The Dissenters

Chapter Thirty-One: Nighthawk

Shadow and Amanda ended being the chosen ones, and they everyone except Panther out of the gym while they worked. When they finally allowed the people back in, the room was completely transformed.

Pads lay on the floor in strategic places and flags marked the course. They would start at the rock climbing wall, which had been covered in different traps. Ropes hung from the ceiling at the top of the wall, leading all the way across the room to a ladder. Once they got to the ladder, they had to hit three bulls-eye's in a row with a pistol before they could move on. At the very end, Shadow and Panther waited on sparring pads, ready to fight.

Someone grabbed a stop watch while Amanda explained the course. "Zephyr will go first. Whoever gets the shortest time wins. Panther will spar with Zephyr, and Shadow will spar with Alex. To finish the course, you have to pin your opponent for ten seconds."

Great. This should be easy, Alex thought sarcastically. They think I know how to fight. D probably does.

Zephyr got ready and shot off as soon as start was called. It only took her about three minutes to get through the main part of the obstacle course, but pinning Panther took up another four minutes, and by the time she was finished, she had seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

She came back sweating, but smiling. "Have fun pinning Shadow," she told him.

He was more focused on how he was going to avoid getting himself killed. I may have chosen the wrong person to help with this. She couldn't have made it even a little bit easier?

The person with the stopwatch called start, and he ran for the wall, hoisting himself up with the first hand-holds he could find. Placing his feet carefully, he made his way up, dodging back and forth to avoid the areas that had been covered by mats. In random places, hand and foot holds had been unscrewed enough that when he put his foot on them, they spun off. Several times, he thought he was going to fall off.

After what seemed like forever, he made it to the top and grabbed onto the first rope. It easily held his weight, so he shimmied up it and swung back and forth until he could grab the next one and swing onto it. His hands began to sweat after the first couple of times, and his could feel the rope burning against his palms. Zephyr, he noted, had decided to wear gloves. He hadn't thought he would need them, but halfway across the room, he decided it would have been a smart idea after all.

He was just swinging past a beam when he noticed Amanda scaling the wall over by the weights. She climbed up the shelves and grabbed onto a roof beam, lifting herself up to watch from a better vantage point. She waved, but he turned his focus back to surviving his Tarzan experience.

When he finally reached the ladder, relief flooded him. He made it down the ladder in record time and joined Shadow in the sparring ring. Shadow grinned. "You look tired. Starting to regret challenging Zephyr?"

"Kind of, yeah," Alex muttered.

Shadow didn't wait for Alex to catch his breath. He attacked, sweeping Alex's feet out from underneath him before he had a chance to dodge. Alex got to his feet again before Shadow could take advantage and crouched, examining his options. If he lost, Zephyr would almost certainly demand the information, although hopefully not in front of everyone.

Shadow attacked again, hitting him in the stomach with a jab before dodging back out of the way. Alex doubled over, gasping for air. He recovered quickly, but pretended he was still in pain. Shadow took the bait, and came in with a low kick, which Alex caught. He yanked up, pulling Shadow off balance and knocking him to the ground. Instinct took over after that, and before he knew how he'd done it, he had Shadow pinned and someone was calling time.

He stood and offered Shadow a hand. "You're a good fighter," Shadow commented.

"I thought I would be out of practice," Alex replied. "Guess not."

Shadow chuckled and they met with the others.

"Phoenix, what's the time?"

"Eight minutes and forty-nine seconds," Phoenix replied. "Zephyr wins!"

Zephyr grinned. "And I know exactly what I want you to give me."

Alex glanced around. Ethan was still watching. "Well how about you think about it first, just in case. I'll give you a whole hour to decide."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but trust me, I'm not changing my mind."

Amanda hopped off of the shelves and joined them, giving both of them a strange look. "So what do you get for winning, Zephyr?" she asked.

"She has an hour to decide," Alex answered for Zephyr, who crossed her arms, still smiling.

This was definitely a terrible idea. I still don't have an excuse to not tell her and I have rope burns now too.

He left before Zephyr could say anything else, escaping to the mess hall to grab some dinner.