Free G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters by Bobby Brimmer

Danny.”
    With that I spun around and hurled an oversized metal marble right at Hunter’s head. It was one of the few blunt weapons that I carry on my person. I was maybe ten feet away from him and he had no warning. Showing the speed that he displayed in our fight, reflexes flashed and he narrowly dodged the projectile. He had been crouched down picking up his coat, so he dropped to the ground, rolled forward, and came back up on his feet. His hands on his hips and a smile on his face, he looked over at us. The team, especially Danny, was murmuring in amazement.
    “Are we done now?” he asked.
    “Yeah, we’re done.”
    I looked back at Freddy, who didn’t seem very happy at my sneak attack. But he didn’t look so mad that he couldn’t answer my question.
    “So would our tags have helped with that attack at all?”
    “It is highly unlikely they would affect something traveling at that speed in any way,” he said.
    “Right. The tags really work best on things like firearms. Watch,” Hunter said.
    Then he drew a pistol with lightning speed, pointed right at me, and fired. To say I dodged the bullet would be crazy. Even at my best I am not faster than a bullet. No normal person is. But, if you see the gun move into position, dodging bullets is a simple matter of not being in the path when the person pulls the trigger. I watched his hand move and the gun flash out. Even though Hunter was crazy quick, he wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t see him move. He had positioned himself in such a way that none of the team was behind me or in any danger from the shot. I had to bend to my left at a funny angle in order to avoid the bullet, but I felt the wind as it whipped under my arm and right by my chest. The loudest part of the whole ordeal was actually the bullet striking the wall behind me, as his silenced guns sounded like a Hollywood special effect. The expression on Hunter’s face looked a bit impressed and kind of shocked. I was about to make a smart-ass comment when he fired again. This time I had nowhere to go. Pain flashed through my whole body as the bullet found my chest.
     

CHAPTER 7
     
     
    I’d equate this instance of getting shot with someone throwing a softball as hard as they can and hitting me in the chest. It hurt…a lot. Obviously it felt a hell of a lot better than getting shot without the tags on. My chest was throbbing and it knocked the wind out of me. I glanced down in time to see the tiny mushroomed-bullet fall from my chest and bounce on the mats. I took a deep breath and ignored the discomfort that I was feeling as I looked up at Hunter. He had a sly smile on his face and he seemed very interested in how I was going to react. I was pretty sure that the expression on my face said, “I can’t believe you just shot me.” But, Freddy wasn’t taking any chances. He was obviously worried that things might escalate, so he jumped in.
    “Mr. Chang,” Freddy started, before I turned my look on him and he tried a friendlier tone, “Bruce. Please remain calm. Mr. Rich...Hunter was just following procedure. Although I do not believe this was necessarily the proper venue.”
    “There’s a proper place to get shot?”
    “In this case, yes. You see as a matter of GHOST protocols, once each team member has received their tags, they are to participate in a demonstration of their use. This is done so that we all know what to expect should the unfortunate take place and we take fire in the field,” Freddy said.
    “Makes sense I guess. Like cops getting pepper sprayed. But these are bullets. How can we know for sure that these tags are functional?”
    “They have been created with great care. There is almost no chance of failure. Although, to be honest, this is also why they are tested once they arrive. But as I mentioned, proper protocol is to test the dog tags under much safer working conditions. I must say that I am a bit shocked at Hunter’s actions,” Freddy frowned.
    “Yeah, sorry about