At The Podium
Part 35

On the way back to the warehouse Bryce explained that Joe was going to help with a training class in the morning. He never explained who the class was for and Joe never asked, he figured if Bryce wanted him to know he would have told him. He mentioned that they were going to be working on force on force training and that Joe should wear jeans and to remember to wear a cup for his protection.

Joe fell asleep that night thinking about the mannequins and a world that required him to shoot people that small. As he prepped he always knew that if things went wonky all bets were off. But, shooting kids never occurred to him as a possibility and the thought of it was disconcerting to say the least.

Joe was up at 8:00am and was getting breakfast when he realized the range had clients and the apartment was empty. He slowly ate his yogurt and scanned the paper somebody had picked up. As always the paper was filled with stories that seemed that they should be something somebody made up. Joe wondered if he was living in the wrong time, the stories were constantly challenging his perception of the world in a bad way.

Lost in thought he didn’t hear Bryce till he asked him a question. He turned toward the doorway,
“Sorry Bryce can you repeat the question; I was engrossed by the paper and didn’t hear you.”

Bryce repeated,
“I said that if you want you can grab your Glock and safety gear and join the class. Don’t tell anybody you’re staying here. Lazarus told the head of the group that you are a client and came for a day of training.”

Joe quickly replied that he wanted to participate,
“That sounds good, I’ll get my gear.”

Joe rushed off to get his range bag and fill it with the items he would need for the day. After that he walked down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs he looked around at the 6 scruffy looking characters milling around or preparing to shoot.

Lazarus saw him and called for everybody’s attention,
“Everybody, this is Joe, he’s a client. He was the guy that videoed the pepper spray attack at the bookstore a while back and hit some of the talk shows condemning the violent acts of the far left. He has more death threats than all of you combined so we’re training him. I asked him to shoot with us today since he will be on red team later today.”

A woman in her late 30’s to early 40’s with blonde hair held in a pony tail stepped out of the group,
"Joe, they call me Josie and it’s nice to meet you. This is my team; we’re with a Federal Agency. As you can see we do some undercover work here and there. From left to right that’s Dragon, Nicey, Bo, 2-Tone and Jackie.”

Joe looked at the assortment of Federal Agents and tried to guess for 5 seconds which agency they worked for,
“Nice to meet you and thanks for letting me tag along, I’ll try to stay out of the way.”

Lazarus took them thru the shooting drills and began working with individual shooters. The two women in the group were doing OK but two of the guys seemed to be irritating Lazarus. Bryce was working with the two guys that did very well. Suddenly Lazarus was beside Joe and had pulled his targets from the counter and was looking at them.

Lazarus hit the remote that worked the range system’s overhead speakers; it was attached thru a wireless microphone that Lazarus carried with him,
“Everybody safe your weapons and come here, I need to show you something.”

As the students walked toward Joe’s shooting position he was curious what Lazarus was going to say.

Lazarus walked to each shooting position and picked up the targets that each student had already shot and wrote something on them.

Lazarus in front of the assembled students and thumbed thru the pile,
“Joe is a civilian that came to us recently to provide him with protection and has been instructed by Bryce and myself in the art of shooting and self-defense. He has received many death threats and in an attempt to mitigate the possibility of him being killed we provide him with protection at functions and instruction that may someday save his life. Yesterday he had his eyes examined and found out that he had lost some of the visual acuity that is so important to shooting and today is wearing contacts. The reason I mention this is that at this point his firearms proficiency surpassed that of half of you. Now Joe wasn’t a bad shot when he got here, he did however need some work and some time behind the trigger. It is important to realize that the possibility of needing to use a firearm to protect yourself, a teammate or a civilian is part of your job. I would guess that other than quals. Many of you are not practicing on a regular basis, this needs to change. The reason I share Joe’s story with you is that you are undercover agents and understand the importance of secrecy. Also, remember that good eyesight is a cornerstone of good shooting. Joe’s story stays in this room and think about the information about shooting we will give you today. Now, get back to work.”

Bryce had a big smile on his face. Whether it was at Lazarus’s speech or pride in Joe's shooting Joe didn’t know.

The group went back to their shooting and broke for a late lunch that had been brought in. The food was along the lines of Lazarus’s eating regime and the students were happy for the lull in the action.


After lunch Lazarus stood before the group and explained the rest of the days agenda,
“We will be splitting this group up and doing force-on-force training for a few hours. We have two abandoned warehouses that will serve as our shoot houses and will be using training rounds. These rounds are marking rounds and everybody will protect their head, neck and groin. One scenario will allow you to have plans of the building before you enter; the plans may or may not be current. The other scenario will simply be building clearing and Bryce and Joe will act as hostiles. Safety is the number one priority of this training rotation and remember to expect the unexpected. I don’t want to see anything that you saw in a movie or a video game. I require your teamwork to be professional and wish you luck.”

Bryce stepped forward to address the group, "Dragon, Jackie and Bo gear up, you’re with me. The rest of you are with Lazarus.”

Bryce walked over and pushed the shooting counters toward the backstop and pulled a suitcase from under the counter. He opened the suitcase and started to ask for weapons and performed the steps to convert the weapons to fire the marking rounds,
“Safety begins and ends with you. Don’t fire these at any distance closer than 3 feet. Always wear your protective gear inside the building and if you get hurt, call out and we will immediately stop the exercise. These rounds can sting; it’s like being shot like that.”

