Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy

by Tom Jones

  After the fox finished talking, he removed his hand from the vixen’s chin, and Jackie began to turn her head towards the floor again. The vixen said, “I’m not sure what I could’ve done. They had all the power over me. I was helpless.” Arcades knew what Jackie had felt, and he knew that he was not always able to handle such situations in the best way possible. The fox did present Jackie with an offer to perhaps help her conquer her fears, “Do you want me to teach you how to shoot?” The vixen slowly looked up at the fox, but her response indicated that she was rather indecisive, “Um…” Arcades reassured Jackie that she had nothing to be afraid of, “Don’t worry; I’ll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong. You’ll be alright.” The vixen stopped to think for a moment, but she was feeling a bit better knowing that Arcades would be there to ensure her safety, “You’ll make sure I’m OK?” The fox nodded with a smile, “Of course. We told you that we’d take care of you, didn’t we? Once you take a couple shots, you’ll know that there’s really nothing to it.” The vixen felt a bit more at ease thanks to Arcades’ repeated reassurance, “I think I’m alright with giving it a try.”

  Arcades nodded with approval, but he was not sure if Jackie was just agreeing to be courteous, “Yeah? If you’d rather not, then you don’t have to. I don’t want you to feel as if I’m pressuring you or anything.” Jackie reaffirmed her previous statement, “You can teach me how to shoot a gun, Kurt. I trust you.” The fox nodded, and he knew that Jackie had made up her mind. The fox turned around, and he could see that Jason was just standing by the front counter listening to the entire exchange. The wolf asked, “Which’ll it be, Kurt?” Arcades spoke to Jason, “We’ll do the most common firearms. Get my GRY, my Salient Glock, Kalashnikov AK-19, and a Springfield 1911.” Though the fox did request the more expensive variants of the AR-15 and Glock 17, they operated exactly the same as the cheaper models. The more expensive firearms made by Salient Arms International would mainly be lighter and more reliable than the standard models they were based off of. Though a base selection would still suffice, Arcades did not want to encounter any issues while teaching Jackie the way to use a firearm. The fox trusted that his premium firearms would have no issues in terms of their standard function. As Jason went to fetch the weapons the fox requested, Arcades himself went to collect ear and eye protection as well as some additional ammunition.

  After about ten minutes had passed, both Arcades and Jason gathered the necessary equipment, and they had put it on the front counter where they began to load three magazines for each weapon. Jackie sat by and watched as the fox and the wolf filled the magazines with such ease, and she began to wonder how long both Arcades and Jason had been doing these activities related to firearms for. It did not take long for both anthros to load twelve magazines total, and Arcades went to retrieve a small range bag to place the ammunition into. Meanwhile, Jason held both of the empty rifles and began to carry them outside. The vixen could not see the weapons in such detail since she was standing a good bit away, but she did recognize the AR-15 to an extent. After all, it was the same weapon Arcades had when he rescued Jackie from the Foundation for the second time. When the fox returned with the range bag, he started to load all of the magazines as well as the two empty handguns into the bag. Arcades zipped the bag up, and he held it with one hand while he grabbed ear and eye protection with his other hand. The fox stood in front of the door leading to the range when he turned and spoke to the vixen, “Are you ready?” Jackie acknowledged the fox and followed him outside, “Sure.”

