External (Book 1&2)

5|Tap Out

Growing up on level eight did teach me fighting the hard way, though I have never touched a gun in my life. They are illegal and you would be punished severely for being found with one, on almost any floor. So, I'm not exactly scared or nervous. I just feel a mixture of all the feelings, but my face remains still.

We finish eating quickly and walk down to the fifth floor with the guards and fifth floor leader.  I look around the large room of guards staring at all of us, they hold amused faces as they sit on the couches and chairs scattered around the room.

I can see Marcus stand straighter than I thought possible in the corner of my eye. I get it, he needs to look confident in front of his peers. I would feel the same way if we were going down to my floor.

"Go straight into that room in the back of this recreational hall. That is where the training area is." We begin to walk towards the room when the level five leader speaks up. "And don't touch anything."

The room is large with mats laying in the center of the room and exercise machines in the corners. A smirk slowly forms on my face as I glance at Lily. I don't mean to be rude in any way, but I cannot imagine her getting in that ring with anyone here.

"Alright. We are going to do a quick jog around the ring." The leader whose name I still don't know begins the run and quickly it is over. I am breaking a sweat already and I try to take as quiet of breaths that I can. I can see Marcus scanning us all, analyzing our responses to the small run.

"Okay. Now I am going to pair you up. You will learn to fight, but I first need to assess where you are now. No need to waste time on a skill you already have." The leader speaks and I Wait anxiously for his pairings. "Will and Marcus will go first."

"It's William." I look behind me at William, his face still in the same blank expression.

"Get on the mat." The leader yells back and William walks towards the mat and towards Marcus. I can see Marcus's smirk from here and I wish so desperately that William will win the fight. "The rules are simple. No biting, scratching, or pulling. Just no cheap shots. The loser is whoever taps out first. Begin."

William places his hands up, readying himself to block. Marcus is of course the first to swing and he hits William's jaw before he could back away. William shakes his head and jumps back as Marcus strikes again. Then William decides to try offense. His attempt is successful as he kicks Marcus's knee, knocking him to the ground. I cheer internally as I see William jump onto Marcus and begin punching his face. However, Marcus quickly recovers and flips William over, this time throwing the punching.

After what seemed like minutes of struggling and punches landing on William's face, William taps out. I sigh in disappointment.

After the pair of boys, it is next Lily and Caleb. They are obviously paired for their equal indecisiveness towards the fighting as well as their equal strength. Caleb ends up winning, but by barely.

Next is Jacob and Kevin. I slightly worry for Jacob because even though Kevin is older, he also has larger muscles from the large lifting in architecture and engineering. Though Jacob does win and I cheer when he does, even though I am surprised.

Finally it is my turn.

"Okay. Sabrina and Alejandra, you both are next. Begin." I make my move first, striking her in her cheek. She looks surprised and mortified and I bring a sly smile to my face. Even though when we fight on my floor, we fight with teeth, I still know how to pull a nasty punch.

I block my face and chest with my arms as she steps over to hit back. I successfully block it, but as my ego grows, so does Sabrina's anger. I make a bad decision to get bold and kick her stomach, but she grabs my leg and throws me onto the ground. I groan in pain, sharp pains all over my back and head.

"Are you okay?" I can hear Jacobs muffled voice and I nod yes, not wanting to give up yet. With that sign, Sabrina falls onto me and punches my face. I clench my teeth at the pain and bring my arms up to grab her arms. After a few more punches I am finally able to grab a hold of her arms and she takes weight off of my legs when she pays more attention to my top half. I take this as an opportunity to kick her off of me. Once she is on the floor, I blink a couple of times before flinging myself onto her body. I punch her multiple times on her face and sides.

"Tap out. You gotta tap out." I whisper to her as I send more blows. She continues to fight me instead of listening to my words. I know I can't give her anymore bruises because they would just harm her work in the group in the long run so I instead crawl off of her.

She stays there whimpering and the leader nods at me with recognition.

"What are you doing? It's until she passes out or taps out, those are the rules." Marcus yells at me and I furrow my eyebrows at him.

"Are you serious? She won't even move." I turn back to look at Sabrina struggling to lift her body up. I have to say it was an almost even fight because as the adrenaline in my body is running out, I can feel the result of every punch my body took.

My head suddenly has a rush of pain and I slowly push myself to sit on the ground, laying my head in my knees.

"Aleja?" I ignore Jacob's voice, but respond to the leader instead.

"You okay Alejandra?" The leader asks me and I lift my head, nodding in response. "Fighting takes a lot out of you, but you're pretty good."

"Okay, so some of you all will move on to guns. Some will stay here and train with fighting a bit more with some of my men." The leader speaks more loudly this time, to everyone. Though when he says "my men" I am confused. Maybe leaders do come down to their floor, just not level eights. Or maybe we just don't see them. I shake the questions and confusion from my head and instead listen to the leader.

"Marcus, William, Alejandra, Jacob, and Sabrina will all move onto the next segment. That means that Lilyanna, Caleb, and Kevin will need to train for an extra hour or two before moving on to guns tomorrow."

I smile at my success and feel Jacob lift me to my feet, bringing me to a chair.

"A medic will be here shortly for your injuries." The leaders says after our small celebration before walking out.

I feel happy and confident in my abilities, but I try not to let my ego explode. It's not like I did an amazing job, I just survived.