Bryce handed the first weapon back after cycling it a few times and shooting it into a 5 gallon bucket to insure it was operating properly.

After he had converted all the weapons and checked each member for live rounds he led the group down the block to a warehouse and pulled keys from his pocket and opened the door. As he entered the building he pulled a flashlight out and depressed the tail cap lighting up the small entry area,
“We need 5 minutes to get set, after that you can go. I want to work one at a time to begin and then you will do it as a group. Any questions?”

The man called Dragon raised his hand, “We work the building and then return to this point?

Bryce simply nodded his head and motioned for Joe to follow into the dark building. Bryce had already picked his ambush points and showed Joe where he wanted him.

As Joe kneeled behind a stack of metal 55 gallon drums he heard Bryce take up a position not 30 feet away and tried to calm his nerves. Joe’s heartbeat and pulse had quickened and he was getting anxious.

Eight minutes later the first victim walked near Joe and had figured out he was there. He began by using verbal commands to come out with his hands up; Joe didn’t know what to do. Bryce answered his question by sneaking up and shooting Dragon twice in the back.

The second trainee fell to the same ploy and the third actually got a few shots off before Bryce called for time to check for the distinct marks on all the shooters. Bryce was hit in the leg down low and the trainee was hit three times in the chest or back. Joe had put one round on target and Bryce walked outside to explain the next round of fun and games.

The next round required them all to work as a team and took 15 agonizing minutes. Joe was at the spot Bryce had picked and was waiting for the team to walk into the kill zone. They spotted Joe and gave the verbal commands while one of them scanned the room for Bryce. Joe complied and was waiting for Bryce to step out of the shadows and rescue him when one of the team began yelling instructions toward the far corner.

Bryce had worked around the room and the team member had mistaken a dummy dressed as Bryce for him. Bryce opened up with the marking rounds. He again called time and shined the light on the team members who were each dotted with the marking gel.

Bryce walked them all out and began an explanation of what had happened, “I baited you and used Joe as the tethered goat. I then used a mannequin as a ruse and was able to get around to your backs and kill or disable all of you. Don’t tell the other team anything and we’ll talk about it later. Now go down three blocks to this address and wait outside for the other team to finish.”

Bryce walked over to Joe, “You did well, were you scared?”

Joe laughed, “Very scared is more like it.”

Bryce smiled, “It’s gets scary in the dark waiting for somebody to come around a corner and hurt you. I have a method I use to calm myself and will show you how it works tomorrow. For now we wait for the other team. I’ve scanned their records and one of them has the potential to get us, the key is to remain calm. I think you hit one of them last time.”

As Joe was about to answer the remaining three trainees walked up to the building and stood in front of Bryce. Bryce again explained the rules and double checked every weapon to insure it was still safe and the men walked back into the dark building.

Joe heard a rat or a mouse scurry across the floor in the corner near Bryce. Joe waited in the dark with his Surefire in his left hand and his weapon in his right. He didn’t move till after Bryce had marked his 4th victim of the day.

The 5th trainee was good and had got Bryce in his headgear and was taken out by Joe from 20 feet. Joe wasn’t surprised it was Josie that had gotten Bryce and they sent her out to send the last trainee in for their chance.

2 Tone was the last trainee, he was louder than the others and had been hit quicker than any of his co-workers. Bryce, Joe and 2-Tone walked outside and Josie smiled as they opened the door.

Bryce walked up to Josie and stuck his hand out to shake hers, “Josie, I’ve done that exact exercise at least 20 times and that is the first time I’ve been tagged. Good job, now you will work as a group and let’s see what you can do.”

Josie’s luck didn’t hold and Bryce tagged all three with marking dye and received no hits himself.

As the group headed back down the street to the warehouse Josie was watching Bryce with a cautious eye. It seemed she had something on her mind and Joe was eager to figure out what it was.

With the marking pistols strapped into their regular holsters Lazarus worked with them all on pulling their weapons from their body and eventually everybody put the safety gear back on and it was gunfight time.

Lazarus stepped in front of the group, “It’s time for an exercise I call gunfight, the goal is to draw and shoot your opponent before he shoots you.”

Josie stuck her hand up, “If you need a volunteer I’d be happy to help you demonstrate with Bryce.”

Bryce looked over and raised his eyebrows, “Sure, the rules are simple. Five feet minimum and one shot only. You start at the buzzer. Twelve feet will separate you two. You guys step over there and go.”

Bang, bang and it was over.

Bryce and Josie both took their headgear off and were standing and looking a little smug and Joe could see Josié had one in the chest. He then looked over and noticed Bryce was sporting a spot on the forehead of his head gear.

Lazarus smiled, “Winner, Josie. Excellent job.”

Bryce looked over at Lazarus, “I know that with the vest on it wasn’t fatal. You know me, I shoot till they drop.”

Lazarus pointed to Bryce’s headgear and Bryce turned it over and looked at it. He stood shocked for 15 seconds before answering,
“Good work Josie.”

Joe was only able to beat one of the agents and by the end of the day had decided that being in Law Enforcement was no picnic.