Chapter 17
"Is it illegal?", Caleb inquired.
"Well, I don't know about that", Austin scratched his head. "But I'm pretty sure it's not what they'd want us to do."
"Fantastic!" Caleb clapped his hands together. "I'm in."
"Me too!" Drake's response followed a little too quickly, and they both glanced at him. Caleb raised an eyebrow, and Drake hurried to correct himself, "I mean, it sounds like a good plan is all."
"Me three!" Anna hopped up and down, waving her hand. Drake leaned over to his district partner. "Are you sure? It might be dangerous."
Anna nodded. "Being all alone is so boring. Now I've got fun stuff all over the place!"
"Fun stuff all over the place? Are you for real?"
"I am the realest!" She gave him a thumbs up.
Just like that, Austin's group was three people stronger. He led them to the far corner of the room where the members who hadn't been tasked with recruiting new members that morning were busy rebuilding the large shelter. Apparently the staff took down their old one during last night's cleanup. He was surprised to see that May actually managed to talk Jason into coming back, but not so surprised to see that Helen and Joel failed to recruit the girl from district eleven. It was too bad. He felt that she could potentially be a helpful addition to the team.
"So what's the story with eleven?", Austin asked as he got closer.
Helen filled him in. "She told us that she would be happy to join our group if we could tell her what her name was."
"We said it was 'Rose', because that's what they've been calling her during the role call", Joel explained, "but she just rolled her eyes and walked away."
"It was really rude of her", Helen finished, "but that's okay. When I volunteered at the Friends of Jesus Homosexual Conversion Camp, I met this woman who looked a lot like that lesbian... I mean girl... who-"
"Yeah, okay, I get it", Austin interrupted, holding up a hand. "So let me get this straight: she asked you what her name was, and you said it, and she just walked away? Is that right? Am I missing something here? I really feel like I'm missing something here."
"No, that sounds about right", Joel agreed. "Say, you don't think they've been saying the wrong name, do you? I'd feel terrible if they did that to me."
"I've never heard of it before", Austin considered, "but then again, I didn't really know any of the people that got reaped personally, so who knows?", he shrugged. "Maybe it happens all the time."
"Maybe", Joel reluctantly agreed, glancing over at the girl from district eleven. "But I hope not."
The rest of the club members were sitting in small circles inside the new shelter, engaged in various conversations. They all looked up as the group consisting of Austin, Caleb, Drake, Joel, Helen, and Anna joined them.
"Good morning, everyone!", Anna cheerfully addressed the group, but only Hannah and May greeted her in return.
"Great work on the shelter, guys", Austin declared, examining the structural poles. "Looks like that's one thing we're not going to have to worry about in the arena." He introduced the new club members, then brought up the topic of the day's meeting. "So, we've had a whole night to think of ideas. What have we come up with?"
"I think we should work toward world peace", May suggested.
"Yeah!", Hannah chimed in, "We could give everyone in the world an alligator plushie! Then everyone would be happy!"
"Um, okay. I'll keep that in mind", Austin noted. "Anyone else?"
Anna jumped in. "It's bad luck to have a club without a name. We need to come up with a super awesome club name!"
"Um..", Austin started, "I'm not sure that's-"
"How about the 'We're all going to die brigade'?", Caleb smirked.
"How about the 'You're gonna die brigade'?", Zephyr shot back at him.
"That's no good. That sounds like I'm the one who's going to die", Caleb grumbled.
"It's aimed at them, moron, not at you", Zephyr huffed.
"The Invincible Squadron!", Hannah shouted.
"Ooh, that sounds cool!", May agreed.
"Yeah, but we're not invincible", Jason argued.
"I believe the 'Honorable Death Squad' is appropriate", June suggested.
"That sounds like we've already given up", Joel pointed out. "We need something more inspiring, like the 'We're Not Dead Yet Brigade'."
At this point, the entire room to broke out into various arguments over what the proper name of the club should be. Austin grumbled. They had very limited time, and this was not something they needed to be wasting it with. "Guys!", Austin shouted. "GUYS!" Everyone broke off their arguments and looked up at their leader. "We can work out a name later. Anna, since you're the one who suggested it, I'll make you the club's official namer. The duty of naming our club now belongs to you."