  When the two foxes emerged from the other side of the building, they met Jason. The wolf had laid both of the rifles on one of the tables facing downrange. Arcades sat his bag of ammunition on the right side of the brass corral, and he made a suggestion to the wolf as well, “Here, let’s move those guns over here. We need to start off small with as much space as possible.” Jason obeyed the fox’s suggestion, and he brought both the AK-19 and the Salient GRY to the table which the fox left his range bag. The fox unzipped the bag, and he removed the Salient Arms Glock since it fired the smallest round out of the four weapons. He figured that it would be the best gun to start off with. Arcades’ Glock was far from stock: It originally began its life as a Gen 5 Glock 17 until the fox sent it in to Salient Arms International in Nevada for upgrades. The frame now featured stippling, the entire upper assembly was replaced with the Salient Arms Tier One slide and barrel kit, and the fox had even added an auto-sear to the handgun after he got it back from Salient Arms. Since the fox was legally considered a manufacturer of NFA weapons, he was allowed to modify his weapons to be fully-automatic, provided that he notified the ATF whenever he did such. Though Glock did offer the G18 and G18C models with fully-automatic capabilities from the factory, Arcades opted instead to simply replace the end plate with the auto-seared version to keep his installed upgrades. To the fox’s knowledge, Salient Arms International did not offer a Glock upgrade package based on the G18 or G18C. Though the sear protruded from the rear of the handgun, all the fox had to do to switch between fire modes was just push the selector pin to either side of the sear. With the Trijicon RMR sight mounted on the rear of the pistol, Arcades’ Glock was practically a PDW instead of a simple handgun. It was pretty much just missing a shoulder stock at this point.

  The fox placed his custom G17 on the table, and he also placed one seventeen round 9x19mm magazine beside it. After he did so, he looked downrange, and he could see that there was no target on any of the posts. As Arcades put his clear Oakley glasses on, he requested another favor from the wolf, “Can you go and put a paper target on the post in front of this station?” Jason gave a nod to the fox and proceeded to fetch the paper target and stapler. As the wolf went away, Arcades looked over to Jackie, and he could see that the vixen was standing several feet away from the shooting stations. The fox looked up, and he noticed that the lights illuminating the range were not on. Since it was getting dark outside, Arcades figured that he would turn on the lights so that Jackie would have an easier time seeing what he would teach her to do. Right before the fox went to go and turn the lights on, he spoke to the vixen, “Come up closer. These guns aren’t going to hurt you.” Jackie was a bit hesitant, but she did trust the fox and move forward to the shooting station. Arcades handed the vixen a pair of clear glasses, “Put these on. I’d hate for one of these casings to bounce off the sides here and hit you in the eye. They’re pretty hot when they fly off.” Jackie put on the glasses, and she also saw that the fox was handing her a pair of electronic hearing protectors. The vixen put the electronic plugs in her ears, and she noticed that they did not seem to inhibit her hearing that much. In fact, she was able to hear quieter sounds a bit better with the earplugs in. Arcades put an equivalent pair in his own ears before he went off to turn on the lights.

  Jackie stood by the wooden table, and she looked at the Glock that was sitting on the table. She looked to the right of the handgun, and she could see a single magazine loaded with seventeen rounds. The vixen never thought she was going to be shooting a gun in her lifetime, but here she was. Suddenly, the surroundings began to light up, and the vixen looked upwards to see that there was a light fixture mounted on the wooden ceiling of the small shooting deck. After a few moments, both Arcades and Jason returned to the vixen. Arcades was empty-handed, but the wolf carried a staple gun as well as a simple target. The fox stood next to the vixen, and he waited for the wolf to staple the target to the post before he would do anything with the weapon. When Jason finished, he came back and put on his own protective equipment. Even though the fox saw both Jackie and Jason put on their glasses and hearing protection, he still asked to confirm that they had the proper safety equipment on, “You guys have your glasses and earplugs in?”

  Jason sounded off first, “I sure do, mate.” Jackie replied a moment later, “Yes, Kurt.” Arcades gave a confident nod, and he was now ready to begin. Before going over anything, Arcades made sure to tell the vixen the fundamentals of firearm safety, “Alr
ight Jackie. I want you to remember these guidelines first before we start: Firstly, always assume that any weapon you encounter is loaded. Plenty of accidents happen because somebody thinks a weapon is clear when it really isn’t. When you use a weapon, make sure you always keep your finger off of the trigger until you’re ready to fire. A negligent discharge can lead to all sorts of issues that nobody wants to deal with. Don’t point your weapon at anything you’d rather not shoot. If you will, think of it like a giant laser beam coming from the gun’s barrel. Being mindful about what you’re pointing your weapon at will reduce the risk of aiming at something that’s not a target. Finally, know what you want to shoot at, and also take into consideration what could be behind it. Blindly shooting at something isn’t a good idea, and most bullets are more than capable of going through things. That’s why we have this big mound of sand behind our targets to catch anything that penetrates. You get all of that?”

