BXBX NOVEL Chapter 39 - Aim
Once they had everything they needed, they moved to where the group shooting range was located. Lena had chosen the Ruger .22 because of of how easy it was to handle and the higher accuracy rate compared to the Smith & Wesson Model 29 which was her usually favorite to use.
There was an upper and lower area to the range. The top part had a closed off still-target range with glass creating an almost booth effect between each black cutout human shaped target that were positioned about 75 yards from where they were standing. The lower part was set up in a more outdoor open range style where some of the targets if desired could be activated to move and hide behind the fake obstacles that were setup to make the targets harder to hit.
Being in the shoot range, Samuel felt even less confident than he had about his decision before getting here. He had never held a gun before let alone heard anyone fire them off at such close range. Lena didn't seem at all bothered by his hesitancy as she tossed him something that looked similar to a pair of headphones to put on.
"They're to protect your ears against the sound of the gunshot. Being in such a closed space, it's going to be loud and if you're not careful, you might damage your ears." Lena explained as she put her own.
"Do I have to shoot?" He asked feeling slightly weary as he slipped the covers over his ears like he had seen her do.
"Not right away, you can watch me first and get a feel for it. You should know that this is going to be part of your training as well once we are officially engaged and you move here." She told him as she grabbed the gun out of the holster she was wearing. She double checked the safety on it and made it wasn't loaded before holding it out to him.
"Holding it and getting a feel for the gun is the first part. You can't hurt anyone with it because it isn't loaded. In order to increase your accuracy you need to get used to the weight." He carefully reached forward and took the gun from her. The weight of it was more than he hand anticipated causing him to almost drop it before he managed to gain a firmer grip on it.
Holding the gun wasn't as bad as he expected knowing that it was empty. The shining metal still looked just as intimidating to him as it did in the princess's hands. After all, it only took one shot to take a life.
He didn't hold onto it for very long before he handed it back over to her. Loading it, she motioned for him to stand behind her as she unlatched the safety on it. Shifting her position for the best aim, she got ready to fire.
He tried to brace himself for the sound that would follow her pulling the trigger, but he couldn't stop himself from flinching as the bangs range out even though they weren't aimed in his direction. The covers on his ears certainly decreased the noise, but it was still far louder than he had been expecting it to be.
The only reason why he opened his eyes to look was because he had heard Lena tsk. He had anticipated it was because she was annoyed over the fact that he had flinched and closed his eyes in response to the sound, but such was not actually the case.
The princess had made the noise because only two of the three shots she had fired had made perfect aim where the target showed the heart would be. The third not far off had hit more towards the center mass on the body. Which could still cause a great deal of damage but wouldn't kill the target.
"Two of them hit on point." He commented trying to make Lena feel better. She glanced back at him before facing forward.
"Two out of three in a real fight can be a matter of life death." She told him as she shifted her position slightly and fired the gun again. The noise was still just as loud, but he managed to not flinch as much or close his eyes. He wanted to watch her as she shot the gun to see how she held herself.
Somehow it didn't surprise him that she had such a calm look of concentration on her face as she fired the gun. The way she held the gun spoke of the confidence that she had in knowing the bullets would hit the mark where she wanted them to because she was in control of the gun. It was a level of confidence and control that Samuel couldn't quite understand but made him feel a slight level of intimidation as he wondered if she had would have this same level of indifference and composure when it came to taking the life of another.
Shooting the gun off again, she fired all except for the last bullet in the cartridge. Turning to face Samuel she motioned him over.
"It's just one shot you can take." She told him. He hesitated when she said this, still feeling confident over holding or firing the gun.
"Stop worrying so much and just come here, you're not going to hurt anyone and I'll help you figure out the right way to hold and fire it." Lena snipped at him as her impatience grew with his hesitancy.
"I'm not really sure that I am ready to do this." He told her as he walked over to her anyways. He didn't want to further annoy her but keeping his distance.
"You're just thinking about it too much. As long as you don't point it at anyone, you'll be fine. Just stand there." She motioned for him to stand where she had been a few seconds ago.
He suppressed the sigh that wanted to come out and did as she said. He couldn't share the same level of confidence she had no matter how hard he tried. Looking ahead and seeing how accurate Lena was made him feel even more nervous.
"Relax your hands or I'm not going to be able to position your grip." She told him as she took hold of his right hand and put the gun in it with her left one. She made sure that the safety was back on it beforehand to make sure that no accidents would occur. Samuel tried his best to relax his hand give her full control of it, but it was harder than he had expected to let her manipulate his fingers to grip the gun right.
It was a bit awkward because of the height difference, but Lena did her best to position Samuel's hands and arms just right while she stood behind him. It would've been easier if he was slightly shorter, but it wasn't like she could ask him to kneel or bend his legs to make up the difference since he barely knew what he was doing as it was.
"You know if you're going to do this, first thing you need to do is fix your breathing. The harder you breathe, the more the gun is going to move on you. Pay attention to my breathing and try to match it." She scolded him as she slowed down her own breathing to the level she wanted Samuel to adjust to.
It took a minute or two before his breathing even out and became at a manageable pace. She couldn't have him breathing so heavily if he actually intended to hit the target.
"Are you sure that I am going to be able to do this?" He asked uncertainly as she made him face forward and pay attention to the target while keeping his breathing even.
"If you stop fretting you will. Plus, I'll be helping you to aim so there's nothing to worry about." She replied As she shifted his position slightly again.
"Make sure to brace your feet a bit as well as your arms. Not too stiff so that you're ridge when you fire but not so soft that you lose your position from the recoil." She knew that Samuel was trying his best to do what she asked, but it wasn't easy with it being his first time.
"Now, I'm going to take the safety off and you're going to keep your finger away from the trigger until I say shoot." She told him as the gun made a click sound indicating that the safety had been removed. Samuel stopped speaking as he tried his best to just focus on what he was getting ready to do.
"Now shoot." She told him once she was certain that he was in the best position he could be. It took a second longer before he put the right pressure on the trigger and the gun went off.