Time: 14:26

Location: Base shooting range wait line

"What time is it?" I asked Eddy.

"' Bout 14:30," he answered. We looked at the person in front of us. We're next up to being able to shoot. I am able to wait. Eddy, though, was not. "Hey, you!" he yelled at the tall guy in front of us.

The man turned around and growled, "What do you want?"

"We'll give you $10 if we can go in front of you," Eddy said.

"Make it $20 and you'll get a deal," the man said. I later learned the man's name is Bryan.

"$15. Take it or leave it." Eddy said in his end of negotiation voice. The man hesitated.

"Fine. Hand the dough over," Bryan said. Eddy pulled out his brown leather wallet and handed over $15. Bryan took the money and stepped behind us. About five minutes later, a cease-fire was called. Eddy and I strode up to the gun rack and grabbed our guns. Mine was an M-34 bolt-action rifle. I snagged a box of rounds and headed to the table where Eddy was setting up.

"I don't see why you use that gun," I said to Eddy. "It's so inaccurate."

"If you're surrounded, would you want that rifle?" Eddy countered.

"I wouldn't get surrounded because I would have taken them out before they got near me." I countered Eddy's counter. Everyone around us was now listing to our argument.

"You couldn't hit a brick wall," Eddy retorted.

I raised one eyebrow "Really?" Without another word, I grabbed my soda can and sauntered out to the 100-yard line. I set the can down on the dirt ground, turned around and called out to everyone, "If I don't hit the can, I will give you each $10. But if I hit it, you each give me $10. Who's in?" I reached for a plastic bucket that we use to collect empty bullet shells and passed it to Eddy.

Eddy enthusiastically threw a ten-dollar bill into the bucket and exclaimed, "That will be the easiest ten bucks I'll ever make!" He passed the bucket to the next guy. When everyone had put their money in the bucket, it was almost overflowing.

"Alright," I said. "Let's do this." I loaded five rounds into the rifle magazine and popped the magazine into the rifle. I lifted my rifle up to my shoulders and looked through the scope. I took aim, slowly curled my index finger around the trigger, and fired. The bang of the gun was deafening. A split second later, we all heard a ping, indicating that I hit the can. Everybody groaned. I smiled. About an hour later, Eddy and I were walking out of the base shooting range with the bucket full of money.

"Works every time," Eddy said. I smiled and we walked back to the barracks to split the cash in private.