  The vixen looked down at the empty handgun, but she felt a bit overwhelmed by what Arcades had said. The fox realized that he would have to start a bit slowly, so he decided to go through the steps one by one, “How about this? Pick up that handgun from the table.” Jackie reached down and slowly grabbed the Glock. As the vixen held the handgun, she tried to figure out the best way to hold it; she had never held a Glock or any handgun before. Arcades moved in to help the vixen find a better grip on the weapon by placing his hands over hers, “Hold it like this.” After guiding the vixen’s hand, Arcades was able to help her hold the weapon in the proper way, “Make sure you hold onto that tightly with both hands. A loose grip makes it harder to keep control of any weapon you have.” As the fox took a step back, he could see that Jackie had already placed her finger inside of the trigger guard. Arcades intervened again, “Keep your index finger outside of the trigger guard before you’re ready to fire.” Jackie was not exactly sure what the fox was telling her to do, but she saw that her finger was basically touching the trigger. The vixen moved her finger outside of the trigger. The blue nail polish the vixen wore made it somewhat easier for the fox to tell what Jackie was touching since it contrasted with the black fur on her arms. Like most red foxes, Jackie had black fur on her forearms, hands, calves, and feet. The rest of her body had reddish-orange and white fur in a standard red fox pattern.

  Once Jackie’s index finger was outside of the trigger guard, Arcades reminded her of some of the other rules of gun safety, “Keep that pointed down the range. If you need to look at me to tell me something, move your head; not the gun.” Arcades walked behind the vixen, and he could see that she was pointing the handgun at the general direction of the target. However, he remembered that the red dot sight was not even on. The fox instructed the vixen to put the weapon back on the table so he would be able to enable the sight, “Alright. Put it back on the table for me.” Jackie put the weapon back on the table, and she saw that Arcades took it off of the table. Immediately, the vixen believed that she had done something wrong, “What did I do wrong?” Arcades shook his head, “No, I forgot to turn on the sights. You wouldn’t be able to see what you’re shooting at without them.” Jackie watched the fox as he pressed a button on the left side of the Trijicon RMR sight to enable it. Once Arcades turned on the sight, he placed the handgun back on the table.

  The fox felt that having the Glock start back on the table would allow for Jackie to try again to see if she would be able to respect the gun rules which were just taught to her. Arcades spoke, “Try it again. Pick up the weapon, and put the red dot in the center of the target.” The vixen picked up the weapon again, and she aimed it directly at the target that was ahead. Arcades saw that Jackie did not have her finger in the trigger guard, and he could tell that he was definitely making progress with teaching the vixen, “So far so good. Now, I’ve gotta help you with your form. Having proper balance while shooting makes it easier to stay on target.” Arcades stepped to the side of the vixen, and he looked down to see how she stood. Once again, the vixen’s nail polish on her feet made it easy for the fox to have a point of reference as to how Jackie was standing. Though Arcades knew from experience that shooting without footwear could be somewhat problematic if you happen to step on a hot shell casing, he never really ran into too many issues himself. The fox spoke to the vixen, “You are holding the receiver of the weapon with your right hand. Move your right foot backwards, and turn it about forty-five degrees to your right. When you do that, bring your left foot forwards and keep it straight. Lean forwards just a little bit when you do so.” Arcades stood by and watched as the vixen adopted a shooting stance. While keeping an eye on her feet, the fox was able to tell if Jackie had the stance correctly. Though her bushy fox tail did get in the way a little bit, Arcades did not lose sight of the vixen’s blue nail polish to see where her feet were pointed.

