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After dialing 911, your heroine yells at the person jiggling her knob, "I have a gun. Leave now!" Then she hears her nephew's voice down the hall screaming her name. She had forgotten in her adrenaline surge, that she had house guests. She has to save them.
Video Quick Study (3:37) Using a safe room.
As an author I'm sure your realize that having a safe room doesn't mean your heroine is safe. Here are two example 911 calls where the callers did the right things, and they ended up pulling the trigger anyway:
Audio Quick Study (0:41) Man shoots intruder after his
family is beaten and 911 operator accidentally
puts him on hold.
Audio Quick Study (2:34) Mom is hiding in the closet with her
two children when she shoots the intruder 5 times in the
face and neck. He is still able to leave the house and drive
down the road. The police find him and take him to the
hospital where he fights for his life.
Shooting in the home or other structure.
Violent encounters statistically
* Occur at very close range (3 yrds or less)
* Often happen in low or no light
* Are over in a matter of seconds (3 seconds)
* Include the firing of three shots
According to NRA Guide to the Basics of Personal Protection in the Home, there are
5 possible responses to a life-threatening encounter:
* freeze
* submit
* posture
* flight
* fight
Stress and its accompanying physiologic reactions include
* Difficulty breathing
* Loss of fine motor skills
* Racing heart
* Tunnel vision and hearing discrimination issues
* Shaking hands all create obstacles to defensive shooting and
following safety rules.
Perceptual changes during a threatening encounter:
* Tunnel Vision - focus almost
exclusively on the perceived
threat (Blog Link)
* Auditory Exclusion -
extraneous sounds are
inaudible. Your heroine may
not be able to hear instructions being yelled at her by
the police or other characters
* Time Dilation - slowed time,
things seem to to be happening
in slow motions.
Mental Preparation
Video Quick Study (4:49) Mental preparation tips.
* Your heroine must decide in advance that she is willing to be hurt
and keep going. Once engaged she cannot give up the fight.
(Aggression/Response Blog Link) If she doesn't have the right
mindset she's going to lose. So it's imperative that if you're writing
a beta heroine that she have some impetus greater than her own
will to stay alive and fighting - she's protecting her child, she's the
only one who can replicate the anti-viral that will save humanity...
* What should your heroine do? Listen to her limbic system
Blog Link
A major safety rule is know your target and what's beyond.
* Is your heroine sending a warning shot up in the air? What goes
up must come down. And what if there is someone on an upper
floor?
* What if the villain is standing in front of a propane or oil tank, a
kerosene heater or any other flammable liquid?
* What if she is shooting by a window or interior wall?
Here's hoping your heroine does a great job and saves the day!* submit
* posture
* flight
* fight
Stress and its accompanying physiologic reactions include
* Difficulty breathing
* Loss of fine motor skills
* Racing heart
* Tunnel vision and hearing discrimination issues
* Shaking hands all create obstacles to defensive shooting and
following safety rules.
Perceptual changes during a threatening encounter:
* Tunnel Vision - focus almost
exclusively on the perceivedthreat (Blog Link)
* Auditory Exclusion -
extraneous sounds are
inaudible. Your heroine may
not be able to hear instructions being yelled at her by
the police or other characters
* Time Dilation - slowed time,
things seem to to be happening
in slow motions.
Video Quick Study (4:49) Mental preparation tips.
* Your heroine must decide in advance that she is willing to be hurt
and keep going. Once engaged she cannot give up the fight.
(Aggression/Response Blog Link) If she doesn't have the right
mindset she's going to lose. So it's imperative that if you're writing
a beta heroine that she have some impetus greater than her own
will to stay alive and fighting - she's protecting her child, she's the
only one who can replicate the anti-viral that will save humanity...
* What should your heroine do? Listen to her limbic system
Blog Link
Controlling the Encounter
Strategies for a heroine who finds herself face to face with the villain.
* Both parties are experiencing high adrenaline. The problems of
tunnel vision and auditory exclusion effect the villain as well.
The heroine should yell directives so the villain can hear and
understand.
* STAY AWAY - no matter how compliant the villain is acting.
Your heroine should keep well out of reach. Villains can have
hidden weapons. Villains will often talk softly and reasonably as
they make their slow approach. Your heroine will want to
believe him and believe that nothing bad is really happening.
You're the author; you know what the bad guy is really up to -
she should get as far away from as she can and not get cornered.
This blog article discusses different tactics used by villains
against your poor heroine.
This blog article discusses different tactics used by villains
against your poor heroine.
It's bad. Your heroine is standing between the villain and her family. Gun in hand, ready to do whatever is necessary to keep her loved ones safe, she aims...
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A major safety rule is know your target and what's beyond.
* Is your heroine sending a warning shot up in the air? What goes
up must come down. And what if there is someone on an upper
floor?
* What if the villain is standing in front of a propane or oil tank, a
kerosene heater or any other flammable liquid?
* What if she is shooting by a window or interior wall?
CLOSE QUARTER SHOOTING
Video Quick Study (4:19) Extreme Close Quarter Shooting
Techniques
minutes following the blast.
If you've never heard gun fire in real life it is LOUD!
Remember that the military and law enforcement officers use
flash bang to disorient the individuals in a structure so they have
time to run in and time to function, taking control of the area. A
gun shot is loud and can have this stunning effect or a deafening
effect.
Will your heroine be able to shoot a few bullets while standing in
her bathroom, turn her head and chat with her cohort? Not likely
unless she can read lips.
Couldn't that lead to a complication? What if the
good guy was shouting instructions, "Get down! Get down!" She
would never know.
If she is an avid shooter she may have a silencer and that would
help immensely as would subsonic bullets. Why do I say avid
shooter? Legally it takes a very long time (about a year) to obtain
a license for a silencer. So not something she can just decide on a
whim to go purchase.
