Thunder and Storm

The Training

SALLY.

A long siren blared across the building, jolting me awake. I heard footsteps march up to my door and I sat up straight. A tiny beep sounded as a card was swiped and my door slid open. Major Kowalski walked in with two others holding guns. He took one look at my swollen eyes– which were swollen from crying myself to sleep– and smiled maliciously.

“Rise and shine, Princess. Today is a brand new day,” he said.

The guards he came in with moved towards me and picked me off the floor. I was weak and tired. My limps felt like rubber and my face and ribs hurt. They held me tightly, their fingers digging into my arms, and forced me to stand with my back straight. They marched me out the door and down the hallway where girls were already coming out of their rooms. They all stood straight in front of their doors with their heads held high and their faces turned to the ceiling like they were scared to look at the guards.

I was taken to a secluded room. It was empty but there were four guards out of their uniforms and dressed in their undershirts and black khaki pants. They were muscular and ten times my size. Their eyes flashed hotly at me. Their noses scrunched up like they just smelt something bad. Each one had a varying expression of hate and disgust on his face. I licked my lips and turned to my escorts. They had left me in the middle of the room and moved back to the door.

Fear crept in then and my fight or flight instincts kicked in. This was starting to look like a kill box. “What is going on?” I asked.

“You’re going to fight them. If you could kill two men like it was nothing, you shouldn’t have a hard time fighting four,” Major Kowalski replied.

I looked back at the men and I trembled. “I can’t do this. Please,” I said as they approached me. “This isn’t right. I’m weak and injured,” I said to Major Kowalski.

“You’re a Level Five. Show me that destruction you caused yesterday.” He faced the four men. “This hybrid killed your friends, your colleagues. Treat her with extreme malice. Don’t hold back because she’s a girl. I want to see how strong she is.”

The first blow landed on my stomach. I doubled over but defended myself by protecting my face from any other blow. It didn’t work. The hit came from all directions and before long they had me on the floor writhing in pain.

“Get up and fight!” Major Kowalski shouted. I tried to push off the floor but the onslaught resumed. I was kicked in the stomach and a blow landed on my bruised ribs. I screamed out and coughed out blood.

“Show me that chaos, Sally Jenkins or you’re going to die,” Major Kowalski said.

I whimpered. My bones ached with every movement I made. My face was now swollen with my eyes. I thought about just laying there and letting them beat me to death. I closed my eyes and hot tears trickled out. I was well aware of the men advancing towards me again to continue the beat down but I couldn’t make a single muscle move to defend myself. I didn’t even know how to defend myself. All the power and anger I felt yesterday was all gone and I was just Sally.

“Get up and fight me, you filthy hybrid,” one of the men said and kicked my face.

I groaned and grabbed my face. Pain circulated through my skull. I knew I couldn’t lie there and let them beat me to death.

“I don’t think you’re giving her enough incentive, Johnson,” Major Kowalski said. I opened my eyes and saw him motion to the two guards behind him. They hung their guns across their chest and moved towards me.

My heart palpitated and I pushed off the floor. “Please stop,” I cried out. I scrambled off the floor and moved backwards to the corner of the room. The men didn’t stop. With each movement I took away from them, they took two more towards me. Johnson got to me and grabbed my jumpsuit to lift me off the floor. Suddenly the door opened and Dr Reynolds walked in.

“What is going on here, Kowalski?” he asked.

“This is her first day of training. She isn’t as strong as you say she is,” he replied.

Dr Reynolds looked at me and his eyes widened. “What are you doing, Kowalski? Do you want her dead? She’s much too weak for this after what happened in the cafeteria. Unhand her right now, Johnson,” he ordered and I was let down. Dr Reynolds immediately came towards me and helped me up. He led me out of the room and to his office where he laid me on a bed and attended to my injuries. They were more severe than the ones Petra and her gang had given me.

He looked down at me with pity and sighed as he wrapped up my stomach again. Now I looked like a mummy. “I’m so sorry, Sally. Kowalski is heartless and his methods are extreme. Sadly, I’m not the one in charge of this facility. Things would be a lot different if I were.”
“Please, just let me go home. I’ll die here. My parents are waiting for me back home.”

“I can’t do that,” he said softly. “But I promise I’ll have a word with him and he’ll stop harassing you.”

A knock sounded at the door and he excused himself to go attend to the person. His voice was muffled by the door but I recognized it to be Major Kowalski’s. I closed my eyes and listened to snippets of their conversation. Major Kowalski wasn’t pleased Dr Reynolds had interrupted what he termed as my training.
“I understand you’re charged with training them but she’ll no longer be trained specially as you term it. She’ll be trained with the rest of the others or I’ll have to report your methods to the boss.”

I didn’t hear what Major Kowalski said to that but his footsteps faded away and I assumed he had left in a temper. Well good riddance.