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Chapter Five

“Testing One's Self"

By

Furry Sith Lord

“I suppose if you’re gonna be one of us you’re gonna need to arm yourself.” Nu’al said the next day as he entered the room they had given Peter. Torrel was setting up a game now that he had someone close to his age to play with.

Peter seemed much more interested in learning how to use a gun rather than playing a child’s game. Torrel looked disheartened now that his playmate was getting called away. He was going to tag a,long, he usually did, but he would rather play a game than shooting guns. After doing it so much he was bored with it.

“So follow what I taught you because we can’t babysit you out there. If something goes down you need to be ready to save yourself.” Nu’al said as Peter loaded real bullets into the handgun he was given. He felt a stab of fear in his stomach as he aimed the sights on top at the target.

The gun fired and it sounded incredibly loud even with the earmuffs on. It made him feel as if he was not wearing earmuffs at all. He had to fight the reflex to drop the gun and cover his ears.

“Always unnerving the first time.” Nu’al remarked as his face showed a smirk.

“Never knew it was this loud.” Peter shouted as his ears adjusted.

“Just hope you never have to use one without muffs on.” Nu’al remarked. He then flipped a switch and the target Peeter had fired at was brought up to them.

“Notice that you didn’t hit the target at all. In a life and death struggle if this guy made his way up to you; you’d be dead.” Nu’al set the controls and the Target backed away from them as it was returned to where it originally started.

“We’ll try a few more times to see if your aim improves. If not I’ll bring the target closer and back it away as your aim improves… if it improves. Get used to firing it because that is the only way to get better with it.

Once you seem to master handguns we can see about ‘bigger’ guns but not until you master the basics. You need to learn to walk before you can run.” Nu’al explained. I had to admit that I enjoyed shooting the gun but I never came near the center like they do in the movies.

In the end Nu’al brought the target real close so I could hit the center and he kept backing it away every time I hit center until I reached a point that I couldn't. From there I was made to practice to better my aim.

Torrel finally cornered me later and I was forced to play his favorite game called JailBreak. You play as a team of four criminals in a maximum security prison trying to escape. Each player has 4 tokens for their team and you roll to try and move them from the center of the prison to the outer ring which lets you escape.

You have cards that cause things to happen to try and block you. If you are not careful you can alert the guards or be killed b y other inmates. Whoever saves the most tokens first wins. It’s a cute board game but gets boring really fast.

“Next game.” Torrel said and I groaned.

“Can’t we do something else?” I whined.

“Nope! Ma Ma wants me to test your critical thinking skills and this game is the best.” He replied.

“What’s will all this testing and gun shooting?” I asked.

“We gotta sneak into Dome city to have a friend see if they can figure out what’s wrong with you. If we’re going in, we gotta make sure you can handle yourself because we can’t babysit you 24/7 while trying to keep ourselves alive at the same time.” Torrel explained.

“Is this guy gonna be able to help me?” I asked and Torrel shrugged. This left me with little confidence especially considering the risk of sneaking inside the dome. I wondered what would be involved because in my mind I figured they would have checkpoints set up at the entrances.

Later that evening we sat at a table and Mother Abby brought out a meal she cooked. To call it a meal really downplays it; it was more like a banquet. The boys just started eating as if this was normal while I was thinking of the usual rituals we follow at Thanksgiving.

“How was training today?” She asked but it did not seem to anyone in particular.

“He needs a lot of work.” Nu’al replied and I knew instantly who the ‘he’ was. I could not be too annoyed because I knew I needed more practice shooting.

“Everything was fine with me, he beat me the last three games.” Torrel said and I saw Nu’al roll his eyes.

“So this expert we’re supposed to see, what’s he like?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Dr. Michael is how we know him. He was a friend of mine when we first lived under the dome. He’s a regular doctor as well as a scientist that specializes in radiation. He developed the new method of treatment currently used though he has not found a cure yet.” She explained. I looked at my fork as I realized I was eating a chicken egg. They all stared at the face I was making.

