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I don’t understand it, but I don’t question it either. Following his instructions, I fire.
The sound scares the shit out of me every time I do it. Even with the earplugs in my ears, it’s deafening. I still don’t hit the can, but a chunk from the stump goes flying.
“Better,” Falk says. “Try again.”
I do, with similar results. I go through two clips of ammo and still can’t hit the damn can.
“I really am hopeless at this.”
“You just need more practice,” Falk says as he reloads the gun. “At this point, I think you could at least protect yourself at close range.”
“Yeah, I’ll just ask anyone who attacks me to stand still for a minute while I remember how to breathe.”
Falk laughs.
“Eventually, it will all be second nature. I promise.” He starts to put the gun back in my hands again, but we’re interrupted.
“Falk!”
I glance in the direction of the common area and see Caesar and Brett coming through the trees.
“Over here!” Falk calls back. “Don’t worry—Hannah doesn’t have a gun in her hands right now, so you’re safe!”
“Very funny.”
Caesar walks up to him, glances at me quickly, then takes a deep breath.
“We have a problem.”
“What’s that?” Falk asks as he checks the chamber of the gun.
“It’s Beck.”
“What’s he done now?”
“He’s not doing anything,” Caesar says. “He’s dead.”
*****
“When was the last time anyone saw him?”
We’re all gathered around the cooking fire in a circle, and Caesar seems to be in full investigative mode. He even has a pad of paper and a pen, and he makes notes as he questions everyone in the group.
“Never even met the guy,” Wayne says. “None of us did.”
“You mentioned him,” Brett says. He reaches up and rubs the little scar under his eye as he glances at me. “Never actually saw him.”
Brian and Owen all nod in agreement.
“I saw him yesterday morning, but that was it.” Sam says.
“He didn’t come to dinner last night,” Chuck says.
“I saw him coming out of the shed right before dinner,” Christine adds as she glances in my direction. “Had a bottle in his hand. Headed off through the parking lot.”
“Yeah, I saw him walking off,” Marco says. “Didn’t talk to him or anything though.”
“He’s got another apartment in one of the other buildings,” Ryan says. “That’s where I found him.”
