Chapter 10 = Fight.
Her legs were slightly spread apart. Her feet pinned in the ground. She was almost in position. She pulled her elbow back with her hand closed upward. She then moved it forward and with a rotating gesture she hit the target.
"Well done, Petrini. More angry next time." Instructor Ericsson placed his hand on her shoulder. "Pretend that you're hitting an enemy and not a punching bag. Ok?"
The girl nodded and the old man gave her a pat on the head. He approached Dana and helped her to stand in the correct position, slowly showing her how to do it.
"Students, be sure to train both of your hands: Right and left, right ad left. Soon I'll teach you how to kick as-... Ehm ehm." He coughed when he noticed the word he was about to say was not appropriate. He was a middle-aged man, but his long white hair and his short and thick beard made him look twice as old. He wasn't particularly tall but his stance gave everybody the impression that he was very agile. His warm voice instilled self-assurance to whoever heard him talk. If he had some flaws, Rachel hadn't found them yet.
He had the habit to train the children outdoor in a proper place on the tarmac on which some gym mats and equipments were laid. It didn't matter if the sky was blue or if it rained, if it was boiling hot or freezing cold, the student had to be trained every day.
"Don't you think it's boring to punch a bag? We've been doing it for twenty minutes…" Complained Dana, while she was lazily doing the exercise.
"It's still better than listening to that bald woman talk about how great the Mother is and blah blah blah…" Retorted Jack.
The blondie looked at him with a preoccupied face. "Jack! Don't talk like that about the Monk! If someone heard you, you could get in trouble!" She scolded him quietly.
Her words alarmed him so much that he started to look at the people all around him. "Nobody heard me, right?"
Dana made a meek gesture and addressed Rachel. "And you? What do you think about this lesson?"
"I really like it! And the Instructor seems alright! Thanks to his teachings I can learn to defend myself from someone like Michail!" Her eyes confirmed the depth of her conviction.
Ericsson seems the only normal person in this place, like if he's one of us. She thought with a smile on her lips.
"You're right, but Michail is way older than us and he surely knows many fighting moves, while we are just starting to learn the first ones… we can't beat him!" Stated Dana as if she had been caught by a sudden worry.
Rachel stopped punching the bag and turned her gaze to her. "Yes, but there are three of us!" She blinked an eye.
The instructor decided that it was high time to finally explain to the children the program of his discipline. "Well, before teaching you another move, the kick, I'll have to clarify what you'll learn in this course. I know, I should have told you right at the beginning, but as you can see… age made me forgetful! My job is to prepare you on the basics of two fighting techinques: brasilian ju jitsu and taekwondo. Briefly, brasilian ju jitsu focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. You'll soon understand that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend himself against a bigger and stronger assailant by taking the fight to the ground and then applying joint locks and chokeholds to defeat the opponent. Instead, if you have to fight more than one person" He paused to laugh a little. "you'll use the taekwondo and basically kick a lot! It's fun!" He sneered. "We'll also run and run and… do some gym!" He finished his speech with a big grin. The students kept looking at him even if he wasn't saying anything more. The man threw a quick and confused glance to the children and then he remembered. "Oh yes yes… I have to teach you how to kick!"
At half past four the sun slammed down on the tarmac, heating the air and making it hard to breathe and to keep running.
"Ten more laps around the field and then you can take a break. I know that you are weary and fatigued, but the secret is to never give up! Keep going, step after step!" Ericsson spurred the students.
"Rachy, I don't know if I can continue much longer…" Admitted Dana, out of breath.
The redhead placed a hand on her back and pushed her a little to help her. The end is near… I can do this… there's no other way! She thought, staring at the ground. She noticed that if she focused on something, in this case the minuscule grains that composed the concrete, it was easier not to think about the pain in her muscles.
However, at some point, Dana slowed her pace down to a brisk walk until she came to a stop. Her two friends decided to halt too in order to make sure she was doing ok. It was also an excuse to catch their breath.
"What's the matter? Are you tired?" Asked Jack, panting.
"I'm not feeling ok." Her legs were stretched apart, her hands were on her knees and her back was bent. She was worn-out.
The Instructor came to them in a matter of seconds. "Follow me." He ordered Dana, taking her hand and bringing her to a gym mat, where he sat her down. "You two, run!" He shouted to Jack and Rachel.
"Do you think she'll be ok?" The boy wanted to know.
"Of course, she only needs a bit of rest." Rachel reassured him. She turned her gaze to the blondie and saw that she was drinking a strange green susbstance with Ericsson beside her. "He gave her something to drink to make her feel ok again." She reported to Jack between a ragged breath and another one.
"I'm so glad. By the way… I really like him!" He revealed.
"I like him too." She admitted, happy.
"Two more laps! Let's pick up the pace, children! Be prepared for a sprint finish and-" The Instructor was about to explain one more thing but the Secretary interrupted him.
"Instructor Ericsson, the Guardian ordered me to tell you that your program has to be reviewed." Thompson came out of nowhere but he made sure that even the students who where running far from him could hear him. "Children, stop what you're doing and come here. I need to tell you something important."
The students looked at the Instructor with confused faces but they nodded their head to show that they obeyed to the Secretary's orders. Successively, they grouped in front of the two men, while Jack and Rachel went to check Dana's conditions.
"How are you?" Rachel asked her quietly.
"Much better now!" Answered Dana with a cheerful voice.
The Secretary cleared his throat. "A few years from now we had the ultimate proof that we're not alone in the universe. Briefly, aliens exist. Some are similiar to us, others are very different. So what's an alien? It's a conscious living being that lives in another planet. For this reason, Guardian Annabelle Joy feels it's important to learn how to fight against one of them, to know its strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, there's isn't much time to learn everything, so the Instructor will teach you only the basis. Moreover, the Guardian has introduced a new discipline: "Alien organisms" Lobe Loyd, who is also your Science teacher, will meet you every evening, after dinner, to explain to you the essential characteristics of extraterrestrian biology. This is all, students. Haima Synaptein Gnosis." He walked away, leaving the children and the Instructor alone again.
Ericsson rubbed his head. His eyes harbored doubts. "I wonder what's the point in teaching you how to fight these creatures… It is unlikely they'll come here in Asheville." He sighed. "But these are the orders and we must obey, right?" He waited for an answer from the children, who nodded. "Well, from tomorrow we'll use some of our time together to think how… not to die against them." He smiled reassuringly. "Today's lesson is over, I hope you liked it. Take your new bags, I laid them near the trampoline."
"What do you think aliens look like? Maybe they have eight arms!" Wondered Jack while they were heading to the trampoline to pick up their bags.
"Let's hope their name isn't Dana… I don't want to smell their eight armpits!" Rachel chuckled and kept throwing looks at her friend.
"Very funny. Maybe they have eight heads!"
Rachel shrugged. "What if they don't talk at all? Or if they are like animals? Perharps they are big worms who pop out of the soil and eat humans! But then I'll come and with a jump I'll ride them and take control of them and save the day!" She hypothesized, trotting and incapable of restraining her excitement.
Dana frowned. "How can you ride worms? They don't have any saddle in which you can hop!"
"Worms are disgusting!" Muttered Jack.
"I don't know, ask it to me once I'll be the intergalactic champion of the giant worms ride!" She said while she was imagining herself in the future.
"I'll be your number one fan!" Exclaimed Dana with a huge smile.