“You made the decision not to tell me you were attacked. You made the decision to leave California and you made the decision to let me come with you. Now it’s my turn to decide.” She turned to Grant who held the look of a man in shock as she peered down at him. “Are there any weapons here?” she asked quietly. He nodded his head and cracked a soft smile.
“We don’t use them often but we do have a few guns on hand.”
“Who’s your best shot?”
“Honestly that would be me,” he spoke proudly.
“It’s true.” Sam nodded in agreement.
“Then it’s settled.” She turned back to me and smiled.
“You get to help Matt train the others and I get to learn to protect myself.”
“I still don’t like this,” I grumbled.
“Well I’m not happy sitting on my ass and being useless so deal with it.” She smiled as she backed me down. There was no sense in arguing with her, when she wanted to do something she did it and there wasn’t any telling her different when she made up her mind.
“Alright,” Grant smiled as he stood from his chair. “Since we all know what we’re doing, let’s get started.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?” I asked Cordillia as we stood one by one.
“Would you rather me sit on my hands and do nothing?”
“That’s not it at all,” I argued with a smile. “But in all honesty I would rather you be safe.”
“Ethan,” She sighed as she stepped in front of me. “You can lock me up if you like but it won’t keep me safe.”
“Sure it would.” I smirked.
“And what if they found me?”
“I’d protect you, Cordy, you know that.”
“Yeah well let’s just say you couldn’t and I had no way of protecting myself, what then?” I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck nervously as I struggled to find an answer. “You have a whole lot more to worry about then one little girl.” I nodded. “Let me do this, let me help.”
“Since when did you start asking for my permission?” I smirked.
“Since now.” I nodded and reached over, pulling her into a quick hug. I didn’t want to say yes but the truth was I couldn’t find a good reason to tell her no.
“Okay,” I sighed as she pulled away from me. “Be careful.” I added as she smiled in thanks.
“I will.”
“Ethan, you coming?” Matt called to me, pulling my attention back to the task at hand. I nodded and gave her one last quick hug before taking off in his direction and following him out into the courtyard.
Chapter Twenty-One
It took nearly an hour for Matt and me to rally a decent enough group together and into position. I had no idea where to start, hell I needed more than a little training myself so I took my place behind Matt and waited along with the others for him to begin. Twenty new faces sat on the ground looking up at us expectantly. Some were old, some young and some eager while others tried desperately to fight off the boredom that washed over them as Matt paced the ground in front of them.
“I bet you’re all wondering why you’re here.” He smirked as he turned to face them. “And I bet most of you don’t want to be here. It’s early and we all have better things to do am I right?” He smiled as the younger kids began to chuckle quietly. “I would like to start by thanking you for coming.”
“Why are we here?” a boy barely in his teens asked from the front of the crowd.
“Yeah, are we going to fight soon?” a dark haired girl piped up.
“That’s a good question.” Matt sighed. “And I’m sorry that I don’t have a good answer for that. To be honest with you all the odds are good that yes, we will have to fight and that’s why we’re gathered out here.”
“So you’re gonna make us into soldiers?”
“I am not going to make you into anything. My job is to help you discover your true potential in battle and hopefully learn to use it when the time comes.” A defining hush fell over the small crowd as they looked down and around them, everywhere but at us. A little boy thrust his hand into the air and my heart jumped as I realized that he was no more than a child.
“What’s up, buddy?” Matt smiled as he knelt down in front of the boy. He slowly lowered his arm as his eyes darted to the ground.
“I don’t know how to fight,” he stammered as if almost embarrassed by his honesty.
“That’s okay. What’s your name?” Matt replied softly.
“Jason,” the boy muttered.
“Well, Jason, it’s nice to meet you and you don’t have to fight anyone but if you want to learn anyway you’re more than welcome to stay.” Matt stood as the child’s posture began to relax. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to struggle with the kind of fear they were facing and yet I was facing it too. Maybe it just hadn’t had time to hit me or maybe it already had and I just didn’t realize it. Either way when the day came and it would, to leave everything behind and fight alongside them I somehow knew that it would all come crashing in on me.
I pulled myself from my thoughts and turned my attention back to the soldier that stood in front of us.
