Chapter 12: First Hour's Lesson Plan
Their plans interrupted and Alice's libido put back under wraps, the blonde rose from the bed and started to dress in her newly cleaned clothes. She did however, for purely teasing reasons, take her sweet time to pull on every piece of black fabric. With her back turned to Claire, Alice smirked when she heard the redhead swallow.
The last article of clothing Alice had to put on was her jacket. She was quite pleased to see the tear from the piece of metal sown up correctly. What interested her more however was that the stitches somehow rested directly over her heart, almost as if her heart had finally been replaced – or had it just been taken…
She didn't worry herself over the location of her heart much and instead slipped on her holsters; her guns back in place.
Alice heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs and it was obviously K-mart trying the give the two a little better indication that they were about to be intruded upon again.
When the teen appeared in the doorway it was as if nothing had happened at all. The only person still affected by the embarrassing incident was Claire, who could hardly meet the girl's eyes.
"Let's start your lesson," Alice said to K-mart, but the redhead stopped them.
"Lesson?"
"Yeah," the blonde replied, "she asked me to teach her how to shoot."
Claire seemed immediately off put by the idea but didn't interfere. Instead she turned away from them both to look out the window.
Alice watched her for a moment, and then realized that Claire just wanted to be alone so she escorted the teen out of the one-bedroom house and into the front yard.
"You really should talk to her you know," Alice commented when they were outside.
The teen sighed. "I-I ca-can't, besides ta-talking about me is not what we came down he-here to do."
Alice nodded once and pulled out a Supergrade pistol from the holster on her lower back. She released the magazine and unloaded the cartridge in the chamber, then handed the empty weapon to K-mart. The teen looked the gun over; Alice watched with a knowing eye that she was enjoying the feel of power in her hands.
"Alight, the first thing I was taught about guns is to never aim one at something you don't intend to shoot. That is paramount, you understand?"
K-mart nodded and kept the barrel pointed down.
"Here's your safety," Alice pointed to a small switch and pushed down on it to reveal the small crimson spot it covered. "That red dot means the gun is ready to fire. If the safety is in place you won't be able to pull the trigger. This-" Alice remarked upon the button behind the trigger, "is the magazine release. The trigger is pretty self explanatory but the hammer – the lever back here," she directed the girl to it. "It will cock itself every time you pull the trigger. There's no need for that stupid, dramatic Hollywood stunt of cocking the hammer every single time you pull the gun out."
Alice repositioned the teen for a fire-ready pose by having her feet shoulder-width apart with her left foot leading her right, and then had her lean forward slightly with the gun aimed. "That's your firing stance, it's important to remain firm or a big gun will knock you on your ass." Alice circled the girl and when she was content that K-mart was standing correctly she spoke again. "To aim, align the front sight with the back. At first you'll only want to do it with one eye." K-mart nodded and Alice decided she was ready for the ammunition.
She handed K-mart the loaded magazine after making the teen put the safety back on and then had her remove and replace each bullet in it. She instructed her to count the rounds in her head so she always knew how many to go until the gun was empty.
"Load the magazine."
K-mart slipped the device into the well in the handle and slammed it in place with the palm of her hand.
"Good, now all you have to do is pull the slide back and let it go. It'll load the first bullet into the chamber and cock the hammer. Go on ahead."
The teen did as she was told and Alice looked around for something to shoot. There was a thick tree about fifteen yards out that would suit their task just fine.
Alice pointed to the tree and was so engrossed with what she was doing that she let the girl's nickname slip from her lips. "Ready, K? Aim for that tree. Take a breath, turn the safety off and exhale when you pull the trigger."
The blonde stepped out of the way and K-mart looked apprehensive now as she reset her position, and aimed for the tree. Alice watched her take a steadying breath and follow her instruction to the letter.
The mini explosion jolted the teen's arms, but she managed to hit the tree dead-center.
"Great shot, girl!" Alice congratulated K-mart with a firm pat on the back that nearly pitched the teen forward. "Empty the clip; let's see how well you do."
K-mart gave her a nod and took her time to aim and fire until there was no ammunition left. The cluster of bullets had the general quality of precision even for a novice at fifteen yards.
"Not bad," Alice commented. "Not bad at all."
"Th-thanks, Alice."
"I think we can call it day on this, but I'll find you a good gun of your own soon."
"I already ha-have one."
"Oh, what is it?"
K-mart handed Alice back her pistol and went to the back of the Hummer. Alice couldn't help but look at the destroyed Mustang further down the road as the teen dug through the back and pulled out a shotgun.
