Another several days went by, Tyler healing more and more with every one of them. He was past walking and moving, and his body was physically fine. The wound on his head had healed up nicely and the stitches had been removed, and the cuts and scrapes on his body had closed up well. He seemed to be almost back to normal, save for, of course, the memory. He had come to terms with the fact that Lisa was dead, and now, more than ever before, he was raring to get into the resistance, to join the fight. He had told both his mother and Jack that he wanted back in, that he was on their side, and now that he was healed, he was ready to really mean what he had said.
"Hey." Alex walked into the room wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, a smile on his face. "Word around the base is that you want to get back in the fight."
"Yeah." Tyler nodded, getting out of bed and pulling a t-shirt on over his head. "Got something I can do?"
"Well since you've been out for awhile and don't remember, we have to make sure your combat skills are up to par." He smiled. "Sure, a lot of this is done without physical contact, but as I'm sure you know, judging by that scar on your forehead, sometimes we have to engage in combat. Weapons are best, but it's important to be able to fight without them at least until you can get your hands on something that can be used as one. You went through the training before, but I guess you don't remember that…"
"Sorry, no." Tyler shook his head.
"Alright, well come with me and I'll get you started." Alex waved his hand and Tyler followed him. They went into a big, open room with a large mat on the floor and several pieces of weight lifting equipment in the corner. "This is where we make sure we're in shape," Alex explained. "Now I'm going to come at you, just try and defend yourself, alright?"
"Okay." Tyler nodded, walking onto the mat, more than a little nervous. He had gotten in his fair share of fights, and he had a strong punch, but most of those fights were broken up quickly and he'd been wounded in them on more than one occasion.
"I'll go easy on you for now," Alex informed him as he walked forwards, his fists raised. Tyler spread his legs apart, standing as ready as he could be, just waiting for Alex to hit him. Surprisingly, however, when the punch came, Tyler's body jumped into action. He ducked Alex's hit and offered a swift kick to the stomach that knocked Alex over in return.
"Holy shit…" Tyler walked over to him and offered his hand to help Alex up. "I'm so sorry…I…I didn't know I could do that."
"Wow." Alex smiled, taking the hand and getting to his feet. "That's really interesting."
"What's interesting?" Tyler tilted his head to the side.
"What happened just there…your body remembers your combat training, I taught you that move." He smiled.
"You did?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, and I was about to teach it to you again, but clearly I don't need to…" Alex brushed himself off. "Let's see what else you remember, alright?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means we're going to do a fair spar. No one goes easy on anyone, last man standing wins."
"Fair enough." Tyler nodded. He wanted to put up a brave front. If he was going to convince the Fifth Column that he was ready to get back in the fight, he had to show them that he was brave and ready for anything, though the truth was, he was in awe of what he had just done. His body had reacted without his mind, and that scared him a little.
"Are you ready?" Alex asked.
"Yeah." Tyler nodded, though he wasn't sure if he was or not.
"Okay." Alex came at him again, and the fighting commenced. Both boys threw several good hits and kicks and both blocked and dodged the advances of their opponent. Tyler's eyes widened every time his body did something that he hadn't known he was capable of, and Alex just smiled.
After several minutes of rough fighting, Alex managed to kick Tyler's legs out from under him, leaving Tyler panting as he lay on the mat. Alex walked over to him, this time being the one to offer his hand.
"Guess that makes you the winner," Tyler stated, wiping sweat from his brow with his arm.
"Don't sweat it," Alex stated. "I was a better fighter than you to begin with, that and I know how to fight you, mostly because I trained you." He smirked. "You're a good fighter, though, Ty, you really are."
"Better than I knew, apparently." Tyler laughed, trying to make light of the situation. He didn't think that his memory was going to come back, at least not anytime soon, and he needed to be ready for everything that was coming at him. His father was dead, his girlfriend was dead, everything and everyone else that he cared about was in danger, and he needed to be ready to defend them. There were so many people out there that were like him, that had been seduced by the gifts the Vs claimed to be bringing to the world, and since only a few people knew the truth, those few needed to be the strongest, and he was one of them. Tyler knew that he needed to be strong, if for no one other reason than to defend humanity.
"Tyler, you alright, man?" Alex asked, tilting his head to the side.
"What?" Tyler asked, turning around to face him. "Yeah, fine, just thinking."
"Oh, well in that case, penny for your thoughts?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Just thinking that I'm sweaty and gross and could probably use a shower," Tyler lied.
"Wow…you concentrate really hard on thinking about showers," Alex teased. "Come on, what were you really thinking about?"
"They outnumber us," Tyler said softly. "Like…they really out number us, at least they outnumber those of us who know the truth."
"I know." Alex nodded.
"Doesn't that scare you?" Tyler asked. "Doesn't that make you feel like maybe we're fighting a war we have no hope of winning?"
"Are you kidding?" Alex laughed, though it seemed to be humorless. "Everything about this war fucking terrifies me…doesn't mean that don't fight." He turned to Tyler, looking at the boy seriously. "This is important, Tyler. Maybe our numbers aren't as strong, but we're gaining power, and if we can strike when they don't see us coming, we'll have the advantage. If we built a huge army, they'd be able to track us more easily. Right now, they don't know what we're doing, what we're preparing and what we're thinking. As long as we keep them out, we have a fighting chance." He bit his lip, leaning against the wall. "And yeah, there's a good chance that we will all die fighting the Vs, but if there's even a modicum of hope that we might succeed, it's worth it. Compared to the human race, our individual lives, they're meaningless, Tyler." Alex looked at the boy. "We're not fighting this for ourselves, Tyler," Alex stated. "We're fighting for everyone else, for the men, women and children who don't know the truth, for the innocent people who, like you once were, have been seduced by the Visitors."
"Oh." Tyler bit his lip.
"This is what it all comes down to, Tyler," Alex said, his voice quiet. "Are you willing to die for this?" He made direct eye contact with Tyler, looking at him, his expression filled with the utmost intensity as he waited for the response.
"Yes," Tyler said finally. "Yes, I am."
"Then you're ready." Alex put his hand on Tyler's shoulder, patting it.
"Ready for what?"
"Ready to be back in the war."
A/N Alright, Tyler's out of bed rest and back in the game! If any of you guys have ideas or suggestions, I'm totally open to them! I don't have a set course for this story to run, and I'm hoping that it won't suck...
