Sarah had forgotten about the pads I had brought out and had thought we were done. She started to head inside but I yelled “Hey,” and started putting on the gloves, “Where do you think you’re going?” She stopped walking away and turned to face me. “Show me what you got.” She smiled and nodded.
CHAPTER 14
Sarah was learning quickly, in the beginning her main problem was that she didn’t want to accidently hurt me. I teased her and prodded her to try and get her to hit me. “Come on you wimp. Hit me!” She wouldn’t do it. “Come on little girl, show me what you’ve got.” She pulled another punch. Ok, I thought, Time for some drastic measures. After her next weak punch, I hooked her leg with my foot, just behind her knee, and made her drop. “I’m not pulling any punches so why are you? Now get up and hit me, drive through me!” I said pounding my chest. After that, it didn’t take any more prodding to get her to actually punch me. If it weren’t for the pads I’d probably be in a lot more pain.
We practiced every day, her skill growing quickly over the next four days. She had almost all the basic moves down perfectly and she didn’t have any more problems with her balance or weight. It seemed that her gymnastic skills were returning and I was trying to figure out if I could work them into her lessons. I knew the tumbling and stuff that she would have learned would help when I taught her how to fall but I didn’t know if I could work cartwheels into the routine. She was making such progress that I decided to start working with Jason. I gave him my Mr. Miyagi speech about how he would be best suited to power rather than speed, although we would still be working on making him faster. We did the same speed exercise that I did with Sarah and he didn’t even come close. I started him with the basics like I had with Sarah and while his punches and kicks were better his balance was awful. All in all, he’d take more work than Sarah. Many think that men are better fighters, the truth is that while men are stronger and more aggressive, women are more focused. They’re often perfectionists and tend to dedicate more time to doing things right rather than just getting them done. For the most part, women were at a disadvantage when fighting but they don’t have to be.
“Ok man. I want you to practice this form as much as you can. I want you to be able to do it fast, slow, from the middle or backward. This will help you to understand how the moves work together. Also, I’ll write up a list of exercises that’ll help with your training. Use the Bow Flex and the punching bag in the pool room.”
“Alright, sounds good. Thanks, man.”
“No problem. Alright Sarah, show me the form I taught you.” She went through the moves slowly, making sure her feet were placed correctly and that her weight was shifted when needed. Each punch and kick, while slow, still looked like it held the power and force of a regular one. She finished the last of the moves and eased back into her fighting stance with a long breath. “Again, regular speed.” She did as instructed. “Ok. Now I’m going to mirror you. This isn’t really sparring but it’ll help with your understanding of the moves.” We faced off, each starting in our own stance.“Ready, go.” I mirrored her every move, stepping back when she moved forward, blocked when she struck and vice versa. It was almost a dance and when it ended I saw that she understood how everything fit together like a puzzle. “Good. Here’s the next form for you to learn. It’s really an addition to the first but I’ll show you how they fit together after you’ve memorized this new one.” I showed her step by step just like I had the first time and she seemed to pick up on it much faster. It was only a matter of time before we could spar for real.
While I hadn’t really taught martial arts before I must have been a decent teacher, or the only one available, because soon I wasn’t just teaching Sarah and Jason, but Matt, Thomas and, believe it or not, Liz. I went through each of their strengths and weaknesses with them and what we would be working on. The first thing we would do was stretch together and work through the first of the forms. Then each would break off by themselves and work on the next stages that I showed them. I looked at everyone practicing and thought, I have my own personal team of Power Rangers and laughed as Thomas tripped on his own feet. Well, maybe not quite yet. After finishing with form work I would work with each of them on the pads. By the time we were done my arms and hands were incredibly sore, but everyone was making progress. That night after cleaning up I walked into my room to find Sarah on my bed again. “Hey there, beautiful.”
“Hey.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Nothing.”
“Well then what are you doing in my bed?”
“Getting ready to go to sleep,” she said obviously.
I noticed that she was wearing the same clothes I had given her when she stormed out. I smiled “Oh you are, are you? Well move over, I’m tired.” I lied down next to her and began to drift off to sleep when she started to shift and move. “Will you stay still,” I said laughing softly.
“I can’t get comfortable.”
“Why not?”
“I hurt my foot kicking those stupid pads.”
I laughed, “How do you think my arms feel? I had you and everyone else kicking me for half the day.”
“Yeah but my foot hurts.”
“Ok. Give me your feet.”
“Yes!”
“This was just a plan to get me to rub your feet, wasn’t it?”
“I would never do such a thing,” she said innocently.
“Yeah, ok. But just so you know, all you have to do is ask.”