Anna nodded firmly.
"As for everyone else, right now, we need to be coming up with ideas that will help us when we're out in the arena. Did anyone come up with a strategy or idea they want to throw out at us? Anyone? Yes, Zephyr?"
Zephyr stood up. "Well, we're not all fighters, but I think everyone has something they can contribute. Everyone has experience with something. If we figure out what everyone is best at, maybe we can find a way to use those things to our advantage."
"Okay, and what kind of experience do you have?"
"I'm a fighter like you."
"Sure, okay", Austin chuckled. "Why not?"
"Believe what you want", Zephyr shrugged, "but district nine is a special place. You have to be ready for the punch it packs. Most people aren't. Those are the ones who meet their deaths the quickest."
Austin smirked. "That's big talk coming from such a small girl."
"Be careful", Arnold warned. "You're looking at the best kickboxer on Orchard Row."
"Well, third best", Zephyr casually corrected. "It's not all that difficult, really. If you practice it enough, you can almost do it without thinking."
"Yeah? Okay, I'll bite. If that's the case, why don't you show us all?", Austin challenged. "C'mon, let's see what you've got."
Zephyr burst out laughing. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Austin held up his arms to guard. "You're a fighter, right? I want to see what you've got."
"Sure, but don't say I didn't warn you", she teased. She pulled a ribbon out of her pocket and started tying up her hair. The others were already forming a circle around the them, forming a miniature arena. When her hair was secure, she made a show of popping her neck. "Are you ready?"
"Are you?", he challenged.
She smirked, then took a couple of stutter steps. She hit him with several jabs and a sweeping side kick. He managed to block them, though the last blow forced him to take several steps backward.
"So that's all you've got?", Austin teased. "Geez. You're all bark and no bite. I was expecting a lot more than that."
"I'm taking it easy on you", she explained. "I don't actually want to hurt you."
"Aw, c'mon. I can take it", Austin stepped back into the center of the circle. "Hit me with your best shot."
"Sure, whatever, but don't say I didn't warn you." Zephyr took a step back, then began hopping up and down. On her third hop, she strode forward and faked a jab. He took the bait, moving to block the jab, as Zephyr spun, hitting him with a roundhouse kick. She caught him on square the ear with the heel of her shoe, and he went down hard. Several cheered and Zephyr politely bowed.
Austin's vision burst into a flash of stars. When he came back to his senses, he found himself staring up at the roof of the shelter and at Zephyr, smugly looking down at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you could take it", she teased. "Maybe you should try not tensing up", she mocked him, waving her hands around. "You've got to be fluid, like the water."
"OH SNAP!", Rocco exclaimed. "She got you good, man!" He went in for a high five, and Zephyr gladly took it.
Austin sat up, rubbing his ear. "Yeah, I got that, thanks."
Now that everyone was paying attention to her, Zephyr explained, "Even if the opponent is bigger, if you can catch him off guard, you can still win." She jabbed the air several times before continuing, "When you're fighting, just a moment delay in reaction time is all it takes."
The club members spent the day practicing Zephyr's roundhouse kick. She went through the basics of the kick for everyone, then went around to help as everyone practiced. Rocco picked it up the fastest and began teaching it to Jade. Hannah and May devolved to pirouetting, laughing as they got dizzy and fell over.
She made it look so easy, but even Austin was having trouble with it. The whole thing was a balancing act, and was used to keeping both feet firmly planted on the ground. Looking around, he saw that the others were more or less in the same boat, wobbling on one leg as they spun around. Zephyr made her way over to Austin, who had given up his own practice and was watching the others. "It's not so easy when you have to do it yourself, now is it?", she smirked.
"Well I didn't expect to get it immediately", Austin replied. "But that's not what I'm worried about. This is just basic stuff, right? I'm pretty sure those guys out there are going to be trained to guard against this kind of thing."
