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I smiled and aimed my weapon.

We opened fire.

“Take that, asshole,” Marc called out.

The monster shuddered under the impact, then turned and ran.

“Go,” I roared, breaking into a sprint.

My squad raced through the trees. I pumped my arms, leaping over a fallen branch.

“We’ll cut it off,” Zeke yelled.

I nodded. “Do it.”

He and his brother disappeared into the dense bush.

A moment later, I came out in another clearing. It was silent. No birds chirping, no rustling in the bushes.

The monster was here.

I met Kai’s green gaze, and my best friend nodded. He was our best tracker. He dropped to one knee, studying the ground.

The creature couldn’t hide forever.

Our parents had beaten the aliens by creating a weapon that had destroyed the reptilian Gizzida. But during their time on Earth, the aliens had liked to experiment. It was how they’d reproduced. In their labs, they’d spliced their DNA with the DNA of different animals…and humans.

Some of the hybrid creatures had survived the weapon’s detonation. Now, they hid deep in the forests, lakes, and rivers. Breeding, mating, mutating further.

Every now and then, they crawled out of the shadows.

My squad and I were the ones that put them down.

I kept moving through the trees, scanning for any sign of the monster. I slapped a branch out of the way and spotted something else. A house. It was long-abandoned, with the roof caved in and the windows broken.

I lifted my hand and pointed.

Scott, Kai, and North followed me toward it.

“Looks pre-invasion.” Scott’s voice shook a little.

“Jameson, I see a heat signature to the west of your location,” Sasha said, her voice clipped and focused. “Fifty meters.” She was using satellite images to give us intel.

I swiveled to the west and saw a flash of movement. The monster crawled up the wall of the house to the roof.

“One o’clock,” I barked.

The creature let out a roar and leaped.

Strange tentacles flared out from its neck.

I whipped my carbine up and fired. The others joined in. The creature screeched, flopping onto the ground. It rolled through the dirt, then leaped up and sprung…at Scott.

Hell.

The monster took the young soldier down, vomiting a sticky, gray substance all over him.

I ran, swinging my carbine onto my back, and leaped onto the monster. I was careful to avoid the spikes as I yanked out my combat knife.