“Today I need to know what each and every one of you is capable of so I can get a better idea of where to start. That is why today we move into the fields behind us and each of you will come up against one of us.” He pointed to Colt, me and himself as he spoke, “And we will judge where each of you stands. No holding back.” He nodded to them. “Now let’s move out.”
Silently and as if on cue we all stood and began our trek out of the courtyard and through the factory lobby.
“Is this right?” I whispered as Matt stopped to hold the door open for the crowd.
“What do you mean?”
“They’re so young.”
“We don’t really have a choice, Ethan.” I sighed and shook my head.
“It just doesn’t seem right,” I muttered as I watched the last of them step into the well-lit building.
“Look,” Matt smiled as he motioned for me to follow inside. “These kids are well aware of what they’re getting themselves into.”
“Are they?” He nodded.
“Yes, they were brought up knowing that this might happen and they’re welcome to leave at any time. No one is forcing them to fight.” I nodded as he patted my shoulder. I didn’t have any choice in the matter but in some small way knowing that they were more prepared for this then I was set me at ease. I watched quietly as Matt stepped to the front of the crowd and pushed open the door, inviting them all into the bright summer sun.
“Good luck,” I turned quickly as Sam called out with a smile. She was bent over a small table with a group of older looking ladies, peering over what seemed to be blueprints of some kind.
“We’ll need it.” She smirked as she went back to the task she had set for herself. A short second later I caught sight of Cordillia and Grant as she took a rifle from his hands and looked over it closely, admiring it as if she was more than eager to get started.
“She’ll be fine.” Logan smiled as he came to a stop at my side.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Kind of yeah.” He smirked as we followed the crowd out into the parking lot.
“So are you gonna fight with us?”
“No.” he shook his head. “Matt doesn’t think it’s a good idea just yet but that doesn’t mean I can’t watch.” I chuckled as we followed Matt around the corner of the old building and into a large clearing that had tucked itself away from prying eyes. The bare and weather-worn field was surrounded by a thick line of trees that offered the seclusion we craved and the space we needed to carry out our tests.
“Old farmland?” I asked as I came to a stop at Matt’s side. He nodded as the rest of the group moved into place.
“That’s what Grant said, said it hasn’t been used for anything in years.”
“Is there somewhere in particular you want us?” a pup called from somewhere within the group, the rest o
f them mumbled in agreement.
“No, you will be moving off to the side lines soon enough.” Matt moved in front of me and waited as the group stopped moving and gave him their full attention.
“Okay, here’s how this is going to work,” he began as he clasped his hands behind his back. “I’m going to call you each up, three at a time and assign you a partner.”
“One of you guys?” a young girl asked from the front lines. Matt nodded.
“One of us. You’re going to phase and do the best you can until your partner either decides that the fight is over or you do. Are there any questions?” The kids all shook their heads and satisfied with their responses, Matt moved toward us with a smile. “You guys ready?” He grinned. Colt nodded eagerly and began to phase as quick as that. It wasn’t long after that Matt called the first two kids to the front and pointed them toward us. I watched them shift and closed my eyes, ready for the change and surprised at how easy it had become. I felt my body shifting, my bones cracking and my mind changing but somehow it had become easier, less painful with each change. I opened my eyes and looked over to Colt. A grin spanned his face as he stood ready to pounce.
I turned front and center as a brown haired boy no older than twenty stood directly in front of me and smiled. I watched as he began to shift, growing in height and growling with each contortion of his once human frame. As quickly as it had begun it was over and what was left of the boy had been replaced by a gray fur clad beast with the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen.
Without any warning, he lunged at me. I dropped to the ground and dodged his attack sending him flying into the ground behind us. He got to his feet quickly and eyed me for a second before charging me once again. I tackled him head on. Our body’s colliding with a sound like a freight train as I knocked him off of his feet. He jumped up from the ground and swiped at me from the left, I could feel the sting and tearing of flesh as his claws ripped through my cheek.
Good move! I thought as I grabbed his paw and with all the force I had, flung him to the ground. I dropped down and shoved my knee into his throat pining him as he snarled and struggled against me.
“Enough!” Matt called with a smile. We looked up at him and I nodded as I got to my feet and offered the boy my hand. He took it graciously and shook it as his body began to quickly change back into the boy he was before. I watched in amazement as his fur was replaced with skin as he shrank in height and finished with no sign of our fight on him, not even a bruise. It would never cease to amaze me how fluid the change really was.
