Story Market Day

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
A Long Day at the Range


Veronica had a short session planned for the range. She wanted to get them out and familiarize them with the fundamentals. She didn’t want to get too deep yet until their pistols were ready. She wanted them focused on their carry guns and the other predominant pistols in the house first, then add more experience later with other possibilities.

This morning is was the M11 Sig. This is what Veronica carried as a duty weapon. She also had the other two Paige gave them. These were the ones she would train Derek and Gretchen on. That way, if it took some time for Mark to get the others done, they had pistols for them to use.

To shoot, Veronica took them out to a remote area she had hunted in many times. This public land was used by the locals as a shooting area so nothing would be out of place her bringing them here, unlike trying to do this on the range on base.

Arriving at the small turn out on the fire road, everyone began setting up a table and some targets. Well, everyone except Violet and the pups. Veronica had her scouting on the other side of the road in the tree line for game tracks. She wanted to see if this area was still a good location to come back for more meat. Violet was taking the pups with her. This would separate them from the loud sounds some, and spare their delicate ears.

Violet grabbed a small day pack and took the pups on up the hill into the treeline, disappearing quickly. As Veronica watched, she was always amazed when she saw Violet do it. Veronica was no slouch at stealth in the woods. All the hunting kept her in great practice. The issue with her comparing herself to Violet, Violet didn’t look like she was trying to be stealthy. She just was.

Gretchen and Derek were already trained in hunter safety and comfortable around firearms at the basic level. Veronica knew she was about to push them into new realms. She stood on the other side of the table facing them. A stack of magazines, ammo and two pistols were on the table between them.

“You already know how to take them apart, put them together and function check them. We did enough of that at the house. Now, we work on shooting and living with them. These are supposed to be defensive weapons. The kind you carry with you. The kind that sits under your pillow when you sleep. It moves with you room to room. Once you start carrying, you should never end up in a separate room than your pistol without a whole lot of reason and agonizing.”

“But we see you wandering around the house and I didn’t see you with a gun as you went room to room.” Derek asked, a quizzical look on his face.

“That’s because in most of the rooms I’m not wearing one in, I have a gun stashed, like the bathroom.”

“You mean you have been wearing one all the rest of the time at the house?” Gretchen didn’t sound convinced.

“Yup. All the time. It’s a habit. For many years, it’s been my job. Besides, when you are deployed, they require it, and there aren’t good places to just leave something as valuable and dangerous as a gun laying around.”

Veronica looked at their faces. They seemed to be hanging on every word. Good! This shit is important.

“Now, rule change number one for your defensive handgun. It is either stored empty, or round in chamber, safety off, ready to go. If it’s on you, it needs to be ready to do its job right away. If it’s out of your direct control, it should be empty. Period.”

“What about the safety?” Gretchen asked.

“Thousands of cops carry their pistols like this every day. You just have to be careful and not complacent. Now, I’ll walk you through your initial loading and some shooting drills.”
 
Last edited:

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Over the Ridgeline

Violet was up in the trees, just past the crest of the ridge. She was working two different things. One, she was checking the area for game for future hunts, and more importantly, working with the pups off leash in the woods.

She was amazed at how smart and trained they already were. Derek and Gretchen’s father was one hell of a trainer. Since they accepted her as one of their adults, she has been able to move forward in leaps and bounds. Every time she learns something new they already know and can do, she immediately teaches it to Derek and Gretchen. They are, after all, their dogs, not hers.

A couple of times as they went, they disturbed some small creature. The first time Violet was worried and looked at the young pair, expecting the chase instinct to kick in and needing to call them back. Instead, they followed their earlier instructions to stay with her, even though their ears and stance showed how much of a struggle it was. She praised them liberally and they continued on.

Game seemed plentiful here. Violet was able to see a ton of signs, and knew if she could see them, Veronica could find a shitload more. They were keeping an ear out as they moved along. Violet could hear the short pop of the pistols going off as the kids were learning to shoot their new pistols.

The shooting was tapering off when the dogs alerted to some other sound. Violet watched them, trying to get a direction for the noise. Finally, she could hear it too. Another vehicle was coming up the road. Something didn’t feel right. Violet felt it. The dogs felt it. They started going back towards where the others were. As they moved along, Violet pulled her tiny carbine from her day pack.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
A Bad New World

Violet saw the other vehicle at the turn out next to and blocking the two pickups they came here in. That was troublesome but not nearly as bad as the two guys holding long guns of some kind on Derek and Gretchen standing next to the folding table they were working from. On the far side of the table, down by the targets stood Veronica, her arms out to her sides, her hands empty.

