EMP Catastrophe | Book 2 | Erupting Danger Hamilton, Grace (ebook reader color screen txt) 📖

the gun back together, reloaded the bullets, and handed it to Matthew. Matthew took it silently and realized he’d been holding his breath throughout the demonstration— terrified Jade would turn the gun on him.

Patton nodded, as if hanging on her every word.

“All right, let’s talk shooting,” Jade said. “Each gun is different. The shotgun you have to brace and hold because it’s so much larger than a handgun. The handgun you have to hold out steady in front of you. You’ll aim using the sight, but don’t ruin your vision by closing one eye. Keep both of them open and focus through the notch. You’ll have to practice, but once you figure out how a gun aims, you can figure out if you need to aim a little bit above or a little bit below to hit your target. Patton, want to try first?”

She passed the Glock to Patton, and he took up a stance with the gun held out in front of him. Jade corrected him, showing him how to cup the gun with two hands, cradling the bottom and wrapping a hand around the handle. Once she was satisfied, he tried to dry fire. Click, click, click.

“Awesome,” he said, handing the gun to Allison.

“Okay,” Jade said, helping Allison readjust her stance. “You’re doing great. Just keep your legs bent and slightly apart. Don’t lock your knees. Now take a deep breath. When you put your finger on the trigger, you’ll want to squeeze it. Not sharp and fast—you’ll naturally want to pull up if you pull the trigger too quickly—but like you’re testing the ripeness of a fruit. Don’t want to bruise it.”

Allison obeyed Jade’s instructions. Matthew frowned and couldn’t help but notice the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.

“I know it’s counterintuitive,” Jade said. “Everything about guns makes people think it should be fast, but in reality, it’s all about building that slow confidence to be accurate and precise. Only then will the speed grow. Go ahead. Dry fire whenever you’re ready.”

Allison nodded and took a deep breath. Time passed without her pulling the trigger. Matthew studied her as she adjusted and readjusted her stance, watched her fingers curl around the trigger and then retract. Patton looked up at him in annoyance, as if he wanted to take the gun from her and prove he could do it better. Matthew held out his hand as if to ask for patience. Let her do this on her own terms.

For some reason, it seemed like this was important to Allison. As if mastering the gun might help her master whatever demons she kept locked tight inside.

Finally, Allison took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The gun clicked in her hands. The rest of her breath cascaded out of her in a whoosh, as if she was expecting something else to happen. She handed the gun to David. For some reason, she was shaking. Matthew couldn’t understand why.

After they’d each had a turn, Jade taught them how to holster and unholster the gun without catching it on anything and while keeping the safety on at all times. Matthew felt like they were in the wild west, especially when Patton shot him a wide grin, whipped out the gun, pointed it at the tin can, and said, “Hands to the sky.”

“Focus,” Jade chided gently.

Matthew was impressed with Jade’s teaching ability. Beneath the rough and tough young woman was a softness for his children and a natural aptitude for education. At last, Matthew and Jade decided it was time to put their hard-won skills to the test.

“Each one of us will get to shoot two rounds,” Jade said as she handed out the Glock bullets. “Two bullets each.”

Matthew let his clink together in his palm. They looked so small. He had another moment of awe where he considered how something so compact could be used to create so much damage.

Jade motioned for Allison to join her. Together, they went through the motions of ejecting the magazine and slotting in the bullets. Jade was in the middle of explaining the mechanics when a sudden scream cut through the air.

Matthew whipped around to see Kathleen bolt out of the hotel’s front door and down the porch steps. Her eyes looked wild like a skittish horse. She pointed toward the tree line and screamed, “Matt, they’re here! I saw them, they’re here watching us!”

“Get behind me,” Jade commanded and pushed the children behind her. She turned toward the fence as if prepared to defend the hotel to the death. Matthew grabbed the shotgun and sprinted for the fence with David hot on his heels. He waited for gun-toting maniacs to emerge from the woods, or an army commanded by Samuel West to attack them at their most vulnerable, or maybe even the whole town had come together, determined to kick the Rileys out…

He shook his panicked thoughts away as he reached the fence. Propping the shotgun into his armpit, he surveyed the tree line with a critical eye. The gun was loaded, and he was ready to defend his home no matter what came for them. The footprints he’d seen yesterday flashed through his mind. Whoever it was had returned.

David breathed heavily beside him and said, “Matt, are you sure this isn’t an over-exaggeration? Is Kathleen imagining it all?”

“I saw footprints in the mud yesterday,” Matthew said. The shadows seemed to taunt him. “Kathleen’s not crazy, Dad. She’s not making anything up.”

David went silent. Another darker shadow darted off in the distance, looking like a man ducking into the brush. Matthew didn’t hesitate. He took aim and fired.

The bullet exploded out through the shadow and kicked up a puff of dirt. The shot echoed around them. There wasn’t anything there. Matthew lowered the gun, feeling unmoored. He’d shot at nothing.

“Stop,” David hissed, grabbing the gun and removing it from Matthew’s grip. “There’s nothing there,” he said angrily. “You’ve wasted a bullet because you’re imagining things.”

“I thought I saw something,” Matthew said, but