"Probably, but they won't be expecting it from them", she pointed over to Jade and Rocco, whose kicks were actually starting to look fairly decent. "We have a saying back home. It goes "someone who practices one kick a hundred times is more dangerous than someone who practices a hundred kicks one time" or something like that."
"That might work for them", Austin pointed out, "but they're going to expect a fight from people like us."
"Yeah, sure, like you expected that roundhouse kick a few minutes ago."
"Okay, but that's not going to work for someone like me."
"Good point." She considered it for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "Okay, I think I know. Now, normally I wouldn't do this, but this is kind of a special situation."
"Wouldn't do what?", Austin took an unconscious step back, unsure if he really wanted to know what she had in mind.
"I'm going to show you something that I'm sure they won't be ready for", she gloated. "...and I know they won't because I invented it myself."
"Yeah?"
"Yep, and it's not all that complicated, so even a clown like you can figure it out." She poked him solidly. "Okay, now watch carefully."
She started walking toward him, but it wasn't quite right. It looked like she was walking forward, but she was moving backward. Then she reversed it. As she took steps backward, she moved forward. She appeared to be gliding across the smooth floor. She waited until he was focused on the movement of her feet to strike.
It took a moment for Austin to comprehend what he was looking at. It wasn't her left foot that was moving backward, it was her right foot that was moving forward. By the time he realized it, her leg was already within striking distance. He couldn't block it, so he winced, bracing for the impact. He felt a rush of wind, but the only impact he felt was the laces of her shoes slapping against his cheek. He peeked an eye open and saw that she stopped the kick just short, the top of her shoe grazing the hair on the back of his neck.
"We're not keeping score or anything, but I believe this is the second time I've gotten the best of you", she smirked at him. "I bet you're thinking just how stupid you looked judging me earlier."
"Well actually", Austin corrected, "I was thinking about how what you'd look like if you wearing a skirt right now, and I'm kind of digging it."
"Ugh. You're disgusting." She snapped her knee back and finished the kick she started, hitting Austin on the same ear she hit earlier. "You're lucky we're on the same team here."
Austin's ear pounded, but he couldn't help laughing. "So are you going to show me how you did that whole sliding across the floor thing?"
"It's not sliding", she chided. "It just looks like it. You draw the attention to one leg while you move the other one. It's pretty simple once you know the trick." She broke down the motions for him. She was right, it really was surprisingly simple, if a little peculiar.
When he got that part down, she showed him the kick itself. "Watch carefully", she instructed. "The key is misdirection. They go right...", she snapped her leg around. "... and you go left."
Even though he expected it this time, her leg still seemed to switch directions mid kick. He knew logically what was going to happen, but his reactions pulled him the opposite direction, and the whole thing played tricks with his head. She laughed at him, but continued to walk him through the motion until the bell rang, signalling lunch. The club members stopped their various forms of practice and started heading toward the lunch buffet. Austin tried the move one last time, but he still didn't quite have it down. He thought he understood what he was supposed to do, but his muscles simply weren't doing what he told them to do. It was frustrating.
"Don't worry, you'll get it", Zephyr assured him. "It took me weeks to get it down, but...", she paused. "...I guess you don't have that long." With all that was going on, she almost forgot why they were there in the first place. "That move is my ace in the hole. I've never had to use it before, but..."
"You may not get another chance to try it", Austin finished.
"Yeah", Zephyr sighed. "That."
They both walked to lunch together.
"Be honest with me here", he said as he sat down next to her. "You'd know better than just about anyone else here- what do you think our chances really are?"
"Honestly?" she frowned at him, "Knowing one silly kick isn't going to cut it. Sure, the first strike is the most important, but it hardly ever ends after one hit. Each strike after the first is just as important." Her eyes darted over to the far end of the table, where the career tributes were eating. "A trained opponent like one of them will almost certainly block or dodge the first strike", she looked back at Austin. "The precision of the second and third strikes can mean the difference between victory and defeat. We may be able to catch them off guard at first, but if we aren't able to use that advantage quickly enough..." She shook her head. "I'll do my best, but...", she glanced over at Helen, Hannah, and May. "... for the first time in a long time, I don't know if my best will be good enough."