Power of Will, a SAW Fanfiction

Ch. 10 Pre-Saw: Killing Boredom

Eric Matthews

It was one hell of a rainy Thursday afternoon. It seemed to rain a lot these days. The low rumble of thunder vibrated through the old building. The lighting flickered as he walked through the halls of peeling lead paint and dusty cracked linoleum.

Matthews made his way up the stairs of the station, heading towards the recreation room. The sound of squeaking tennis shoes and the smell of rubber and pinesol chased him as he walked by some of the guys from Narcotics who were in the middle of a game.

"Yo, Matthews!" One of the boys called out to him and he nodded back while balancing his gym bag. Across the basketball court was Room 109, a padded room where self defense training took place.

As soon as he crossed the threshold he witnessed Will Maddox flip Allison Kerry onto the mat in a flurry of brown waves and the solid thump as a hundred pounds and some change whacked into plastic padding.

"Damn," Ally let out a low groan as Maddox pulled her back up to her feet. She was already sweaty, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her athletic jacket. "Got me." She was pulled up by Maddox, getting to her feet as she stretched the arm she had been flipped on.

"You can try it on me next," Maddox smiled up at Matthews. "Hey."

"Hey." Matthews chewed hard on his gum as he went to put his belongings at the edge of the room. He didn't particularly want to spend his lunch break 'reviewing tactical procedure' as Maddox put it but Tapp had approved and what Tapp said, goed.

The rest of the geek squad met throughout the week to train. The partners stuck together, while Fisk and Gibson paired up. Because of the odd turnout, Maddox had requested bringing on Hoffman, a silverlining to the wasted lunch breaks. Tapp hadn't been keen but so long as they kept the small talk non-work related, he had grumpily agreed.

He began stretching while Maddox was showing Allison some stances on what looked like jiu jitsu or maybe judo. He couldn't tell off the bat. He never took any specialized martial arts. He never needed to. He was always fast and strong, never needing to worry about fancy maneuvers or tactical strategy like the smaller guys needed to rely on.

He figured he and Hoffman would chill with their backs against the wall, coking and joking while the women tumbled over each other. He looked forward to the show, already a wide smirk painting his face as he imagined a semi-erotic catfight in the next few minutes.

"Here, this will be more effective if you try this move when someone much larger is trying to grab you. Hey Matthews," Maddox breathlessly waved at him to come closer. "Come on over. Try to grab her. And lose the gum."

"Sure thing." Matthews crinkled his eyes at her, smacking the gum while taking his time to the center of the mat. He caught the sharp look Allison threw at him, a green-eyed warning to behave. He softened his face. For her, he'd play nice.

"The gum, Eric," Allison softly murmured. "Don't want it ending up in my hair."

He swallowed and opened his mouth for her to take a good look. "Should I give a warning? Count to three?" He smirked at Maddox.

"No, we don't get warnings in the field. So don't give it here." Maddox took a step back, leaving the two of them with plenty of space.

"Don't worry, Al," Matthews watched Ally as she pulled herself into a defensive stance, spreading her feet and slightly bending her knees. He raised an eyebrow. It looked like her new roommate was teaching her some tricks.

He rushed forward to grab her arm, squeezing and pulling her into a bear hug. He had her firmly, arm trying to go around her throat, but he was stopped by her chin. She had tucked her fucking chin. She squirmed for a moment but he was in no rush to capacitate her. He let her struggle.