Violet looked from the group down there and then to the dogs next to her. She needed a plan. Crap! She scanned the slop she would need to cover to get closer. If she went too close, she would make too much noise. Hopefully the wind whistling down the canyon draw might cover her for some of the distance. She found a spot about fifty feet from the bad guys she might be able to get to.

With a quick, quiet command to the dogs, the three of them stalked closer as quickly as they felt they could. When they got to the tree she was aiming for, Violet snugged up next to the trunk, bracing the micro-carbine against the tree. With as short as the barrel was, she wanted every added help she could think of. Using one hand, she ordered the dogs to lay down with a hand command. She didn’t want them seen and end up collecting any stray bullets.

She looked at her angle again. She was still above the level of the road shooting at a downward angle. This was good. This way if the bullets missed or went through them, it would only hit the dirt, not one of the kids. Violet practiced her motion a couple of times, tracking from her first target to the second one. She needed to drop the first one hard. The distraction will have the other one turning to the sound. Hopefully Veronica can draw and get the other guy quick enough.

Violet took a deep breath. She wondered how many rounds she would have to fire at the first one to stop him so she could move to the second. Suddenly she thought of the words on this topic told to her by an old Instructor at a class she took.

‘Keep shooting til they change shape or catch fire.’

Mind made up, Violet began squeezing the trigger.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Four, Five, Six, Violet thought he might be combat ineffective at this point and shifted her aim to the second one who was trying to hit her with the shotgun in his hands, but firing a pistol grip no stock shotgun from the hip wasn’t a recipe for success.
Before she could take the slack out of the trigger and send rounds his way, he began twitching and moving from multiple pistol shots. Violet could tell Veronica was in the fight now. Violet added several rounds to the fusillade headed into the second gunman. Moments later, both had stopped moving.

Both Veronica and Violet stopped shooting.

Violet looked left and right, trying to see if there were any other vehicles or people coming.

Veronica Advanced towards their would-be-assailants, still covering them with the pistol in her hands. With her peripheral vision, she could see Derek and Gretchen appeared unhurt where they dropped flat to the ground when Veronica yelled. Once Veronica was even with them, she started issuing orders.

“OK, guys, get all of our stuff loaded into the trucks. After you get the big pieces, try to collect all the brass. Most should be on the tarp I put down, but look for stray ones. We want to leave nothing behind we touched barehanded.”

She saw they were still shell shocked, but they started working at the task. Good, she had more important tasks to take care of.

Veronica moved up and checked her and Violet’s work. At this point, in for a penny, in for a pound. She fired a point blank round from her pistol into each of their heads. She looked up the slope.

“Alright, V. Come on down so we can clean the site and get out of here.”
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Moments later Violet and the dogs were standing next to Veronica as she searched the two dead guys.

“Do I want to know what the hell was going on?”

Veronica didn’t even look up from her work as she answered.

“These two figured to carjack or steal our guns or worse. I don’t know. You came along fast enough we didn’t find out.”

“But how did it happen?” Violet wanted to know.

“We were finishing up our strings of fire and packing up when they rolled up. We didn’t hear them until they were too close. With the kids” Veronica jerked a thumb at where Derek and Gretchen were policing brass. “inbetween me and these assholes, I couldn just start shooting. When you shot the first one, it distracted them enough I could get them down out of my line of fire in enough time to start in on the second one.”

Veronica was throwing the contents of their pockets into a pile. Lighters, car keys, wallet, pocket knife, loose ammo, everything. Veronica looked up at Violet now.

“Do you want to search and strip the car or do you want to drag the bodies into the woods?”

“Are we really doing this?” Violet’s voice was low and a bit unsure. Veronica’s reply wasn’t.

“I’m not playing twenty questions with the cops and skylining us by name to a revengeful family or gang. We drag the bodies up into the woods, leave them there, then we drive out of here. I’ll drive their vehicle. We swing through and drop it in a spot where someone else will borrow it. We then loop around an extra couple detours to avoid pointing directly back to the house.”

Violet was silent for what seemed like forever, staring into Veronica’s eyes before she answered her earlier question.

“Since you are driving their vehicle anyway, you might as well strip it of whatever you were thinking. I’ll drag them into the trees. Let's put them on a couple of those new cheap tarps you threw in the truck. They are still in the packages so no fingerprints.”