The 12 gauge was nothing special weapon-wise, but it obviously had sentimental value attached to it considering the way K-mart handled it. Alice wondered if K-mart was remembering yesterday, and thinking about all she could've done had she had a weapon of her own and known how to use it. The teen gave the pump-action to Alice as well as a few slugs.
"Watch how I do this," Alice commanded and then loaded the weapon with ease, held down the button that released the forestock to pump it and did so until every bullet was cycled through and ejected out of the gun to land at her feet.
Alice handed the shotgun to the teen and then K-mart bent to pick up a single a cartridge. The teen did exactly as Alice had, but didn't cycle it through. Instead she looked down, her long hair hiding her intent.
The blonde's eyes narrowed in suspicion; then she heard K-mart switch off the safety. What the hell is she doing?
K-mart brought the heavy gun up, aiming it at Alice's torso. The blonde snarled; she was trapped between the Hummer and the teen but not close enough to dislodge the gun before K-mart could shoot her.
Alice began to focus, hardly remembering that it was K-mart in front of her. All she knew was that there was a loaded 12 gauge shotgun aimed to blow a chunk clean out of her if she didn't do something to stop it.
The teen spoke, her stutter gone and it brought Alice back before her pupils could expand. "You taught me never to aim at something I don't intend to shoot. Well, now it's my turn to teach you a lesson."
Are you fucking kidding me right now? Alice looked into K-mart's fierce stare and immediately recognized it as Claire's own look of death. That's a little scary. K-mart wasn't joking, not in the slightest and at the teen's next words Alice knew why.
"If you hurt Claire; if you're just playing some stupid game with her affection, I swear I'll make you regret it."
Alice had moved on from wanting to defend herself to being flat out impressed that K-mart was threatening her. Kid's got fucking courage, I'll give her that. Still, no one, and Alice was absolutely adamant about that – no one bullied her without facing the consequences.
The blonde took a step forward, but K-mart remained steady. "You're brave," she commended and took another step. "But you're stupid."
Alice knocked the barrel aside with her hand and reached around so that it was caught between her right arm and upper torso. K-mart tried to yank it back but Alice already had a handgun placed to her temple as she gave her final lesson for the day.
"Ever try that shit again and you really better be ready to pull the trigger – before I do."
"Empty threat Alice, y-you're gun isn't even lo-loaded."
"But are you sure?" She smirked like a fiend. "Do you really want to take that chance?"
The blonde abruptly released the teen and re-holstered her black, empty handgun as she laughed at her called bluff, but for all K-mart knew she was just laughing manically for the hell of it. She set off for the house but she had one more thing to say to the teen.
"We'll go over the rest of the stuff you need to know about that shotgun tomorrow, and I'm still going to find you a pistol." Alice winked at the girl before she stepped inside.
Claire was still in the bedroom, not really doing anything when Alice arrived.
"How'd it go?" the redhead asked, solemn.
"She's a natural," Alice replied but it didn't seem to make Claire feel any better.
"I never wanted this for her."
"Everyone should have the right to protect themselves, Claire."
The other woman shook her head and then proceeded to explain. "That's not what I meant. I never wanted her to have to fight. She's my child, my kid-sister, my best friend…"
"She's not so little anymore," Alice thought back to her and K-mart's quarrel, "and she wants to help protect you. She needs it and so do you."
The blonde was right of course; K-mart needed to be able to defend herself and others, and Claire needed to know that the teen wasn't the same trembling girl she'd found in a store one day.
With no more delays, the three were back on the road in a matter of minutes. While Alice was happy to leave the place behind she was also apprehensive as to what awaited them. They still had about half of their journey left before they were settled in Alaska, and only the Fates knew what would happen after that.
They had just crossed over the middle of the border into British Columbia when Alice pulled over for the evening. It was certainly a beautiful night; the air was fresh and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Alice didn't look at stars often, but when she got out the vehicle to stretch her legs she was taken aback by how small the shinning lights made her feel.
Suddenly K-mart was at her side, pointing to her watch in question. The blonde didn't know why K-mart was suddenly so interested in the time, but she let her look just the same. The teen twisted Alice's wrist lightly to get a better look at the numbers and Alice hit the button to illuminate them. In an instant the teen's face lit up and she left.
Curious as to what was so fascinating Alice hit the light on her watch again. 23:59:33. She had no idea what had K-mart excited so she shrugged.
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