These are samples are parts from chapter two and chapter three.

Chapter Two

The fogged mirror shows her face. 

Or, at least, what is supposed to be her face. It is the first time she has seen it clearly since she was injected with the hybrid serum. She saw blurry glimpses of it in the bus window, but with her attention focused on the lab coated man speaking at the front of the bus, she couldn't catch a good enough look for fear of missing something important.

Layla wipes more condensation away and tries to ignore the girls behind her. Her eyes aren't brown anymore. That was the first thing she noticed. Even through the blurred glass, she could see the lowing amber eyes. With the mirror wiped clean, Layla can see the whites of her eyes are gone, leaving just the bright pupil and a thick line of black around her eyes as if she put on too much eye liner.

Her teeth aren't the same either, but she knew that before looking. Her gums still ache from where her canines grew long and wide. She runs her tongue over them like she has been doing for hours now. Then she closes her mouth, seeing how her lips jut out and struggle to hide the four large teeth. 

The air in here is so damp from all the hot showers that the mirror fogs up again in a matter of seconds. Instead of wiping it all away to get another look, Layla leaves the bathing rooms to look for the issued clothing she was told to wear. She isn't the only one looking at their new features in the mirrors, but even more of her classmates are huddled close to each other crying. Whether it is from the fear of what is to come or what they went through during the injection, Layla doesn't want to know. 

But she can't help looking at each of their faces, seeing who made it and who didn't. She knows them al. Sarah from algebra is pushing her face into the mirror next to her friend with bond hair that is always tied up in two long braids. Candace is crying in one of the corners, refusing to get up as Asha and Jane encourage her to get in the shower. 

Layla weaves past them all, straining on the balls of her feet and ducking under elbows. The bathroom is big, made for a multitude of people. She clutches a towel tight around her chest, peeking around corners until she finally sees the clothes. She scowls at the dark blue jumpsuit in her hands. They look like something a prisoner should be wearing. The fabric scratches at her skin when she pulls it on. 

The girl next to her, Steph, is shaking. She lets off so much fear, Layla swears she can smell it over the strong sent of body wash that seems to cloud the bathroom like a thick fog. Layla huffs out at sigh, and prepares herself to wait for the testing assistant. 

Every new hybrid that enters the military compound takes a placement test to see what section of the Hybrid Army they will be a part of: Planning, Building, Research, Labs, or Teams. From the brief explanation Layla was given on the bus, she knows she wants to be part of a Team. They are the ones who go out there and fight the Black Sun in person. According to the scientist on the bus, it is also the hardest section of the Hybrid Army to get into. 

When more girls leave the mirrors and showers, the entry room gets so crowded that Layla stands with her back to the wall. As she looks at them all, she can't help but wonder why they made it through the hybrid serum while Courtney didn't. The frown on her face deepens as she spots a girl shaking so badly she reminds Layla of a leaf in the wind. How could she have been strong enough to survive when she can barely walk on her own two feet?

Hot anger bubbles up her throat when the girl's eyes meet hers. They flick away immediately, but Layla gets distracted by the hair standing up on the girl's arms, so light it could be called translucent. Surprise rushes away the anger like a quick, cold wind. 

Blinking rapidly, Layla looks around. She sees stitches and folds in everyone's matching jumpsuits. She sees the individual strands of wet hair plastered to shoulders and the sweat trickling down faces. Enhanced sight is one of the features a person can get from the hybrid serum. 

She doesn't know how much time has passed before the door opens. The testing assistant stand in the open doorway, wearing pristine black dress pants and a neat white top. Her hair is pulled back into a bun so tight it pulls the wrinkles around her face back into her hairline. 

"Is everyone ready?" she asks. The formerly loud bathroom is now dead silent. No one answers her, but she continues like they did. "Each one of you will be given a test. But before that you will line up behind one of our scientists so they can add you to the registry and identify what kind of animal DNA merged with yours." She scans the crowd twice, then says, "Follow me, and please keep your voices down." 

There was no need for the warning. Not one of the girls utters a sound as we make our way through the halls. Everything is grey; the walls, the floor, the doors. Layla follows at the assistant's heels, looking around, but not seeing much of anything.

That changes when they turn into an open room. The scientists are spread out around the space, each with a younger assistant next to them. Layla goes to the first one she sees, a tall woman with long blond hair, gloves already covering her hands. She is not surprised when the scientist's assistant is a hybrid around her age. His pink eyes are framed by white lashes that match his hair. 

The woman gives Layla a curt nod. "State your full name and date of birth," she says in a way that sounds like she has done this many times before. And she probably has. Layla and her classmates are nowhere near being the first hybrids. 

"Layla Adeline Wilson. April 15, 2098," she says. It is the first time she has tried talking since she was injected and Courtney was taken from her. The feeling of her large canines moving against her lips is strange. 