These fights went on for hours as we tested their strength, their speed and their ability to pay attention to more than one opponent and I couldn’t help but notice Matt keeping a stern eye on me throughout the whole ordeal. It wasn’t until nearly sundown that tired and weary, we returned to the courtyard somehow smiling as we waited for Matt to give his final speech.
“You all did great out there.” He smiled as the group erupted in proud whoops and hollers. “Now I have a better idea of how to begin training you.” He separated the group into three rows and began walking down each row looking into the eyes of every soldier. At the first row, he stopped and nodded to his cadets.
“You will be trained on brute strength. Everyone in this row showed an exceptional ability to handle pain, to exert themselves for an extended period of time and you each seemed to have the most power behind your strikes.” The kids in the group began to cheer loudly, smiling and giving each other high fives as Matt moved onto the next row.
“Row two. You will all be trained on speed, agility and your ability to go unseen. While you lack the strength of the other team you more than make up for it in your precision and ability to out maneuver your foe.” He nodded happily as they joined in on the celebration and excitedly congratulated each other.
“Row three.” He called as he moved on to the youngest and smallest of our troops. “You seemed to have the greatest trouble in battle. You were bested easily and most of you seemed unsure of yourselves so you will begin training with me tomorrow and hopefully we can toughen some of you up before the fight becomes real.” He stood in front of the three rows of eager and excited men. A smile spanned his face as he looked out over the crowd and nodded happily.
“You all did well. Tomorrow morning I want you all here, lined up in your rows. If you choose not to fight, there will be no shame on you but if that is your choice then I suggest you stay in bed tomorrow rather than waste my time and we will find something more suitable for you to do.” He turned around to face us slowly. “Anything you two want to add?” he asked quietly. I shook my head and looked to Colt who shared the gesture. “Okay then.” Matt turned back around and smiled at the group.
“We’re done for the day, go get some food.” He grinned and with that our small crowd scattered. Some toward the living quarters others toward the building behind us but they all had one thing in common, the satisfied smiles that each of them wore as they moved past us. Matt walked over to me and threw his arm around my shoulder as we made our way into the main building.
“You did well today, man.” He smiled as he patted me on the back roughly.
“You think so?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “You’re going to be fine.” He smiled as he held the door open for me. I stepped inside and it was only a matter of seconds before I spotted Sam and Cordillia perched at a small round table near the front window. I left Matt’s side and moved over to them quickly, eager to sit down and recoup.
“So how was training?” Cordillia smiled up at me as I took a seat next to her.
“Not too bad, didn’t kill anyone.” I shrugged. “Looks like your day was productive.” I added as I pointed out a light purple bruise that had begun to show on her shoulder just above the thick jagged scar our encounter at the diner had left her with.
“Yeah.” She chuckled as she looked down at it. “Recoil takes some getting used to I guess.” I nodded. I had never handled a gun let alone fired one in my life, taking her word for it was the only option I had.
“So how was Matt out there?” Sam asked as she pushed a red plastic cup toward me with a smile. I shrugged as I lifted it to my lips and relished in the sweet reliving burn I felt as it flooded my throat and quenched the fire that burned from a hard day’s work. I slammed the empty cup down on the table and sighed with a smile.
“He was a typical general I guess,” I added with another shrug. “He was good with the kids though.” She nodded as she stared down at her cup with a smile, tracing the rim with her painted fingers as I watched her. “What about you?”
“Huh?” She looked up at me. “What about me?”
“What did you find?”
“Oh.” She smiled as she pushed the glass away. “Well the tunnels are mostly caved in and there’s really no way to get in from above ground but I can’t be sure until I get some more time to look around.” I looked up as Cordillia took my cup and walked away from us, leaving Sam and I alone.
“What’s on your mind?’ I asked as I reached over to get her attention.
“What? Nothing. Why?” she answered quickly.
“You’re a terrible liar.” I smirked.
“And you’re a nosy friend.” She chuckled lightly.
“Okay.” I leaned back in my chair. “I won’t pry.”
“Thank you that would be nice.” She laughed lightly as Cordillia sat back down next to me, pushing a freshly filled cup in my direction.
Wolves among men Page 24
