To their credit, they did well having never sparred with anyone before. Liz was slower than Sarah and since she hadn’t been working with me as much I think she may have been a little less confident than she should have been. Sarah was able to sneak in a hook to the back of Liz’s knee when she left her guard open and after she got up you could see her eyes harden a little. She pressed her attack, trying to find an opening but she ultimately lost when Sarah put her in the same choke hold I used on Sam and Jason. That was one of the first things she asked me to teach her after she had mastered the basics. I hadn’t taught it or the way to break it to Liz or the others. “That’s good,” I called out to the girls “Can you two come sit with us?” They sat cross-legged in front of me and Michelle. “So Michelle, you still think fighting is just for boys?”
“No, but…” she stopped.
“But what?”
“But you said that boys were stronger. What if a girl had to fight a boy? Wouldn’t they lose?”
I smiled, “Well…”
“Just because a boy is stronger doesn’t mean that they’ll win. Girls are faster,” she lowered her voice, “and we’re smarter.”
“Hey,” I said as Michelle giggled.
“What?” Sarah said smiling at me.
“That’s not always true.”
“Yeah ok,” she said still grinning.
I looked to Liz for help, she was grinning too. “I am completely outnumbered.”
“Yes, you are. Come on, let’s show Michelle how a girl doesn’t have to always lose.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh come on.”
“Chicken.”
“Yeah chicken,” said Michelle and she started to cluck.
I let out a long sigh and said, “Fine.” I stood and we faced each other. I figured that if I had to spar so I wouldn’t look like a chicken then I might as well use it as a teaching tool. If Sarah wanted to fight and she wanted to win then I would make her work for it. “Ready?” I asked. I got my answer when she came at me. Too impatient, I thought. For about five minutes I dodged and blocked, never once attacking. She was trying hard to get me but I wouldn’t let her. She was getting more frustrated as time passed and I’m sure my encouragement didn’t help. “Watch that weight shift. Don’t overextend. Stay calm.” It was probably my stay calm comment that drove her over the edge because she redoubled her efforts and the only thing she had to show for it was sloppier technique and getting tired faster. I decided that she wouldn’t get anything more out of me just blocking so I started my own attack. The punches and kicks that I delivered were a lot slower than normal. She wouldn’t normally be able to block or deflect them and in the state she was in now there was no way, but like I said I was using this to teach her. “Come on Sarah, if you can’t block then get out of the way. Watch my footing, where my foot goes my body follows.” I coached her the whole time. I could see that she was tired and so I decided to end our little match. Using an impressive looking move I swept Sarah’s feet and sent her to the ground with a grunt. My first mistake was thinking that since she was tired she was done. I smiled at her and turned to look at Michelle and Liz, my second mistake. As I started to talk to them about the fight she took the opportunity get me back. “So the biggest mistake that Sarah made was... What the hell?” Sarah used both of her legs to buckle both of my legs and send me crashing to my knees. She then used her greater leverage to push me to the ground by pushing on my back with her legs. The next thing I felt as I tried to push myself up was Sarah climbing on my back. She wrapped her arm around my throat as I got to my knees. She wasn’t applying much pressure as I stood with her still on my back. This was the piggyback ride from hell. If this was a real fight I would fall on my attacker, driving the wind from their lungs and stunning them just enough to loosen their grip and allow me to get away, but this wasn’t a real fight and I didn’t want to hurt her. So instead I fell back to my knees and collapsed on the ground with a little extra flourish. I could hear Michelle giggling and Liz clapping lightly. Sarah got off of me but I stayed face down on the ground. I could both feel and hear Liz and Michelle walk over to where I lay unmoving.
“Is he ok?” I heard Michelle ask.
“He’s fine,” said Sarah, “I didn’t hurt him.”
“Are you sure?” Michelle said kneeling down next to me.
“Yeah.”
I felt Michelle poke my side with her finger, which was my cue to strike. I rolled over and with a roar grabbed Michelle by her wrist and pulled her down to me. She let out a little scream which turned into laughter as I proceeded to tickle her until she was out of breath. I let her go and sat up. I looked at Liz who was smiling and to Sarah who was looking at me with what? Amusement? Approval? Love? Whatever the look was it filled me with happiness and I knew that all I wanted was to see that look again. Letting Michelle get her breath back I said, “So, as you just saw a boy doesn’t always win, even if the girl has to cheat,” I winked at Sarah.
“That wasn’t cheating. You made a mistake,” she said with hands back on her hips.
“You’re right. Actually, I made two mistakes. What were they?” I asked Liz and Sarah.
“You turned your back on me,” replied Sarah.
