stammered, completely lost in what she was referring to.
“What I said on the radio, I mean.…” she tried again, babbling slightly as she led me into a question that sounded like telling her how I had no idea what she was talking about was not going to be a good answer.
I could have just blown it off with a generic in-definitive answer, but she had been through a lot today and I wanted to hear what she had to say. “To be honest with you my radio was cutting out and I didn’t quite catch everything you said,” I lied.
Maybe she didn’t press the button on her radio hard enough, but I sure hadn’t heard anything over my own.
“O h okay, well never mind then,” she dismissed, her emotional walls obviously going up.
“No really, what was it? Your brother? Shooting those guys?” I tried one after the other.
“Just something that was easier to say when you weren’t right in front of me I guess,” she shied away.
“Well if you want to talk...” I offered, and then changed gears slightly, “And I do want to thank you for coming out here with me, it was a big help having you… having someone here.”
“No problem, I kind of enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s nice to get way from everything else,” she responded, and then began walking back in the direction of the houses, effectively ending the discussion.
I switched my gun to hold it in my left hand and used my right to pull my radio out of its pouch, as if physically looking at it was going to give me a clue of what it was that she was talking about. That’s when I realized the damn thing was still turned off.
The walk back was quiet, and I had to put the confusing conversation out of my mind. I was pretty well convinced that there was no one else out here, yet I was still keyed up and on guard. After a while I began to relax and Breanne and I started talking about the day’s events and what changes might be needed.
Breanne had done well, but it was obvious that even she needed more than the little bit of instruction that I had given on firearms. It was time for them all to graduate from elementary school and make the leap all the way to the Junior High of Fighting with Firearms.
Chapter 9
Everyone was still buzzing around when we got back to the main house. Breanne immediately went to check on her kids and I stopped long enough to make sure no one had been hurt. Megan stood leaning against the picnic table next to me as I explained what I could to David, and simultaneously tried to calm Sue down over the whole situation.
They were freaked out and it was hard to blame them. I offered what I could and in the meantime Nick and Andrew returned and had just as many questions as everyone else. Apparently Paul was back “staying to watch over his house,” which was fine by me.
After telling a sanitized version of the events all over again, I recommended that the guys grab some fuel cans and head back to the abandoned truck to see what they could salvage… after some more shovel work.
I stayed long enough to help bury the three that had made it close to the house in one mass grave; it was early afternoon before we were ready to head out again. I was actually anxious to get back to my place for another re-supply of my own gear, but now I also wanted to pick out a few other guns to bring back to the Ranch. While I really did figure on this being an isolated incident, it was clear that we needed to ramp up everyone’s ability to counter this type of threat.
My plan had been to send Nick, Jake and Andrew out, but after a little unbecoming pleading from the younger guys, I decided to join them. Before we left, I sat down again with David and drew up some target stands for him to build with the scrap wood and other materials he had around the house. I was planning a very extensive training curriculum now that their eyes were a bit more open and their willingness to learn had been ramped up a few notches.
“What I said on the radio, I mean.…” she tried again, babbling slightly as she led me into a question that sounded like telling her how I had no idea what she was talking about was not going to be a good answer.
I could have just blown it off with a generic in-definitive answer, but she had been through a lot today and I wanted to hear what she had to say. “To be honest with you my radio was cutting out and I didn’t quite catch everything you said,” I lied.
Maybe she didn’t press the button on her radio hard enough, but I sure hadn’t heard anything over my own.
“O h okay, well never mind then,” she dismissed, her emotional walls obviously going up.
“No really, what was it? Your brother? Shooting those guys?” I tried one after the other.
“Just something that was easier to say when you weren’t right in front of me I guess,” she shied away.
“Well if you want to talk...” I offered, and then changed gears slightly, “And I do want to thank you for coming out here with me, it was a big help having you… having someone here.”
“No problem, I kind of enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s nice to get way from everything else,” she responded, and then began walking back in the direction of the houses, effectively ending the discussion.
I switched my gun to hold it in my left hand and used my right to pull my radio out of its pouch, as if physically looking at it was going to give me a clue of what it was that she was talking about. That’s when I realized the damn thing was still turned off.
The walk back was quiet, and I had to put the confusing conversation out of my mind. I was pretty well convinced that there was no one else out here, yet I was still keyed up and on guard. After a while I began to relax and Breanne and I started talking about the day’s events and what changes might be needed.
Breanne had done well, but it was obvious that even she needed more than the little bit of instruction that I had given on firearms. It was time for them all to graduate from elementary school and make the leap all the way to the Junior High of Fighting with Firearms.
Chapter 9
Everyone was still buzzing around when we got back to the main house. Breanne immediately went to check on her kids and I stopped long enough to make sure no one had been hurt. Megan stood leaning against the picnic table next to me as I explained what I could to David, and simultaneously tried to calm Sue down over the whole situation.
They were freaked out and it was hard to blame them. I offered what I could and in the meantime Nick and Andrew returned and had just as many questions as everyone else. Apparently Paul was back “staying to watch over his house,” which was fine by me.
After telling a sanitized version of the events all over again, I recommended that the guys grab some fuel cans and head back to the abandoned truck to see what they could salvage… after some more shovel work.
I stayed long enough to help bury the three that had made it close to the house in one mass grave; it was early afternoon before we were ready to head out again. I was actually anxious to get back to my place for another re-supply of my own gear, but now I also wanted to pick out a few other guns to bring back to the Ranch. While I really did figure on this being an isolated incident, it was clear that we needed to ramp up everyone’s ability to counter this type of threat.
My plan had been to send Nick, Jake and Andrew out, but after a little unbecoming pleading from the younger guys, I decided to join them. Before we left, I sat down again with David and drew up some target stands for him to build with the scrap wood and other materials he had around the house. I was planning a very extensive training curriculum now that their eyes were a bit more open and their willingness to learn had been ramped up a few notches.
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