“Beep, beep, beep, be-" I smacked my alarm to put a stop to its constant and annoying shriek.

“Five more minutes" I groaned after pulling my arm back under my navy blue comforter. I don't know why I never cut off that irritating device, especially since its set to go off a 6 in the morning. I must have accidentally hit the snooze instead of the off button because it went off again after 10 minutes.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you" I said in irritation as I turned it off and threw the covers to the side. I felt my body protest my actions when I stood up and felt all of my joints pop painfully back into place.

“Jesus I'm tired." I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stumbled into my bathroom. I took a look at myself in the mirror, I looked like a wreck. My hair was sticking up, my eyes were bloodshot, and I had a white line running across my face where I was laying on my arm.

I went to my drawer on the other side of my bedroom and grabbed a fresh set of clothes before turning on the shower and letting the warm water ease and my aching muscles.

'I must have slept wrong, my back is killing me' I thought as I rubbed my spine to help loosen the stiffness. I let the shower run for a few more minutes before shutting of the water and grabbing the towel and pulling back the curtain.

“That's better." I walked back to the mirror and saw myself in much better shape. I saw my scars across my chest and abdomen, the largest going along the right side of my body. I ran a finger over my six-pack, where the most resent one was, and laughed a little.

'Gotta watch out for those claws.' The tiger got a lucky hit in that fight, plunging a claw into my skin when I let my guard down, last time I ever let that happen. I brushed my hair and teeth then started getting dressed for the day.

“Hello" I said after picking up my phone that began ringing.

“Hey Buck" Sam's voice answered back.

“Hey man, what's up."

“I wanted to ask you if it's alright if a brought a few friends to come shoot with us."

“Cool with me, should make things more fun."

“Awesome, thanks bro."

“No problem, see ya later."

“See you."

I hung up and deposited the phone into my pocket before exiting my room and leaving my empty house. My parents were gone for the whole week so I pretty much had the house to myself. I didn't like staying in an empty house, that's my paranoia taking over, so I usually leave for the whole day and just do stuff in town.

“Ain't supposed to meet Sam for another two hours." I hopped into my truck and turned on the ignition.

'Might as well go see what going on in town.' I thought as I drove toward the city.

*********************************************

I've been driving through town for the last hour and the boredom was starting to get to me.

'Is that who I think it is?' I saw Ryan and Matt on the sidewalk and pulled to a stop next to them. I rolled down my window and greeted them.

“Howdy y'all"

“Hey Buck, didn't think we would see you today." Ryan said in surprise.

“Well I'm here…so what are you two doing today?"

“Nothing really, we were just going to get Zack and hang out."

“I can take ya to him, hop in." They both thanked me and Ryan took shotgun while Matt took the seat behind me.

“So where's does Zack live?"

“Just ahead, second house on the left, pass the intersection" The timber wolf pointed to the house he was indicating. I parked on the curb and unlocked the doors for them.

“Do you want to join us?"

“Can't, I'm going skeet shooting with a friend today."

“Okay, have fun." Ryan looked bummed that I couldn't hang with them.

“Y'all wanna come?" He perked up real quick after I said that.

“Really…you don't mind us coming along?"

“Not at all, go ask Zack if he wants in and we'll head out."

“Thanks mate"

“No problem"

Matt returned to his seat and Ryan ran the house and came back with the white furred tiger in tow.

“Buckle up, I ain't gonna let y'all get me a ticket." I started driving once I heard the 3 clicks of the seatbelts.

*******************************************

I parked next to Sam's Chevy Impala and jumped out after tucking the keys away into my pocket.

“Wait, we don't have any guns" Zack told me as I walked to my trunk.

“Got ya covered." I dropped the back to reveal a full arsenal hidden away in the bed.

“Holy! Is this even legal?" Ryan looked at me like I was crazy, oh wait I am crazy.

“Nope" I reached in grabbed them some 20-gauges and my 12-gauge, along with a few boxes of shells before slamming it shut.

“Wa-" I shushed him and gestured for them to follow. They stopped asking questions as we walked towards a homemade shooting range facing a dirt field. The land was dotted in orange and black with the remnants of destroyed clay pigeons. I saw a German shepherd and Dalmatian sitting on a bench, fast asleep.

'Oh this is just too perfect.' I raised a finger to my lips telling them to be quiet as I snuck up next to the pair of sleeping dogs.