The scientist takes a blood sample and does an eye scan in the matter of a minute. The assistant's pad beeps, signaling the results are ready. He looks it over with a quick sweep of his pink eyes. "Mountain lion," he says. 

"Is-" Her voice gets stuck behind her teeth. She pushes past them, agitated and slightly embarrassed. "That's what I am? A mountain lion?"

"That is what DNA locked into yours, yes. Now I need you to take a seat somewhere behind me." She gestures with a freshly gloved hand to the group of circle tables. "There is a stack of electronic pads at each table. Turn one on and begin your test."

Chapter Three

Layla doesn't know whose idea it was to make the testing landscape look like Denver, but she is going to find out. From what she can tell, the city is in a quiet type of chaos; the aftermath of a terrorist attack. A bombing. The ground is littered with rubble; chunks of concrete and debris from the buildings around them. The picture painted isn't a new one, but it is the first time she has seen it like this. 

Weeks after it happened, Layla tried to sneak into the city just to get a peak of the real think. She seen the news footage and the pictures, but she needed more. She only made it as far as the highway before a police car pulled up and demanded to giver her a ride home. Layla didn't have the nerve to tell him she didn't have a home anymore. 

Now, as she looks around the broken city, she is even more angry at that police man. If she would have seen it then, maybe it wouldn't have hurt as much as it does now. The landscape is so destroyed, Layla barely recognizes it. But as her and the other newbies walk in their little group, Layla in front, she can still make out some street signs, and the bakery, and the park from years ago. 

Behind her, Carrie, the only other girl in their group, whispers, "Denver."

They picked this city for the testing landscape because it was the closest bombing to their home. They could have picked any place the Black Sun left their mark on; Austin, Chicago, Boston. But they are getting tested, so they put them in the city that would have the most effect on the newbies to see if they can handle it. 

"Keep your weapons ready," Layla tells the others.

"Says the girl with no weapon," Fisher says, charging past her. Purposefully, he knocks his shoulder into hers, sending her toppling. Her foot catches on something, but she rights herself before she falls. Layla shrieks when she sees what caught her foot. 

Cam comes up beside hr. "What is it?" he asks.

"That's a body," she says. 

"No." He moves some dirt around with his foot. "That's an arm. There's nothing attached to it." 

Like that makes it any better. 

"Besides, this isn't real, Layla." 

She dislodges her foot fro the appendage. "It will be."

With one last look at the disembodies arm ,she moves on. Fisher is leading the group now, wide shoulders blocking the view of what is ahead. Layla scowls as he easily runs his hand through his curly hair. She charges past the four others to be at the front with him.

"I have a weapon," Layla says, lip pulled over her teeth. Fisher's only response is an amused smile. Fisher isn't a bad guy, but he isn't the nicest either.

The weapon she picked is a small knife. It feels heavy in her hand, but it couldn't weigh more than a pound or two. The others have more impressive weapons. Cam and Carrie have guns. Fisher has a bow and arrows. Conner has an axe, and Milton holds a knife much bigger than hers. She likes her knife though. It is easy to picture how to use it, unlike most of the others. 

It isn't until they get about two miles into the city that the terrorists make an appearance. Some she can see in high windows or on rooftops. Others she can hear hidden in shadows and between buildings. Cam is next to her, and she does her best to instruct him where to shoot when a target evades him.

Some of them, like Fisher, are easy to guess what type of hybrid they are. Fisher has sharp, pointed teeth and pitch-black eyes that hold a predatory look. He is a shark, plain as day, but others, like Cam, could be close to anything. The only feature that has changed are his eyes. Layla doesn't remember what color they used to be, but now they are brown with rounded pupils, and like hers, there aren't any whites. 

One thing Layla does know is that his hearing isn't as good as hers. The terrorist simulations make noise like any human would, and she can point them out faster than the others. 

"At the top of that building, Cam," she says, and watches him fire. The shot misses, but another gun is fired, and the target goes down. Cam curses, eyeing Carrie a few feet away. 

Carrie, Cam, and Fisher continue shooting at the targets high in the buildings. The rest of them take out the ones on the ground; Milton with the knife, Conner with the axe, and Layla with the dagger.

The simulation does not hold back on the blood and gore, and the only thing keeping her fro expelling the bile in her stomach is the knowledge that she is being watched and assessed. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the clothes the targets wear match the dull green uniforms the members of the Black Sun are known to wear.

"How do we find the hostage?" one of the guys asks, Milton maybe. 

"Up!" Fisher hollers in her ear.

Layla looks up, expecting an attack, but there is nothing. "What?"

"Get up high. Me and Cam will cover you. Try to find where the hostage would be."

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