Infallible

Chapter 3

  That morning, Rae was sore and slow getting out of bed. She threw only a jacket over her sports bra and stepping in to clean pants. In the training room, Rae saw Eric sitting in a corner on one of the tables right away. Their eyes met momentarily, before she quickly looked away. She didn't need to attract any more attention from him than she already had. Four put them back on the punching bags.

"I don't want you to hold back- hit that bag as hard as you can. Kick using your full body. Get as much practice as you can in before lunch, because after lunch you fight each other for real. Don't forget, you are being scored on all of this. Eric and I will be coming around and watching your progress."

They began. Rae was doing her best to hit the bag hard, but it seemed as though she wasn't making much of an impact. She was hurling her fists at it the way she thought Four had showed them yesterday, when she sensed rather than heard someone standing close behind her. She didn't turn around, only continued to throw her fists uselessly at the bag.

"You're doing it all wrong." Eric said, and Rae could practically hear the evil sneer spread across his face. She rolled her eyes, glad he couldn't see her face

"Here." He said, grabbing her around the waist with both hands and rotating her slightly to the left. Rae gasped slightly. His surprisingly warm touch on her bare skin caused a deliciously tense knot to form deep in Rae's belly. His hands were rough on her soft skin. Goosebumps formed quickly, crawling across every inch of her exposed flesh. She prayed that Eric didn't notice, but she heard him chuckle quietly as he let go of her.

"You don't want to face your opponent head on," He said, quiet and authoritative, making no mention of his effect on her. "Stand with your leading hip and fist toward them." This time, his hands wrapped around her tightly balled fists. "Keep your strong hand ready to strike, and your other hand here, ready to block." After bringing her left hand up by her face, he let her go once more.

"You are currently only using your arms to hit. You aren't very strong, but if you train hard you should learn how to do some damage. Don't strike first, let them come to you and learn their weakness. You're going to have to be better than most at taking a hit to make up for your lack of strength, but you also need to learn how to throw a real punch. It's all in your weight distribution."
  She but back a gasp as he firmly grasped her hips and pushed down, forcing her into a slight squat. All his corrections had been brief, but this time he lingered ever-so-slightly longer than necessary.
"You sound like an Erudite." She quipped, glancing at him over her shoulder in an attempt to distract herself from his hands. Suddenly, he dug his fingers painfully into her hipbones causing her to inhale sharply.

"Watch it Amity." He hissed in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "Now try again. It helps to get angry, or at least... as angry as a banjo strumming softie like you could possibly get."

"I've been angry for a lot of years, sir. And my fucking name is Rae." She put emphasis on the last word as she moved away from him. She turned her back on him without waiting for his reaction. Fully expecting him to lunge at her, she followed his instructions exactly. She struck the bag, this time actually managing to make it swing out a little. She hit it again, and again, really trying to put her whole body into it. She didn't stop, and finally Eric walked on to terrorize the other initiates. Rae wasn't paying attention, or she would have seen the hint of a smile creep across his hard features.

***

  After lunch was time to fight. Rae thought that she should be nervous, yet she felt oddly calm. Even Deidra and Jackson seemed more nervous than she felt. Rae assumed it was because she was used to getting beat up. She got beat up for most of her life. She knew she could take it. She also had something to prove. To Eric, to Zachariah, and to everyone who looked at her like a peace-loving Amity. Eric had told her that she needed to be better than most at taking a hit... she was pretty sure that she already was. She wanted to win.
On a board was listed the pairings for each match. Jackson was in round 2 with Zachariah, Rae in round 5 against an boy she believed to have transferred from Abnegation named Jacob, and Deidra was in round 8 with a girl who hung out with Zachariah's buddies, Miranda. Rae was pretty confident in both her match and Jackson's. She was worried about Deidra though. Miranda was tall, and broad shouldered with a heavyset jaw. She looked tough.
Jackson won his match, just as Rae thought he would. Zachariah was a decent fighter, and Jackson still wound up with a busted lip and a pretty purple looking bruise starting to form on his ribs. Before long, it was Rae's turn.
Rae had never been in a real fight. She once got in an altercation with a boy back home who she hadn't managed to outrun. He had thrown her to the ground and was trying to pin her down when she managed to slip her arm free and crack him square in the jaw. She had brought her knee hard to his groin before he rolled off of her and she ran. When she had finally returned to the Amity compound, she was taken buy one of the leaders and accidentally given the biggest dose of the Peace Serum she'd ever had. They had forgotten to cut the dose to accommodate her size.
The two initiates entered the ring and Rae noticed the boy looked nervous. If he was from Abnigation like she suspected, he had probably never come close to hitting someone in his life. Rae heard Eric's voice in her head, telling her how to stand. She obeyed him, sinking down into a stance as her opponent raised his fists.
Don't strike first, let them come to you and learn their weakness. Eric's voice popped into her head and she began to circle the mat with her opponent. Sure enough, Jacob advanced on her, aiming a fist to her abdomen and leaving his face unprotected. She felt a searing pain in her knuckles as her fist connected with bone, and the boy stumbled back. Punching someone hurt way more than she thought. There was a dull ache in her side that told her his fist had also connected to its target, but had surprisingly less impact on her. She recovered quickly, much quicker than her opponent. Jabbing him in his ribs, he let out a growl before taking a swing at Rae which she ducked. Throwing her fist into his stomach, he doubled over and she used the opportunity to kick his legs out from under him. She advanced on him but then he rolled, using his leg to sweep Rae's legs out from under her as well. He jumped on top of her, punching her in the face. Hitting her again and then again, he waited for her to concede, or to lose consciousness. When she didn't do either, he paused.
He doesn't hit that hard. Rae thought hazily to herself as her vision blurred.
Just then he looked toward where Eric and Four were standing, as though he didn't want to finish or as if asking permission. Rae saw her window. She jabbed him as hard as she could in the throat, easily conjuring up her father's face in place of Jacob's and feeling years of pent up rage burn through her veins. He fell to the side, gagging and clutching his throat with both hands. She scrambled to her feet and stomped him hard in the ribs. Jacob rolled toward her and she planted another kick to his abdomen. Vaguely hearing what sounded like Four's voice calling her name, she delivered one last swift kick to his head and he was out cold. He was sprawled out before her looking lifeless.
She stood there frozen, fists still clenched, staring down at Jacob. It was definitely Jacob, no trace of the flash she'd had of her own father's face in sight. There were no thoughts running through her head as she gazed down at his unconscious body, only a dull ringing in her ears. As she stood frozen to that spot, she was dimly aware of two people grabbing Jacob and carrying him out of the training room. She also felt someone grab her by the arm, and lead her from the mat to the benches in the middle of the room. His scent was familiar, crisp and clean as always.
"Next pair!" Eric shouted over his shoulder, plopping her down on the bench. He walked to the office and grabbed an ice pack. When he returned and pressed it to the side of her cheek and temple, his touch was much more gentle than she expected.
"Hold this here." He said to her. He then made his way back to the edge of the ring, but not before he looked over his shoulder and muttered, "Not bad, Rae. Don't worry about Jacob."
Rae only then looked up, staring at his broad back as he walked away. He had finally called her by her name.