The Quiet Zone by Stephen Kurczy

Author:Stephen Kurczy [Kurczy, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

“Papers and Pencils”

BANG!

“I don’t know where that went,” said seven-year-old Coleton Birely, lowering his .22-gauge shotgun. He’d recently gotten his first firearm, a bit late by local standards.

Bang!

“I swear that was right on target!” Coleton said, puzzled as to why both his shots completely missed the target sheet in his yard.

I’d first met Coleton at Trent’s General Store, finding him seated on a checkout counter doing homework. His mom, Debbie had been working the register. They’d moved to the area in 2012 from Spokane, Washington, in part because Debbie had relatives in Durbin. She’d also been looking for a new start. Pocahontas was welcoming, with its slower pace and easygoing social interactions. There was also a sense of fate in moving to Appalachia. Debbie couldn’t recall how she’d first heard the name Coleton, as it was uncommon in Washington, but in West Virginia she’d call for her son and a handful of Coletons would look up. There was even a town called Coalton. It felt like a sign they were meant to be there.

To Coleton’s house, I’d come equipped with ammunition and safety goggles purchased from Trent’s. Inside on the refrigerator, I’d spotted a coloring activity of a cartoon figure with the caption: “My dad’s pockets are full of _____.” Coleton had inserted “phone.” (Coleton’s “dad” was Debbie’s boyfriend.)

Coleton again took aim at the target sheet nailed to a tree about twenty feet away. He’d been taking shooting lessons at the Green Bank Observatory’s recreation fields along with swim lessons in its underground pool—both ways that the facility opened itself up to the community.

“Remember your breathing,” Debbie coached, standing by in gray sweatpants and a black hoodie that framed her bleach-blond hair. “Inhale and shoot on the exhale.”

“What kind of animals could you shoot with that gun?” I asked.

“Squirrels, deer,” said Debbie. “If someone were to accidentally get shot with that, it would put you in the hospital and possibly kill you.”

I stepped back. Coleton was living a full life in many ways. But was it worthwhile for no cell service and halting internet? Sure, he’d learn how to shoot a gun, dress a deer, drive a stick, use a compass. But would he be able to function outside the Quiet Zone? Debbie had concerns, especially around education. Coleton was attending Green Bank Elementary-Middle School, which fell in the shadow of the radio telescopes, meaning it had the only classrooms in the entire country where WiFi and iPads were essentially outlawed.

Coleton passed me another gun, this one a heavy .38 double action revolver.

“It’s got a bit of a kick, so watch out for it,” Debbie warned, as I squared up to the target and squinted into the aiming sight. Last time I’d held a gun was in Cambodia, nearly a decade earlier, at a shooting range that gave tourists the chance to fire bazookas and hurl grenades.

Bang!

“By Virginia, he hit the target!” Debbie exclaimed. “Did you see the flash?”

“I think my eyes were closed,” I said.

THE FIRST TIME I

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