The alarms woke me with a start from a nightmare of drowning in my own bathtub. I decide to take a cold shower to wash the sweat from my skin and change into a clean pair of black clothes. I know the drill by now. I follow the others from my division outside where we’re met with a rush of bitter cold air. But I’m used to it by now. I don’t flinch and shiver like some of the others I’m with.
I look around. I am not standing with all familiar faces. There has to be around sixty or so of us, less than half of which are from my previous group. I notice a few missing faces and wonder if some more people decided to give up overnight. I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Hey.” Joan emerges from behind me with her dark hair tied up. I nod back.
“You’re troubled but won’t tell me why,” she observes. I try to block every memory of last night in my mind. I can’t let her know.
“Isn’t everyone here?” I retort. She looks around and shrugs.
“Dunno. Besides the other rookies, I can’t read their minds as easily. They must have learned how to shield their thoughts, kinda like you’re doing right now.” She eyes me suspiciously but I shrug it off.
“Whatever. Just want to be prepared for today, that’s all. I don’t know what to expect.”
“Fair,” she agrees and dips to re-tie her shoes. I feel a nudge on my shoulder. I look up to find a grinning Lexi, followed by Nick, Emi, Dante, Jacob.
“New you’d make it this far, newbie,” Lexi grins. I roll my eyes and look at Joan but she’s back in a staring contest with Emi.
“How was rookie training?” Dante asked with a smirk. I groan.
“Awful. How is regular training?”
“Worse,” he replies without skipping a beat. “So much worse.”
“Out of the frying pan,” Nick adds. “And into the fire.”
Suddenly everyone straightens out into a memorized formation. I sloppily follow but am a bit confused. I don’t see an instructor yet.
I don’t know who I’m expecting. Maybe someone double, triple, Dixon’s size. Someone who can probably set a person on fire with just a look.
“What’s happening?” I whisper to Dante. His eyes skirt to me before looking ahead.
“Show time,” he whispers.
The instructor walks in from seemingly out of nowhere, with a deadly glare and an unamused look on his face. He paces the length of us and I feel cold with shock. He even stops in front of me, cold eyes showing no sign of recognition, as though yesterday didn’t even happen.
Alex continues down the line and I force my eyes ahead. Of course it makes sense. Why would he be the one to answer a distress call in the Class D dorm hall? Why would he be ordered to check on newcomers on the first day? Because he’s an instructor. I’m going to die, I think and Joan catches my eye. She mouths something back. We all are.
Nick catches the look on my face and snorts. “Alexis is the nice one, ya’know,” he says. On cue, another familiar face joins Alex at the front. Another familiar set of stern eyes. Mizuki. For some reason, this one doesn’t come as a surprise to me at all.
“Welcome,” she says to all. Her voice carries easily despite the intensity of the icy winds. “For those of you that are new to our division, my name is Mizuki and this is Alexis. We will be your instructors for the foreseeable future.”
“What? You?” A boy I recognize from training accuses. “But you’re a wom-” Before he can even finish his sentence, the idiot drops to the ground and screams. Only the rookies turn to look at him. The others don’t even flinch, only keep their eyes ahead. Mizuki hasn’t even lifted a finger, and yet I know she’s doing something to him. She has to be with the way he’s writhing on the ground.
“I expect you all to learn quickly,” she says, directing the statement to us newcomers. She speaks effortlessly above the boy’s excruciating screams. “Rule number one. Only speak when spoken to. You are soldiers now. You answer to us and you hold your tongue.”
“But wh-” A second girl tries to speak up. I recognize her as the one who pushed me into the water that first day. I don’t feel bad as she follows suit and drops to the floor, screaming in pain.
“Rule number two,” Mizuki says swiftly. “Do not question an order or instruction given by an instructor.”
The rest of us keep our mouths shut and face forward. I clench my fists to keep them from shaking.
“For the majority of training, we break you guys off into two groups. One for each instructor. Occasionally we train together. For our new faces in the crowd, we will assign you an instructor so you know who to follow when we break off. Those of you who have already been assigned to either Alexis or myself may stand behind their given instructor.”
