Revolution -Eric Coulter-

Chapter 9

Today they were doing combat training, but only slightly different. They were getting more individualized training. Riley had been paired with a girl she didn't know very well. Her name was Sarah. The only thing Riley knew about her was that Sarah was very strong. She was also nearly a head taller than the girl. 

The group was currently practicing basic defense moves with their forearms. Riley was focused on the contact of their arms and tried not to look away. She knew both Four and Eric were walking around and critiquing them. Her fear was primarily Four correcting her. She didn't want to disappoint him. After everything Riley had gone through to get to this point, she couldn't afford to fail. 

"Don't forget to keep your thumbs on the outside," Eric's voice boomed. Riley couldn't see him, but by the location of his voice, she knew he was close. He suddenly appeared beside the two girls. "If you keep your thumbs tucked in, you could break them." In front of her, Sarah looked at her closed fist and noticed that her thumbs were in her fist. She quickly adjusted her thumbs so that they were on the outside. "Better," Eric was still beside them. Riley looked at her own fists and breathed a quiet sigh noticing her thumbs were already on the outside. "Good job, initiate." This time Eric was talking to her. She didn't respond, but a faint smile appeared on her face. She was quick to mask it, not wanting Eric to see. Once he walked away, they continued to practice their defenses. Riley felt slightly more confident in herself. As Sarah picked up the pace, she was able to follow her. They did this for a few minutes when Riley heard Eric's voice again. "First jumper." The girl stopped her movements and looked over her shoulder. "Last jumper in the ring." Riley glanced to her right, where Tris was standing with a complex look on her face. "Time to fight."

As everyone began walking towards the ring, Riley felt her nerves growing. "Is Tris the first," a voice beside her spoke. She was expecting it and jumped. Riley looked over and saw Will staring at her nervously.

"Yes," Riley breathed as she walked closer to the ring.

Will stared at Tris nervously. "This isn't good."

"Why," Riley looked up at him. "Who was the last jumper?"

On her other side, Al appeared. "Her." She followed his eyes to the girl approaching Tris in the ring. Riley recognized her. It was Molly. She was slightly taller than Tris and had short brown hair. Her build was bigger than Tris's. Since Tris was very skinny, and this girl was much more muscular. It almost didn't seem like a fair fight.

"How long do we fight for," Molly questioned.

"Until one of you can't continue," Eric explained.

Four spoke next, "or one of you concedes-"

"That was the old rules," Eric cut him off. "The new rules are that no one concedes."

"Great," Will whispered under his breath. Riley nervously bit her lip as she stared at her friend. It was clear that Tris was terrified.

"You will be scored on this," Eric stared at them. "Fight hard." With that, the two girls looked at each other. "Go."

The girls got into their defensive stance and began walking in a circle. As Molly started to approach Tris, she backed up and off the mat. Molly dropped her arms and nodded for Tris to get back on the mat. Riley noticed the nice gesture, given the circumstances.

"Don't be scared, Stiff," Peter joked with his friends. Riley briefly glanced in his direction. She didn't like Peter, and wanted to yell at him to stop talking. However, Riley couldn't find it in herself. Without saying a word, she looked back over at Tris.

As they both got into their defensive positions, Molly made another move. Tris was easily able to push past her and get behind her. "Nice," Christina called to her friend. With this confidence, she swung at Molly, but missed. The girl was quick to punch Tris in the face. Riley winced at the impact. Tris grabbed her face but quickly went to retaliate. As Tris grabbed her, Molly began punching her in the stomach. Tris let her go, but Molly punched her in the face sending her to the ground roughly.