The Fighter

Chapter 2- And it Begins

It's weird, when you hear heartbreaking, terrifying, or any life changing news, your body seems to slow. It seems like the world might end or it will never get better. So when I found out that my parent were captured things started to get bad. My vision went all blurry and it sounded as though everyone's voices were muffled. There were hands on my back as I put my hands on my knees and tried to get air in my lungs. Then I was running. Running away from all the pain that was in the village. Running to where I was just before the day turned into a nightmare.

I don't know how long I sat up there on that rock that hung over the stream. All I remember was staring out into nothingness and not listening to my surroundings. Which would mean that I didn't hear the scuffling of footsteps behind me. Means I wasn't aware of the person behind me until their fist hit me in the back of the head and knocked me out.

-

I don't know how long I was out but it seemed like forever when I opened my eyes. I was on a soft bed. That was the second thing I noticed when I woke up. The first thing was that I was starving. I was facing the wall of the mystery house that I was in. It was an old flowery wallpaper and I wasn't one for girly things so I flipped on my other side. My head burst with pain and I closed my eyes, putting my hand on my head. When I opened my eyes again I took in the surrounding room. That's when I noticed the shadow in the corner.

I sat up so fast that my head started to pound again and my eyes went fuzzy. Then when my head cleared and my eyes were back to normal I saw the shadow start to walk towards me. The shadow stepped in the ray of sunshine and I took in its features.

The shadow was actually a guy. Probably only two years older then me. He was slim and he had a glint in his green eyes that I couldn't describe. His hair was dark brown and very messy. He was really tall and he took long strides towards me. I stood up too and balled my hands into fists. He came closer still and raised a hand. He reached out and I backed away but his hand went to the lump on the back of my head. I leaned back and he pulled his hand away.

"Sorry about that. Didn't know who you were so it was my first instinct." He said in a smooth voice.

I didn't answer and instead crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him angrily.

He looked at me again "Don't look at me like that princess, you would have done the same thing."

"Don't call me princess." I said and my voice cracked from lack of use. I coughed and started to speak again "Who are you? And where am I? Why did you take me?" My voice rose a little at the end and I stopped speaking because my head hurt so much.

He sighed and sat down on an empty wooden chair.  "Are you one of Harrison's?"

"No" I retorted "Are you?"

"No," He said and then continued slowly. "We are a resistance group, there are about 50 of us. We didn't know if you were with Harrison or not. We had to take you back to our camp quickly because we heard Harrison's group then. We had scouts at the road. When they came running to warn us about the group I made a split second decision."

"To take me with you, but why?" I asked

"Well you see Harrison's group was going to that village you live in, we couldn't exactly leave you." He said matter-of-factly.

"Take me back! You have to!" I yelled and started to pace back and forth. "I don't even know you people! Now take me back!"

"The whole village went up in flames, there isn't anything to take you back to." He said, his voice sounded irritated that I didn't seem to be grasping that idea.

I turned slowly, glaring at him. Then I lunged. I couldn't help it I was just so scared and confused and angry that I had to. My fist went back and then launched forward aiming for his face. He stood up so quickly and grabbed my fist that I didn't have time to process it.. The he hooked his foot around my ankle and tripped me. I landed on the ground and the air rushed out of me. Then he was suddenly on top of me. His knees were resting on either side of my hips and his hands pinned down my hands.

I squirmed hopelessly and tried to catch my breath.

"I wouldn't try that again princess. We train here so we can fight. Obviously you need to be getting to some of those classes if you want to join the resistance."

"I never said-"

"I know you never said that, but your obviously a fighter, and we could use another one of those."

I squirmed again but he didn't move.

"Now if I stand up do you promise not to attack me or leave while I go and get some food?" He asked. I nodded hesitantly and he stood up. I stood up quickly after him and went to stand near the bed.

He walked towards the door to the room and opened it. He turned his head "Oh and by the way my name is Jake Pierce." He said and walked out of the door, shutting it behind him.

-

When he left I crossed over to the window and went over my options. I could try to escape but where would I go. If what Jake said was true I had nowhere to go. I could also stay and join the resistance. That was all I really had right now.

By the time the door creaked open I had decided to stay and see what it was like here. I turned and started to speak "Jake I think I will stay."

"That's nice to here but I'm not Jake." Said a female voice. I stood up and my hands balled into fists again. "It's OK," The lady said "I'm Hailey and Jake just asked me to bring you some food. He had some business to attend to."

"Alright." I said slowly and carefully.

Hailey walked over and put the tray on the little stand that was near the bed. She straightened back up and walked back to the door. She opened it up and said "If you need anything just go and find someone. There are plenty of people wandering the halls anyway." She shut the door behind her and I hurried to the tray.

On the tray was a chunk of bread and a bowl of soup. I stirred the soup with the spoon and saw all the vegetables in it. I ripped of pieces of bread and dipped it in the soup. When the bread was gone I drained the rest of the soup quickly. When I was done I started to pace the room but after a while I got tired again so I curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

-

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. I mumbled a bit, then my eyes flickered open and Jake was in front of me. I sat up a bit startled. Normally I didn't wake up with a face right next to mine. I scrambled back quickly so I was leaning against the wall.

Jake's mouth tilted up into a grin but it quickly disappeared as he straightened up. "C'mon, it's time for your tour of the place. And I never got your name"

"Alexandria Gray, but call me Alex." I said and got out of the bed and brushed my clothes off. Jake looked me up and down and my face turned a bit red.

"Oh and you'll need new clothes, Melissa can take care of that." He said that then walked to the door and out of the room. I hurried to catch up. I was tall but he had really long strides so I had to almost jog to keep up with him. We walked past many rooms and the building reminded me of some stories my parents told me of hotels in the capitals.

Then he took me to the basement. I heard loud thunks like people hitting stuff. Turns out that's exactly what it was. We got into a big room. Probably the size of a football field. Those are the words that Jake used: 'football field'. I had no idea what a football field was. There were probably around 30-40 people in the room all hitting and kicking different objects.

In one section there seemed to be an obstacle course. Men and women, probably in their late teens or early twenties were running through it, dodging and kicking. They were so fast that from where I was standing it seemed like a blur.

"This is what you're going to be doing in a few days when you are rested and ready to train. You never know when we will need someone on a mission." Jake was staring at a corner of a room where people were chucking knives at a wall with targets on them.

"And this is all safe?" I asked a little wary.

"Of course. A few buddies and I created this. There are many pockets of the resistance all over the world, Harrison and his soldiers just don't know where to look." He said and turned away from all the training "Now lets go find Melissa and get some different clothes for you. Then you can start training in a few days or whenever your ready."

I followed him and my thoughts drifted to the training room again. I loved the exhilaration of fighting so I assume I would fit in perfectly.