Her vision blurred out of focus as her head slammed into the ground.
In an instant, there was a great weight atop her and her hands were pinned behind her back. One hand held her face to the ground, ensuring she couldn't move. She grunted, attempted with her free hand to scratch at her attacker's face but it was futile.
"Do you submit?"
Chloe grunted again, swiping with her free hand. After several futile attempts, she let out a defeated groan and clapped her hand against the padded floor in submission. The hold on her was relinquished immediately, and she flipped onto her back, drawing a deep breath.
Over her stood a tall, muscular woman with buzz-cut brown hair, sharp eyebrows and darkly serious gray eyes. The woman's neck was covered entirely in tattoos, as were her arms, visible in the earth green tank top she had on.
Ari offered a hand to Chloe. Chloe accepted it and let the woman pull her to her feet.
"Do you see where you went wrong?" Ari queried, as soon as Chloe was upright.
"Wasn't fast enough," Chloe mumbled, wiping beads of sweat from her forehead. From all around her came heaves and grunts and groans, and the sound of rapidly exchanged fists and kicks.
The Barracks was a large place, split into two compounds. Both were in use by the National Army, except one was used by the regular soldiers and contained firing ranges and entire small buildings filled with all sorts of artillery. The second compound, which they were in, was intended for Pandoran training.
At the moment, they were inside a large building with a glass ceiling that let in the sunlight. The building was a single, very wide, very long room. At one end were standard training equipment — reinforced punching bags and weights regular people wouldn't have been able to lift an inch off the ground, along with modified treadmills and the like. There were also rows of fridges filled with nothing but blood bags. Refreshments.
But the equipment wasn't in use today. Today they were sparring, and the entire thing was being supervised by Ari Greene, a third-generation Pandoran and one of the Commanders of the National Army Pandoran Division. Around the room, they'd broken off into pairs, all clad the same — earth green tank tops and dark gray compression pants.
There were other Pandorans in there whose names Chloe either didn't know or could barely recall. Lucas had been paired with a hulking, slightly rough-looking red-haired boy whose entire body rippled as he moved and who, despite his size, moved pretty quickly. Jon had been paired against Riley, a short, scrawny, brown curly-haired boy whose appearance had been greatly deceiving — he'd sent Jon flying at least three times since they'd started. Aiden was up against Andre, and it had become obvious to Chloe why Andre had been so smug earlier. He was strong. Incredibly strong, and he fought with an air of nonchalance, his movements seeming languid yet precise, his attacks predictable yet unavoidable. Aiden had barely managed to land a solid blow, which was frightening, since Chloe was fairly certain Andre was holding back.
Jin, on the other hand, was up against three Pandorans. She'd started out in a one-on-one like the rest of them but had asked for a greater challenge after only a few minutes. And despite the numerical disadvantage, she still seemed very much in charge of her fight, weaving between blows with almost mocking ease and countering with precise strikes of her own.
Ari cleared her throat, drawing Chloe's attention back to her. "I asked, do you see where you went wrong?"
Chloe's gaze snapped back to the Commander. She shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't fast enough?"
"You're plenty fast," Ari said. "The issue isn't your speed or your strength. In that regard, there's not much separating you from anyone else here. The issue is up here." Ari tapped a finger against her temple. "You're thinking too much about what to do and how best to do it, second-guessing yourself, spending too long looking for openings and making it obvious exactly where you're going to strike."
Chloe frowned. "What exactly is the point of all this? We're out there fighting monsters that are slower and stupider than us. Is the training really necessary?"
"Believe me," Ari said, her tone darkening, "there are monsters out there you haven't fought yet. And you'll want to know what I know if you want any chance of surviving them when the time comes."
Chloe sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her palm. "Alright," she said, nodding, moving a few feet away and settling into a battle stance, dropping one shoulder slightly. "So I'm thinking too much. What do you want me to do?"
"Concentrate," Ari answered. "Not on me. On everything else. Use your senses, let your instincts guide your movements. Give yourself over to that part of your brain wired exactly for this."
"You mean the part that wants me to kill and devour everything in sight?"
"Yes!" Ari yelled, and then pounced.
She blurred forward and Chloe had to shift onto her back foot to avoid the first swing. The Commander was unrelenting. Six consecutive jabs followed.
Chloe moved quickly from left to right, avoiding the strikes, feeling for the shifts in the air with every movement Ari made, predicting exactly where each blow was going. Not wanting to stay on the defensive, she shifted her weight forward and went at Ari, throwing powerful, precise jabs. She didn't try to throw too many punches quickly or overwhelm her — she simply focused on putting as much force into each blow as she could.
