In Death's Grip

In Death's Grip: Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Tony leads us to the entrance of the gymnasium that is used as a training room. More people than usual are gathered inside the spacious training grounds.

Matthew, the man in charge of the gymnasium and all of the equipment inside of the building, stands in the center of the room. The large and stout man is surrounded by the people who have been called to fight. He realizes that his voice won't reach to everyone in the room so he takes a whistle from his pocket.

He draws a long breath and blows into the small metal object as hard as he can. The sound resonates off the walls. Everyone looks to the source of the noise.

"Everyone, sit your asses down and shut up!" Matthew bellows. I've never heard the man act this way. Hank must've ordered him to do some serious work.

We all move to the bleachers of the gym and the army of Charleston squeezes into place. All the seats are filled. We're all packed like sardines in a can.

"Today," Matthew starts, "I'm going to teach you how to fight. Not with guns, not with weapons, but with your hands. When we invade our enemy, many of us may lose our way and our defenses. We all need to learn that our own bodies can be our greatest defence. So first, I need Amelia and Ford's group down on the main floor."

A huge portion of the crowd gets up from their seats and gathers on the floor of the room.

"What are they gonna be doing?" Nathan asks my dad.

"No clue."

We watch as Matthew arranges the people in neat rows. He moves to the front of the crowd and takes a fighting stance. He shouts a command and punches. The confused army mimics him.

We watch them repeat move after move until Felix silently approaches us.

"Come with me," is all that the ginger says to us. We rise from our seats and follow him.

He leads us to a smaller gymnasium that is connected to the larger area. Hank is stood in the center of the room, his arms crossed.

"What's this about Hank?" Tony lazily asks. He shows no anger toward him. My father knows when to keep his feelings inside.

"This is about you picking a bunch of teenagers for a very important mission. Until the attack, Felix and I will be training them personally. I need them to be ready. I need to know if they can handle themselves. I can't have a kid getting me killed out there."

"So what are you gonna do to train us. We already know how to fight," Nathan says to Hank. A sharp tone is etched into his voice.

"You, blondie, have you ever fought a grown man with just your bare hands before?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. On several occasions I might add."

"Well I don't give a shit about that until I can actually see it. For you to be able to come with me on my mission, you have to prove your worth my precious time. Is that clear?"

No one says a word. Hank carries on with his speech.

"Today, you will be tested to see how well you can do in hand-to-hand combat. Tony, Jonny, the two of you will sit and watch. The rest of you are going up against the people I picked for this mission."

Felix leads in a team of five grown men. They each look like the type of people that you wouldn't want to cross paths with in a dark alley. I assume this is Hank's own hand-picked team.

Felix speaks up, "You five will go up against these men in a fist fight. You may only use your bodies as weapons against each other. Teamwork is advised but not mandatory. The team that is conscious at the end of this test will be joining Hank in his mission. Does everybody understand what they're doing?"

"Get on with it ginger," one of our opponents says rudely.

"Fine," Felix scrapes out through gritted teeth.

He and Hank move to the bleachers and sit next to my dad and Jonny. Hank has a sly smile on his face. I'm not going to let any of his men take our place. Hank will die with all of us there to have a helping hand in it.

"Begin," Hank commands.

Without warning, Nathan and Haven dart forward at the closest opponent. Nathan charges his right foot into his abdomen. With the wind knocked out of him the man is too stunned to move. Haven takes her chance and throws a hard jab into the winded man's jaw. He's dazed again. Nathan finishes him off with wicked kick to his face. The man is out cold.

As this is going on another man is charging at me. I try to remember how to fight with just my fists as fast as I can. He throws a punch at my cheek but I bring my arms up to deflect it. I try to counterattack with a strike to his gut with my knee.

He blocks the attack goes for another punch. This one is much stronger this time. I don't manage to dodge in time so his fist collides with my head. My vision is impared and I can't get my bearings.

I wait for a follow-up strike but it doesn't happen. My eyes clear up and I see Taylor latched onto my assailant's back. He twists his body and causes him to fall to the floor. He quickly stands over him.

"Don't just stand and watch! Help me!"

I listen and send my foot into the man's ribs. I hear a disgusting crunch. I grab the collar of his shirt and raise him up. He's still conscious. I punch him in the chin as hard as I can. His body falls limp. Two down, three to go.

I look over and see a man clock Cho right in her temple. She falls in a heap. Anger surges through me. Adrenaline pumps through my veins. I charge at him.

Before he can throw a punch I send my foot into his crotch and watch him crumble. I get on top of him and bring my fists down upon the man. I keep wailing on him until he's no longer conscious. I haven't felt rage like that in previous encounters.

In a fight I usually feel fear. This time I was met with rage. Maybe it was some sort of animal instinct that drove me to this sort of violence. My love for Cho must be stronger than I realized. I like this feeling.

The last two enemies seem to be the strongest of the five. Haven is taking on one while Nathan and Taylor deal with the other. I jump into the fray and slam into the large man that Nathan and Taylor are trying to battle. I knock him to the ground. Nathan goes to work on him.

The last man is by far the toughest. His movements are quick and patient. He knows how to win a fist fight. So does Haven though.

She goes to kick him but fakes it at the last second. The man blocks low but is blocking nothing for a split second. Haven uses the moment to connect her hand with the guy's jaw. The last opponent is out cold.

We all stand there trying to catch our breath. I walk over to Cho to make sure that she's all right. She rises slowly but seems to be fine.

A slow clapping sound resonates through the tiny gymnasium. Hank is standing up and applauding us but his face is stern and serious.

"Well done," He says with no emotion, "Report back to this very gym tomorrow morning and we will continue you're training."

He walks down from the bleachers and out the door without another word. There's no telling what else he has in store for us tomorrow.