Mission: Insanity

Chapter 13: Imagining They'd Scare Me

"Rubber bullets," Kyle told me as he handed me a hand gun. "Not my idea, but I agree with it."

I smiled and took it from him. "Come on. I thought we were past this."

Kyle shrugged. "You've been doing great, but they want you to work with this until everyone is sure that you'll be ok with a real gun."

I spun the gun around my finger. "This is a real gun. Fake bullets."

Kyle held his hands up. "You got me there."

It had been over a year since I burned down Lab 7. Between surgeries, physical therapy and mental therapy, I had a busy time. I don't even remember most of the details, but Kyle had taken it upon himself to make sure I got through everything.

He didn't say this, but I could tell he was angry at Nathan and Chelsea. After all, it was their job to look after me and look what happened. But I could also tell that he was mad at himself.

I couldn't tell if he was mad at me.

"So how come Agent Katherine thinks I can handle a gun but won't let me near a pool?" I asked.

Kyle shrugged. "Bad memories? I don't ask her the details."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you do. You literally always do."

"I do not!" he said back in fake shock.

"Remember that time when you were banned from missions for a week because you went crazy on her?"

Kyle didn't respond. I realized what I said.

"I'm grateful that you did that, really. But I'm just proving a point."

"Let's see how you do," Kyle said as he motioned to the target on the wall. "I'll do it with you." He pulled out his own gun.

"But you get real bullets."

He nodded. "Sorry, Brookie. Rules are rules."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I positioned my feet, which was harder than before because of my leg brace, but I was doing much better controlling it. My mile time was now under 10 minutes, which was huge for me. Everything else was slowly improving too. It was forecasted that if my improvement continued at this rate, I would be able to go on my first mission in less than a year.

I released the safety on the gun and pulled the trigger. The rubber bullet made its impact a little bit to the left of the bull's eye. I took a deep breath through my nose and sighed. The smell from the gunpowder lingered for a second. The smell of the smoke.

Kyle raised his gun and took his shot. He had the real bullets in his and it hit right in the center of the target.