking with him, Nicole approached me and she said, "Hey, when can I have my own gun then? I'm doing pretty good, right?"

"You are, I just think that it's still not time yet. If Lois wasn't here, you'd be the top student. That little brother of yours is something else. I can give you the pistol but without the bullets though." I said.

"How can that help then?" she asked.

"You can practice quick aiming and field stripping for starters, what most of you struggle with is aiming properly. It would take you guys a few seconds before you properly aim with the sights. What you need to practice is that when you raise it or draw it from the holster, it's already positioned and ready to go. That would be the difference between life and death in the future. We'll get to a few more things in the future like recoil management and trigger reset after you're familiar with the basic stuff. Accuracy first before speed." I explained.

"Really? I'll keep this one then." Nicole said.

"Clean it first yeah?" I added.

She nodded and we tidied up. We headed back to the compound and we found that Johnny and Marco's family were inside, chatting with everybody. Johnny waved at us and we joined them.

"So, you trained a few of them? That's good." Johnny said.

"Yeah, there are a few promising ones though most of them need to train normally to get better." I said.

He just nodded with a solemn expression.

"How about your family though? Do you want me to train some of them?" I offered.

"My wife, son, and Marco knows how to use them. I just want the rest of them to stay here and be safe while we protect them." Johnny said.

Oscar and I looked at each other then Oscar said, "That's fine, but it wouldn't hurt them knowing a few things."

"Does everyone in your compound know how to use firearms?" Johnny asked.

"No, but we plan to train everyone in the future." Oscar said.

"Do you guys even have enough ammo for that?" he asked again.

"It doesn't have to be just guns. I've been meaning to teach close-combat weapons or hand-to-hand for a while." I said.

"I disagree, I'd rather have my family not be conscripted as soldiers. They could do other things but not fighting those things." Johnny replied though Marco on the side had a different opinion.

"I'd rather teach them to have the knowledge to protect themselves when they need it rather than needing to protect themselves but don't have the knowledge to. I learned that the hard way." I said solemnly. Oscar gave me the same look when he found out that I told the story to Kaley and the rest but he didn't say anything this time.

"I…" Johnny was finding the words to reply but Marco seemed to have decided on something.

"Better to have and not need than to need and not have." Oscar and I said.