Danger Zone

The smell of pine needles and the rotting of leaves as it rises into the frosty morning air on the top of the mountains. The old lady sits down near the old cabin that she built when she was all alone and trying to survive the dying city.

The forest is perfectly still. The air is so quiet that she can hear her own and Daime's heartbeats. The crispy sounds from the dried leaves that sways along the winds.

The longing warmth from the winter cold nights. The brimming sun in the middle of the day is what makes her smile as she opens her eyes and instinctively places her rifle to her shoulder.

She positions it in front of her, right where the bushes are. Her target is unclear but Daime knows that she is aiming for something.

After a few intakes of breathing exercise, she pulls the trigger and the bullet passes through the bushes as it goes straight down the rocky parts of the mountain.

Its sound echoes throughout the mountain as it target's scream in pain while the old lady blows the smoke that came out of the rifle.

"Guns are unpopular back in the day. Some says that it was the Chines who invented it for the World Wars, some says that it was the Europeans.

But who ever invented them is not important. What is important is who uses them."

Daime looks at the old lady as he listens every word she is saying. He tries to listen and remembers everything so when the time that he needs to use all of these skills that she will be teaching him, Daime will be ready.

"The grooves that is carved into the barrel of this rifle is to improve your shooting accuracy. Because you don't want any shaky hands to handle such a dangerous weapon."

Daime nods as the old lady handles him the heavy gun. It looks heavy and its weigh is heavy. She asks the younger male to sit right beside her before teaching her the basic parts of the gun.

"The drawback of the rifle is the gun powder. It tends to accumulate in the grooves, hence, the cleaning process takes too long to pull off."

Daime nods again as the old lady handles him a piece of cloth so he can clean the parts that she points out. The younger male still doesn't know why she is teaching these skills to him.

This is not the first time that Daime had ever handle a gun. He can still remember that first time he handles a gun and it was back when he was still seven years of age. 

It is a fine afternoon and his classes just ended. He is walking down the staircase to the basement as he hears a gun firing fifteen meters away from him. 

He looks to his side and sees his cousin practicing his daily routines of firing guns with a forty-five caliber gun. He peaks through the small window of the room and sees that his cousin is having a terrible time launching the device.

He remembers thinking that handling a gun is easy. Since when it is his time, he didn't have any difficulties. He is also thinking as to why his cousin is having a hard time.

He regret asking Drax the next day.

But that is all in the past, now he is here learning how to hunt with Primo's old aunt. And this is not the time to lose his focus or reminisces his past training.

The old lady looks at him as he smiles and lets him continue with the lesson. Learning about the certain parts of the rifle can make him understand the purposes of holding it tightly and knowing the drawbacks that it gives to him.

"There are some shooting ranges down to the city but they will never make you use a hunting rifle. Since the speed of loading bullets is another concern for them or those amateurs that try to handle such big guns like this one."

Daime nods again and takes note of that matter. He already had experiences with shooting range. That is where you find retired soldiers or skilled marksman practicing their passion for guns and joining competitions.

But a shooting range with a business permit but the courses and the shooting garage are as filthy as hell, anyone will probably asked the management or the proper authority. 

"This is the integrated cartridge."

Daime looks at the box of copper-colored bullets in front of him. The old lady takes one of the bullets and passes it to Daime so the latter can take a closer look of the cartridge.

"This cartridge is combined the bullet, primer, powder and the firing charge within the casing. It dramatically reduced the loading time required for rifles. 

Centuries had passed and as it passes, people saw the further improvements in the way rifles are loaded and fired, including breech-loading mechanisms and refinements to the cartridge design."

Daime nods once again before putting the bullet back to the box and waits for the old lady to continue her lesson. At first, Daime thinks that he will just be learning how to handle the gun and how to fire it. 

He doesn't know that he will be learning even the parts of it. 

"The techniques of rifle hunting hasn't changed substantially since World War II. They even saw the debut of the very first assault rifle."

"The German Sturmgewehr-44?"

The old lady looks at Daime as the latter continues her sentence for the introduction of the assault rifle. She nods at him and impress that the younger male knows something about guns and other weaponry.

Primo is just like him when he was still a young boy. Being trained by the oldest of their clan, it is expected to learn more than what she knows. But knowing that Daime knows the first hand basis of rifles, she knows that this young man beside her will be a better version of Primo.

"Well, yes. It is indeed the German Sturmgewehr-44. Shortly after, assault rifles become available to civilians in some countries. Most modern-day rifle hunters still use the same bolt-action technology that was popular in the last days of the American frontier.

What changed thought, is the land itself. The human population is in an increasingly tenuous relationship with animal populations, hence, poaching and over hunting occur in some areas of the world.

Stand up."

Daime stands up with her as she stretches her back and hears the bones crackling like crispy fried pork skins. The younger male looks at her with concern but the old lady smiles at him and reassures him of her condition.

"Some hunters like using new rifles every single time they hunt the forest for some food. But some, like me, loves to use a familiar rifle."

Daime looks at her with a questionable expression. The old lady chuckles at his reaction before clearing her throat. 

She puts the rifle behind her as she grabs Daime's arm and drags him to the spot where she hunts wild rabbits and wild boars.

"A familiar rifle is a far less likely to surprise you because you know its typical trajectory, its kick and how to place shots. You used it so much that it feels like an extension of your arm."

They passes through the river banks and the place where she buries her family's ashes after the pandemic. Daime looks at the large rock formation that covers the ground as their family name carved in the middle of it.

"When I die, I want you to bury me here. Right next to where my family is."

Daime looks at her with concern but her smile fades that prickly sensation that makes Daime cries nonstop. He is not as dense as Primo even if he only met the old lady after the plane crash.

He even treats her like his real Grandmother since his very own grandmother back in Switzerland is as crazy as an old witch found in the deepest parts of the woods. 

Daime is looking at the big rock when the old lady calls him over. He looks at her and smiles before bowing to show his respect for the family he never met. 

As he looks back to the old woman, she is already carrying a dead wild bunny that she shoot down earlier.

What kind of a family that Primo has, he wonders. But the old lady is the only person who can answer to that. 

For now, he needs to learn every skills and techniques that she knows before moving back to Switzerland to have a head to head fight with Primo for Aiden's hand. 

He might also need to ask her about mating and mating bites before she leaves this world. He knows. Daime knows that her time is only limited so he needs to do his very best to provide her every help he can give to her.

He walks passed the giant rock and goes to the old lady's direction. She puts the dead wild bunny down as she tells Daime to position himself near the other giant rock as he looks for his target.

Slowly but surely, Daime points the gun at the largest animal he can find and pulls the barrel where the cartridge is and pulls the trigger. The rifle has a silencer ready for the impact. 

The old lady watches as he fires the rifle to his target and it hits the perfect spot to kill the animal. She smiles widely when the bullet hits a deer that she almost jumps in excitement for their dinner this evening.

She looks at Daime as she carefully takes the dead wild bunny before asking Daime that one question she should've asked the first time they ever met.

"Who are you?"

Daime looks at her with his eyes wide open. He knows that lying about his identity has already gone far too long and it is already time to tell her the truth. 

He smiles at her and faces her fully. With a proud grin on the latter's face, he introduces him with the name that was given to him by his Grandfather.

"I am Vladymyrrh Santoro."

She smiles back at him and says the thing that Daime has been curious about.

"I know."