Chapter 5 - THE MARK OF A TRUE SHOOTER
Three weeks later, the battalion stood at attention as the deployment orders were read out. When Olivia’s name was called as lead precision instructor, every soldier’s hand snapped up in salute — sharp, unified, and sincere.
Before they boarded the transport, Brooks pulled her aside. “You knew you’d break that record, didn’t you?”
Olivia glanced toward the desert ridge, where the targets still stood empty and silent. “I knew I’d hit what I aimed at. The record was just… extra.”
“Most people would be proud of that extra,” he said.
She adjusted her rifle case on her shoulder. “My father told me pride adds weight you don’t need out here. If you’re proud of yourself, you start thinking you’re too good to practice. Too good to learn. Too good to listen.”
May you like
She looked back at him, and for the first time, a small, quiet smile touched her lips. “I just want to be good enough to hit the mark every time. That’s all.”
As the trucks rolled out, dust rising behind them, no one laughed anymore when they saw her rifle case. No one whispered that she didn’t belong. They’d learned what Major Brooks had known all along: the loudest voices are rarely the ones that carry the farthest. The ones who truly matter… they’re already aiming straight for the truth.
