Sixty-Seven Salamanders

by Jeffary Joseph

  I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

  She faced me with hard eyes. “You have about two seconds to –”

  I jerked my hand back, not needing her to finish. We all knew our team leader didn’t like being touched, which wasn’t weird in of itself, but there seemed more to it.

  “I want to get better, I really do, but I need the harsh truth even if it isn’t rainbows and unicorns.”

  After a moment, she sighed. “At best you’re average, Adin, and to be honest, I’m not sure how you got scouted in the first place.” She shrugged. “Maybe you’re smarter than everyone else, I don’t know. But I guess you’ll get to prove it soon enough.”

  There was a stab of pain in the middle my chest at the hard answer, but I didn’t regret hearing the truth - I'd asked for it after all, though it still hurt a bit.

  I forced a smile. “I’ll keep trying my best and prove that I belong here.”

  She began to speak but stopped, then started walking. “Come on; we’ll be late.”

  “You’re actually letting me walk with you?” I followed.

  She sighed. “Yes, you win. I give up.”

  My smile grew wider. “Knew I’d wear you down.”

  Training commenced once everyone was gathered, and I was engaged in an induvial exercise near the end that involved me finding the enemy target who was Hope. Dropping from a tree, I hit the ground with a soft crunch and examined my surroundings, seeing nothing but trees and shrubs around. Then in a crouched position moved to another tall tree a few feet away and pressed back against it to poke my head out. Everything was completely still, my heart sounding like a drum amongst the silence.

  All of a sudden, there was a flicker from the shrub at my eleven, so I gripped my assault rifle tighter and dashed out from cover to release a hail of bullets at it. After, I cautiously went over and leaned on my toes to view over it, my eyes opening wide at the baby doll with a white sheet of paper attached to its forehead. “Right for the… sweet spot?” I squinted, reading the awful handwriting.

  No sooner than I did, a hard impact smacked into my butt, causing me to dive headfirst into the bush, my rifle right along with me.

  “Cut it, Josh!” Mina’s voice shouted.

  A second later, the shrub that entangled me retreated into the ground with a pop, alongside all the other greenery and trees.

  “It’s been six weeks, Adin. How long are you going to let Hope shoot you in the ass?” Mina approached from the side.

  I spit a leaf out my mouth, then stood up with my weapon. “Speaking of which… where is that little demon?”

  “Right here.” Hope appeared right behind me, making me flinch and spin around; she held two handguns and had the skill to use them both with deadly accuracy, but I could barely handle one.

  “Why do you keep shooting me in the butt?” I rubbed my sore backside.

  “Vince said it would help our team chemistry.” She had an innocent look on her face.

  How exactly? I sighed.

  “Our first Gauntlet is tomorrow. I hope you’re ready.” Mina interjected, walking away.

  I watched her long hair sway as she made her way towards the others who were engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

  “You think too much.” Hope was still standing in front of me; she barely reached my chin.

  “What?” I looked down at her.

  She closed her eyes for a moment. “Listen to the wind and what it tells you.”

  What the heck does that mean? It means you’re screwed.

  The next day was judgment day - or at least it was for me. My toes shifted nervously in my boots as I watched Noir fiddling with her vest across from me. It was Team Umbra's chance to start off on a positive note, figuring out from gossip our team wasn’t very good. Actually, it would be more accurate to say we sucked. The team had won a whopping single Gauntlet event in the past year.

  I could see the determination on their faces to erase the stigma of being the worst Salamander team and just hoped I didn’t get in the way.

  Mina banged on her locker with a fist, forcing everyone’s head to snap to her. “We’re going against Team Jupiter in the obstacle course Gauntlet.” She looked each of us in the eye before pointedly stopping on me. “Stay focused, you all know what to do.”

  It wasn’t hot, but I wiped away a bead of sweat that formed on my forehead. Suddenly, red flashing lights filled the outfit room making me do a bunny hop on the bench I sat on.