Veronica could see Violet was struggling with her decision. They would talk later. Too much work to do now.

“Good idea. We wrap them up tight so there isn’t a bright red blood trail in the snow pointing to them. After you get them up there, unwrap them and cram the tarps under their bodies. No reason to bring more blood evidence back with us.”
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Violet used a loop of rope to drag the awkward bundles up the hill. For this job she made sure the dogs stayed behind with Derek and Gretchen.

Once in the trees, she looked for a spot out of easy sight and travel. She wanted the bodies not to be stumbled across. A dense bramble thicket seemed just the place. After twenty minutes of hard work, Violet had the bodies out of their cocoons under the bramble bushes, the tarps wedged firmly under them. The distasteful work done, she stood there for a moment, pondering what they just did. What SHE just did. It was a lot different than when she was in uniform.

Violet stepped off to the side and used some clean snow to scrub her hands and face. The biting cold felt good. It brought her focus back to task focus. They still had things to do.
 

Sportsman

Veteran Member
That's a reasonable solution, but I can easily understand the concern since ROL is still mostly in effect. And there's the teenagers! I wouldn't want the job of making them understand how you can do this and still consider yourself moral. Hope driving their vehicle doesn't expose the Vs any.
Thank you.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Veronica swept through the car, looking for anything of value they might want. There wasn’t much. Some loose ammo for the pistol grip shotgun, a couple magazines for the beat up folding AK-style shotgun, a hunting knife and not much else. These she added to the back of Derek’s truck with the shotguns. The liquor, clothes, porn and whatever else in the car she left there.

She did a quick sort through the crap these guys had in their pockets. Anything useful she kept, like pocket knives, lighter and such. The rest she threw into the trunk. While she had the trunk open, she snared the jumper cables. She had a quick project.

“Derek!” Derek looked up from where he was putting the last of the gear in his truck.

“Yes Ma’am?”

“Grab two big screwdrivers from your tool kit”

Derek had a puzzled look in his face but figured now wasn’t the time to argue. He was still stunned by getting held up then watching two people die right in front of him. He was still processing. Better to just obey. Questions will come later.

Derek walked over to the front of the bad guy’s car where Veronica had the hood open and the engine running. When Derek walked up, Veronica took the screwdrivers and handed him one set of leads to the jumper cables. The other ends was already clipped to the battery.

Veronica threw two cell phones down on the ground. Before Derek could ask what she was doing, Veronica plunged both screwdrivers through the face of the cellphone. She took the jumper cable leads and clipped them briefly to the metal shafts of the screwdrivers. Instantly, smoke started billowing up. She unclipped the leads, handing them back to Derek. She answered his unasked question.

“Their phones. They won’t be trackable to anywhere when I’m done.”

Veronica repeated her procedure. When she was done, She unclipped the jumper cables and handed the cables and screwdrivers back to Derek.

“Ok, as soon as Violet gets back, we do a two minute pow-wow and head out. Trust me, we will talk all about this and I will answer all your questions then. For now, I need you and Gretchen to trust me.”
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Once Violet arrived, it was time for the second part of the plan.

“So, we need to dump this car in a spot where it will vanish and no one will notice us.” Veronica started laying things out.

“Well, if the spot is too bad, we don’t want the rest going there.” Violet countered.

“I know, that’s what I’m trying to figure.”

Derek and Gretchen were watching this play out. They didn’t know what to do to help other than just shut up and follow orders.

“I got it.” Veronica turned to Derek and Gretchen. “Which of your trucks is faster and which one has more gas?”

Derek knew this answer. “Gretchen’s is faster. We are about the same on gas.”

Veronica smiled.

“Good. Here’s what we are going to do. Derek and Gretchen pile into Gretchen’s truck with the dogs and the gear. You guys beeline to the house. Violet, you drive Derek’s truck, follow me, we dump the car, then we boogie to the house.”

“Sounds good and simple. It should work. What should they do if anyone is following them?” Violet asked.

Gretchen and Derek looked at each other, worried all over again.

“You have a point. Guys, go in the south gate of the base, then out the Roy gate. Anyone following you, you will lose them. If you know you are being followed, don’t come off base, just go to the golf course parking lot and wait for us. Otherwise, we will meet you at the house.”

Veronica looked at everyone.

“No other questions, let’s get things rolling.”
 