“That was mistake number two. What was one?”
“You thought she was finished, you thought you won,” said Liz.
“Exactly. I assumed that since she was tired and on the ground that she wouldn’t want to continue. Then I turned my back to her which allowed her to take advantage of the situation and get a hold of me. Good job both of you. So Michelle, still think boys are better fighters?”
“Not all the time,” she said smiling.
She understood something about fighting that most people could never grasp. When it came to fighting men and women were equals, because they are unequal. It doesn’t make much sense unless you’ve been taught or have seen a trained man and woman fight. “So would you like to learn how to fight like Sarah?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Ok, we’ll start tomorrow. I think I’ve had my butt kicked enough for today,” I said smiling.
She giggled and said, “Ok.”
They turned to leave when I said to Sarah, “Hey Sarah, stay for a second.”
“What’s up?”
“You did a good job. You lost your cool towards the end but you still did a good job. Now that you’ve got the basic and a little more down I want to teach you some stuff that you wouldn’t normally be taught till much later. I think we can agree that things aren’t normal so I’m going to teach you them now.”
Her face darkened and her eyes sharpened. She was ready to learn whatever I had to teach her. “These are moves that can seriously wound or kill. Now you know the obvious weak points on the body. You can go for the eyes which are a great target because it won’t only cause pain but it’ll blind your enemy, making it harder for them to keep fighting. Another thing about the eyes is that if you drive your thumbs in deep enough you’ll hit the brain and that can kill them. The next obvious target is the groin, a kick can incapacitate a guy, a hard kick can rupture some vitals bits and an extremely hard kick can be enough to kill a man. The throat is another obvious target. The windpipe can be crushed fairly easily and sounds like a rice cake being broken. Another good target is the nose, you can break it pretty easily and it’ll cause plenty of pain. These are the obvious points of attack, now the less obvious points are…” I continued to list off several vulnerable points on the human body that, when struck properly, can cause serious pain and injury. These included the sternum, the temple, the armpit, the inside of the thigh and the tops of the hands and feet. Properly striking any of these points will deal some hefty damage to your opponent, allowing you to either escape or get the upper hand to attack. “Can you remember those?” I asked her when I was done with the list and the different strikes needed to cause pain.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Let’s practice a few of the movements. Don�
��t actually hit me ok?”
“I’ll try not to,” she said grinning.
“Great,” I said, “I think I’ve created a monster.”
“Oh shut up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” We practiced for another twenty minutes, making sure that each strike, while stopped short, was on target. These were moves that I would show the others much later, I had a special interest in Sarah’s safety. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost her so I would do everything in my power to make sure she had the best chance at survival. “Now, these are all moves that can be used to take out a living person. They cause pain and so will be useless against a Walker if one ever got close to you. So how would you attack a Walker?”
“I’d make sure to keep my distance.”
“What if somehow one snuck up on you and got inside your guard?” I stepped close to her, “What now?”
“I’d have to get you away from me.”
“Ok how?” She used one hand to push me away but I didn’t move very far. “You’re going to have to do better than that. A Walker won’t be able to brace itself but you’ll want to use more power than that. Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to use both hands to strike my chest opened handed and push me away. You don’t have to follow through because you’re not trying to drive me to the ground, just get me at arm’s length, outside your guard. Go ahead.” She brought both hands up and pushed lightly. “Come on Sarah. Fast, strong, determined. You won’t hurt me, much. Do it.” In one quick motion, she drove both her palms into my chest and pushed me well outside of her guard. I could feel the pain flair in my chest and I let out a groan, “Wow, that kind of hurt,” I said trying to keep my voice light as I rubbed my chest. “Good,” I croaked. “Now another way would be to plant one of your feet right in the middle of my sternum. I don’t think we’ll practice this one, just remember it. The best thing to do when a Walker is too close is back up. That way you don’t have to risk contact, but if you can’t, if you’re in a confined space then these two moves will help you get a little breathing room.”
“Ok,” she said nodding. I rubbed my chest again. “Did I hurt you?” she asked, worry creeping into her voice.
I smiled and said, “I’ll have a bruise or two but I’ll be fine. The funny thing is that I knew what was coming, I was ready for it but the pain still surprised me. I guess Mike Tyson was right when he said that everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Can't really plan for getting hit, it’ll shock you every time. Helps to know what it feels like though,” I turned to head inside.
“James?”
“Yeah?”
“Hit me.”
“Wh…what?”
“I need you to hit me.”
“Why?”
“I need to know what it feels like. What it really feels like to get hit.”
“Sarah I…”
“I need you to do this James.”
“I can’t. I won’t,” I refused.
