In Death's Grip

In Death's Grip: Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Yesterday, you fought with your hands. Today, you fight with your weapons of choice," Hank begins.

We are all gathered again in the same small gym adjacent to the larger one. My mother and Julie have been allowed to watch us train. How Julie is able to contain herself in front of Hank is amazing. She doesn't even seem like she wants to kill him.

Hank continues, "You will go against one another. Pick your opponent and come to the floor with your weapons."

I turn to discuss who I will face. I won't go against Cho. I'd rather not face her in a fight considering how close our relationship is at the moment. Nathan might feel the same toward Haven.

"Do you want to go against me old friend?" Nathan asks me.

"Sounds good to me."

Haven matches up with Cho. Taylor ends up having to be partners with Felix. I'm not sure that I've seen what Felix uses as weapons. This could be interesting.

We move down to the center of the floor. Hank glides to the side of the room. I stand across from Nathan. His claws are on and sharp as ever. I draw my katana.

"To see who can use their chosen weapons the best, I need to see you maintain control when fighting with it. Disarm your opponent without causing severe harm. Is this clear?"

We all nod in agreement. This isn't going to be easy. How am I to disarm Nathan's claws when they're attached to his hands?

"Begin!" Hank shouts.

I swing my sword at my friend faster than I intended to. Luckily, Nathan catches the blade with his metal gloves. He tries to throw away my sword but keep a firm grip on it.

He attempts to strike at me with his claws. His movements are much slower than usual. He must be trying his hardest to keep control and not harm me.

I try to swing at him once again. I intentionally make the strike slow so that he'll catch it. He does what I had hoped. I get close to him and go for the straps that are keeping the gauntlets in place. He sharply shoves me away.

We line up for the same move a third time. I attack with my katana. He catches it but this time does something a bit different.

"I'm sorry for this Keaton."

Without warning, he jabs a claw into my right hand, which is holding my weapon. I release my sword because of the pain. He throws my sword across the room. It slides to a halt at the wall.

"Ow!" I cry out.

"I'm terribly sorry Keaton," Nathan apologizes again.

"It's fine," I say, rubbing the small cuts on my wrist.

Next to us, Haven has disarmed Cho easily. Felix and Taylor struggle a bit but Felix, being the more skilled fighter, knocks the scimitar out of Taylor's hands.

Felix uses a small knife along with throwing knives. It would've been difficult for Taylor to take his weapon even if he was trained more than he already is currently.

Hank speaks when the training exercise is clearly over. "Now that that's over, we move on to guns. Remember, how you perform in each of these tests will determine what position you'll be in when we attack Nikolai. Now, out to the back of the building."

We are hurded like cattle out into an open area behind the small gymnasium. It's flat empty space of concrete that's been turned into a shooting range. Rifles and handguns are neatly arranged on several tables.

Felix stands in front of us to speak. "This course will test your reflexes, your aim, and how you can handle a gun. First, you will each shoot a target five times with a handgun. After that, you move on to a semi-automatic rifle which you will be shooting an entire clip of ammo from. Lastly, you will choose a personal firearm of yours or any of the ones we have payed out for you. Is all of this clear?"

"Yes," We all answer.

"Excellent. Everyone step up to the shooting slots."

I move forward and stand in a spot marked '3' next to Cho. There's a table with a handgun placed on it. The clip isn't loaded into the gun but is resting beside it instead. I look down the range and see several white sheets of paper with bullseyes on them.

"Shoot whenever you're ready. Five shots into the targets directly in front of you," Felix reminds us.

I pick up the gun and load the magazine into it. I've done this before, shooting a gun. I had to teach myself though. I've never been officially trained to shoot so I'm not sure how my aim will be.

A few shots go off before I take aim. I look down the barrel at the target. It seems to be about fifteen yards away. I take a deep breath and pull the trigger multiple times.

I stop shooting once I reach five pulls of the trigger. Beside me, Cho takes her last shot carefully.

When Felix thinks that it's safe, he walks out in front of us and collects the targets. He replaces them with new ones. He walks back to us and hands us the numbered targets.

My shots are close to the center but one of them is on the outer rim of the bullseye. Cho's bullet holes are nowhere close to the center. Her marksmanship needs a bit more work.

Nathan and Taylor did just as well as me. Haven's bullets all hit the center. I guess she'll be getting the front position during the assault.

We each get a rifle and load a clip into them. The targets are set up just the same. I unload my clip faster than I intended. When Felix brings the targets back, my shots are a bit farther from the center. Maybe I should stick with the handgun.

I pick up the pistol to use as my selected weapon. Haven picks her sniper rifle to use. Taylor and Nathan have decided to use the semi-automatic rifle. Cho is using a sub-machine gun that I didn't know that she owned.

Felix has neglected to put the targets up so Hank goes down the range to put them up. I watch him slowly put the targets up on the different slots. This is the man that killed my friend. Alex saved my ass so many times before. He cared about us. He was never mean to anyone and Hank shot him. He only shot him because I wasn't in the room. He took my friend's life!

I aim my gun at him. I notice that my allies do the same. Hank gets one look at us before we fire. Bullets fly through the air and pierce Hanks body. Our true enemy is dead.