Eyeing the row of axes, she quietly said, “I want one of those.” She’d always had a hankering for a Hawkeye axe.
“Should we start with the guns? You’ll need a few,” Joseph suggested.
Poe followed him to the rows of perfectly shelved handguns, rifles, semi-automatics, and shotguns. Poe gravitated to the Walther PPK, hoping to replace her dear James.
“I prefer a Walther PPK and a Beretta.”
“Try handling other guns first. You might be surprised,” Joseph advised.
Reluctantly Poe inspected the automatic pistol that Joseph, uncharacteristically clad in a Watchmen shirt, handed her. It was a 10mm Remington, a bit heavy and large for her hands, but she just had to please the smile-heavy vampire looking over her shoulders. At least he was fully dressed this time. She didn’t even 142
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bother to step at the shooting line. Poe fired from where she stood at the corner end of the room.
Perla and Maple, deep in conversation, were startled into attention by the blast, their eyes alternating between Poe and the target. Her shot was a few millimeters from the bullseye, but it was still in the red circle. They looked at the girl who made a face at Joseph and said that the Remington was too heavy.
Their conversation stopped for good to watch Poe select several guns and fire them. Holding a gun in each hand, Poe shot at two separate targets simultaneously, hitting the center of both. The two women exchanged looks.
“I take back any doubts I had about her skills,”
Perla whispered to Maple.
“Ditto. Taken back.”
As surprised as Perla and Maple, Joseph was decidedly awed by the shooting prowess of the young woman. He grinned as he handed the Glock, his favorite weapon, to Poe.
The pasted look of cynicism on Poe’s face faded as soon as she held the small G-19 pistol that held 18
rounds of ammo. It felt feather light and fit perfectly in her hand. It was made out of synthetic polymer that was stronger than steel, yet was hugely lighter than most pistols. She took the other gun Joseph held out to her. It was a Glock 33, also known as one of the smallest .357s ever made. For such a powerful handgun, it was surprisingly buoyant.
Poe moved to the firing line. Extending both hands into fire position, Poe sprinkled bullets on the three targets on the opposite side of the room, hitting the bullseye over ninety-nine percent of the time. To her surprise, the Glocks proved better than her old guns. The change saddened her, but for safety sake, she chose accuracy over loyalty.
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“I’m sold on these two,” she said to Joseph.
“Wise choice.”
Poe ended up with a Walther PPK and three Glocks, including a mini-Glock, a palm sized firearm that could be easily sheathed at her ankle. Maple also supplied Poe with a mini-Uzi that was more high-tech than the one sliced by vampire nails back at Goss’. For what it was worth, the manufacturer guaranteed that the Uzi wouldn’t lock.
“No, really. I don’t want a shotgun,” she said adamantly. “I’ll kill myself with the recoil. But I wouldn’t mind a small axe and some knives.”
Perla helped sharpen the chosen Hawkeye axe, while Maple and Joseph looked for the right-size shoulder and ankle holsters for the girl. Poe filled her backpack with ammunition. She was used to heavy weights on her shoulders.
Maple gave a brief but informative lecture about the vulnerable spots of vampires. Poe was surprised to learn a thing or two. For instance, she hadn’t known that a vampire’s spine could be severed if hit two or three times with blessed ammo. The bacteria in the garlic would prevent the bones from soldering back together. Since the vampire was nice enough to share such prime information, Poe felt more at ease. So much at ease that she asked Maple in a whisper if it was true that male vampires reacted like human males when kicked in the groin.
Maple didn’t even bat an eye and answered her question as if it had been asked in a classroom. “A little, Poe, but not enough to bowl them over or keep them from doing their business. It’s more psychological than anything.”
For some reason, the conversation turned to sex.
Joseph was the one who answered the questions most asked by humans.
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“Yes, we can have sex with humans and vampires alike,” he sighed. “No, we can’t spawn any half-human, half-vampire brats – we’re dead. But there are those pesky rumors that vampire babies