Chapter 12
January 2004
Frank held the Sig 556 in his arms. His eyes examined every contour and aspect of the rifle.
"That's your upper receiver. It houses the bolt carrier, the bolt, the gas tube, gas piston, recoil spring, gas block, and barrel" said Regina, pointing out each part. Frank nodded, learning the basics of assault rifle construction.
Regina continued, pointing out the lower receiver, trigger assembly and so on. Frank was wholly attentive. The HK scare on Christmas, which at first shook Frank, had now hardened his resolve. He resigned himself to learn all he could to help his love take the fight to Skynet.
"Are you ready to give it a shot?" asked Regina. "Let's do it" replied Frank.
Regina handed him a full magazine. Frank took it in his hands and slammed it home. "Tap it to make sure it's caught" said Regina. Frank slapped the palm of his hand on the underside of the mag. "Pull the charging handle" coached Regina. Frank wrapped his fingers around the lever and pulled it, exposing the brass of a fresh bullet. He let it go causing it to fly forward, the sound of the bullet fitting into the chamber sending a small surge of adrenaline coursing through him.
"You're hot;" said Regina, "make sure your finger is off the trigger until you're ready to fire. Point it downrange, line up your sights and squeeze it off"
Frank brought the stock to his shoulder, leaning his cheek on the polymer, looking down the sights.
"Keep your arms in tight" coach Regina, pushing his elbow closer to his torso.
Frank lined his sights up on a target set up on one of the fence posts and steadied his breathing. He searched the recesses of his mind to remember what his father taught him about shooting. "Shoot in between your breaths, son" he remembered him saying.
Frank inhaled and his finger squeezed the trigger. The stock pushed into his shoulder and the rifle cracked, the spent shell flew out of the chamber to his right. He exhaled with a disappointed sigh.
Miss; the bullet hit the earth sending a cloud of dirt into the wind.
"It was low and to the right, compensate for the bullet drop and wind" said Regina.
Frank leaned his cheek on the stock again, this time aiming just above his original target and slightly to the right. At the peak of his inhalation he squeezed the trigger.
The bullet found its mark, just above the center ring of the target. His confidence soared as he regained his aim and bumped the trigger with his finger. Three more rounds grouped themselves around the first. He fired until the magazine was empty, some controlled, some burst.
Frank lowered the muzzle and dropped the magazine as he smiled at Regina, who wore the look of honest shock.
"Not bad, baby…you sure you've never shot before?" she asked slyly.
"I may have led you on a little" he said quirkily. Regina's jaw dropped in a smile as she slapped him on the arm playfully.
"What! I think it's adorable when you instruct me like that!" he exclaimed, flinching gaily.
"Frank Madison if you weren't crippled I'd drop your ass, so help me God!" she said with another playful slap to his arm.
In the distance the report of more rifles could be heard, faint pops in the wind. Regina walked down the porch and peered over to the west side of the property. Leaning over the porch railing she could see Shifty and Williams walking behind a line of people, all on their knees, firing rounds into the distance.
At the line of twenty men and women was Jimbo. Due to his size he refused to kneel so he stood, blazing away fully automatic with the M16 in his hands. Compared to the other "recruits," who were doing everything possible to keep their rounds accurate and well grouped, Jimbo was spraying his target wildly.
Regina could see Williams power walking to him like a rabid Drill Sergeant, barking at him for breaking fire discipline. Jimbo threw his hefty arms in the air, rifle in hand and shouted back, their words mute over the cracks of rifles. Off to the far side of the firing line Regina saw Shifty laugh and holding his shaking head in his hands, clearly amused by the exchange.
"Looks like Shifty and Williams are doing ok" Regina remarked with a sheepish grin.
The day after Christmas Regina initiated an extensive training regimen for anyone fit enough and willing to fight the machines. Their day began with an hour of exercise drills; running, calisthenics, and endurance drills. Then they moved on to an hour of tactics instruction followed by firearms instructions including target practice. She wanted everyone to be proficient in close and long range engagements, to understand the importance of cover, evasion, and the intricacies of running and gunning.
Once the group has demonstrated competence of these basic principles she wanted to move on to learning how to make explosives and deploying them.
She had expressed to Frank her goal of making every man and woman a self-sufficient guerilla, a fighter able to think quickly, and act pragmatically.
Frank himself was limited in what he could do but she made time to teach him what he could learn, knowing she would be sharing leadership with him.
Frank rested the muzzle of the Sig on his shoulder as he walked over to Regina, kicking the spent casings aside. "What if an HK picks up on the noise?" he asked, looking to the sky as he stood next to her with his hand around her waist.