  A hand pressed down on my shoulder. “You’ll do fine.” Bianca looked down at me with a carefree smile.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t as confident in myself as she was. Butterflies fluttered up and down in the pit of my stomach, but I gave her a fake smile anyway. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mess this up, newbie.” George grunted, heading for the large elevator-like doors that exited into the range.

  I exhaled deeply. That’s the plan.

  Outside lined on either side of the range behind three-foot-tall barriers were the rest of Addison's Salamanders chatting amongst themselves. They were only spectators, but their presence just added to my nervousness. On the opposite side of the range, Team Jupiter emerged from their own outfit area and between us stood the Gauntlet's towering obstacle course in all its glory; it was a series of contraptions that we had to traverse and maneuver through.

  There were stairs leading to a small platform on either side where we’d each go one-on-one and the group with the fastest combined time would win. The instructor I’d seen on my first day of combat training, Mr. Lockhart stood to the right of the obstacle course; he would be refereeing the whole match.

  “Okay, today we have Team Umbra versus Team Jupiter in the obstacle Gauntlet. Will the first participant of each team make their way to the starting platform.” He boomed.

  The order for each team was predetermined, so Mina would go first followed by the others, and I’d go last, which was just peachy cream for me. The crowd of Organization recruits cheered as she and a tall, bald male from Team Jupiter climbed the stairs to the starting point.

  The look on her face was the same as always, stoic and unreadable, but I could also feel an air of confidence exuding from her. How far away was I from that same bravado? Would I ever reach it? I didn’t know.

  After they were in place, Mr. Lockhart grabbed the silver whistle that dangled from his neck and gave it a hard blow to create a high-pitched squeal that filled the air. Mina darted towards the first obstacle that consisted of multiple red pads lined up unevenly on both sides, and in the middle was a giant space leading to the ground. Jumping sideways to one pad, then leaping to another up and across from it with cat-like balance, she moved forward.

  The Indian girl made it look easy, but I noticed her legs trembling as each pad she landed on shook with instability. From there, she cleared the rest of them and landed on the second obstacle's platform.

  “Woo, go Mina!” Someone yelled from the crowd off to the sides.

  It seemed our stone-faced leader had some fans. The second course was a line of several hanging ropes. She took a couple steps backs, then leapt forward, stretching out and clutched the first, short rope with both hands to begin swinging her legs back and forth; the next one was unreachable if she simply reached for it without any momentum. After one more swing, she soared forward snatching another rope.

  It was only the second course, and I was getting tired just watching her. A stolen glance at my teammates huddled around me showed they were holding their breaths. This really was more than a simple training event to them, causing the pressure in the pit of my stomach to rise again. My gaze shifted to Mina's opponent who wasn’t far behind. He looked just as capable as she did - I was pretty sure his name was Devon.

  The next obstacles looked just as energy draining, but the two competitors completed them with great speed and ability, Mina managing to finish a few seconds before him, so Team Umbra was already on top.

  “Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s
the man.” Vince commented in a hushed tone.

  “Shhh, he's announcing the times.” Bianca put up a hand.

  “Mina Park, fifty-two seconds. Devon Fulton, fifty-eight seconds.” The instructor announced.

  We cheered, chanting our leader’s name as she strolled towards us, looking like she had just come back from a relaxing afternoon walk, not even breathing hard.

  Bianca slapped her butt when she reached us. “Atta girl!”

  Mina gave her an annoyed look then walked over to stand near me.

  “Vince said you were the man.” Hope looked up at Mina.

  Vince spun around with his mouth open. “What the hell, Hope?”

  I stifled a laugh, glad for the lull in tension surrounding our team. It already felt like I’d gone through the obstacle Gauntlet, being so tense.

  “Did you watch me closely?” Mina mouthed quietly, still looking ahead.

  I nodded, having mentally filed away her every movement, though mimicking them would be another story. Each team member tried their hand at the course, and for the most part, there weren’t many slip-ups. Then the last match swiftly arrived which meant it was my turn.

