My sadness has dissipated by morning. With a feeling of rejuvenation, I head into the shower. I am thankful for the private shower, it allows me to be alone to collect my thought for a few more moments.
Yesterday's events rush into my head as cold water hits my skin. I have to bite my lip to stop myself from crying again. I distract myself by thinking instead about the mission our group of eight are to soon complete. All of this happened so suddenly and with absolutely no warning.
I step out of the shower, not wanting to miss morning 'training'. Not knowing what to wear, I pull open the closet. Thankfully, they gave us everything we would need. Sadly though, this means there is no need for me to go back to the eighth floor.
I settle on a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, then I pull my hair up into a ponytail. It's weird how they seem to know so much about us, including our clothing sizes.
I walk out into the hall after pulling on sneakers and head back down towards the main meeting room. Charlotte didn't tell us where we needed to go last night and the last thing I want to do is get lost.
As I walk down the hall I can feel the guards eyes on me. I feel trapped, like I'm not allowed to leave and truthfully I don't think we are. The problem must be so much worse than they are making it seem. With the combination of the rushed plans and the not allowing us to leave, it makes me think that this is their one shot at this.
I couldn't figure out why it is so urgent though, if my theory is even right. My only guess is that things aren't what they appear to be. But, who knows I could just be thinking way to much into this.
"Grab some breakfast before we start your training." It is Alonzo standing in front of me, gesturing at the meeting table full of food items. I look over it seeing luxuries I could never afford sitting on the table. I grab a plate and grab some fruit I have never tried before as well as some bread thing. It's not like level eight had nothing, we are just limited to whatever people could grow, which usually consisted of potatoes. We didn't have many of the lights that imitated the suns UV rays, so it is always hard to get much of a variety when only a few people can even grow plants.
I analyze other peoples plates for a moment, I figure we won't have much to eat on the mission and I want to see whose at risk for not liking rations the most. Though, when I look at everyone else's plates, I see them all piled high and it makes me think twice about my own. I scan the table again and settle on some meat and nuts as well.
I sit next to Jacob who is sitting to the side of the girl from agricultural whose name I've already forgotten.
"Hey Aleja." Jacob says and I squint my eyes at his short and unenthusiastic response. I haven't known this man for long, but this is not the same person I met yesterday.
"Hey." I decide to leave it be, prying into peoples lives just isn't something I enjoy doing. Before Jacob can say anything else, the leaders all come in.
"Good morning! Today we are going to begin our training for this amazing journey you will be apart of." A soft-spoken leader from the agricultural level spoke, her cheery voice sent me on the verge of annoyance.
"Each of you will follow us to the fifth floor, where you will be trained in fighting and guns for the beginning of today. Then you will each do your own separate training with your floor leader, just so we can make sure your personal skills are at top performance." She continues and I nod slightly, it is a good plan for training. I look at the other beside me, seeing completely different reactions in each. Lily looks uncertain, William and Caleb appear stoic, Kevin almost looks worried, Marcus and Sabrina look confident, and Jacob looks excited.
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.