  To the fox’s surprise, Jackie had done it correctly the first time, “Excellent. That’s it, right there.” Arcades looked at the vixen, and he studied her pose to see if there was anything else she could do to make it better. The fox could not find anything specifically to comment on, “That right there is a shooting stance for shooting right-handed. I’m not going to get into shooting from the left hand since you’re just starting out, but I encourage you to remember that specific stance since it works for more weapons than just handguns. With rifles, all that changes is just the way you hold your arms and upper body.” Jackie stood with the handgun, and she was waiting for what the fox had to say to her next. Arcades gave the vixen another instruction, “Pull the trigger with the tip of your finger. Not your fingernail, but the pad on your finger tip that we anthros have.” The vixen was not sure if she was ready to fire the handgun quite yet, but she decided to trust the fox. Jackie placed the pad on her index finger in the middle of the trigger, and she pulled it back until she heard a click. The Glock did not fire. Arcades saw that the vixen looked as if she was bracing for the gunshot judging by the way she closed her eyes right before she pulled the trigger. When the handgun only emitted a click, the vixen looked back at the pistol to see that it did not fire. Jackie moved her finger off of the trigger, but the trigger did not reset; the hammer was still down.

  Arcades spoke to the vixen, “Keep your eyes open the best you can when you pull the trigger. The moment when you pull the trigger is usually the most important moment, so you want to make sure you know what you’re shooting at.” Jackie realized that she did close her eyes in anticipation; she did not know what to expect from firing a gun. Arcades gave the vixen more instruction, “I want you to grab the end of the slide with your left hand and pull backwards.” The vixen was not familiar with firearm terminology, “Slide?” Arcades came closer and pointed at the handgun’s slide, “This is called the slide because it moves back and forth as the weapon fires. It slides, if you know what I mean.” The fox then pointed to the RMR sight before speaking further, “Don’t pull it back by the sight. Though it may be tempting, it’s better to not get your fingerprints on the glass. Although it’s highly unlikely, there is also a small chance that pulling it with too much force will move it just enough that it won’t be aiming where the weapon is pointing.” Jackie was not sure where to grab the slide by, “What do I grab to pull it back?” Arcades brought the vixen’s attention to the serrations on the rear of the slide underneath where the RMR was mounted, “Here: That’s what these ridges are for. Grab it with your thumb, your index finger, and your middle finger. Hold on tight and pull it back quickly. Pull it as far as it’ll go back, and then you let it go after that. You’ll know you’ve done it right when the trigger resets to where it was before.”

  Once Arcades finished explaining the action to Jackie, the vixen did as the fox instructed: She grabbed the slide and racked it backwards. Before she knew it, the hammer was pulled back up, and the trigger also reset to its firing position. The slide also returned to its original position, and the vixen slowly took her left hand off of the slide and placed it back where she could grip it. Arcades was satisfied, “Nice. I thin
k you’re ready.” The fox picked up one of the three Glock magazines, and he held it out just in reach of the vixen, “Pick up this magazine and place it into the pistol. It inserts into that fairly large hole in the bottom of the grip.” The vixen looked downwards, and she could see the magazine which Arcades held out for her to grab; the fox held it with the live rounds visible to the vixen. Jackie reached down with her left hand to grab the magazine, and she moved it to the bottom of the grip where the magwell was. The vixen looked at the weapon, and she saw as the magazine smoothly went into the magwell. Jackie pushed the magazine into the Glock until the magazine catch held onto the magazine for her.

  Arcades heard the magazine lock into place, “Excellent. Now, you need to chamber a round. You have to do this step manually. Pull the slide back just like we did a moment ago.” Beginning to get the hang of the weapon, Jackie pulled the slide back again, and she let it go once she found it would not go back any farther than it already was. The sound of the slide returning to its starting position sounded slightly different this time, but the vixen figured that it had to do with a round chambering into the weapon. Jackie stood by and kept her finger off of the trigger as she waited for Arcades to give her the go-ahead to fire at the target positioned about seven meters from her current position. The fox spoke once he saw that Jackie was prepared to fire, “Your weapon is hot: That means it is ready to fire. You see that dot on your sight? Aim it directly at the center of the target’s bullseye, and pull the trigger when you’re ready. Make sure you hold everything as tight as you can. The more control you have over the weapon, the more likely you are to hit your target. It’s going to make a bang of course, but you’ll be able to handle it. Take only one shot at the target. Fire when ready.”