The Fighter

Chapter 18

"Come on! Push harder!" I faintly hear the screams of the generals as I head into the target room.

The air is cool as I open the door. It wraps me in a hug as I begin to throw. The only sound is knives cutting through targets. My thoughts drown me into instability.

Boys are following me into a war. If they come home or not, depends on me. If they follow me they have a good chance of surviving but some won't follow me. I can't save them if they won't let me help them. My thoughts finally crush me. I march my way to General Hugh.

"How many boys do I have to bring out of battle to change the out come of this war?" I ask.

"Scarlett, don't let these things over run your thoughts."

"How many?" I demand.

"At least 25. 30 if you really want to make a statement." He says scratching the back of his head.

"I'll bring back 30." I promise and walk to the training room.

I push my self through crutches, push-ups, and weight lifting before I actually practice with the boys. As I fight with them, I teach them things to watch for.

Many of them don't follow my advice on what to watch out for but the ones that do really improve with their skills. To my surprise, Jax actually follows my advice.

Dinner is called after I finish up the class. Oliver comes up behind me on the way over.

"We have to bring back at least 25 boys to change the outcome." I say to him. So far Summerton has only brought back two boys from this war.

"We can do it. Don't stress it, this will only slow you down." He slings an arm over my shoulders to reassure me everything will work out.

Thought gets lost in the back of my mind as I begin to listen to Henry and Alan talk.

"How was your day in the infirmary?" Henry dreamily ask Alan.

"Thanks to Scarlett, a lot of boys came in for ice and to get their noses to stop bleeding." He chuckles towards my direction.

I give him a thumbs up as I chew my food down.

"I wonder when we are actually going to be put on the battlefield?" Alan brings up to horrid thoughts.

"I wouldn't be so eager." I say.

"Why? I should be begging to be out there. Your only a true hero when you out there. At least that's what my dad says." Alan picks at his food with his fork.

"Well your dad is an idiot an doesn't know what he is talking about." I feel my self forcing to just drop the subject as soon as it started.

"Well there is some truth behind his words. I should be wanting to go out there." Alan defends his father.

"There is no right way to feel about war. Not wanting to be out there is just as ok as wanting to be out there. In the end we are just going to end up the same way. Leaders will sit in there high and mighty chairs and not care about how many boys have died for them to still be there. War is a stupid idea that is bugged into us. It grows in our brain as we face our daily conflicts." Henry ends his lecture as nobody speaks about battle again for the rest of dinner.