“Cover your ears" I whispered and they raised their paws over their ears before I flipped off the safety and aimed towards the forest across the field.

“BOOM"

“WHAT THE HELL!" They screamed in unison with sheer terror in their voices.

“Rule one Sam, never fall asleep around me when I have my guns" I laughed at the shepherd and Dalmatian that looked like they just had a heart attack.

“Screw you man" Sam yelled with a grin and raised his paw.

“What time?" I took his and into mine, pulling eachother into a quick hug.

“Soon as you can handle it"

“Gotta buy me dinner first." Sam rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.

“It's good to see you Buck"

“Been awhile ain't it?"

“Yes it has…have you met my friend here?" He pointed his thumb back at the Dalmatian.

“No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Howdy friend my names Eli, but everyone just calls me Buck" I held out my hand that he took.

“Noah, it's nice to meet you Buck," He said while shaking my hand.

“Likewise." We let go and I introduced them to Ryan, Matt, and Zack.

“Now that the introductions are out of the way, who's ready to fire off a few?" Sam grabbed his 20-gauge and I pumped a round into the chamber.

“Time to show y'all how we do things down South." I took my position by one of the posts.

“Please, I'm going to smoke you" Sam said as he came up beside me.

“Keep telling yourself that you Yankee bastard"

“Bring it on hillbilly"

“Clays are loaded and ready" I heard someone shout from my left and I saw a female Lynx walk out from behind the gun shack.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce you to Emily"

“Howdy" I shook her hand and she climbed into the booth in the middle of the range where the controls to the skeet throwers were.

“Two shots per clay?" I asked Sam.

“Yeah"

“Alright" I took aim and flicked off the safety. “…Pull" the orange disk launched from my right and I took my shot, scoring a hit. I repeated this 10 more times and finished my round with a perfect hit rate.

“You're up" I watched him take aim and focus down the sights.

“…Pull" He scored a perfect round as well, we usually end up tying.

“We have got to stop doing that"

“It's because were so in sync, my furry friend." I chuckled lightly and retreated from my position.

“Your turn" I told the 3 canines and the feline watching us from the bench. They looked nervous and their hands were shaking slightly. “Something wrong?"

“None of us have ever shot a gun before" Matt told us.

“That ain't a problem; me and Sam can teach all of ya"

 “Really?"

“Sure, come on" Sam said as he pushed them forward to the firing lines.

I started with Ryan, the wolf looking more scared than the rest of them.

“First off, are you left or right handed?"

“Right"

“Dominant eye"

“Right"

“Okay, your gonna want to keep this hand here" I placed his left hand on the hand stock.

“Remember, never let any part of your body touch the barrel while firing"

“Why?"

“It'll burn the everlovin shit out of you…now place the stock here" The end of the gun was now placed firmly between his shoulder and his chest. I pushed his head towards the stock until his cheek barely touched the weapon.

“Take your time, put the target in your sights and shoot. The safeties off so, when you're ready, say pull." I backed away slightly and stuck my fingers into my ear canals to block out the sound of the impending explosion.

“…Pull" The clay pigeon flew into the air and Ryan pulled the trigger when it reached its apex. The bullet knocked the clay right out of the air.

“Nice shot" I patted him on the back. “You sure you ain't ever shot that thing before?" The smile he wore showed pure joy at his success.

I moved on to help Sam with the others. They weren't as lucky, each one missing their targets by a mile. We stepped back after teaching them and I went back to the bench while Sam took a seat next to Emily.

They went through their rounds with all of their shots missing and Matt nearly dislocating his shoulder after firing my 12-gauge.

“Thought I would do better with it" was his excuse as I took my gun back and handed him the 20-gauge.

“That's all the clays" Emily announced after she and Sam exited the control booth and sat next to me on the bench.

“Thought you had more Sam"

“I wasn't intending for there to be this many people. “

“Excuses, excuses…It's getting dark anyway, what time do I need to take y'all home?" I asked the 3 individuals that came here with me. They all received a text at the same time and went to read it.

“Now" they told me.

“Well ain't that convenient, come on, I'll see ya later Sam" I patted his shoulder and used it to pull myself up and grabbed my gun before heading to my truck.

“Bye Buck, drive safe"

I opened the trunk and put all the guns and shells in the bed and closed it back.

“Let's get y'all home before all of your parents skin me alive." I said as we all climbed in and started the ride back to town.