“James, please.”
“Sarah I can’t hit you. I just can’t.”
“Why not?”
I scoffed, “Well, first of all, you’re a woman. Second, you’re my friend and third…”
“What’s third James?”
“Third, I care about you, a lot.”
“If you cared about me then you’d want me to be safe, you’d want me to be able to fight, to defend myself. That means knowing what it’s like to get hit. I need you to do this for me.”
“Sarah, please, I can’t do it,” I begged.
“Come on, James. You have to.”
She was right of course, she usually was, but now I faced an internal struggle of epic proportions. I loved Sarah and I wanted her to be safe. If she knew what it felt like to be punched then she could handle it better if it ever happened for real. But I couldn’t hit her, I couldn’t cause her pain. There are rules that I live my life by and one of those rules is that I don’t hit women, ever. This was the problem with love, it’s a battle between logic and emotion, between the head and the heart. Sometimes the head and the heart are at odds, your heart loves someone but they don’t love you, so your head says to look elsewhere. Sometimes, they’re in agreement, the heart loves someone and the head thinks it’s a good match. And other times the head and the heart have no idea what they think. Logic told me that her knowing how it felt was a good idea, but logic also told me that it was a very bad idea to hit a woman. My heart wanted to keep her safe by making her a better fighter but it also didn’t want her to get hurt. It’s a time like this that the gut steps in. It takes the best of the head and the heart and makes a decision so fast that there’s not the time to think. “Fine,” I said darkly.
“Thank you, James.”
“Don’t thank me, just get ready,” I pulled out my radio, “Somebody bring two bottles of water, some Advil, and an instant cold compress to the front yard and make sure you crack it.” I had to take a minute to collect my thoughts. I couldn’t believe that I was going to do this, I was actually going to hit her. Fuck, I screamed in my own head, Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Are you ready?” I asked coolly.
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not. I’m sorry.”
“Just do it,” she said and closed her eyes.
I gazed at her face for a moment, her perfect face which I was about to bruise. Her closed eyes and determined expression only made her look more beautiful, making this that much harder. I let out a painful breath, raised my fists and said, “Here we go.” I hit her. Not as hard as I could have but I still hit her. She let out a gasp and I saw tears already beginning to form. She stumbled back and I closed the small distance between us in an instant and put my arms around her. “Sarah, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.”
“What the fuck!” I heard from the front door.
I was too concerned with Sarah to look up but I’m sure it Justin bringing the things I asked for. I didn’t answer him I just keep holding Sarah and telling her how sorry I was.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Justin asked.
“She asked me to help her.”
“So you fucking hit her? What the fuck man?”
“Of course not. We were training and she asked me to hit her so she would know what it felt like. I didn’t want to but she’s pretty convincing.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, why do you think I called for that stuff before I did it?”
“Oh, yeah. Here you go.”
“Thanks, just set it down.” He put it on the ground next to us. “Could you give us a minute?”
“Yeah man.”
“Thanks.” I wiped away the tears and asked, “You ok?” She shook her head “Are you going to be ok?” She nodded. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “Did it feel like you expected it to?” Headshake “Worse?” A nod. “I’m sorry beautiful, I’m sorry. Here let’s get some ice on it and you should take some painkillers as soon as you can open your mouth.” She held the compress to her jaw and we walked inside, my arm around her.
Inside we sat on the couch together, my arm still around her trying to be as comforting as I could be. Sarah was sipping water through a straw and had been able to swallow some Advil. “Let me look,” I said and she pulled the pack away. There was a dark purple blotch along her jaw line but there wasn’t a lot of swelling due to the quick appliance of the cold pack. I looked into her eyes and said, “It’s going to be sore for a couple days and eating is going to be uncomfortable but you’ll be ok. Your jaws fine and if you keep taking a pain meds the pain won’t be bad.”
“You suck,” she mumbled.
“Hey now, I did what you wanted.”
“Yeah I know, but you still suck. Thank you, James. I know hard it was for you.”
“No you don’t but you’re welcome. I’m sorry for having to do it.”
“Stop apologizing. You hit like a girl anyways.”
I let out a loud laugh, “Well hopefully a girl who hits like you.”
She started to laugh but the act of opening her mouth wide was painful and it cut her off short.
“You suck,” she mumbled again.
I kissed her on the top of her head and said, “I know.”
We sat there in silence, her because of pain, me because there was nothing to say. I had done something that I had never thought I would do and I felt oddly closer to Sarah because of it. It’s strange, I know, but I felt that I had actually done something good, something that would protect her in the future. We sat there together for several more minutes before we were joined by a very unhappy looking Michelle.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 22
