Locked & Loaded (Gardens to Guns #3) (Academy fanfic)

Part 36

Kota’s POV

         “Kota, you’re up!”

         I picked up my .410 and walked up to Sang. Silas and I had talked about it the other day, and I still hadn’t decided whether or not I wanted to tell her about the gun. Everyone knew about Silas’s G3 Thanatos, and we all had our favorite pistol. But the .410 was different. It was… personal. I seriously doubted if she would even touch it if she knew.

         “Sweetie, you already went over all of the parts of this shotgun. Any questions?”

         “What is it? Tell me about it.” Funny. She sounded like Raven or Mr. Blackbourne for just a second. But… what could I tell her about it?

         “It’s a Mossberg 500 .410 pump action shot gun. It holds 6 rounds. We’ll shoot slugs today because Raven doesn’t want birdshot on his range.”

         “Damn right!” Raven called from behind us.

         Sang smiled. “Anything else?” She looked at me like she knew there was more. I shook my head. Not yet.

         “You shoot a shotgun almost the same way you’d shoot a rifle. There are some differences, though. With a pump action, you have to eject and advance each round. The other difference is what the ammunition does. With a rifle, you end up with a single projectile. With a shot gun,” I pulled out a cartridge and pried it open in my hand. I held out my hand and poured the bbs into her hand. “The cartridge blows apart and these spread out.” I stuffed the cartridge back into my pocket and pulled out a spent slug. “Shotguns can also shoot these. In this case, the real difference between a rifle and a shotgun is the rifling in the barrel of a rifle.”

         She nodded, ready to get down to business. I took the bbs back from her and handed her a box of shells. I showed her how to load them. As I watched her mindful precision, I realized that I was more nervous than she was in that moment.

         “Use the same target. Those .22 holes are tiny.” I smiled down at her. She looked behind her and waited until she was sure everyone was ready. She looked back at me and smiled.

         “Do you need me to go through the process, or do you think you have this?”

         She bit her lip and thought. “I think I have this. It’s loaded, but the round isn’t chambered until I pump it, right?” I nodded. “So, pump, sight, breathe in, resight, breathe out, squeeze.” I smiled and nodded. She stepped up to the line.

         I would not lose it. I couldn’t let it affect me. I don’t even know how or why it mattered so much to me.

         She fired, then checked her shot. She looked at me, expecting a response. I looked at the target. I could clearly see the hole, low and to the left of center, but close.

         “Sweetie, you’re overcompensating. Or under. You were so worried about repeating your pattern from the .22 that you went too far the other way. You have 5 more shots, but take your time. You don’t want to overheat the barrel.”

         Watching her shoot the other five rounds, I could see her thought process. High right. High center, low center, barely low left.

         “Not bad, Sweetie. How did it feel?”

         “Different than shooting anything else. I don’t know if it was the process is different or what, but it was definitely different. Not bad, just not what I’m used to.”

         Raven laughed. “You’ve been shooting for 3 weeks. You aren’t ‘used’ to anything yet.”

         She gave him a glare that probably made North proud. “You know what I mean.”

         “I do. Couldn’t resist. Let’s take a short break. I need to return a phone call. Silas, why don’t you and Taylor set up for the next rifle.” With that, he walked off.

         Sang handed me the .410 and I gently placed it in the old case. She stood there, quietly watching. She didn’t speak until I’d secured the case and looked up at her.

         “There’s more.”

         I acted like I didn’t understand. “More what?”

         “More to that shotgun. More to the story. It’s not just any shotgun, is it?”

         I sighed. I looked up to see Silas watching us. He nodded, so I turned back to Sang. “It was my grandfather’s first shotgun. He got it right after they first came out. He was so proud of it.” I took a breath. I looked away from her. I wouldn’t be able to finish if I kept looking at her. “He loved hunting. He took me once, when I was about 9 years old. He taught me how to shoot using this gun.” I hadn’t really thought about that day often. I couldn’t let myself. “That was the last time I saw him. He died about a week later. My father didn’t want me to have the gun- thought I was too irresponsible to deal with it, but my mom held her ground for once.” I felt Sang take my hand. “She put it away and kept it for me. Once we came back from camp and I showed her that I knew gun safety, she gave it to me. It’s the only thing of my father’s family that I have or want.”

         With her free hand, Sang touched my cheek. I turned to her, and she kissed my cheek and pulled me into a hug. More times than not, it’s one of us that pulled her into a hug, but I guess she knew.

         She pulled back. “And you let me shoot it?”

         “Of course. It’s what I learned with. It’s the only shotgun I would use to teach you.” I saw Raven walking back towards us. I started to back away.

         “Kota,” Sang stopped me. “Does Jessica remember your grandfather?”

         I thought about it a moment. “I don’t think so. Why?”

         “One day, when she’s a little older, bring her out here. Tell her about him, and teach her how to shoot. I think she would like that.”

         I smiled and nodded. “You’re right. She probably would.”