Last edited:

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Running for the House


“What the hell did we just do?” Derek's voice held more than a little panic in it.

He was behind the wheel of his sister’s truck. She was in the passenger seat, looking calm as a cucumber. In the tiny jump seats sat the dogs. They seemed to sense Derek's mood. They were shifting back and forth. Unsure of what was happening and not liking getting jostled by Derek’s erratic driving.

“We didn’t do anything, Derek. Don’t you get it? We were never there. They told us there might be things we never talk about to anyone. I am sure this will fall into that category.” Gretchen tone was very flat matter-of-fact.

Derek wasn’t buying the act his sister was selling. He remembered the panicked look when those assholes drove up. He remembered her shaking some when they were aiming the shotguns at them. He remembered looking at her terrified look as they both lay on the ground with bullets coming from both sides. How was she this calm now?

“Well, we just helped clean up a murder scene, at the very least!” He snapped back at his sister.

“They were stupid enough to pull guns on our little group. What happened to them, they concocted for themselves! Now you better slow down and stop attracting so much attention. Besides, the dogs are getting car sick. It’s your neck they will puke down! But it’s my truck and if they puke because of your driving, you’re the one cleaning it up!” Gretchen snapped right back, her own temper showing now.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At the House


The garage door barely made it up when Gretchen, Derek and the dogs came out of the house into the garage to meet Violet and Veronica.

Veronica and Violet were greeted by worried hugs and hopping pups.

What took you so long?” Derek asked when they broke the embraces.

“Had to make sure not to lead trouble home.” Veronica said. There was a bunch of fatigue evident in her voice.

“Guys, we will all be ok. It’s all taken care of.” Violet added.

“Right. All we need to do now is work on some lessons learned for it and not dwell on the event itself.” Veronica added.

“What kind of lessons?” Gretchen wanted to know.

“Well, for one, we don’t go back there to shoot.” Veronica started.

“And we should have had some overwatch keeping an eye out for trouble. If I was closer in, like just at the tree line, I could have warned you they were coming.” Violet said, trying to figure out some nameable elements.

“We also need to work on mindset and communications with the four or six of us.”

“And I take it the catalyst for all of this falls into the category of..” Derek started to say only to have his sentence finished by Gretchen.

“…never spoken about to anyone else again.” She smiled as she finished the statement.

“Right!” Violet and Veronica said in unison.

“OK, let’s get the gear in and some cooking going on. I’m starving!” Violet said. She was happy they were able to put a somewhat educational spin on today’s events.
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At the Base a Few Days Later


“I’m afraid, this is it for the class.” Owen said, standing in the racquetball court they have been using as a Dojo.

Violet looked around. Owen and Daniel were there, Veronica, Derek and Gretchen were there. That was it. She looked over at Veronica who just gently shook her head. She turned back to Owen.

“Well, if we want to keep training, we might as well do it at Veronica’s house, but honestly, it looks like the formal class is done with.”

Everyone could hear the sadness in Violet’s voice. None knew the real source of it though. Vanishing students, never knowing the where to or why, it brought back too many memories of her deployment classes.

Owen’s brain grabbed hold of his tongue before he could stop it.

“I would still like to get together, me and my brother. Instead of teaching, I still have a ton of stuff to learn.”

Violet looked over at Veronica.

“Violet, it’s up to you. You would be the one teaching.” She replied to Violet’s unspoken question.

Violet looked over at Derek and Gretchen. They both nodded.

“OK, so what do you want to learn?”
 

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
At the House a Few Weeks Later


Things were getting bad in town. The power was getting spotty, the violence was getting more widespread, the food was getting sparser and money was worth less. Owen and Daniel were over frequently to ‘train’ but soon it was apparent they felt safer here than their apartment in town. Finally, Veronica called a meeting with Violet, Derek and Gretchen to discuss some things.

“Larger groups can share the workload better and Owen and Daniel are in a real shitty position. I wanted to know what you guys thought about having them just move here. We have all the rooms in the basement and if we have all the other supplies pushed back into the big storage pantry down there, we can still keep some of our preparations private.”

“How would that work with your other plan of having Bron and Felicia move in here before we possibly leave?” Violet was the first to ask.

“I don’t know, but with their jobs, if they still exist, moving out to the range, I was thinking of asking if they wanted to come with us if we go west to Paige’s.” Veronica said, knowing this was another new idea she was broaching with the group.