Ari dodged a few of them, then attempted to deflect the last. As soon as the blow made contact, Ari's eyes widened and she staggered back slightly. Chloe surged forward without hesitation, driving into an attempt to sweep Ari off her feet.
Ari recovered in time. She avoided the sweep and in a blur of movement had stunned Chloe with two blows. Chloe shook her head to regain focus and went again.
She swung a few more times, but now Ari was careful. She stayed light on her feet, avoided every blow without attempting to deflect any. Then she spun around one of Chloe's strikes. The miss sent Chloe staggering off balance and the next instant she felt a hand close around her neck, lifting her clean off her feet before slamming her to the ground.
Almost instantly, her hand was pinned behind her back and her face was pressed to the floor again.
"Some improvement," Ari said. "But not nearly enough."
She released Chloe and helped her to her feet.
Chloe dusted herself off. "I almost had you."
"You did," Ari agreed with a nod. "And then you let it slip. You became too eager. Control your emotions, or—,"
She was cut off by a loud howl followed by a thud. Everyone stopped sparring and looked toward the source.
Lucas was standing over his red-haired sparring partner, fists clenched at his sides. The red-haired boy was on the ground, bent over on his knees, one hand pressed to his nose. He looked up at Lucas and glared, then pulled his hand away to reveal dark blood streaming from it.
"Bring up Spike again," Lucas said softly, "and it won't be your nose that breaks."
The boy looked at the blood on his hand and on the floor. His expression shifted from shock to embarrassment, and then very quickly to fury.
Roaring, the boy charged at Lucas, slamming into him headfirst and tackling him to the ground.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" he bellowed. He raised a fist and brought it down.
Lucas deflected the blow and with one movement sent the boy rolling off of him, then quickly got back to his feet. Chloe took a step toward the fight but Ari stretched an arm out in front of her, blocking her off.
The red-haired boy scrambled upright, spun toward Lucas and snarled, baring fangs.
He charged again, throwing a powerful fist. Lucas ducked beneath it and drove his own fist into the boy's chest, staggering him back. The boy swung again, Lucas weaved clear, then threw another punch.
The boy caught it this time, yanking Lucas forward and slamming his head directly into Lucas's face. There was a loud crack as Lucas's nose broke, and a blow to the stomach sent him back several steps and down onto one knee.
The boy advanced on Lucas, who remained on one knee, dazed. He seized Lucas by the hair and tilted his face upward, raising a fist. And then, in a blur of movement, the boy went flying through the air, crashing into a wall before dropping to the ground.
Standing where the boy had been was Andre. His expression was faintly annoyed but carried something that looked almost like sympathy. "You're a soldier," he said quietly to Lucas. "Start acting like one."
The red-haired boy staggered to his feet, dazed. Andre blurred toward him and had him pinned to the wall in an instant.
"What do you think you're doing, Conrad?" Andre demanded. "Striking another soldier while he's down?"
"He started it!" the boy, Conrad, bellowed.
"No." Andre shook his head. "You did. Step out of line again and you'll regret it."
Conrad snarled. "What, you think I'm scared of you, superstar?"
Andre scoffed, the corners of his lips curling into a cold smile. "I don't know, Connie," he said. "You tell me."
A tense silence followed. The two locked eyes, Andre's expressionless stare meeting Conrad's furious glare. Finally, Conrad snorted.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he muttered, shrugging Andre's hand off and sulking away.
"Conrad," Ari called, halting the boy in his tracks. All eyes in the room fell on her, expressions both anticipatory and wary. She walked toward him, her strides long and quick yet eerily quiet, then walked straight past him and toward a door leading out of the building. "Follow," she said, and then to Andre, "Train with Chloe."
Andre grunted, and watched with the others as Ari left the building with Conrad just behind her. As soon as the door shut, whispers broke out.
"He might be in real trouble this time. Third disciplinary issue in a month."
"Stupid of him to do that while she's watching."
"Can't believe one of the newbies got Connie in trouble."
"That's enough." Andre's voice cut through the whispers and all eyes turned to him. Chloe noticed how the others straightened slightly as they watched him. "Get back to work," he said, then turned and walked toward Chloe with almost mechanical strides.
When he reached her, he raised both fists. "Ready?"
Chloe studied him for a moment. Before, when they'd first met, there had been an unmistakable air of cockiness and smugness about him. Now it was entirely gone, as though he were a different person altogether. Conrad had seemed scared of him. The others too. The way they'd looked at him held something — wariness, but also a clear measure of respect.
She stepped toward him and raised her fists. "Ready."