They managed to make it back before nightfall. They did encounter some undead and bugs but quickly dispatched them. Don was even able to test out the rifle. The thing worked like beauty, and he seemed thrilled to have it. When they returned, Don called a meeting and decided to introduce Rose.
Natalie was cautious of Rose since she knew Rose was part of the World Government. Rose was one of the agents who was trying to take her back. Ion and Jessica tried to ease Natalie's worries. Jake, Ryan, and Dilian seemed to have fallen in love at first sight with the woman. Josh got these vibes to steer clear of the woman. Not because she used to work with the World Government but because he felt that she was troublesome. John was silent on the matter. He trusted both Don and April's decisions. John's mother seemed perfectly fine with bringing her in as well.
Juan and Cataline were okayish with it. Sofia called her a princess because of her looks which caused her to blush lightly. Alice and Sarah wondered how her skin was so beautiful and her hair was so luscious even though it was dyed. Susan was a bit envious of her beauty since she felt like she couldn't compare.
Noah found it funny that even more people were joining them. Tyrone also seemed to adore the woman's beauty. In fact, he blushed when she looked at him. It wasn't like April's bright smile; it was more so an icy glance from an isolated princess. Rebecca shook her head when she noticed most of the boys were pretty much falling for charms that the woman wasn't even trying to put out.
Aside from all of this, the atmosphere was welcoming. It felt extremely different for Rose simply because she hadn't been in this warm and airy environment in so long. Everyone seemed to ask her questions and whatnot, like how long she had been here, how her skin was so fair, even how she kept her hair so luscious. Simple questions that Rose wasn't used to being asked. It almost felt like she was back on Earth. She felt like she wanted to cry, but she held back and answered everyone's questions.
Once everyone had their fill of questions, Don would review the plans for the next few weeks. He decided to train everyone how to use basic firearms. So, he asked Noah to set up a firing range in the back and made sure that was okay with John's mother, who was perfectly fine with it. Finally, he went over what he would do after finishing the introductory training course—talking about going to look for Boss and Jen alone.
Such still seemed to cause April to pout lightly.
He explained why he was doing it this way. He also wanted everyone to keep up with scouting and training once he was gone. To ensure that the place would still be in tip-top shape when he returned.
Once the meeting started to close, John's mother prepared dinner, which brought more sobs. This time the sobs came from Rose. It had been far too long since she had such a meal. After dinner, everyone began showering and prepared for sleep. Since there were far too many people around, they all decided that staying above ground would be okay.
Those who wanted to sleep in the basement could if they wanted to, and those who didn't wouldn't have to. Don decided to take the living room since it was the best place to keep a lookout if anything happened. Of course, April decided to stay with him. Juan, Catalina, and Sofia decided to take the basement alongside Ryan, Dillian, and Susan. John's mother took her room. John, Josh, and Jake decided to stay in John's room. Alice, Sarah, and Rose were in the dining area. Noah and Tyrone decided to stay in the garage, and Rebecca settled for the living room.
Daybreak came, and nothing happened overnight.
Once everyone was up and had their breakfast, Don prepared to begin training. First, he loaded the guns and ensured they were in excellent condition. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing for the time to begin. Noah and Tyrone set up the shooting range, and they went to get Don once it was finished.
Don looked over the shooting range, which was pretty much pieces of paper with makeshift targets like a dartboard hung from a string attached to a wooden beam. There was a simple counter several meters away. The shooting range was out back in the backyard. For something makeshift, it seemed to do just fine.
Don called everyone after making sure it would be okay to use. Since there were only five targets, he set up groups. Fifteen people would be training, so Don set it up in groups of five. There would be three groups.
Everyone would empty one mag; then Don would rotate the group after they looked at their results and Don coached them. Rebecca would be changing the sheets of paper since she wouldn't be partaking, and Rose didn't have to partake since she already knew how to use a gun. Sofia was still too young to be included, but she was allowed to watch while being under Rebecca's supervision.
Jake, Josh, John, Tyrone, and Noah were in the first group.
Don helped them hold the gun and taught them the proper posture. He taught them how to aim down the sight and even helped them when they fired the first shot. He told them to make sure to brace for the recoil. After three shots, he noticed they were starting to adjust. Tyrone, in particular, was learning fast. Noah wasn't too far behind. Jake seemed to be having the most problems. Josh and John were average. Once they emptied the clip, Don taught them how to reload the gun while Rebecca gathered the sheets of paper. He went go over their results with them and coached them respectively.
Don called up the next group: April, Jessica, Ion, Alice, and Sarah. Don helped them hold the gun properly and adjust their posture. Jessica seemed to want to try it one-handed as Don did back when he fired at Rose, but Don told her she needed to get used to recoil and the gun weight before pulling it off.
