Chapter 3 - THE FIRST MISS
Master Sergeant Monroe took two slow steps down from the range-control podium, her boots crunching quietly against the sun-baked gravel.
She raised her right hand high above her head, her voice booming across the concrete lanes with absolute, commanding clarity that instantly cut through the murmurs of the crowd.
"Range is clear!" Monroe shouted. "Lane Four, you are free to engage!"
The chatter behind the bench quieted down slightly, though Briggs and Caldwell kept their arrogant smiles firmly in place.
Claire raised the rifle.
The movement was effortless—a single, unbroken arc that brought the rear sight aperture directly in line with her right eye. There was no head-bobbing, no adjusting of her cheek weld, no repositioning of her hands. The M4 became an extension of her upper torso, rigid yet completely fluid.
She settled behind the iron sights, her right index finger gently taking up the initial slack on the trigger until it rested on the wall.
Crack!
The sharp, ear-splitting report of the 5.56mm round shattered the afternoon heat, echoing loudly off the concrete backstop and rolling across the dusty sagebrush valley. A plume of white smoke drifted out from the muzzle device, caught instantly by the fierce Wyoming crosswind and swept away toward the east.
Fifty yards downrange, the white paper target flutters gently in the wind.
There was no tear. No visible hole appeared on the chest silhouetted on the paper. The white surface remained utterly pristine, smooth, and unmarked.
Briggs immediately let out a loud, obnoxious bark of laughter, slapping his thigh.
"Did she just hit Wyoming?!" Briggs yelled out, shaking his head in disbelief. "I think she missed the entire backstop!"
Caldwell smirked, leaning back against the bench railing. "Steady on the trigger, Morgan. The target is straight ahead, not thirty degrees to the left."
May you like
Claire did not react.
She didn't blink. She didn't adjust her stance. She didn't even look over her shoulder at the laughing crowd. Her breathing remained completely steady—in for three seconds, hold for two, out for three. Her finger remained rested against the trigger reset with terrifying, mechanical patience.
