The Anomaly Project

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

AUTUMN

Noah and Travis are already shooting at targets with their guns when I arrive at the shooting range. "What's up?" I ask, and both of them lower their weapons and turn to me.

"Autumn, you should see him shoot!" Noah says excitedly. He nods at Travis. "Show her!"

Travis chuckles. "First I'd like to see you shoot," he says to me. I shrug and swing my crossbow off my back, load a bolt, and fire. The bolt thuds dead centre into one of the farthest targets.

"Not bad," Travis says, nodding in approval.

"Okay, your turn." I stand back and gesture for him to go ahead.

He looks up at the trees, well past the makeshift targets. "See that tree?" he asks, pointing. I nod. "Okay, well, see that branch?" He points again, and I nod again. "I'm going to shoot a pinecone off that branch."

I give him a look of utter disbelief. "Oh, come on. There's no way you can hit that. That's way too far away. I can't even see the pinecones on that branch, and my eyes are just as enhanced as yours."

Travis raises an eyebrow. "Well, let's find out, shall we?" He levels the shotgun, aims, and fires. The branch he'd pointed to shakes violently. A split second later, a pinecone drops to the ground.

My mouth drops open in shock. "You're kidding me! That was incredible!"

"David and I are the secondhand versions of Tessa," Travis explains, smiling at my awed response. "We have crazily enhanced vision, even more than yours. Except our other senses aren't enhanced."

"I can't believe you just did that!" I press my hands to my head, still raving. My eyes dart from the pinecone to the tree to Travis, trying to wrap my head around what I just saw. The tree is a good hundred feet away, at least, and there aren't even any sights on his gun, like there are on Noah's.

Someone calls my name and I spin around to see Todd jogging up to us. He slows his pace when he sees Travis and Noah with me.

"Hey," I greet him as he nears me. "What's up?"

"Um..." He slides his hands into his pockets, glancing from me to Noah, then back to me. He bites the inside of his cheek, shifting his weight, and I get the feeling that he has something important to say.

"Nothing," he finally says, his shoulders slackening. "Just... wanted to see what you were up to."

"You literally saw me, like, three minutes ago," I tease. "What, did you think I died or something?"

I grin, expecting him to shoot back some kind of joke. Instead, he just stares at me with a strange look on his face. I catch sight of Noah studying him with interest, his brows furrowed. Confused, I'm about to ask my brother what he's thinking, but Travis speaks before I can.

"Hey, Todd, while you're here, I was going to ask to spar with you. I haven't practiced with anyone but David, and I need to learn some new fighting styles."

"I'll fight you," Noah volunteers, and Travis glances at him in surprise. Noah is about five inches shorter than Travis and a good deal smaller. Both the Hunt brothers have very broad shoulders and thick, muscled arms. Noah, on the other hand, has a lean frame and while he is very strong, he definitely doesn't look it on first glance.

"Well, all right," Travis agrees cautiously. "If you're sure."

Noah turns and winks at me. "I'm sure."