“I know, but tricking you into doing it is more fun.”
“Whatever.”
After I finished with her feet I moved up to her calves. I knew I was doing a good job because her groans told me so. “Hey, Sarah.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you why you left? I know you said I didn’t do anything but I must have.”
She sat up and looked at me for a long second before saying, “I was scared.”
I knew in an instant that I had said the wrong thing but there was no turning back so I said, “Scared? Scared of what?”
“When I heard you call for a kit over the radio I thought you got hurt. I thought that maybe you were bitten. I…I was scared that I was going to lose you. Early on, after I realized that my family was most certainly dead, I didn’t let it get to me. I couldn’t afford to. Then when Sam showed up I thought that maybe there were other survivors and that things weren’t all that bad. And then we lost him too.” I looked away. “I’m not blaming you, I’d never do that. I’m just saying that it added to the hopelessness that I felt and when I thought you got hurt, that maybe I’d lose you too, I guess I just broke for a second.”
I could tell that she was trying hard not to cry and even harder to not let me see the tears. She turned away from me when I stopped rubbing her legs and moved closer to her. “Hey,” I said softly, “Look at me,” She turned and I could see the tears threatening to break through. “You didn’t lose me. You’re not going to lose me. Sarah, I’m going to do everything I can to stay right here with you. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” With my thumb, I wiped away the single tear that had slipped past her eyelashes and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” After wiping away another tear I kissed her forehead, “I won’t leave you. Come on, let’s go to sleep.”
I held her until she fell asleep. I was exhausted, sore, and ready to collapse but I couldn’t. I couldn’t help but think about the girl lying next to me. I never thought anyone would or could care about me. I’d never had anyone outside my family care whether I was safe or not and I’d never had a girl cry for me, not because of me, but for me. It just didn’t happen. I knew my feelings for her were definite, I knew I loved her, but I never had any hopes that they’d be returned even the slightest bit. But suddenly, I was hopeful. I tried to calm my thoughts, to just be happy that I had her next to me but I still couldn’t sleep. As I pondered the situation I found myself in I started to notice the oddities that Sara
h had when she slept. They were the same things that everyone did but I found them unique when she did them. I probably laid there for almost an hour, just watching and thinking. She ground her teeth every once in a while. She would smile or frown when she was having a dream and she would mumble a little. To tell you the truth I found it cute and I probably could have watched her forever but my exhaustion got the better of me and I fell asleep. I woke once when she propped herself up, looked around and wiped her cheek. She had drooled a little and the look on her face was priceless. Like she was angry that she had drooled but couldn’t believe that she would do such a thing, was like baffled indignation. I had to stifle a laugh just in case I woke her up. She quickly lied back down and fell asleep.
When I woke the next morning Sarah was in the crook of my arm, her head resting on my chest. “Oh yeah, I could definitely get used to this”
“Huh… What was that?” she asked sleepily.
“I said good morning beautiful.”
“Morning.”
“How are your feet?”
“Still sore. You never finished rubbing them.”
“Sorry. I’ll rub them tonight and anything else you want,” I said grinning.
She slapped me on the arm and said, “Oh, shut up.”
“Come on, let’s get up.”
“Ugh. Do we have to?”
I looked at my watch, “I guess we don’t have to just yet.”
“Good,” she said and closed her eyes again.
I’ve got to tell you, I was quite possibly the happiest man on the planet. I smiled and closed my eyes too. I don’t know how long I lied there holding her in my half-sleep state but before I knew it Michelle had come running into my room and was determined to wake both of us up.
“James, wake up.”
“I’m awake, Michelle. You can stop poking me now.”
Sarah opened her eyes and looked at the little girl who was still jabbing me in the shoulder, “Good morning Michelle.”
“Morning Sarah. Why are you in James’ bed? Is this where you’re gonna sleep from now on? Can I sleep here too? Is he your boyfriend?” She drug out the word boyfriend like she was making fun of us and smiled.
So many questions for so early in the morning, I thought. I smiled and changed the subject, “I have a better question. Why are you in my room without knocking?”
“Matt told me to get you up. He said to not worry about knocking.”
“Bastard,” I mumbled.
“Hey,” Sarah said slapping my chest, “Watch your language.”
“Sorry, but you know he did it to fu… to mess with us.”
“Yeah, well we can mess with him later, we have to get up now.”
“Ugh. Do we have to?” I repeated her previous statement.
She looked at her bare wrist and said, “Yep.”
“You’re not even wearing a watch.”
“I know but I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“Is that a fat joke,” she said indignantly.
“Oh God no. And don’t you dare take it that way.”
