Kidnapped

Chapter 19

(Jason's POV)

"What the hell are we doing here, Lucy?" I snap at her. I instantly regret it as I think about the past few days.

"I'm 21 now. I can get my own handgun if I want to, okay?" She snaps back, but with more force.

I sigh and nod. Hopefully the gun will give her a sense of protection. Though I can protect her perfectly. She gets out of the car without another word and walks up to the door. I follow her and we walk in. As we enter, all eyes turn to us. It starts out with a few small claps which eventually erupt into loud cheering.

I stand a foot away from Lucy as she looks around, her eyes tear filled. The cheering goes on for about two minutes before it dies down. People come to her and hug her and tell her how brave she is and that she's a survivor. She recoils at some of the men, but hugs them either way.

She smiles at them each time and thanks them. Tears course down her face as she smiles a genuine smile. After the whole store has hugged her and talked to her, they all go back to what they were doing, smiling lightly and talking about how brave she was.

We walk up to the counter and we're greeted by a pudgy man with a long beard. "Hello, Lucy. What can I do for you?" The man asks in a thick southern accent.

"I would like to get a handgun and a shotgun." She states simply.

"I need your ID and have you had any experience with handling a gun?" Lucy pulls out her ID, which the police made for her, as she tells the man what he needs to know.

"When my father wasn't an ass, he would take me out hunting and to targeting ranges." She frowned deeply at the metion of her father from her own lips.

The man sighs and nods. You could tell that Lucy and him naturally knew each other. He walked to the back to do whatever and left Lucy and I in an uncomfortable silence. It shouldn't be like this.

"I don't blame you." I whisper.

"What?" She looks up at me questioningly.

"I don't blame you for wanting not only a handgun, but a shotgun as well. Do you think I can't protect you?" My voice is weak and pathetic, proving how I probably can't protect her as well as a gun could.

"It's not that you can't keep me safe, it's that it's a sense of security, you know? That I could pull it out when I need it and feel safe." She sighed heavily.

"I get it." I told her.

She looks away when the man comes back. "Okay. Since everything that's been going on, I'll let you and this young man come in the back and pick your choosing. You can fire them at some targets I have set up." Lucy nods and she takes my hand and we follow the man to the back.

We arrive in a large room full of guns. Lucy walks up and down the aisles before she stops suddenly. She's looking at a Beretta M9 on the third shelf. It's in its holster and she picks it up carefully. She puts it on her jeans and moves down to the aisle of shotguns.

She stops at a Winchester Model 70. She picks that one up and hands it to me. I wait for her and she walks back to the man.

"Ah the Winchester and Beretta. Okay lets go." He leads us to a door that's marked, "AMMO". He dissappears and comes back moments later with two different sized boxes. We go to a room marked "FIRING RANGE" and wait as Lucy loads up both guns.

She puts the Beretta to the side and waits for the man. The man goes to the range and sets up a Cinderblock with a jug of water behind it. I wait and twiddle my thumbs as the man comes back. Lucy unlocks the safety on the gun and pulls back the bolt.

The gun clicks and she lines up her target. After seconds looking through the scope, she fires. It shatters the cinderblock and bursts the jug. The kick doesn't seem to phase Lucy as she stares blankly at the explosion.

She picks up the next gun and waits for the man to set up the stuff. He puts up a dummy and puts on the targets. Head and chest. Lucy lines up her target and fires four shots. She hits the dummies chest and his head, two shots each. I watch in amazement as she loads her clip and continues to fire.

Before she can reload, I shout, "Lucy! I think he's dead!" She looks at me and I notice her tear stained face. I sigh and put the gun aside and bring her into my arms. She cries silently, but quickly composes herself.

We walk back to the front of the store and wait for the man to get the necessary paperwork. When he comes back with it, Lucy sits down on a chair and gets to work.

After about 15 minutes of paper signing, Lucy is finished. She gives the man the papers and after another five minutes, we're heading back to the car. Lucy has the Beretta on her jeans and she puts the Winchester in the trunk.

"Do you want to come with me to the firing range? I can get us a private area." Lucy mumbles, looking out the window.

I don't hesitate to say, "Yes, I'm coming." She nods and starts the car. We speed away from the Guns and Ammo store and to wherever this firing range is.

After 30 minutes of driving, we arrive at a small store with fields and trees surrounding it. We get out of the car and Lucy walks up to the store while I get the Winchester.

I meet her inside where she's already scheduling where we'll be and who with. We're assigned with a guy named Mark.

Mark leads us to his car and drives us to where we'll be shooting targets. Lucy ignores what Mark is saying and goes over to the first target.

Lucy takes her pistol from her holster and unlocks the safety. After clicking it and making sure it's loaded fully, she lines up and starts shooting. She gets all around the dummies heart until hitting the bullseye.

She never ceases to amaze me.

She loads up again and starts shooting.

It's then when I realize that maybe it's not such a good thing for Lucy to have a gun.

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