SIGHT
Your heroine will not be wearing protective glasses, though her regular glasses would serve this purpose.
Without eye protection, she could have eye damage from the gases and debris from the blast of the firearm, or a casing could fly back and catch her in the eye. Now your heroine is blinded and deaf. A terrible situation.
Techniques
SOUND -
Your heroine will be shooting in an enclosed space without ear
protection. She may well not be able to hear anything for several minutes following the blast.
If you've never heard gun fire in real life it is LOUD!
Remember that the military and law enforcement officers use
flash bang to disorient the individuals in a structure so they have
time to run in and time to function, taking control of the area. A
gun shot is loud and can have this stunning effect or a deafening
effect.
Will your heroine be able to shoot a few bullets while standing in
her bathroom, turn her head and chat with her cohort? Not likely
unless she can read lips.
Couldn't that lead to a complication? What if the
good guy was shouting instructions, "Get down! Get down!" She
would never know.
If she is an avid shooter she may have a silencer and that would
help immensely as would subsonic bullets. Why do I say avid
shooter? Legally it takes a very long time (about a year) to obtain
a license for a silencer. So not something she can just decide on a
whim to go purchase.
Brian Coates demonstrating a silencer with
sonic and subsonic bullets at
Nottoway Wildlife Association Link
SIGHT
Your heroine will not be wearing protective glasses, though her regular glasses would serve this purpose.
Without eye protection, she could have eye damage from the gases and debris from the blast of the firearm, or a casing could fly back and catch her in the eye. Now your heroine is blinded and deaf. A terrible situation.
Use of Cover and Concealment
As soon as your heroine senses a threat - her limbic system lights up. She needs to immediately seek cover or concealment. She should not wait until someone fires on her or rushes her.
Your heroine is doing her best. She's standing strong. She took a bullet to the shoulder, but she will not give up the fight. Now that she has the injury, she realizes that concealing herself behind the cabinet was not enough. She needs cover, and she needs it now!
When you write a scene make sure you know which term to use.
Concealment
She concealed herself behind the sofa, holding her breath, hoping the sound of her beating heart wouldn't give away her position.
Concealment is -
* Anything that will hide your heroine from observation
* Does not protect her body from incoming fire.
* Could prevent the villain from locating your heroine or being able
to accurately fire on her.
* Could help her gain the upper hand through surprise.
* Could allow your heroine to avoid or escape from the intruder all
together.
Cover -
Cover will protect your heroine from incoming fire. A fridge would be cover. A wood burning stove would be cover.
* A regular mattress provides concealment; a water bed provides
cover .
* Regular walls provide concealment; brick, stone, or concrete
provide cover.
* There's actually very little in a normal house that will provide
cover - but the villain may not understand this. He could be
aiming at the tiny piece of your heroine that is exposed instead of
shooting through the door or wall.
Techniques for using Cover and Concealment
* Minimize your heroine's exposure - the less seen the better her
chance of escaping detection.
* When looking around a barrier, have your heroine do a quick
peek, bobbing her head out to get an image then popping back
into her place. (much less than a second)
* She should vary the places that she peeks from so that the villain
isn't just waiting for her like an arcade game.
* The human eye is predisposed to tracking movement. As long as
your heroine is frozen in place, she will be harder to detect. Once
she moves, the villain's eyes will be drawn to her. An old Indian
trick would be to wait very still and then let out a war whoop - the
sudden noise would make the hidden pioneers flinch thus giving
up their location.
* If your heroine must fire from her position, she should stand arm's
distance from the barrier, leaning out just enough to catch the
villain in her sights.
U.S. Marine Corp., veteran Brian Coates
teaches how to acquire the target from behind barriers.
* In this video, I emptied my clip to time how long it took me to fire
off all of my bullets. This is a VERY BAD idea in a shooter
scenario.
^ Reloading takes time and attention, leaving your heroine at
greater risk.
^ She doesn't have an endless supply of bullets. Once she's out,
she's out.
* Your heroine should make sure that her muzzle is clear of the
barricade. Sights being clear of the barricade does not equal
muzzle being cleared.
^ Firing into cover at close range can cause serious harm to your
heroine from ricochet or from debris.
^ Firing at close range into your own cover can lessen its
effectiveness.
* If shooting multiple times (for example, your heroine needs to
reload) she shouldn't pop out each time from the same spot.
* Your heroine should not rest or brace the firearm on the cover -
this can cause the gun to malfunction and messes up the aim.
Moving to cover/concealment
* Your heroine should try to keep as much distance between
herself and her attacker as she can.
* Your heroine should try to move away from villain and toward
concealment/cover.
* Your heroine should practice moving backward and laterally to
find cover. If she knows she's in danger
-rabid ex, crazy stalker, etc - then she has time to practice and
prepare. How will she move? Where will she go? What protective
objects are placed strategically around? What if you showed her
practicing and the villain thwarts all of those plans by attacking
her elsewhere - where she was vulnerable? By moving
backwards and laterally she:
^ Can keep her eye on the villain
^ Keep her firearm in a ready position (NOT aimed NO finger on
the trigger)
^ She maintains her balance
Video Quick Study (3:46) How to move backwards and laterally
When your heroine is choosing her shooting position, the NRA manual indicates that she should consider the following list:
* consistency (she's trained in that position)
* balance
* support
* natural point of aim (versus torquing the body)
* comfort
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These are the same folks who taught me about rifles in this article: BLOG LINK.
Thank you so much for stopping by. And thank you for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.
I used the book, NRA Guide to the BAsics of Personal Protection in the Home (2000) to write this article
As always, this is a non-political site that is geared to help writers write it right. I am presenting information to help develop fictional characters and fictional scenes. In no way am I advocating any position or personal decision.
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