Never Again

Chapter 16

Katie's - POV

The equipment that was laid out I
in front of me was like you'd see in a movie. Guns, knives, swords, daggers, and some gadgets that looked harmless but I was sure were able to end lives as easily as all the rest of the weapons.

End lives? What was I thinking? I was not a killer and I would never be. If I could survive what they did to me when they first took me they would never be able to break me.

Although I was going to avoid trying to kill anyone as much as possible I knew that it wasn't always that simple. When sent on missions we were expected to kill people or take them out with other means. Sometimes other people may get in the way of the job and I might be forced to take them out to save my own life.

I wasn't going to actively look for ways to kill and would rather have the harder option because it was less deadly. Which is why, when asked what weapon I wanted, I chose the double daggers as they were small, easily concealable and didn't always have to be lethal, unlike a gun. The chance of killing someone by shooting them almost anywhere in the body was extremely high and I didn't want to risk doing that.

I also trusted my own body so I could control the swings of the knives, gauge how deep the cuts were and how much force I used compared to a gun being fired. Once a bullet was fired no one could stop it without special means, which most people don't have.

"Daggers are different to the swords we've trained you with so far." One of the many different coaches said, "You have to get much closer to your target which is much trickier." She flipped a dagger in her hand while staring at me. "You have to be sure otherwise you'll be useless in the field and nothing more than dead weight."

"I'm sure." I said confidently. We had a book we had to read on the aspect of getting close to your target to either kill them or take them down as you can't always use a long ranged weapon - some jobs require more finesse and grace. These could only be provided with a human touch.

"Good, we'll begin the actual training on using your chosen weapon later today as you still have to carry on your combat practise." She said, putting the dagger away in a black small bag. "You better be fully focused otherwise you're going to get seriously hurt."

Even though I was confident that I could quickly adapt to using a dagger it didn't stop my heart from speeding up at the thought of fighting with a knife where the most injury could be caused in the least amount of time. I wasn't sure if I was ready to go into full fights with something I'd never used but I had no choice. I had to do it no matter what.

       
                         ~~~~~~~~

I flopped onto my bed making sure to keep my arms off of it so they didn't hurt as much. I had finished all my training for today and the main technique that was focused on was blocking blows from other people with knives. I wasn't very good at it at first and I had trouble blocking so ended up with loads of cuts going up and down my arms.  I knew Drew was going to come to my room later and because I'd told her I had chosen a dagger she mentioned that she would bring bandages; without me asking. I wasn't even thinking of that before the training so I was glad she did.

My end goal still hadn't changed as I was always looking for ways to escape this place but my heart wasn't in it as much as before because I had found nothing that could help me or had any opportunity to break out of here. This didn't mean that I wasn't trying, as I was. It just meant that I didn't have many options left.

What I viewed as my best option would be on a mission. When on a mission we're under minimal surveillance as they only send out the required amount of people to that certain location.

I had almost told Drew of my plans a few times but chickened out because I was scared of her reaction.

Would she be happy? Angry? Or would she turn me in and tell Dr Rodriguez that I was planning to escape? I couldn't risk it until I was more confident about my plan.

I heard my door open and then shut.

"I'm here." Drew said, she then gestured towards the tin in her hands. "I Brought the kit."

"Thanks." I said. "You're a life saver."

I took my top off so the cuts could be accessed easier.

"Damn," Drew let out a low whistle. "When I first did my training it wasn't close to this bad."

I looked down at my arms and properly saw them for the first time. Cuts and scratches enveloped my forearms. Some deep some shallow, all varying in sizes.

"I take it you weren't very good?" Drew joked.

Taking out some cotton wool and coating it with a liquid from a brown bottle she turned towards me and gently grasped my arm.

"This is going to sting a little." She said just before she pressed it to my wounds.

It actually did only stung a little, surprisingly enough. I thought it would hurt more because when people usually say that line it ends up being very painful.

"You're dealing with this well." Drew said, seemingly surprised that I wasn't reacting at all.

"I've had worse." I replied, I really didn't want to say anymore on the matter.

Drew finished cleaning my cuts. She then went on to bandage my arms up nice and securely.

"There we go. Done." Drew said, patting me on the back. "That went way better than my first time. I cried like a little bitch."

I let out a laugh at the sudden outburst as I hadn't expected anything like that.

"Well yeah, of course you'd act like that. You're you." I said, raising an eyebrow with a slight smirk on my face.

"Oh, grow up." Drew said pushing me lightly.

She glanced at the watch on her hand before looking towards me. By her look alone I knew that she needed to go.

"Bye Drew." I said hugging her. "Thanks for all the help."

"Of course, what else are friends for." Drew said, a hand up to say goodbye as she walked towards the door. "Bye Kate."

She vanished into the hallway leaving me alone.

I let out a massive yawn and suddenly it was like the day hit me. I didn't realise I was this tired but I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise after all the intense training.

I got into bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.