"Weapons ready!" Bellamy's voice booms around the trees. Myself and the delinquents around me lift our guns up and steady them on our shoulders the way he showed us.
Bellamy and Clarke compiled a list of people who they deemed trustworthy and capable of handling a gun. They wanted everyone to train, but with the lack of both guns and especially bullets, that wish fell through. A few people on the list, including Finn, declined. Which is fair enough, I guess, but it doesn't mean they get to sit out if it comes to a fight.
I, for one, want to be able to kick some Grounder ass next time they try to kill or harm anyone else from this camp.
It takes a while for the gunners (which is what we call ourselves now) to get used to the feel of the metal weapon in our hands. It's heavy, but I know better than to complain.
"Aim!"
My body is angled slightly to the right, the gun in my hands aimed at the tree marked with an X ten feet away from me. I close one eye to help perfect my aim, my forefinger resting on the trigger awaiting Bellamy's order.
I blink a few times, trying to rid the haze in my vision. The tree is slightly blurry, and when I open both of my eyes to try and focus, a get a dizzy spell. I hiss and press my hand to my forehead.
"Fire!"
Bellamy's voice causes me to jump, but I quickly right my position, aim and pull the trigger along with everyone else, the impact pressure pushing me back slightly. The sound of bullets soaring through the air and colliding with targets and the ground meet my ears.
Bellamy orders everyone to carefully place their guns on the grounds before we race off to see if we hit our targets. Until we've reached a level where he trusts us, he's treating us as if we're children, but in my experience with some of these delinquents, they can certainly act like it sometimes.
Whether or not I want to admit it, Bellamy Blake is a good leader. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'm one too, or that I should be, but I would damn well like to be.
I didn't realise it until now, but I actually admire Bellamy, despite the fact he would've happily left us all in the dust yesterday. He's strong willed, and he protects the people he cares about most.
I respect that.
You and I both know that boy is the real leader around here, you're just some girl who tags along trying to act like one of the grown ups.
I push my father's voice out of my head along with my slight dizziness and walk over to the tree that posed as my target. I clench my jaw when I see the X bare of a mark, I didn't hit the target, I didn't even hit the damn tree.
"Don't worry." Bellamy says from behind me. "You'll get the hang of it."
The rest of the afternoon is spent with target practice, and I'm actually rather glad to have left my axe inside my tent for once. I suppose I would have to carry it around with me whenever I leave camp, just in case, but it feels good to have a weapon that's more reliable, more powerful.
I try to ignore the part where this weapon will make my kill score skyrocket, and try to focus on the fact it will help us defend ourselves. Help me defend myself.
"How'd it go?" Clarke asks as the group trail back through the camp gates and collapse around the fires.
Despite not really doing any physical work, carrying around the gun is a lot harder than it seems due to its weight and general bulkiness in shape, and having my sprained ankle definitely doesn't help.
The sprain has eased up in the last couple of days, but I'm not back to running around in the woods pain free just yet. As for the concussion, my dizzy spells are definitely linked to it, but I always smile and nod whenever Clarke or Bellamy ask how I'm feeling.
The last thing I need right now is either of them telling me to sit out any training.
Besides, after my first failed attempt, I actually didn't get dizzy again, and I managed to hit the tree a couple of times, just shy of the target.
"It was actually kinda fun." I admit, spotting her eyebrows rise.
"Don't let Finn hear you say that."
"I stopped caring about what Finn thought about me a long time ago, Clarke, and I'm not about to start now."
"I...thought you guys worked things out?" She asks tentatively.
"We did." I say. "Doesn't mean he's my keeper, though."
She gives me an odd look but nods, and as I walk away from her I'm well aware of her curious eyes watching me.