Practice

“Makoto, you surviving?” Rei waltzed into the medbay as the lights dimmed for the night.

Time passed by slowly here; just two days felt like an eternity in this jungleish bunker. There was nothing like a window here. Without the changing of the lights, it’d be impossible to know something like the time.

I’d been resigned to the medical wing after talking with everyone. Well, wing was a liberal term. It was more like a large storage closet. Beds crammed the left side of the wall, with medical equipment taking all the empty space. Just walking through the narrow path was a challenge in itself, much more with my slightly damaged legs.

“Barely. There's just so much to do in here; I can't keep up with it all!”

He chuckled. “Well, I hate to take you away from your busy schedule, but I got something to show you.”

Rei made his way towards the back and grabbed one of the wheelchairs lined against the wall, wheeling it back with a bit of difficulty. “Hop on.”

With I sigh, I heaved myself off the hard brick they called my mattress and settled myself down. It still took a second to contemplate how necessary the chair was. Looking down and feeling confident was easy and fun! The floor pressed against my face after making an attempt to walk was not.

Rei pushed open the medical doors as noise polluted the air. Gear shifted around left and right, people moving every which way. People went out of our path as Rei pushed me along, solving themselves against the counters on either side.

“Where are we heading anyway?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” That was the Rei I knew.

It always astonished me how big this place really was. Despite the low ceilings, the floor seemingly stretched on for miles, all covered to the brim. Very few areas were open in the slightest, and less had a sense of privacy.

That was the one good part of being confined to the med bay; at night, it was just me and my thoughts.

Rei pushed me through one of the silver doors, unmarked like all the rest. “Good job taking the bag with you.”

“I wouldn't leave it for the world.” Inside were a few necessities Rei had given me, along with a certain black weight that never left my mind.”

“Good, you’ll need it where we're going.”

“Which is where?”

“You’ll see.” Damn, could even get him to mix up his wording. Was a little hint too much to ask for?

As we went along, company slowly became more and more sparse before it was just us within the concrete hallway. Rei pushed me along through twists and turns, indistinguishable from one another. Who knew how long it would take to escape from here without Rei.

“And your patience shall be rewarded.” We passed through a pair of steel double doors into a room unlike any other.

“What the…” The floor stretched on for over an acre on either side with little in the way. A row of targets stretched out against the opposing wall, bullet holes lining the inner rings. Near us lay the cause.

Rows upon rows of guns in various shapes and sizes. There were pistols out the wazoo, more assault rifles than I could count, and even a few heavy machine guns lined against the wall.

“You guys could start a full out war with this much gear.”

“Maybe, but that's not our purpose, not yet anyway.”

“You make it sound like that could change.” I thought allowed.

“Who knows. The people here aren't ready yet Makoto. Years upon years of Fides rule have slowly eaten away at their resistance, making them docile. My bosses over in South Korea have us smuggling those who want an escape for a reason, they are part of the overall plan.”

“What plan?”

“To end Fides once and for all, specifically their neutrality. Sure South Korea cares about the people and all, but that's not the real reason. Japan takes up a very precarious spot, one South Korea and their allies would like back within their circle, as it once was.”

“You’re talking about SALO, right?”

“Bam, you just hit the nail on the head. But we're not here for some messy politics; we're here to train!” His face turned into a menacing grin.

“Train with… what?” It was the gun, wasn't it?

“That sleek pistol of yours, of course.” Yep, it's the pistol. “Now get the gun, and I'll grab a few rounds off the shelf.”

He wheeled me over towards the range before heading to the rows of equipment. I reached into my sack, slowly moving my hand through the mess of junk until a smooth metal collided with my palm.

The bringer of death appeared from within the darkness, sleek with a silvery cover made of solid steel.

“I'm going to make the assumption that you've never shot a gun Makoto, or even touched one.”

“You’d be right. Not all of us are running government backed rebellions in our free time.”

“Really? I had no idea!” He tossed me a cartridge of ammo and grabbed my handles. “Well, I can’t say it's that complicated. I can't really give you a first hand experience until your running through the halls during the mission.”

“Running? How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll find out.”

“Ok?”

“Anyway, it's pretty simple. You see that lever on the side of the gun? That's the safety lever. Just switch that off for now and insert the cartridge into the gun.”

“If you say so…” I slid the cartridge into the smooth metal, slick as butter. There it was, fully formed. With a flick of the safety lever, the gun had transformed. What used to be a chunk of metal because a fully formed bringer of death, the gun had grown to its final form.

“Now, take the gun and point it towards the target. When you're ready, pull the trigger.”

I listed, pointing the silver barrel towards the targets forty meters away. My fingers trembled as Rei gripped the wheelchair, preventing me from flying back from the knockback.

“Here we go.” I muttered under my breath. The base went quiet just then, my heartbeat echoing through the room.

One second passed

Then another.

“Boom”