“Problem?” Nu’al asked impatiently.

“This is an egg, right?” They nodded and Mother Abby chuckled. “I didn’t think there were any animals left.” I continued.

“Dome city has a collection of animals to try and preserve what were wear able to save. They saved a bunch of animals and fish but luckily no one wanted insects to be saved. The experts,” She said and her mouth twisted as she called them experts. “figured they would find a way to survive that did not need us. The environment is what we need to worry about. It could take decades more before the planet becomes livable again.

Meat is in short supply except for things like chickens and rabbits. Once the folks can leave the dome they can begin to mass populate the animals and try to get us back to where we were. I took some baby chicks when we left and have been raising them.

Since there are only three of us in this pocket, we can better raise and eat them then in more populated resistance cells.”

“So the other ones have more members to them?” I asked incredulously.

“We've had a larger following but lost members trying to resist the tyranny of the Dome.” Nu’al said.

“My husband was one of them. I went to pieces after he died and well the others thought I was unfit to lead. They each drifted off and started their own groups because they could not settle on where they should go or who was fit to lead.” Mother Abby said as a sad look came over her face. I guessed thinking about her dead husband had brought up some bad memories.

“But if this Dr. Michael works for them then how can we trust him?” I asked as I was again trying to change the subject. Torrel shrugged and made a ‘I dunno’ noise.

“That’s one of the risks we may have to face. There is no telling if he is still a friend or a foe. Which is why we all need to be prepared.” Nu’al replied.

“Quiet down boy, no need to be making things worse. We won’t go until we’re sure Peter can handle himself. We all had to walk before we could run and we had to learn to stand before we could walk. Don’t worry Peter you’ll get the hang of it you just need time. Even these two had to learn.” Mother Abby said as she frowned at Nu’al. He tried to appear as if it did not bother him but I knew he was faking.

“Why don’t we play a game called…” Mother Abby began to say but was quickly interrupted by Torrell as he got really excited. Ity appeared to me that this was another one of his favorite games.

“What If!!!!!” Torrel said. I turned and heard Nu’al groan.

“Nu’al. You are inside a manager's office sneaking around. Outside the door there are numerous security looking to find you. How do you escape?” She asked him. He did not hesitate for a moment before asking questions to clarify the situation.”

“What gear do I have on me?” He asked.

“Just a handgun 45 Caliber, two clips making the total of 18 bullets.”

“Is there a window?” he asked.

“There is, but nothing solid to climb out on.” she replied. He took a moment to think before answering.

“How about an air vent?”

“Looks like there is one in the ceiling but only big enough for your brother to fit into.” She said.

“I’ll watch the movements of the security guards and when I see an opening I’ll creep out staying low to the floor with my gun ready just in case.” He said.

“Very good. Torrel it’s your turn,” She said and Torrel was getting excited. “You are walking on a street and you think that someone is following you.” Mother Abby said. Torrel looked at his brother, who just stared at him without saying a word. If Torrel was expecting any help his brother was in no mood to give him the answer.

“What weapons do I have?” Torrel asked.

“You have a pocket knife, a ball of string, and a 38 pistol.” She replied.

“OK, OK I’ll duck around a coner and when he walks by I’ll use the rope to strangle him.” Torrell said as he smiled mockingly at his brother.

“Congratulations you just killed Peter here.” She replied and Torrel’s face fell. Nu’al laughed.

“But you didn’t say it was Peter!” He whined.

“YOU never bothered to see if you knew who it was.” Nu’al mocked.

“Awww Man,” He continued to whine.

“Now Peter, this is your first so I’ll give you an easy one. You approach a checkpoint and are stopped by security asking to see your ID…” She said and a thousand questions filled my mind. I don’t quite believe this was an easy one but what was expected when we try to enter the Dome City.

To Be Continued…