AnOther Alice: A Novel

Chapter 24

"The recoil from a gun can be surprising at first," Detective McCullen said, as she demonstrated to Alice how to hold a 9mm and aimed the pistol at a group of bottles lined up on the stone wall bordering the property. "But do you see how I'm holding it? It's to lessen the kickback." She demonstrated holding the gun firmly with both hands. "It'll make hitting your target a lot more effective."

Nadia Mishra was watching as she sat on the stairs of the black porch, on her fourth Molotov Cocktail, alongside Xavier and Jared. They were a bit slow at first but picked up the method of creating the flammable weapon thanks to Detective Kimura's advice. Interestingly enough, the older officer seemed to have lived a questionable life as a youth, claiming he'd learned to make one when he was around their age. For what reason, he would not say.

Being able to put together something like this, let alone teach it is kind of strange, she thought, but who I am judge? My ordinary life's already gone haywire.

She looked towards the pool area and watched as Leighton practiced his swings with an axe. Every swung meant a devastating blow.

At the same time, Adrian sawed the barrel of a shotgun at McCullen's request, and Gabriel slid bullets into the chamber of a second pump action firearm.

Nadia wasn't quite sure if it was fate or pure chance, how they got the weapons. Hours earlier while still en route to Wisteria Hills, a new hunting store had had its grand opening. They made a pit stop, cleared out the shelves of knives and six containers full of petrol, several long and short ranged guns, an axe and one cross-bow. In the beginning, they were shown how to hold each weapon, how to refill then ready themselves for aim, and refill bullets. You never know when you might find yourselves with only a gun at your side, Kimura had said. So it's better to know how to handle a little bit of everything.

He was right but the situation was still too surreal for her. She did everything right, and only a couple days ago she was a normal person. An ordinary student. Straight As. One day of absence on her entire school record. And she'd even got an invitation in her DMs to attend a party at a popular club called Hideout Hive by Charlotte White a few minutes ago, but Nadia didn't respond. What could she say, really? Sorry, I can't make it tonight, I've got to kill the shapeshifter that's behind the recent murders?

McCullen looked over to where the Molotovs were being made after Alice managed to nail her first shot. "Rosenberg and Weissman, you're both up." She waved them over and started loading bullets into a new 9mm.

Moments after the female detective called them over, Jared finished stuffing a piece of cloth into the bottle's neck. He stood up quickly, brushing dirt off his jeans and Nadia followed him towards the firing range. While the bottles were being swiftly replaced by Alice with new ones, McCullen handed the gun over to Nadia, the safety still on.

"No need to be nervous," said McCullen. The weight of the pistol surprised Nadia, enough that her hand dropped slightly when she first held it. The action movies made it look weightless.

"Just aim and squeeze," said Jared. "It's just like your shooter games, in fact, it's pretty similar."

Nadia frowned, slightly peeved at his comparison to video games. "That stuff doesn't help you out in the real world."

Taking a few moments to herself, she inhaled, focusing on the glass bottles ahead and pulled the trigger. The gun rocked backwards, the feel of the thing alarming enough she almost dropped it. The bullet didn't connect—in fact it dipped down and was embedded in the stone wall below the angle of the bottles, a few inches off-target.

Jared took out a twenty from his pocket and held it up for her to see, a cocky grin on his face. "Want to bet that I can nail one on the first time?"

"On the first try," Nadia said, looking between him and the paper in his hand. She took out a second twenty to wager with. "There won't be any do overs or takebacks."