  “Adin?” Josh who was in front watched me with concern.

  My vision floated to him. “Huh?”

  “You’re up.”

  “Oh, right…” I hesitantly nodded and started towards the stairs, but someone grabbed my arm, turning me around.

  “Listen, you don’t have to beat your opponent. All you have to do is get under a minute and a half, and we’ll win. Take your time to complete each course correctly.” Mina’s authoritative gaze drilled into me.

  I nodded and made my way towards the stairs again. Each step sounded heavy in my ears. What Mina said had terrified me instead of making me feel better because it meant I’d be going against myself, and that meant I wouldn’t have the luxury of an excuse how the other guy was more trained or faster – everything would be all on me. Standing on the platform and peering across at my competition revealed it was female about my height with short, blonde hair, smiling at me.

  I returned it to which she responded by raking a thumb across her throat, making my smile fade as the sound of the whistle pierced the air. It took my brain a moment to realize the Gauntlet had started, but a second later, I picked up my feet and headed for the red pad to my left. I jumped on it with a plop and felt it shake. After getting a good foothold, I leaped to another one some feet away, then repeated the step with the next three, but misjudged the distance of the final pad and landed on the edge.

  “C-Crap!” I started to fall back, swinging my arms forward and was able to regain balance and jump safely on to the waiting platform ahead. The sound of my thundering heart was loud, me still feeling the effect of the near disaster. But it'd have to work overtime today; there was no time to rest. Copying Mina, I backpedaled and lunged towards the hanging rope grabbing it, then swung back and forth to build up as much energy as possible.

  And once I had enough momentum reached out for the next rope, securing it in one hand then taking it with my other. My arms burned as I held on like a wet noodle with dangling feet and looked down without meaning to - it was a long drop to the ground. “You’re not going to fail, dammit…!” I moved through the series of ropes, my arms reminding me of the hell they were going through with each movement and dropped from the last rope onto the platform several seconds later.

  Rubbing my arms, I tried to quell the fire raging inside them and soldiered on. My opponent sped by me on the way to the next course, forcing me to move faster, and soon I reached a large punching bag object called a log. Hugging it with my entire body made it descend straight away as shook violently on the way down to the next objective. I started to slide down midway through the body-shaking ride as the log brutally ripped through the air, so I squeezed my thighs harder into it to stay on.

  At the platform waiting at the bottom, I unsteadily extracted myself off it and nearly tripped over, my body feeling tossed and shaken like a salad. I was doubled over, trying to reclaim my stolen breath and forced myself to stand up, ready for the next course called the spider wall. Fight, Adin, fight. Encouraging myself, I advanced and spread my hands and knees to their maximum limit as they pushed against the walls on either side of me.

  I then inched forward at a snail’s pace and tried not to slip, the familiar burning in my arms starting to build, but this time my legs took the pain of the action, too. Just a little more! I fought with all I had, stretched out like putty and ungraciously fell on the next platform, wheezing. I didn’t think I’d ever been so exhausted, and thought it would be a miracle if I could even move the next day.

  “Adin! Just one more course, you can do it!” Someone yelled behind me, but I couldn’t distinguish the voice; I was just too tired.

  After gathering myself, I pressed on my knees and got to my feet. There was one more course, just one more and all I had to do was get over the ten-foot or so ramp. Yeah, a piece of cake. As fast as my body allowed, I moved towards the towering object, denying my victory and jumped up with outstretched arms, but the ledge was just out of reach. I leaped for it again, but my second attempt was laughable.

  So, I took a few steps back and ran up the ramp but lost my footing and slid down. I immediately bent over, winded, paying for my last two tries.

  “Adin, you only have ten seconds, move your ass!” Again, the identity of the voice escaped me as fatigued racked my brain and body.

  I can’t fail here! There was too much at stake, for my teammates, and more importantly myself. I had to show I belonged here, that I was a true member of Team Umbra.

