ZRP-2: Chapter 4, Backtracking

Mira jumped up.
"Let's go!"

Eve shrugged. "I justneed some more practice..."

(Andrew)

=I blink, a bit surprised at her reaction=

Well, then...Let's get to it.

=I take her hand and head towards the stadium, the most likely place any shooting range would be=

(Sam)
"Well, looks like you'll get some practice in today."
=Reaching the stadium, I now realized that the only thing I had to go on was a guess, about where the shooting range really was. Best I could figure was that they had something set up in the stadium itself, on the field. But again, that was just a guess=

Eve blinked. "We could stop and ask for directions."

(Andrew)

=Now that we were headed in the direction of the stadium, it was a bit of guess work as to where it might be=

Well...there's that possibility of it NOT being at the stadium...

=I looked around, sort of confused as to where we might go=

(Sam)
"Well, there's a saying: It's more about the journey, not the destination."
=Translation, I didn't have a clue of where to go, but I wasn't asking for directions out of pride. Besides, I kinda liked walking around, and it was a big place=

"I believe that is about love. Stop being General Shang and ask for directions. We don't have Yao anywher to appear and tell us where our destination is." Eve quipped.

Mira smiled silentky as she walked with Andrew

(Sam)
=I waved a hand around us at the vacant hallway=
"You see anyone to ask?"

"We could always go back outside and talk to someone. Wont kill you to backtrack if necessary. Excercise is good for you."
Eve giggled.

(Sam)
"You calling me fat? Look, all we need to do is follow the signs, find a way into the stadium itself, and just climb on down to the field."

"Nope. Calling you lazy." Eve said, deadpan.

(Sam)
"Well you got me there."
=We walked through an entryway into the stadium. My god, it was huge inside. Row upon row of seats lined the stands, going up from the field to the ceiling. The vip boxes were all dark, empty. Litter was all over the place, though not in large piles. And in the field, I could see that we were definitely in the right place. A large shooting range had been set up, sandbags lined up in a short wall, tables set with weapons on them, and targeting dummies, recycled from those things football players ram themselves into, were lined at the far end at varying distances=

"Looks like we found it."

Eve shrugged. "Lucky. Let's go."

(Andrew)

=I made my way to the stadium with Mira, coming in through the entryway and making our way through the labyrinthine upper part of the stadium, looking for anything that resembled a range=

C'mon...show me a sign here...

=As we made our way, we could see the field, and what looked like improvised target dummies had been lined up, and tables had been put up in a rough improvisation of a firing range=

There it is...now let's go.

(Sam)
=We walked down the steps towards the field. Granted, we would have to jump down onto the field, but I doubted it would be that bad=
"Hopefully, they're good with us using the field."

"We saved them from Shepherds, Walkers, Jonah, and soon Raiders. If they have a problem, we can let them do everything themselves." Eve said.

(Sam)
=Out of everything I had heard that day, that alone was enough to make me bark out a laugh=
"Yeah, I guess so."

=We got to the bottom, and I was the first to jump down=
"Think you can make it with the hand?"

I had made my way to the Arch because of boredom. It's kind of my place of thinking now. Seeing the crops wave in the breeze.
The sun shining down on them, on me. Nothing but the sound of the wind.
I'd say it's peaceful, wouldn't you say?

Eve looked at the edge, then smiled.
"Catch me?" She tried.

(Andrew)

=I make my way down towards the field, briefly imagining what it was like here back before Judgement Day=

It must've been a packed house here...and cheering must've been deafening...

=I then make it to the bottom, jumping down from the edge=

C'mon down...I'll catch ya.

(Sam)
"Eve, no. If I try to catch you chances are I'm going to collapse under you. See what you can do without my help."
=It may have also been my way of teaching her to rely on herself. But seriously, after the candy she stuffed down her throat I'd be surprised if she didn't gain a few extra pounds=


--South of Missouri--

=The Pariah and a small group of Shepherd soldiers, each armed to the teeth, were gathered at a radio tower. It was one of many the Shepherds controlled, their means of communicating with the other groups across the country. While his men waited outside, the Pariah conversed with some of the other groups in the region. There were groups outside Kansas City, Indianapolis, and even Chicago. Chicago was the last one he conversed with, and with good reason. The Pariah was not exactly one for the recruiting center that had been established there. After all, if the whole world hates you why would they flock to a recruitment center? But even he had to admit that at the very least, they got fresh troops. Though from what he had heard, the center had hardly reached its quota=

"Fine."
Eve tied some rope to an arrow, shot it into the ground a bit away, tied it to the railing, then jumped with her pistol, ziining down. She hit the ground and rolled, coming up and dusting herself off.
"Shall we?"

(Sam)
=I eyed the girl warily=
"Where were you hiding rope?"

(James)
=So we sat there for nearly thirty minutes, until I decided to get up=
"Do you think they have any boats here?"

"Maybe." Hibiki said.

Eve raised an eyebrow. "Side of the quiver." She said.

(Sam)
"Does it have a hidden compartment or something?"
=Still, I shook my head and turned back to the firing range. There were some guards there that saw us, but didn't seem to mind our arrival. And maybe, just maybe, I thought I saw Andrew and Mira, over on the other side. I ignored them=

(James)
"Heh, maybe we can use that as an advantage or something. If there's a big enough boat and some fuel, we could drop some people off behind the raiders."

