Elemental

Chapter 4

Christine had never learned to fight. The only thing that her father taught her was how to shoot. Everything else she had to learn herself. It wasn't extremely effective and she usually had to resort to using her powers rather than rely on her fighting skills. If she was going to be an asset, she'd need to master both. Raquel had agreed to help her with fighting while Damien was to help her with her powers. She wasn't sure how Damien was supposed to help her, given he didn't have gifts as she did, but she didn't argue. He had helped her when she had used too much power and it would be useful to have him around in case that happened again.

They were willing to give her a few extra days to rest but Christine didn't want them. She had always been on the run, constantly moving. Being in one spot was already starting to make her uneasy. Training would make for a good distraction. And once they were confident in Christine's fighting ability, they would make a plan of attack.

There was a training area in the camp but Christine insisted on training above ground, already missing the sunlight after only a few days of being underground.

"Hand-to-hand combat is important in case you run out of bullets or you're disarmed," Raquel said, holding up her fists. "A lot of the times you're going to be going up against someone who is armed but we'll get to that. Show me what you got."

Christine wasn't short but standing next to Raquel she looked it. Raquel was nearly as tall as Damien with distinctive muscles coiling around her arms. Christine was thin and wouldn't be able to beat her with her strength. She'd have to use her speed and agility.

Christine faked left then ducked down to swipe her legs out from under her. Raquel fell to the ground then grabbed Christine's leg, making her fall as well. Before she could get to her feet, Raquel wrapped her arms around her throat. Christine tried to pull her arms away but she was too strong. So, she pulled her legs closer to her and rolled, flipping them both so Christine's full body weight slammed into hers. Raquel's grip loosened and Christine stumbled to her feet. Raquel followed suit and immediately went in for a punch. Christine dodged and threw a punch herself. Raquel dodged and swiped her legs, making Christine crash to the ground.

"Watch your opponent's feet. They're good indicators of their next move." Raquel advised as Christine got to her feet. "Now, let's go again."

They continued training until Christine nearly collapsed. She wasn't used to this intense training and her fuel usually came from adrenaline which wasn't nearly as strong when she wasn't running or fighting for her life. Christine sat on the ground and held her hands up in defeat.

"All right. I need a break." Christine panted.

"Just in time for lunch," Raquel said, walking towards the secret entrance to the camp.

Christine stumbled to catch up, wanting nothing more than to just lay down and sleep. Raquel seemed unfazed by their training and was walking at a brisk pace. They made it to a tree marked so faintly that it was unnoticeable unless you knew it was there. There were three others around them, each tree marking the four corners of the underground camp as well as being entrances and exits.

Raquel pushed the mark three times and on the third push, a door swung open, carved from the tree. They ducked in, closing the door behind them and walked down a flight of rickety stairs. This entrance led to the dining pavilion. There were quite a few people there already, Damien was one of them. He was sitting with a scrawny guy with green eyes and a mass of curly brown hair. Christine and Raquel grabbed some food before walking over to the guys. Christine sat down next to Damien and Raquel sat across from her.