“Good, now let’s go.”
“Fine.”
“About time,” said Michelle.
“Yeah, about time,” said Sarah.
“Wha… Trust girls to stick together.”
“Of course,” Sarah said climbing over me.
I got up and stretched, my joints popping and the skin stretching tight against my injured shoulder. The first thing I wanted to do was fill the water tank in the well house, but when I went to start the generator it wouldn’t turn over. I checked the obvious things like gas, oil, and the choke. I checked the fuel line to find that it was clogged, how that happened I don’t know, but it was an easy fix. We kept tons of spare parts just in case it broke down during an emergency. I replaced the line and she started easily. Hoping that it would be my only complication for the day I started the well pump. It started alright but no water was being added to the tank. I figured that maybe it needed a minute after being off for so long, but after a few minutes there was still no water. “Fuck,” I said as I turned off the pump. I thought about all the things that could have gone wrong and what it would mean if I couldn’t fix it. First I had to check to see if the pump itself was working so I turned it on again and opened the spill valve. This would tell me if the problem was with the pump or the filtration system. Water rushed out and splashed against my boots. Ok. Good, I thought. I closed the valve and turned off the pump and looked at the tangle of pipes and valves that the filtration system consisted of. We’d had problems with it before and had to have a professional come out and fix it. Fixing the pump would have been a pain but fixing the filtration system was going to be a nightmare. When it broke last time I had watched the pro that fixed it and asked questions just in case it broke again. I guess I didn’t ask enough questions because as I stood there wracking my brain for anything useful the only thing that came to me was what broke last time. One of the filters that removed silt from the water had become clogged and had to be replaced. I figured that it was the best place to start and so I turned off the generator and removed the filter from the system. Taking off the plastic casing I saw that this was definitely the problem. Silt had built up and dried in the filter, clogging it. An easy fix, just replace the filter with a new one and you’re good to go. The only problem was, we didn’t have a replacement and couldn’t order one. I could try to clean the clogged one but they weren’t designed to come apart. So I would either be able to fix it or we would be drinking dirty water and chance clogging the whole system.
As I stood there wondering how I could manage to take apart, clean and reassemble the filter in my hand I heard the scuffle of feet and the snapping of a twig. I dropped the filter and pulled my pistol, leveling it at the door. After a short pause, Thomas and Christian appeared in the doorway, smiling and holding hands. When the saw the gun aimed at them their smiles disappeared.
“Damn it you two,” I said holstering the gun, “Don’t sneak up on me.”
Their smiles returned. “Sorry man,” said Thomas.
“Yeah, sorry.”
“It’s ok,” I said shaking my head, “What’s up?”
“How’s the water coming?” Christina asked glancing at the still half-empty tank.
“Ran into a little problem. The generator and pumps fine but the damn filtration system isn’t.”
“Can you fix it?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got it figured out but we might end up drinking dirty water.”
“Like how dirty?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure the chemical filters are fine so it’ll just be a little silty. Still very drinkable.”
“Well that’s not that bad,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said glancing at their still entwined hands. “So what’d you two come out here for? It wasn’t to check on me.”
“Well, you see. Thomas and I, well we,” Christina started.
“We want to get married. We know there won’t be any paperwork but it’ll still have the same meaning to us.”
“Well that’s fantastic,” I said smiling and shaking Thomas’ hand. “Congrats,” I hugged Christina.
“Thanks,” they chimed together.
“James, we were kind of, well, hoping that you’d marry us.”
“What!? I’m not a priest or a judge or anything.”
“We know but we thought it would be,” Christina looked up at Thomas “appropriate.”
“If you guys are sure…”
“We are,” said Thomas.
“Then I’d be happy to do it.”
“Thank you,” Christina said hugging me tightly.
“Have you told anyone else?”
“Nope. We wanted to see if you’d do it first.”
“Well shit, let’s not keep this a secret. Come on, let’s go tell them.” I radioed for everyone to meet in the living room, thinking how good this would be for moral. I stood in front of everyone,
“Alright, we've got some serious stuff to talk about so listen up.” The stopped their talking and looked to me. “Thomas and Christina, come up her please.” I waited until they were standing next to me. “Thomas has something to say,” I took a step to the side as attention was redirected to Thomas.
“You all know that Christina and I have been together for a while so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’re getting married,” he finished smiling. They all stood, the girls flocking to Christina, the guys shaking Thomas’ hand.
“Don’t do it, man,” laughed Jason.
“Oh, I’m going to do it. We’ve survived together so far, married life will be a breeze. Oh, and did I mention that James will be marrying us?” he called out.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 20
