Cassius by Stevens, Madison (chromebook ebook reader txt) 📕

Loud gunshots rang out. CJ’s heart kicked up. His natural instincts screamed at him to get to his feet for improved mobility, but he stayed on the ground. Cornelius was trying to flush out his prey.

A familiar laugh followed a loud buzz in the distance, and CJ’s jaw tightened. The laugh was too easy-going, and that meant only one thing.

“You got me,” Tiberius called out. “Nice shot, Seneca. I didn’t see it coming.”

“You were moving too fast,” Seneca shouted back. “Plants don’t move that fast. Worst-case scenario, I laser an animal who wouldn’t even notice.”

CJ grumbled under his breath and continued circling toward Cornelius and Seneca at a snail’s pace. So much for the big plan of him providing a distraction for Tiberius to take out the other two. Knowing plans failed didn’t do anything to cut his annoyance.

He glimpsed movement out of the corner of his eye. Cornelius and Seneca must have gotten impatient. Taking out Tiberius meant they had the advantage, and the rules of the exercise only stated that one member of a team had to survive for victory.

CJ didn’t want to consider the implications in real-world scenarios. Hybrids didn’t throw their lives away.

Staying on the ground, CJ kept perfectly still, turning his body toward the earlier movement. He scanned the area, looking for clues. Birds left branches. Squirrels ran up trunks. They might not be fleeing in terror like they had during the earlier shouting, but it was clear they were worried about predators in their midst.

CJ smiled. The wolves were coming, but there was more than one way to hunt. He waited, watching the trees. Large shadows cut through them, and only the faintest hint of footfalls sounded. Cornelius and Seneca were creeping toward him rather than charging and trying to flush him out. They’d kept more patience than he’d anticipated.

He continued to lay there, taking shallow, quiet breaths. His opportunity would arise if only he kept his cool. The hybrids knew for all their strength and speed, sometimes the best way to win was to wait for the perfect opportunity.

Cornelius emerged from behind a tree, a smug look on his face. He was walking closer to CJ, but at an angle. Did he know CJ was there?

CJ didn’t jump up. He held his breath, knowing he could maintain that for minutes. His gaze cut back and forth, looking for some sign of Seneca. There was no way Cornelius would expose himself so directly unless he was confident his partner could pick off CJ.

The wind changed direction. Cornelius sniffed at the air. A smile grew.

“We’ve got you,” he said, and crept forward, his gun at the ready.

CJ needed to figure out where Seneca was and fast. The other hybrid had to be close enough to help pin CJ in but far enough away that he wouldn’t be picked off by a quick reaction.

A bird squawked and flew from a nearby tree. CJ jerked up his rifle and fired at a shadow near the branch before sweeping to his side and shooting Cornelius. The buzz of two vests overlapped.

CJ hopped up and shouldered his rifle with a grin. “It looks like I got you.”

He enjoyed the looks on Cornelius and Seneca’s faces as they marched toward him. Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat couldn’t be beat.

Tiberius popped up from where he’d been “killed” and headed their way. He wore a lazy smile, but he didn’t look all that much more satisfied than he did on most days. CJ admired the man’s ability to take everything day-by-day. With their lives, it helped keep things sane. CJ tried to live his life that way, but Tiberius took it to the next level, approaching almost Zen-like contentment.

CJ stared down at his rifle. It was the right weight and shape and made the correct sound, but it wasn’t real. Something bothered him about that.

When they trained in the underground facility, everything was real, and he had a harder time ignoring the implications of why they were training. They weren’t out there having fun. They were keeping themselves prepared for attacks against and from mysterious enemies who possessed abilities they barely understood.

“Powers,” CJ said.

“What?” Cornelius asked with a frown.

The disappointment had vanished from Seneca’s expression, replaced by amusement. “Is that how you beat us?”

CJ shook his head. “We blow it off like it’s nothing, but what Maximus did in that fight against Dr. Quinen is next level different from anything we’ve ever seen from hybrids.”

“Is that what you’re talking about?” Cornelius let out a quiet scoff. “It is what it is. Quinen admitted they did something special to the twelve of us. You’re still on about that?”

“It doesn’t mess with your head a little?” CJ looked between Cornelius and Seneca, then over to the approaching Tiberius. “What Maximus did was a lot more than just being faster and stronger than normal people. It’s superhuman.”

“We already are superhuman.” Seneca shrugged and grinned. “Normal scientists couldn’t have made hybrids. So what if Quinen did something special?”

Cornelius cupped his chin. “I see what CJ is saying. It goes beyond Maximus’s flaming fist. Dr. Quinen had powers, too. Ouroboros is a threat unlike any we have faced. It’s annoying that they had to come when we thought everything was finished.”

CJ regretted bringing the subject up. He’d been more curious than worried and the last thing he needed was falling into Cornelius’s paranoid way of thinking.

“That’s why we’re training,” Tiberius added as he finished his approach. “That’s why we’re not pretending like it’s all over.” He held up a fist. “And now we know that no matter what they throw at us, we’ll be able to win.”

“Do we know that?” Cornelius asked, his eyebrow cocked. “Maximus hasn’t been able to use that ability since the fight against Quinen. It might have been a lucky punch.”

Seneca laughed. “A lucky punch is getting the guy in the side of the head when he isn’t looking, not