"Then we'll blow the motherfucker out of the sky" she said indignantly. Frank smiled, looking down at her. "You're sexy when you talk like that" he joked.
Suddenly the front door flew open and Miller sprinted down the steps, little yelps of pain emitting from his mouth. "Shit that stings!" he exclaimed as he hit the gravel and turned around. Frank and Regina spun their heads and looked. Shawn came bolting out of the open door, his airsoft M4 ahead of him, peppering Miller with plastic pellets. Shawn was beaming from ear to ear, laughing and shouting wildly as Miller continued his flight from the child's volley.
Frank and Regina laughed as Shawn gave chase, the sound of his toy rifle and squealing laughter heralding Miller's doom.
"Get him, Shawn, no mercy!" Regina yelled with a roaring laugh.
Miller ducked behind Frank's truck, only ten feet from porch, and Shawn halted. The young boy crouched down to see Miller's legs under the pickup. He shuffled back to the porch and knelt down behind the porch steps, facing the truck. Frank and Regina eyed the child curiously, attempting to figure out what was coursing through his young head.
Shawn lay down in the gravel and leveled his airsoft M4, carefully taking aim. Miller stayed where he was, eager to avoid direct engagement with the six year old.
Shawn giggled as he pulled the trigger of the toy, sending pellets colliding into Miller's exposed shins under the truck.
Miller jumped and ran back towards the house, yelping in pain "Damn, Frank, did you raise a kid or an insurgent!" he shouted as he ran full sprint.
Shawn stood up and jumped in the air, laughing and shouting his victory "I WIN, I WIN!"
Frank chuckled and looked at Regina, who was smiling and nodding, truthfully impressed with the child's cunning.
"Skynet beware;" she began as she looked at Frank, "the kid's a natural!"
"Well I did let him play a lot of Call of Duty before all this" Frank joked before looking to his son. "Good job, buddy! Now go apologize to Miller" he said.
Shawn nodded his head, his shaggy brown hair flying in the wind, and sprinted off after his friend and target.
"What I wouldn't do for a quarter of his energy" said Frank as he arduously limped to the door, making Regina follow him. She looked back to the firing line of refugees as she followed. Frank looked back and noted the concern on her face.
"Don't worry, Shifty and Williams got that" he assured her. She nodded reluctantly and looked at her watch. "Yeah, you're probably right, plus it's time to repack your wound" she said.
"Oh joy" Frank groaned. They had no pain medicine left and that whole process hurt like nothing Frank had ever cared to experience. "Well it's that or amputation, Mr. Madison, and I just don't think I could love a uni-leg, such shitty dancers" she joked as she helped him up the stairs and into his room.
Frank chuckled gravely as his unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants. "Ooh la la" cooed Regina with a mischievous smirk. "Oh hardy har-har, real professional" Frank chuckled as he lay down on the bed.
Regina laughed, in these moments alone with Frank she was able to be the woman she was before Judgment Day. She didn't have to bark orders, keep up morale, or dictate training. She could laugh, joke, and love her man. In these moments, she could not only experience a life that was stripped from her with a massive nuclear detonation; she could hope.
She slipped on her sterile gloves and removed the gauze that covered the wound on Frank's leg. The gash itself was still red around the edges with the string of packing gauze protruding. Regina gently gripped the packing gauze and began to pull it out. Frank inhaled sharply and grimaced as spikes of pain surged up his leg.
Regina tossed the soiled gauze into a trash can next to the bed and peered inside the wound. It was healing up well, the gash shrinking slowly. She reached into the aid kit next to bed and retrieved the bottle of gauze. She pulled a fresh strip, shorter than the last, and cut it loose with her field surgical scissors.
A cue tip securely in her fingers she gently began to ease the packing gauze into the wound. Frank jumped slightly at the fresh twinge of pain. Regina shot him a comforting look as she continued to pack the wound. Leaving a strip hanging from the crevice in the skin, she tossed the cue tip away. She grabbed a roll of dressing and cut a roll of fresh gauze. Folding it into a dense square she placed it over the wound and secured it with surgical tape.
Frank twitched involuntarily and hissed "Damn that hurts"
Regina jokingly rubbed his stomach and cooed through pursed lips "Oh, my big baby"
Frank smirked and decided to prod her with "If this is how you treated your other patients…yikes!"
Regina gasped with a grin and playfully slapped his belly "Only the cute ones" she exclaimed with a smile that displayed all teeth as she reached up to kiss him.