I could see Gregis approaching slowly. Sometimes I would spot him beside a tree, his beady black eyes looking in our direction, then he was gone. He didn’t disappear or anything but he moved so quickly that it was hard to keep track of him among all the similar colored woods.

I struggled to keep up with the girls as we split into two teams, though there was no need for stealth once the other group started shouting and firing their weapons to draw the trainer’s attention. The only question was: would he realize it was a diversion?

“Keep up,” Scotia whispered as we weaved around trees and through bushes, circling to the left so we could get behind Gregis. I saw him slip past on his way to intercept the other team. Their strategy must be working. “Don’t fall behind. We need to stick together, like you said.”

Her voice was softer than it had been when she spoke to Graec, which warmed my heart and motivated me to keep going despite my heart pounding painfully and my legs begging me to collapse.

Sina stood out the most among us. She was fast and stayed at the front of our three-person line, but I would sometimes see her foot or hands slip. She would be the most capable among us if it weren’t for her clumsiness.

Regardless, she was our best shot at hitting Gregis. Her aim was better than mine and Scotia’s. If my hands didn’t shake when I held my weapon, mine might be better too.

By the time we reached the far end of the forest grounds and were ready to aim at Gregis from afar, I could hear Zealand shouting and swearing up a storm. He must have been hit.

As we crept closer, I saw Graec and Libyci circling around the trainer. They were forty feet away and I could tell they’d be eliminated in the next ten seconds. Despite moving slowly whenever he spoke to us, Gregis was quick when it came to combat. His normally crossed arms were now free and longer than expected, moving the gun about like it weighed nothing. His neck could also turn 360 degrees.

He was an impressive soldier. No wonder he was assigned to be our teacher.

“I used to think he wasn’t fit to teach us,” Scotia muttered as she crouched beside me, propping her gun on a rock to steady it. “I figured he was one of those people who didn’t know how to do what he described. Looks like I was wrong.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, raising my weapon to do the same. There was a small scope that let me see ten feet further but it didn’t help much.

I watched as Graec tried to sneak up behind Gregis while Libyci distracted him. Graec fired at the alien’s neck but the trainer’s head suddenly swerved to the right, dodging the pellet. He then turned around and shot Graec in the chest, eliminating him without any change in expression. “He’s scary.”

“Good thing he’s on our side, right?” Sina asked with a slight chuckle. Her legs were sprawled out behind her as she lay on her stomach, aiming at the alien’s head. “Tell me when to fire. We only have one shot. If we can hit him from here, he can do the same to us.”

She was stating the obvious but it felt scarier when facing down an unknown opponent like Gregis.

Libyci took her final chance to shoot at the trainer’s neck, just like Graec did, but once again Gregis moved his neck aside with ease and took her out, his pellet covering the side of her neck in grey paint.

My breathing quickened as I realized I couldn’t just shoot where he was standing. He was too quick to dodge. I had to predict where he was going to move and shoot there instead. I could calculate it well enough. I’d had two examples now. I just needed to see his reaction to Scotia and Sina’s shots before being sure.

Scotia glanced at me. “I’m ready to shoot. Are you okay, Indi?”

“I can predict where he’ll move,” I whispered, smiling slightly. Her attention made me more nervous than Gregis did.

“Okay.” She turned off the safety and peered through the scope. “Ten years of training and all we learned how to do was snipe and charge in guns blazing.” She scoffed. “Some training.” Then she pulled the trigger.

As soon as her pellet flew toward Gregis, his head whipped in our direction. I saw his eyes follow the bullet, watching it with zero concern. Then he shifted to the right.

It was always a three-centimeter difference to the right. That’s where I had to aim.

Sina fired two seconds after, but I heard her curse as her finger slipped and the bullet flew into the ceiling instead. Great. Now I couldn’t confirm my theory.

“You’ve got this,” Scotia whispered, then the side of her face turned grey with paint. It stuck to her hair and the impact knocked her backwards.

My fingers shook as Sina shrieked in pain a second later, hit too.

You have one second to put your skills to good use. Numbers are your skill. This is the only thing you’re good at. You can do this. Scotia believes in you, I thought.

That was the final motivation I needed. All my life, I’d felt like a burden, hiding while others did the work for me. Now I could finally prove myself.