Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As I cleared my gun once again for safety, I then took out a similar item to the MP5 I gave to Isaac on his birthday, and I switched the suppressor I had on my BCM Rifle with it. It was easy enough to swap 'em out and as I discovered that everyone was looking at me confusedly, I turned to Ella, who had now put on the eye protection with a darker shade, as I asked some questions:

"You taking any medications?"

"W-Wha— Why are you asking?"

"Just answer, please."

"I mean— no?"

"You like having bangs cover your eyes, right?"

"What's with these— Sure. But depending on my outfit!"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh. Then what about contacts?"

"What about them?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?!"

"How about now?"

"I didn't wear one."

"Because?"

"Because! It depends on my mood too, you know?!"

"Hmm~ That slightly~ complicates things… I'm not even sure what to treat you for…"

"Complicate what things?! What are you even trea—"

"I'm asking the questions here— but last one, have you had LASIK before?"

"Wha— How'd you know?! YOU READ MY MEDICAL HISTORY?! THAT'S—"

"I didn't, chill. I just saw a picture of you when you were small— I mean, younger."

"Woww~~ Way to rub it in, huh? But—"

I waved her off as I pushed my gun onto her, "Eh~ Enough talking, just shoot my gun and we'll go from there. It might not just be one thing that's your problem but we'll try to fix or work around them from here on, okay?"

"O-Okay…" Stay updated with empire

In any case, the thing I put on my rifle was a muzzle break which could minimize at least 90%~ give or take of the recoil—which I already ruled out that's not her problem—but at this point, we'll just do some trial and error and see what works for her.

And once again, as soon as she fired a shot, she then gasped and quickly turned around to hug me after clearing my gun.

'So, it's really not the recoil—'

"IT WORKED—"

I quickly shot her down, "No the fuck it did not!"

"Wha— HUH?! I'm pretty sure—"

"What happened was we eliminated more recoil BUT your body still moved the same! Hmmrgh…"

Kaley had to join in, "Umm~ Isn't her problem her eyes? I thought that was why you asked those questions and brought those things— I mean, the glasses, sure, but isn't the muzzle brake for recoil?"

I nodded, "Yeah, yeah, you're right. I just want to make sure it really wasn't the recoil by bringing in something that would eliminate almost all of it. It would've been easier if we used a normal-sized AR but the one I have had a little shorter barrel—hence the muzzle brake for Ella."

"But what now?"

Ella cut in, "I have something wrong with my eyes? I thought the LASIK fixed it?"

I turned to Ella, "I mean… Sure, the laser surgery fixed one thing but I think you're a little sensitive to bright lights."

Kaley cut in again, "But— Wouldn't the suppressor hide most of the muzzle flash too?"

"That is also true but while we have a physical problem, there might be a psychological one too. She said she's plenty scared of shooting it, right? If we rule out the noise for now—because she's hella loud—"

Ella never looked so mad-cute, "HEY!"

I waved her off as I continued, "Ruling the sound out, it could be the muzzle flash, the gas blowback from using the suppressor, or again, recoil."

Kaley looked confused, "I thought we already ruled out recoil? Are you talking about the physical one or the psychological one? Anticipating the recoil could be a problem too, right?"

"Sure, but we dunno yet. But we're mixing and matching everything here to figure out what's what."

Ella cut in, "Then… W-What now?"

I smiled at her, "We keep shooting until we figure out. It might be scary but we might find the root cause or causes, no? Wanna give it a few more tries?"

"O-Okay!"

"Then change glasses and do it again."

"Alright!"

So yeah, once Ella switched eye protection and lined up another shot, she looked happy once more because she didn't feel any recoil but her body was still recoiling for some reason, heck, I would've expected that her shoulder or at most, half her back would move but she looked like she was taking a punch from someone.

'Hmm… What if— I mean… There's also the issue that she needs to get used to the gun first…'

In any case, we tried more combinations where there weren't any attachments, just the flash hider, or just the suppressor with either glasses, and her reaction was almost the same for everything except with the muzzle brake on.

However, once Kaley had the idea to turn off the fucking lights and shoot some rounds while testing out all the other combinations, Ella's answer changed—even more when we turned on the lights and let her shoot with her eyes closed.

And lastly, the coup de grace was when we obstructed her vision of the gun while telling her a different setup before she started firing.

Kaley and I couldn't hide our surprise, "Huh./Whaddayouknow?"

"What? WHAT?! Can I open my eyes now?! This feels the best to me! Just let me use the muzzle brake and I'll be good to go! I won't go out but I'll be good atop a wall!"

I chuckled, "You sure about that?"

"Wha— Why are you—"

"Have you checked what you're running? Hmm?"

"You told me I'm using—"

Kaley cut her off, "Remove the covers."

"You— Huh? I'm using the same setup as before! HOW?! *removed glasses to check if it's tinted* I'm using the clear eye protection too! I thought there was something wrong with me— Wait— Is there? I'm really confused now, someone tell me what's wrong!"

I answered her question for her my way, "Easy. You're afraid of circles."

"HAAH?! THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE! WHAT?!"

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