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[h1]Rada Hanak, Puddle[/h1]
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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH9z_oBkLcM&list=OLAK5uy_m896N3uOfGQ7Wc1kfgr8tE2gyvMKyLaQg&index=15[/youtube]
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[h2]Riverside – Apartments on the border[/h2]

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Puddle led Rada up the stairs. While he trudged upward, Rada was practically skipping. The second he told her he was going to teach her how to shoot she squealed with delight. In fact he almost had to start kicking to displace the bear hug she placed him in. Either way they were finally where they needed to be. The battle had begun but hadn’t entered full swing yet. It was a good time to set up an observation nest.

Puddle dumped his backpack and rifle on a table within an abandoned apartment. The occupants seemed smart enough to get out before the fighting intensified. They were the smart ones, the lucky ones, who had mind enough to leave and live to see another day. Those that remained he just hoped hunkered down and the fighting stayed clear of them. As he placed down his rifle and retrieved some binoculars he looked to Rada who was standing there grabbing one hand at a time in the air with a dopey smile.

Puddle huffed. “Not yet. Need to teach you some basics first.”

Rada’s hands closed. “Wait what- oh this isn’t some dirty trick where I get shitted out of getting to try shooting again is it?” She began to bounce her head. “Every freaking time-.”

Puddle interjected. “No, I’ll be teaching you how to use this today, but first I’m teaching you how [i]not[/i] to get shot in the head. Listen to that out there.”

Rada’s head tilted taking note of the sporadic gunfire and shrugged. “Just sounds like another gang war that can’t decide to die out. Come on I’m no Nocturnian green horn I’m used to violence in this city.”

Puddle shot back. “Not like this you’re not.” He sighed. “Just listen to me. This is important. I want you to stand at that window there. Right at the edge.” He gestured for her to do so. “Go on.”

Rada rolled her eyes and did so, speaking dull. “[i]Oh my what a view.[/i] What’s your point.”

Puddle didn’t miss a beat. “How many windows can you count.” 

Rada looked back confused, then silently began to count before throwing her hand up and back to the windowsill. “I don’t know. Hundreds? Thousands? It’s Nocturnia there’s towers for days.”

Puddle stared out, eyes going distant. “Well in every one of those windows there could be a man on the lookout. Every bit of rubble, every concrete corner potentially hiding a rifle ready to take your head off. Think you can cover all those windows at once?”

Rada chewed his words before instinctively walking away from the window, eyes laced with worry. “You know I never… I never really thought about it like that.”

Puddle nodded. “If you can be seen, you can be killed.” He stood aside now. “Stand where I was and look out the window. How many other windows can you see now?”

Rada did as she as instructed. Looking out she her eyebrows raised. “Oh, only like, three, and I can see down the whole open street.”

She was starting to get it. Puddle gave a small smile. “Only ever expose yourself to what you can cover. If you can’t cover it, that’s an unknown. Leaving unknowns to luck is a great way to get dead.” Puddle proceeded to set the rifle up on that table. “The moment you pick up a gun, you declare yourself as apart of the fight. Everyone else is just trying to stay alive and they aren’t going to stop for a girl in over her head.” He rested his hand on top the rifle. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

The realization of the moment finally hit Rada. “You want me to shoot people?” She raised her hands. “Hey, look I know I was talking a lot of smack but that’s a hell of a step. I don’t know if-.”

Puddle's head bounced to the side. “Not people. Monsters.” He took in her confusion. “You’ll see what I mean. It’s the safest way to get you up to speed and ready for the real thing. Trust me, I can tell you without a doubt you want to be as ready for the real thing as you possibly can be.” His expression hardened. He wish he knew better the first time. The least he could do now was give Rada some hope of being prepared if she ever found herself in a similar situation.

Puddle set up with his binoculars. “We’ll start easy. Just get you hitting some street signs. Then we’ll likely just be taking notes on everything we see. Don’t expect you to shoot anything or anyone. Only if the opportunity comes up and you want to try and prepare yourself should you ever have to do it again.” His eyes focused down the street ready to observe and later report back to the Akulas and Canary’s alike. “Once the worst of it is over we do a quick patrol to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Then we go home. You up for this?”

Rada hesitated. She was wondering what the hell she was doing here. The same feeling that Puddle felt when he was at the door with Dave. The only difference here was that Rada had a choice. She didn’t have to do this. She could just leave and go on living her life as she knew it. He knew though that if she didn’t have the chance to make this decision today that she would’ve found herself in a situation where the decision was made for her. She at least had a choice, regardless of what the future exposed her to.

Rada nodded slowly and took her place behind the rifle. “It’s only going to get worse isn’t. Better now than never.”

Puddle gave her a light slap on the shoulder. He had to admit he had a lot of respect for her decision to stay and face the fight. It was coming for them all, but even given the chance to pretend things would be ok for a little longer, she stayed to prepare herself for the future. Puddle began instructing her on how to shoot properly. Rada used her Gyft to preempt the bullets path. Not long after the suppressor had puffed a good many times Rada was already becoming a crack shot. 

Now all there was left to do was watch the horror unfold when the battle for Riverside decided to reach a deciding crescendo.