Worlds Apart

Preparations

The next morning goes by as expected, with my presenting of the plan after consulting Jackie, which goes surprisingly well, before collecting Jackie and Carter to resume our gun training. Luckily, the Grounders had permitted Carter to bring several guns to the village upon their arrival, previously contained with heavy guards, of course, and he takes it upon himself to return to me my pistol I had left behind that had sort of become my signature weapon aside from the regular CAA Tactical Roni we were all supplied with that has served as the standardized weaponry among our people once we have been permitted to carry them again. A team led by Brian is also sent out to head back to camp to salvage previous ammo and supplies left in the Dropship after having stored plenty in there. They should be back by nightfall.

We had no choice but train outside for obvious reasons as we set up some of the denser target practice dummies, intended for hand to hand combat training of course, and I decide to reduce myself to the CAA for now as Carter has plenty of ammo stored away for those, and unfortunately, I do not have as much experience shooting it as Carter and Jackie have. We set our stances based on the instruction those training for guard positions on Superior had instructed us to do so, and in no time, we are shooting away. I can hear Eerika's cries from inside the training center as she continues to train with men in there, the slams of bodies hitting the mats somehow more prevalent than ever to me as I was now not focusing on being the victim of such an attack myself. Hopefully what I have learned from Eerika will suit me well over time, but for now, I prefer the damn guns.

We eventually begin to get back into a groove of shooting as the rate of deadly shots nailing dummies become more and more successful, and after some time has passed, I find myself able to pull back from the scope, content for a moment before looking to Jackie and Carter, their triumphant expressions expressing the same satisfaction as mine by the time I call for a break. We lower the guns strapped over our shoulder to the side at that, and after grabbing some water from the well along the side of the training center, I look up upon our walk back to the dummies to see Eadric, along with other Grounders, watching us warily by the time we return.

"Uh, Aurora," Jackie begins, clearly uncomfortable with this situation as she tightens her ponytail before looking to me.

"Just stay here and get back to practicing. I'll handle this." I promise them, and they nod before walking off. I make sure to remove my gun before approaching Eadric, my pistol still left on the boulders we had been resting on, but somehow Eadric still seems uneasy.

"What's up?" I begin as soon as I reach him, slightly out of breath from our efforts at the pump earlier.

"You all going to be at this for much longer?" He questions, his paint framing his cold eyes as they flit from the dummies to me.

"Possibly. We haven't had a chance to practice in ages, we could use a good refresher." I tell him, glancing back to see Carter nail another headshot before looking back to Eadric's skeptical glare that soon turns critical.

"You seem to have managed well enough."

"Eh." I cannot help but mutter, not quite convinced I am at the level I used to be when I ran camp. Sure, my shots are not nearly as plentiful as Carter's, but while I take a while, a decent amount of them seem to be directed to the right spots, I guess. The original intention was just to save bullets, but if I am going to be on the field now due to our limited numbers, I suppose I will have to make the most of it.

"Look, I'm almost finished, and it's not like Jackie and Carter have to get to their tech bay anytime soon with Alison there. Is there something you needed?"

"Yes. I'm going to need you to come with me, now."

"What's up?" I question, furrowing my brows as his harsh glare finally tears itself from the dummies before us.