Violet started thinking. Two more trained federal law enforcement officers could be a great addition to the group. They are already friends so it’s not like they were trying to add strangers just for their skillset. Four more people in the house. Granted, they would have the four mostly finished rooms downstairs available or they could use the den and the study but …Some big changes maybe.

“If they moved in, how would we know what secrets to share?” Derek asked.

“Short answer, none of them unless Violet or I tell you to. Don’t show them your primary pistols, don’t tell them you are carrying, don’t show them you large blades. At least not until we tell you they are to be told.” Veronica reiterated.

“So we still keep practicing with the pipes and trainers though?” Gretchen asked, wanting to not screw up.

“Yup, we keep practicing. One of the other things we need to do is start teaching Owen and Daniel some hunting and fishing. When we go west, everyone should be prepared to pull some weight in the gathering and preparing food.” Violet rejoined the conversation.

“If all of us are going, how are we getting there?” Derek asked, not for the first time.

“We are going to drive.” Violet answered.

“Speaking of that, we need to start planning fuel, food and everything else for that type of trip!” Veronica said.

Violet and Veronica were thinking of the preparations they had made for going to visit Paige and their parents. This would be similar, except, they didn’t know about fuel stops, food stops, food supplies when they got there, or any of a thousand different details. And they wouldn’t be coming back. All they could count on having was what they took with them. It was like the wagon trains of the old days.

“Derek, you’re pretty good with a wrench. Start looking over the vehicles and thinking anything we need to change, upgrade, replace, or bring extra of to keep them running. We also need to figure out some options for carrying more gas with us. You just got your homework. Work with Gretchen so she understands the thought process. She will probably have more good ideas to help. This will get you used to bouncing ideas between each other to make the whole a better product.” Veronica was feeling pretty good. It seemed the group took her suggestion in stride and was looking forward.

“Veronica, lets get some more hunting in. If we can stockpile some more meat, we can then trade it for staples or store it to take with us. We can use the hunt, along with the breaking down the carcass and processing the meat as teaching elements as well as providing food for our bellies in the future.” Violet added.

“So, it’s settled? We ask Owen and Daniel and Bron and Felicia to move in and go west with us?” Veronica asked the group. She looked at their faces. Nods all around.
 
Last edited:

ComCamGuy

Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
In the Backyard a Week Later


“I don’t know, but it could be trouble.” Owen said to Veronica and Violet.

“It will only be trouble if Daniel didn’t learn his lesson.” Violet countered.

“He better count himself lucky Derek didn’t hurt him worse. As it is, he will heal, have a bruise or two, maybe a small scar where he got his eyebrow split when Derek hit him. Acting a fool, abusing the fishing gear and worse, talking smack about Gretchen, any of these would have gotten a well-deserved beating. Derek holding back for so long was a miracle. If I was Derek, I would have beat his ass long before.” Veronica stated very plainly.

“Well, in his defense, he isn’t used to living like this.” Owen countered.

“What? Like an adult? Because, that’s what we are doing. Words, attitudes and actions have consequences. He better learn this lesson now before someone other than us teaches it to him the hard way and cripples or kills him.” Violet said.

“”You best have a talk with Daniel. Make him understand.” Veronica agreed with Violet.

“And what about Derek?” Owen countered.

“What about Derek? I commended him for showing such restraint. Other than that, I consider it over.” Veronica uttered.

“Hell, after talking to Derek about the incident, I told him he did the right thing. Gretchen was about to geld him with her pocket knife and Daniel was stupid enough to think she was bluffing. You better have a talk with Daniel. We can either treat him like an adult, or a child. We want to treat him like an adult. If he refuses to act like one, we might have to re-evaluate his position here.” Violet said in her most disappointed and sad instructor voice.

Veronica and Violet watched Owen walk back to the house.

“I don’t know. We might have to rethink taking those two north.” Veronica mused.

“We almost didn’t have to worry about it. I wasn’t kidding about Gretchen. She was going to kill him. She didn’t tell me what Daniel said and nether would Derek, I think Derek might have saved Daniel’s life by beating his ass!” Violet exclaimed.

“Either way, we need to get everything resolved and get to work moving Bron and Felicia’s stuff in the next couple days.”
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It worries me that Owen defends him. I expect it to some degree because it is his brother. But not at that level of offense and not in that environment. And expecting Derek to be punished? There's some wrong think there. I'd be extra cautious around them for a while. And extra cautious about where they went and what they did.
 
Top