Eve shook her head and followed Sam.

Hibiki nodded. "Or drive the tank onto one and show them some real naval support."

(James)
=Grinning, I shook my head=
"I doubt there's a boat around that could hold the tank."

=I started walking back, hoping she would follow=
"Coming?"

(Sam)
=I nodded at the two guards, and they seemed to find that acceptable enough to let us use the weapons. Not that there were many here, most of them were very basic. So I pulled out my pistols, and the Winchester rifle=
"Okay Eve, show me what you got."

Hibiki jumped up and followed.

Eve set her pistol to the side, then started taking deep breaths.
Her bow went up, and she let her arrows fly. Once she was done, all arrows she fired wither hit the heart or head. Some arrows fought for the same spot in the dummies.

Mira jumped

(Andrew)

=I catch Mira as she jumps down, resisting the urge to comment on her weight=

Remember...It's a touchy thing, Andrew...

=I then lead Mira to a firing lane, picking up a .22 rifle for her to try out=

Now...we're just going to start light and get a bigger weapon as we go, okay?

(Sam)
"Not bad Eve. But we're not here to work on your archery skills, we're here to work on your skills with a gun. Start with the pistol, and aim at the nearest target. Aim for the head, or chest."

(James)
=We walked back to the main part of the compound, and that was when I heard it....the sound of gunfire, coming from the wall. It wasn't like gunfire during an assault, simply one or two sharp barks of gunfire, like thunder=
"Oh man, what is it now? Should we worry?"

Eve ran out to retrieve her arrows, then returned to scoop her pistol up. Taking aim, she fired at the chest. Out of five shots, only one hit the heart. She could aim, but not well. At least no shots completely missed the target.

Hugging Andrew, Mira grinned. "Thanks for catching me Andy."

(Sam)
"Not bad. Try not to fire too quickly though. Remember, conserve your ammo, and pick your shots; only fire when you know you have the shot."
=For an example, I picked up my own pistol, and very carefully, I took aim and squeezed off three shots. My firing rate was steady, and I hit three targets in the chest=

Eve nodded, and did as told. She got one in the chest and twonin the shoulder. "Like that?"

Hibiki sighed. "Probably some walkers."

(Sam)
"Better. The chest shot will kill if you got the right spot, and the shoulders will remove their ability to use a gun. Now, try for a headshot, for walkers."

(James)
"Probably.....still, since we're heading back, might as well check right?"

(Allie)

The gun shots, being near, woke me up and had me rolling out dressed with my rifle in hand in moments.

"What's going on? "

=By the gates themselves, two of the guards on the wall were firing their weapons. Simple rifles in hand, they merely picked off a group of walkers. In a way, they were toying with them, like a cat with a mouse. Some were even making bets on where they could hit the walkers, which part they could blow off=

(Andrew)

=I turn red briefly=

Not a problem.

=I place the rifle on the table=

Now...Let's just see how good your aim is.

(Allie)

I climb up the wall with my rifle shouldered.

"Seems like a waste of bullets.. let them go fall in the river or something. ."

*Guards*
=He paid Ace no mind, though he wore a cocky grin as he fired off another shot=
"And miss out on the chance to improve my aim? Perish the thought. Right knee cap!"

=He fired, and the right knee of one of the walker exploded in gore and bits of bone, and suddenly the body fell, still crawling pathetically on the ground=

(Allie)

I roll my eyes.

"Shoot out his eyes if you got skill."

*Guard*
=Three seconds later, he did just that. Both eyes of the rear zombie, and the poor thing flailed pathetically, blind=
"If you want I can take his nutsack off as well."

(Allie)

I laugh.

"I would like to see you try, hes moving to much to get a proper shot off."

*Guard*
"Well then why don't you shoot it off, grab a little souvenir?"
=As he spoke though, he fired another shot, putting the blind walker out of its misery=

(Allie)

I watch the corpse fall.

"I got enough balls, more than half the men here."

*Guard*
=He laughed as he loaded a fresh clip into his gun=
"Oh really?"

=The second he said 'really' he fired another shot, and it hit a walker in the crotch. He had used hollow-point rounds, and the area he shot erupted in a very small explosion of blood, clothing, and small bits of flesh=

"Why not." Hibiki said.

Eve took aim, but the gun slipped. Instead...she zhot where the dummy's balls would have been.
"Um...uhhh...oops?"

(Allie)

I cringe at the sight.

"You really like blowing their nuts off..."

(James)
=With that, we walked in the direction of the gates. It was only then that I realized we were unarmed, so if it was anything to worry about....well, you didn't get far in this world without being clever and resourceful=

(Sam)
=I could practically hear the guards behind us wince in sympathetic pain=
"Well, that's one way to keep guys away from you."

*Guards*
"Actually I think that one was a girl.....I mean, looks a little bit flat chested."

(Allie)

I squint out at the zombie.

"That would hurt. Try shooting off all their fingers."

*Guard*
"You've got a gun, why don't you try shooting them?"
=Still, he aimed for the hand. His shot though missed by an inch=

(James)
=We got to the wall, and I could see Ace standing on top with some guards. It looked like the guards were having fun=
"Everything alright?"