Ion was taking the teaching surprise seriously. Alice and Sarah were blushing when Don helped them. All they could think about was how well-built and sexy he looked and the fact that he was within an intimate space. April wasn't showing her jealousy but smiling creepily when she saw this. Once Don gave the okay to fire the first shot, they would. April was good, as expected. Jessica was unexpectedly good, and Ion wasn't falling too far behind. Alice and Sarah needed a bit more work. Don coached them while telling them to empty their magazines.
Once they emptied the mag and put the gun down, Don instructed them to reload. April had seen Don reload his guns many times that she figured out how to do it; the others needed coaching though. Rebecca brought up the results as Don taught them to reload the gun.
April was unsurprisingly perfect, but it was to be expected since she was a Ranger. All she had to do was get used to the recoil and weight of the gun. Don's praise caused her to blush happily. Jessica wasn't too far off the bulls-eye either. With a bit more practice, Ion would be a decent shot. Alice and Sarah would need to practice a lot more, though. Don gave them their tips and suggestions as he did with the last group before calling the final group.
It was Juan, Catalina, Ryan, Dilian, and Susan. The last group. Like how he taught everyone how to properly hold the gun and the correct posture and aim down sight, he would do the same for them.
Rose was quite impressed with how good Don was at teaching people. Even Rebecca had some admiration for his skill of being an instructor. Juan and Catalina seemed to do fine with both posture and gun holding. Ryan and Dilian need a bit more adjustment, just like Susan. Who ended up blushing like a silly schoolgirl that had a crush on someone when they were in their intimate space. As she saw this, April would close her eyes with a creepy innocent smile.
"What's wrong?" Jessica teased when she April's reaction.
"Nothing~" April responded cutely.
"What? Your boyfriend is pretty hot. Did you think just because he was taken, the girls wouldn't fawn over him? Everyone got a good eyeful after all." Jessica teased with a smirk.
"Yeah, he's decently built. Not bad on the eyes either." Ion added, which caused Jessica to shift her glance towards him with a brow rising.
"Uh, what?" Jessica remarked.
"...." April tilted her head at Ion innocently.
Ion scratched his cheek softly with a wry smile. "Look... I am just saying that Don's not bad-looking. I doubt Don actually cares for those girls, though. He seems extremely fond and attached to you, April." Ion commented, which caused April to blush lightly, and her expression shifted to a bashful one.
"True. I doubt anyone could steal him from you." Jessica added bluntly.
"As much as I am inclined to agree, I have my doubts. For love and affection, April has that one, but the sexual tension between him and Jen is another thing entirely." Josh came over and placed in his own ten cents since he had overheard them.
"What!?" April quickly turned to look at Josh, which caused him to bring a hand up defensively.
"I am just saying what I know. Don doesn't love Jen or anything. It's more like sexual desire. I doubt they've done anything yet, though." Josh remarked.
Jake came up behind Josh and slapped him on the back, "Don't go causing April any worries. Besides, I doubt Don's like that. So you have nothing to worry about, April." Jake remarked, causing April to shift her attention toward him before looking back toward Don. "I... See..." She murmured.
"Relax, April. Don would go through hell and back just for you. I doubt he'd do that for anyone else. You are special to him. You hold a place in his heart that no one else has. Everyone knows that, and even if someone tried, no one could ever take him away from you." John seemed to come up and explain, easing April's worries.
"You are right." April nodded with a cute and confident smile. Jessica gave a thumbs up to John, and John nodded politely. Ion released a heavy breath since these were now settled.
Once the others finished their turn, Don reviewed the results with them. He called in the next group after the last group reloaded the gun. This cycle of training would go on for hours. First, they stopped to have lunch, then repeated this for another few hours. After that, everyone went off to their normal daily tasks. John, Josh, and Jake went scouting and scavaging while John's mother, Alice, and Sarah cleaned up the place.
Rebecca trained Dilian, Ryan, and Susan, and Noah and Tyrone returned to the garage. Cataline and Juan kept Sofia company. Jessica, Ion, and Natalie joined Noah in the garage since Noah said he could make a communication device for them. Rose was at a loss for what to do, but since the makeshift firing range was open, she decided to do some training to keep her skills from rusting.
As for Don and April, they were in the living room. Don was doing maintenance on his guns while checking over their supplies. He had asked Alice and Sarah to keep a list of the supplies they had so he would know what was in stock and what was running low.
With this, he could have Josh, John, and Jake gather what they needed. April was sitting next to Don, fidgeting slightly. She still couldn't get the earlier conversation out of her head, even when Don was helping the other girls. She still had some faint doubts. She never saw Don interact with anyone outside of work besides his co-workers. Although Jen was a woman and she was also his co-worker. This meant that Don did interact with her.