Nick and the gang split up. Nick, Dante, and Emi stand behind Alex. Lexi and Jacob stand behind Mizuki. I don’t know which of the two I would rather. Right now they both look terrifying. But if I get on Mizuki’s team I can try to find out more information on what she was discussing with Ezra. I feel like she knows something, something the others don’t. But maybe Alex does too. He knew about the sigil on my chest and around my apartment. Hell, he even cleaned most of the ink off the floors and walls with me yesterday. But now he’s looking at me like I killed his dog and I want nothing to do with that. It’s obvious whatever happened yesterday was a one time thing. I’ll pray to be on Mizuki’s team.
“Instructor Alexis, why don't you start us off?" Mizuki says. My hands go numb as he walks straight up to me. “Brooks,” he says with no hesitation and what little hope I had was immediately crushed. Oh god, I think.
His eyes are drilling holes into my skull. I’m forced to look at him, as he’s right in front of me. I am quiet as I move toward where the others are standing. He bumps into my shoulder and I stagger, the force telling me that wasn’t unintentional at all. It was a warning. I swallow my scowl and do my best to keep my face neutral as I line up with Nick and the others. It’s Mizuki’s turn to pick.
“Garcia.”
The tall girl who always finishes laps first looks proud to stand behind Mizuki. Alex’s turn. He steals a glance my way and I square my shoulders, trying not to look so meek before him. I don’t know why he chose me but I think it might have something to do with last night. Maybe he wants to keep a close eye on me. Maybe Dixon is right. I should do what I can to keep a low profile. I look at Joan. She certainly isn’t the biggest in the crowd, and definitely not the toughest. But there’s a look in her eyes, a fire. It makes her look strong, even stronger than some of the others. I wonder if that’s what Dixon saw in me. I wonder if Alex sees it too because she’s his next choice.
“Wu.”
Her eyes light up for just a moment and she marchest over to me. “Hey,” I whisper. “Glad I’m on your team, Brooks,” she whispers back. They keep calling names.
“Padilla.”
“Hernandez.”
“O’Conner.”
“Thomas.”
“Lee.”
“Oshawna.”
“Johnson.”
“Zhang.”
They keep calling names until there is no one left. To my surprise, the girl who shoved me was chosen last. She joins Mizuki’s group. Not to my surprise, she shoots a glare my way as she walks past me.
“Follow me,” Alex orders and we fall into line behind him. We’re led to another training room, a larger one. There is a single punching bag in the center of the mats. Adrenaline shoots through my body. I’ve been waiting to punch something for so long.
“Emi,” Alex singles out of the group. She steps out of a line. “Sir.”
“Demonstrate a proper punch for us.”
Emi strides up to the punching bag and brings her hands up in a fighting position. Then she hits the bag in a clean blow, one that echoes throughout the whole room. The punching bag is almost knocked to the floor in one hit. She straightens back up and puts her arms at her sides.
“Notice how she did not rely solely on arm strength. Emi used her whole body to create force, hitting with only the first two knuckles on her hand.” He faces Emi. “You may return to the line.”
And then Alex lifts the sandbag over one shoulder with shocking ease and sets it down in the corner of the room.
“Today we will be practicing hand to hand combat. Your strength, skills, and wits are your final defense in any given situation. While weapons are ideal in battle, you cannot always rely on them. Nor can you rely on gifts or abilities.”
I scan the crowd, realizing that, besides Joan and a scrawny boy with a buzzcut, I am probably the weakest person here. That means that I will most certainly get my ass handed to me today. In front of Alex. I don’t know why that last thought makes me cringe so hard.
“The fight will be over when I say it’s over. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” we echo unanimously. My voice is crystal clear but I am made of hundreds of rubber bands about to snap.
“On the center of the mats I want to see Davis and the elder Moore.”
Nick takes his place on the mat across from a woman made of almost all muscle. Her brown hair was tied in a knot on her head. Val, I think. At least that’s the name that some people around me are cheering for.
“Alright Nick,” Val says. “Whoever loses buys the next round of drinks.”
