Search and rescue

"Don' hit it that hard ya fool!" a rash voice shouted.
It was almost afternoon in the wasteland and Gregory was helping Frederick in his workshop.
Frederick Davis, the older brother of Joshua, used to work in the military's R&D department before the war broke out and he was a huge gun nerd. Now he runs the settlement's workshop, making armor, weapons, bullets, and all sorts of equipment. This job was necessary for the people of the settlement because they had to constantly defend themselves from giant insects and other human factions who sought after their destruction.
"But you told me to hit it harder a moment ago..." Gregory sounded defeated.
"Well, yar right about that but I didn't mean that hard!" It seemed to Gregory that no matter what he did it was never enough to satisfy this old man.
Right now they were using scrap metal to make a chest armor plate, and Gregory was trying to hit the piece of metal properly with the hammer that Frederick had given him.
"Ahh, okay just stand to the side and watch me do it for now, I'll give ya a pass now since you've never done this before."
 
Frederick was considerably shorter than his younger brother Joshua. He was wearing a dirty white tank top shirt and blue jeans. His bald head almost blinded Gregory whenever he look at him, though he tried not to show that. His facial features where harsh and it looked like he was grumpy all the time due to the expression on his face.
And so Gregory followed his orders and just watched him work for now.
Next time I'll do it properly, for sure!
After the initial shock of arriving to this harsh and unforgiving world, Gregory now had a more optimistic view of things.
The living conditions naturally couldn't hold a candle to his life in Nemesia but the kindness and attitude of the people here made it bearable. 

***

"Sonny, get over here for a second would ya?" Joshua called out to him from the main building's entrance.
"Don't come stealing my apprentice now, Josh!" Though it didn't look like it, Frederick had taken a liking to Gregory. He reminded him of his own kid and how he used to always look at him while he was working. A slight smile appeared on his face.
"Oh relax ya grumpy ol' man it'll only be a couple of minutes."
"I'll come here tomorrow." Gregory was looking forward to proving himself to the old man.
And after saying that, he went over to the main building.

***

"Why did you bring him here, Joshua?" Said a slightly curious machine-like voice.
"Maybe he could be of help, ya never know. Besides, he ain' doin' much now anyway and I'm sure you'd like a companion for yer trips. If anything he could at least carry some stuff."
Gregory looked confused and he started scratching his head.
"Soo, what did you need me here for, sir?"
"Go on missy, let's discuss the situation at hand."
"Alright. Leon has not come back yet. I think they might have run into trouble." To the point as always.
"And what makes ya think that?"
"He always comes back on time. It's been two days."
"And what do ya reckon we could do about that?"
"I will go look for them."
"Heh, not alone you won't." Joshua glanced at Gregory.
"He will only be dead weight."
"H-huh?" Gregory wasn't sure of how to feel right now. Embarrassment was the best word to describe it.
"Oh come on, yer the one who brought em here, and like I said he could at least carry some stuff, what're ya gonna do when you find Leon's team and find out half of them are injured so they cant move the cart back?"
"..."
"See? Listen to the old man sometimes Missy."

***

It was almost night and most of the people had started gathering inside the sleeping quarters.
"Follow me." Astrea commanded Gregory.
"Huh? To where."
She just doesn't like giving explanations...
They made their way to the firing range, located to the right of the main entrance of the settlement.
The "targets" where roughly the shape of a human and made out of cheap wood, full of holes. They've probably been used for a while.
"Do you know what this is?"
"A gun. Come on I'm not that stupid!"
"Do you know how to use it?"
"Ehmm..." Well now I feel stupid
"Watch my hands."
She proceeded to flip a lever, most likely the safety, and pull the trigger while aiming at a target.
Bang
A small dent appeared on the head part of the target.
Astrea's bolt action rifle looked ancient compared to modern weaponry. Gregory assumed that was because they didn't have enough of the newer guns to give to everyone and she just got the short end of the stick. It was made out of old wood and steel and it did not have a scope on it.
"It's simple. Now you do it."
She passed him a similar rifle that was sitting down on the ground and against the wall.
"Why... are you showing me this?" As if it wasn't obvious.
"You are coming with me tomorrow. We need to find Leon and his team."
"I..." Can't.
He was about to say something, as unpleasant pictures of giant cockroaches entered his mind but then he remembered the only reason he was here for.
"Alright."
He took the rifle, aimed at the target, and fired.
A body shot, in the upper torso area.
"Good enough."
After that, Astrea proceeded to show him how to reload and un-jam the weapon.

"Why are we using wooden bullets?" A good question.
"This is training. We should not waste good ammo for this." And a great answer.
"Hey, uhmm, how come you are so good at this?" Astrea was not really a conversationalist so Gregory always tried his best when talking to her.
"..."
"O-Oh, ehh you don't have to answer!"
She gazed into the sky, as if she was trying to remember something that had happened long ago.
"My father taught me. We went hunting a lot."
"Oh, that's good to hear. My old man didn't teach me much, heh."
"Tomorrow I will wake you up early in the morning if you haven't already gotten up. We need to leave quickly."
And with that they went inside the makeshift hotel and had dinner with everybody else.
The menu was the same as yesterday's.

Gregory had trouble sleeping as that terrible memory was still floating around in his head, almost like his mind was trying to tell him something. The thought that tomorrow he would have to go out of the settlement's safety also did not help.

***

Morning.
"Get up."
"Agh! O-Oh okay."
A weird figure poked his chest with the back part of a rifle, whispering to him with a soft yet stoic voice to wake up.
"And don't shout like that. The others are asleep."
It was time to go.