"Umm... Don..." April murmured.
"What's up?" Don asked bluntly.
"Is there anyone else you love?" April asked bluntly.
"There is." Don replied in turn, which caused April's eyes to go wide. Her heart began to sink inside her chest, and she could feel tears slowly build in her eyes.
"C-Can I ask who?" April was trying her best not to cry.
"My trainer." Don answered. April was a bit taken aback by this. However, her earlier worries slowly started to lift.
'His trainer?' She thought internally.
"The same one you talked about in the shower?" April asked while looking at Don.
"Yeah. She passed away already. Back then, I couldn't put it into words. I felt warm emotion for her, but I didn't know what it was. I only know what it is because of you. So..." Don put down the gun and turned towards April.
"Stop worrying. No one will snatch me away from you. You are the only one alive that I love. The only one for me." Don said with a warm smile.
April's eyes went wide. 'How did he know!? When did he find out!?' April expressed surprise internally. "Oh... uh.. that..." April fumbled over her words, and Don would embrace her with affection and whisper something softly into her ear, which caused a few soft tears of joy to run down her face, along with a loving smile. She nodded softly and wrapped her arms around him in return.
This loving embrace lasted a few more minutes before Don released her. "I'm going to go hang out with Rose, okay!?" April exclaimed happily, and Don nodded before returning to look over the maintenance of his guns and the stock sheet. April wiped her tears away and decided to Join Rose in practice. Although, she mainly used her bow instead of a gun. Rose asked April about her skill with a bow, and April told Rose her story about her father and how the bow was custom-made.
"My trainer... eh? That day is coming soon. I wonder if the grave was replicated..." Don muttered to himself in thought before releasing a sigh and leaning back against the couch. He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. He could feel himself slowly slipping into a slight slumber, and when he did, he dreamt about his younger years.
"Hey, Kid. Keep up." A young woman in all black was walking ahead of a small child who was clothed in all black as well. They were traveling together in broad daylight. The face of the woman was still shaded out in black, but the body was still visible. She extended a hand to the boy, hurrying to keep up with her. He took her hand, and she led him into an ice cream shop. "Which kind of ice cream do you want, kiddo?" She asked him.
"Uhh... Vanilla?" The child answered, which caused the woman to chuckle, "That it? Try something new. How about... Chocolate Fudge Sundae with bits of strawberry!" The woman expressed, and the child nodded. "I guess." He responded in a monotone.
The woman sighed lightly. "When you put it like that, it's kind of hard to get excited. Tell ya what. Get this kid something that will put a smile on his face." The woman asked the person behind the counter, and the person nodded. "Right away!"
They settled at a table, and the man brought out two bowls. One of them was the Chocolate Fudge Sundae with bits of strawberry set in front of the woman. The other looked like a mountain of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup all over it. A few gram-crackers here and there. A cute cherry sat on top of the mountain of ice cream. The child seemed amazed at how big it was. "Go on, kid, eat it." The woman said with a smile while pointing her spoon at him. The spoon was covered in bits of ice cream already.
The child nodded and took up the spoon to put a spoonful in his mouth. His cheeks filled with pink, and his eyes lit up like a Christmas light, along with a warm smile. The woman nodded softly with a smile of her own before looking at the man with a thumbs-up. The man nodded politely toward her and then continued about his work.
"Don..." A soft voice called his name. The child looked up at the woman who smiled at him. "Happy Birthday, Kiddo." The voice seemed to fade out slowly.
"Don..." It called again. This time it came from someone else, and he woke up from his dream.
His vision was slightly blurry, and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes before noticing April standing in front of him. "Did I doze off?" Don inquired softly, and April nodded with a soft chuckle. "Yeah. It's dinner time. Come on." April answered, and Don nodded while getting up. He headed towards the table, where some people made fun of him for passing out in the living room. Others seemed to ask him tips on using a gun, and then there were other merry conversations going on and about.
These happy days continue for the next few weeks. Training, stocking up on supplies and having fun. A few spicy nights here and there as well between Don and April. After all, they were a couple now and had the urges at their age. The teasing continued afterward as well. Jessica and Ion had their spicy nights but seemed to vanish somewhere when they went to do it. The only reason people knew was that they would never tell anyone where they were going and would come back a few hours later, only to shower afterward.
Noah ended up finishing Don's Tonto and gave it to him. Tyrone eventually opened up to everyone about his Seed, and everyone respected him even more for it. Then the time came for Don to take his leave came. Rose took over the training for Don. It was more so overseeing than training since everyone had the basics down.