The Anomaly Project

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

NOAH

I'll admit – it feels weird to be getting ready to go somewhere without Autumn. I'm not used to being separated from her. But it also feels kind of right, in a way. She got to go to the city without me, when I was injured, and now it's my turn to do something exciting.

The other three and I have decided to leave tomorrow afternoon, which is good because it gives me a full 24 hours to prepare myself. I'm in front of the shooting range, standing well away from it to practice my sniper ability, and am about to shoot when a tiny throwing knife sails past my face and embeds itself in the same target I was aiming at.

I whip around, surprised. Tessa stands behind me, smirking. "Didn't you know I was there?" she asks. "I was being so loud." She jogs past me and pulls her knife out of the target, sliding it back into her belt.

"I must not have heard you," I say, shrugging. "Too focused, I guess."

"Or too distracted." Tessa tilts her head to one side, studying me. "Is something on your mind?"

"Not really," I say, too quickly, absently checking the magazine on my rifle, even though I know a full clip is still in there. Tessa gives me a disbelieving look.

"You can tell me, Noah. What's up?"

I sigh and sling my rifle onto my back. "There are several things."

Tessa plops down onto the ground, tucking her knees into her chest. "All right. Out with it, then."

Her smile is so friendly, her manner so inviting, that I give in. I take a seat in the grass across from her and start spilling everything – the mixture of grief and guilt I still feel at Masato's death, my fear that I'll end up getting another person here killed, how strange it feels to be leaving Autumn behind. I even tell her about my mixed opinions about Todd and my sister.

Tessa is an excellent listener. She doesn't interrupt, and her brown eyes stay locked on me the entire time I'm talking. These problems have been preying on my mind and it feels really good to get it off my chest. It's especially nice to be telling someone who really cares.

"So," she says when I've finished. "These things have been preying on your mind for how long, now?"

"A few weeks, maybe. I don't know." I shrug. "I guess I just didn't want to bother anyone with my problems."

She shakes her head. "You don't have to worry about bothering us, Noah. Friends tell friends about their problems." She pauses, and then her voice grows quieter. "Masato was always urging us to talk about things."

Tessa glances down, biting her lip as she thinks about Masato's death. I'm surprised by how much it hurts me to see her in pain.

Without thinking, I reach for her hand to comfort her. But before I can, the sound of footsteps brings both our heads up. Tessa turns and waves at the person coming toward us. "Hey, Travis."

"Good try, but not quite," comes the reply, and David's smiling face comes into focus.

Tessa does a double take. "I thought you were your brother."

It's an easy mistake to make. Both the Hunt brothers are tall and muscular with thick brown hair and scruffy beards. From a distance, it's very difficult to tell Travis from David. Travis is taller, though, and David's eyes are a much lighter brown.

"What are you two doing out here?" David asks.

"We were having a nice chat before you butted in and ruined it," Tessa tells him with a teasing grin.