  Mustering all the remaining strength in my body, I bent my knees low and laid out towards the impossibly tall ledge. I flew up and gripped it with my fingertips, barely hanging on. Yes! My fingers started to slip as they quickly lost strength, though; I was just too spent. A second later, I limply rolled down the ramp to a feeble stop on the platform below. Ragged breath retreated in and out through my dry throat, and the range ceiling blurred in my vision.

  My brain was devoid of thought, but my entire being knew I’d failed. That I had given everything I had and it still wasn’t good enough. Some minutes after, I stepped into the outfit room with my head hung low and went straight to my locker, also avoiding any eye contact. No one spoke as we changed out of our training gear and into regular clothes, adding to the already oppressive atmosphere in the small, dark room.

  It was almost the same vibe I’d felt my last high school football game, but weren’t things supposed to be different now? Wasn’t I supposed to succeed after coming all this way? The only person I could blame was myself. Dammit!

  “We lost today, but we’ll have plenty of opportunities to do better. So everyone can stop being so depressed.” Mina faced the team from her locker.

  Someone shoved my shoulder. “Yeah, it’s only one Game.” It was Josh at his locker next to me.

  I smiled at him. Maybe I was being too hard on myself; there were still other Gauntlets. I just wish this had been the one where I showed my self-worth.

  “Why are you all so scared to tell the truth?” George slammed his locker across from her and down some feet from me.

  “Shut up, George.” Mina stared daggers at him.

  “No, let’s be real here. We lost…” He pointed a meaty finger straight at me. “’Cause of him.”

  “That’s not fair, George! We’re a team.” Bianca walked over to me.

  I shook my head. “No, he’s right. I had a chance to get us the win, and I didn’t. I’m sorry, guys.”

  Everyone averted their gazes, except Noir who was watching the scene with a blank expression.

  “You’re just dead weight, Adin. Why don’t you run back to the countryass town you came from?” He spat towards me with a red face.

  I clenched my hands into fists. “Screw you.” I knew I had messed up, and there was nothing anyone could say to make me feel any worse than I already did, but he sure as
hell was pushing it.

  His face grew another shade of red. “What’d you say?”

  “You want me turn up the volume? Screw. You. George.” I repeated louder.

  Without warning, he flew at me in a rage and snatched the collar of my vest to slam me into my locker, causing my head to bounce off the metal with a hard bang. In turn, I grabbed his shoulders, ready to strike back, but he was abruptly jerked away by Noir like a rag doll. He immediately rounded on her with a fist but stopped with huge eyes when realizing it was her, then shrunk back; my body was trembling, still in fight mode as I watched them.

  She glared at George like a snake waiting to see what action its prey would take, and after a short stare down, he turned and left the room without another word.

  “Well that escalated quickly.” Bianca nervously laughed, breaking the silence.

  Noir turned to me next, but I stormed out not looking at her. I didn’t want to be saved like some weakling. Call it dumb male pride, but I’d rather have George punch me in the face a hundred times.

  Chapter 23 – Gauntlet Pt. 2

  I did another sit-up, feeling the burning in my abdomen. It’d been about a week since my debacle, and while training was going better, I still wasn’t up to par with the rest of the team, so Mina had suggested some extra training; the others had finished up almost an hour ago and left the range.

  “Heyyy!” Candace waved from the outfitting area in the distance.

  I waved back and offered my hand when she reached me. “Help me up.”

  She pulled me up with both hands. “Ew, your hand is all sweaty.”

  “That, my dear friend is called hard work.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Still nasty.”

  I smiled showing my teeth and wiped my hands on my pants. “So, what’s up?”

  “Just wanted to see if you were up for lunch.”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Hm… I still have a couple exercises to do, so you can go on without me.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t mind waiting.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded and took a seat on the grass a few feet away, Indian style. I started my work out again, boxing with an invisible opponent. Rumpling of grass reached my ears as Candace walked over. “I can help you.”