“You’re on,'' he says with a grin.” Alex steps back and we all press back against the wall. He nods and they begin. Nick makes the first move just like when we were sparring. His fist grazes Val’s jaw but she ducks in time to avoid any serious damage. Val, while still ducking, punches him square in the chest. It’s a hard hit, a solid hit. It echoes across the room. But, unlucky for her, Nick is a machine. He doesn’t even flinch.
Nick takes the opportunity to sidestep and elbow her in the nose. She yells and clasps her face with both hands. Blood turns her fingers red but the fight isn’t called off. She stopped playing nice and charged at Nick with a growl.
Val wrestles him to the ground but he maneuvers her off of him and pins her to the ground. Despite the bloody nose, he plays awfully fair. Even I can tell that might get him in trouble one day. He waits until she recovers from his blows before attacking again. But it’s obvious that if he really wanted to win, he would have done so by now. It’s almost sad to watch. I wonder if that’s what I looked like against Nick?
Val manages to kick him off of her and get a good punch on the jaw. He grunts and dodges the next one before jabbing her in the ribs and rolling over to land another hit to her throat. This time he doesn’t wait for her to recover. He sweeps her off her feet and punches the mat next to her head. A finishing blow if this was the real deal. Alex calls time and Nick gets off of Val. She lets him pull her to her feet and support her weight until she can breathe again.
“She’s fucking built. So Nick must be a lot stronger, huh?” Joan whispered. I nodded. He’s a tank.
“You still have too many openings, Davis,” Alex says with a shake of his head. “And you wait too long to strike between attacks,” he tells Nick. He dismisses them and calls the next round to the mats.
“I want to see Nelson and Wu next.” Joan stiffens next to me and flashes me a help look. I nod in encouragement, though I can’t help but think that this is going to be a quick fight when I see the size of Nelson. He, like most of the group, has more muscles than I thought were possible to have before I got here. Joan is built more like a bird. Oh boy.
“Thanks,” Joan deadpans beside me and I forgot that she can hear my thoughts. I smile sheepishly and apologize. She stands across from Nelson and bounces on the balls of her feet. Alex calls for them to begin and, for a moment, neither one makes the first move. Joan is calculating, watching how he moves. Nelson lifts his foot to kick but then punches her instead. The hit sends Wu flying on her back. I almost blink and miss it. She rolls over and gets back to her feet, now aware of his fooling technique. He winds back his left fist but jabs with his right. She’s ready this time and ducks out of the way.
“Watch your footing, Wu!” Alex yells just in time. She almost trips on her own feet but keeps them planted firmly now. She ducks another series of punches and kicks his knees. But there isn’t enough strength behind it. He barely moves and knocks her off her feet. He kicks her hard in the ribs and she shields her face with a groan. He winds back for another kick, this one hitting her in the stomach.
“On your feet, Wu!” Alex orders and my nail beds are tearing into the flesh on my palms. I can’t watch this but I can’t look away. He kicks her again and again and again. I can hear her struggle to breathe from here.
“Get up, Joan!” I scream before I can stop myself. By some miracle, she rolls out of the way before the next kick could hit her. She drags herself to her feet but she can barely stand. Alex tells her to keep her hands up but she looks about to faint. Nelson hits her in the jaw and she crumbles to the floor like dead weight. I’m pushing through the crowd that had gathered and kneel beside Joan before Alex even called the fight to be over.
“Joan? Joan?” I ask. I tap my fingers to her cheek and try to wake her up. She got a good beating. Finally her eyelids blink open. She looks confused as she takes me in. Then she realizes where we are.
“Did… Did I win?” She asks in a daze and I laugh in relief.
“Not at all,” I squeeze out. She laughs with me and I help her to her feet. I feel Alex’s eyes on me but I don’t care. I wasn’t just going to leave her there, unconscious.
The next fight is over in under a minute. It’s Emi and the scrawny buzzcut. She hits him once and he folds like a toothpick. She doesn’t even wait for Alex to say anything before walking away.
Dante wins the next round against another large guy. And a blond girl with a bob cut wins the round after that. And then Alex looks me dead in the eyes.
“Brooks and Harris.”
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