My Sundays are normally spent catching up on sleep and being lazy in general, but not the one that just passed. I was up well before noon, doing something I’ve always wanted to do – learn how to use a gun. Anyone who has seen a zombie movie or played a survival horror game knows that you’re pretty much screwed unless you have a nice big gun to keep the forces of darkness at bay. Problem is, I didn’t know how to shoot a gun. I didn’t know where to find a shooting range and didn’t know anyone who was interested in that sort of thing. And to be perfectly honest, I’m a little afraid of guns and the power they have over life and death. Yes, I know that that it’s the wielder and not the weapon who kills people, but that’s precisely where my apprehensions came from – I’m pretty clumsy with gadgets and wouldn’t trust myself with a gun. But apparently my friends do because there I was, anxiously watching my friends fire at their targets last Sunday.

You can’t enter the range without goggles and earmuffs, and I soon learned the wisdom of these safety precautions. Apparently, guns make a deafeningly loud sound. Every time somebody fired a shot, I’d jump a little and pee in my pants. Well, not really, but the sound rattled me enough to nearly chicken out when my turn came.

Ken warned me that the shooting range staff might not do more than hand you the gun and let you figure it out for yourself, but I found that this wasn’t quite true. My instructor was quite helpful and did a great job of reassuring me that no, the gun will not backfire and send the bullet straight into my forehead.

My first few shots were actually pretty good – I’d hit the target on the chest, close enough to the white bulls-eye but not quite. Then at some point I started getting scared by the loud bang of nearby guns, which made me miss my target by ridiculous margins.

My boyfriend did the smart thing and waited til he got used to the sound of firing guns before giving it a try.

After a little more practice, I finally got my first head shot. Looks like I might survive the zombie apocalypse after all!

Once we had used up our handgun bullets, everyone took a whack at the shotgun. Well, everyone except me. The shotgun looked large enough to break my shoulder when it recoils, plus I was still a little rattled by the sound of all that shooting. Even after everyone had their turn with the shotgun, I still couldn’t find the nerve to get near it.

Marco says the recoil wasn’t actually as bad as he thought. It feels like a push and doesn’t hurt if you press the butt completely against your shoulder.

When I saw his target up close, I finally understood why shotguns are one of the most powerful weapon you can use in a survival horror game. There was actually a spray!

In retrospect, firing a gun was actually quite fun. I just wish I weren’t deathly afraid of the sound they make.

After the shooting range, we headed back to the Kengdom to play a game of ultimate frisbee at a nearby high school. This was another thing I wasn’t entirely prepared for. I was under the impression that Ultimate Frisbee with Geeks would involve lots of goofing off with a disc, what with everyone being so unfit and all, but the whole thing suddenly became a tad serious and competitive when a pro joined the group. I didn’t realize that the game involved a lot of running around, especially when a team scores a point. Needless to say, I was easily one of the worst players, not only because I’m out of shape but because I was starving. I ended up sitting out the last half of the second game, too fatigued to take a photo even though my camera was right beside me. I’m really not one for organized sports, especially when I know that I suck at it, but maybe I’ll do better with some food in my belly and an energy drink down my throat next Sunday.

(Wow, that last sentence made me suddenly aware of how old really I am. Fifteen years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about running out to the street to play patintero with my friends. Now I need food and energy drinks to run around a field and catch a frisbee. Will I still be able to run 15 years from now?)

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