Indomitable ~ Peter Hayes

Chapter 10

Breathe.

Focus.

Concentrate.

These three words circled endlessly around my head the next day. I had to fight Peter and keep my emotions at bay so that they wouldn't get the better of me. I woke up earlier than everyone else, the nerves and anxiety keeping me up, letting me sleep for only a few hours at a time. I had woken up multiple times during the night, in a sweat, even though there was no dream. I scanned around the room in the darkness, seeing only lumps of darkness on the beds.

A few minutes later I found myself walking around the compound, the blue lights on the wall illuminating my face as I walked past. I reached the training room; as if it had drawn me there.

No emotions getting in the way today.

No love.

No infatuation.

Nothing.

I had to be as emotionless as Eric, this being the only time I wanted to be even remotely similar to him. Below that exterior, his attitude was right.

Emotions blur your judgement.

Emotions get you killed.

(time skip brought to you by Four's sassiness)

"Alright initiates, we're starting with a run again to warm up and then you'll have 10 minutes on the bags before the fights continue." Four boomed.

"God damn you" Christina muttered in front of me. Al and I sniggered. She obviously wasn't as enthusiastic this morning, the fight and *ahem* attempted murder that Eric did had taken a toll on her physically and mentally. She was more determined, whether or not that was a good thing.

After running around the compound, my legs were warmed up and ready to go. I still stretched before hitting the bags, didn't want to risk pulling something other than Peter's tongue out of his head.

I hit the bags again, remembering my brother's advice.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Left.

Duck.

Right.

Kick.

As Four walked past, we shared a small nod, our way of encouraging each other.

"Alright initiates!" Eric boomed; he had walked in halfway through our ten minutes on the bags. "Gather round."

We all stood in a semi-circle around him, the blackboard on the wall behind. Will's name was crossed out, Al's had a circle. The same was with Christina and Molly's names respectively. My name was next, alongside Peter's.

Tris patted my back, whispering a 'good luck' in my ear. I put my hair up into a ponytail and stepped onto the black mat.

Peter was already there, smirking. He thought he was going to win in a matter of seconds. Oh boy, was I about to prove him wrong.

"Fight"

We circled around the mat first, before his fist came up. I blocked his left hook with my forearm and grabbed his wrist, twisting it around and shoving him back. He turned to face me, his smirk faltering a bit when he saw my face. It was stone cold. Badass Tay was out to play.

I went for his face with my right but he grabbed it, exactly what I wanted. While his left was preoccupied with my right arm, my knee came up and hit him in the left ribs. He doubled over in pain, but not before landing a punch with his right to my face. 

We both stood at opposite ends of the mat. He approached again, clearly not learning from his mistakes. He punched out with his right and I ducked, but not before he used my trick against me and kneed me in the groin. The breath escaped my body and I wheezed. I backed away, doubled over. When I rose again, I barely had time to catch my breath before he swung at my face. I felt a sharp sting on my cheeks and tasted blood in my mouth.

"Oh, you've done it now, prick," I muttered.

I swung at full force, gritting my teeth. I hit him with multiple combos, but receiving almost equal force back. By the end of our quarrel, his nose was bleeding and his right eye decorated purple. I probably didn't look any better, blood trickling out of my mouth, my left eyebrow decorated with a cut. 

Punches were thrown and kicks were kicked for a solid 15 minutes.

By the end, neither of us had any energy left. Four walked into the middle of the mat. 

"You're evenly matched," he called out, raising his hands before either of us could hit again.

As we both walked off the mat, he reached out his hand for a handshake. Finally, chivalry isn't 100% dead. As soon as our hands touched, he yanked his hand away, laughing. I gave him a playful punch on his shoulder, raising my eyebrows. He just smirked.

I walked off the mat, Will staring at me in disbelief. 

"What?!" I questioned, raising my arms.

"You know that's never happened before, Tay," he told me. "No-one's ever been evenly matched. Ever"