Danger is Near

Chapter 13

"Will".

"Christina".

"Matisse".

"Amy".

"Peter".

"Al".

"Tris".

"Edward".

"Tess".

"Emma".

"Eliza".

That was me. I looked up into Eric's eyes.

Jem and I were the last ones left. I looked at her and then entered into Max's office.

He sat behind a neat desk. "Take a seat... Eliza Turner" he said softly.

I slowly sat down in the chair opposite him. Eric came to stand right behind where I was sitting. He was a little too close for my liking.

"You will get to choose out of two jobs. You will take on this job for one week, everyday after training, for half an hour" Max confirmed.

"Ok, well what are the jobs?" I asked.

Max looked at me. As if trying to study me.

"You don't think I know about your inappropriate comments..." he said.

My eyes opened a little wider, and my heart started beating faster.

I looked up at Eric. He wasn't looking at me but he had the biggest grin on his face. Oh my gosh. What a jerk!

"Listen..." I began to say.

"No. You listen. There will be no more of that from you. We have rules here and you are expected to obey them" he said in a surprisingly calm tone.

I wanted to ask what the rules were but I knew that would be pushing it.

"Now. You can either clean and re-shell the guns, or, clean the knives? Your choice" Max stated clearly.

"Umm, I'll take the guns" I said.

"Ok then" he paused for a bit looking through some paperwork. "You will have Eric as your supervisor for this task" he finished.

Oh no. Please no.

"Um, sorry. But is the knife cleaning position still open?" I asked nervously.

Max looked up at me pathetically. He then looked to Eric. "Wanna tell her?" he offered.

I looked to Eric. He looked down at me. "I also supervise the knife cleaning" he said smugly. "You've got me either way babe" he finished, shrugging.

I was about to blow. Did he just call me babe?! What the hell!?

"So what'll it be Eliza. The knives or guns?" Max questioned.

"Guns" I replied blankly, as I stood up.

"You start today, straight after training. Eric will come by and help you find your way".

Eric lead the way to the door and opened it for me, pretending to be a gentlemen. As I walked out he whispered "You think you already hate me... Well, after this you'll hate me even more". He grinned and laughed, before his face turned stone cold again and he called out Jem's name.

I went back to the Training Arena and people were punching and kicking punching bags. Four was just walking around assessing people, at times approaching them and helping them out.

As I walked over to him he was standing behind Tris. Looking at her as if she was weak. He then approached her and put his hands on her stomach and placed her in the correct stance speaking to her at the same time. I couldn't hear what he was saying though.

As he saw me coming he took his hands off of her and quickly walked towards me. Hmm, suspicious. I thought.

"Ok. Go and hook one of those punching bags onto one of these hooks and and I'll help you get started".

I did as he said and I was ready within a minute. My muscles have always been my strength. Some people are quick and have great stamina but they are weak. Whereas I may not be too quick, and I may not have the best stamina but I sure as hell am strong. Well, for a girl.

Four seemed very surprised with my ability to easily lift the heavy punching bag onto the hook.

"A lot of the girls couldn't even lift it off of the ground. Heck, some of the guys couldn't either" he said with an impressed expression.

"Well, it was really heavy but..." I stopped, not knowing what to say. I just shrugged instead.

"Ok, so what do I do?" I then questioned enthusiastically.

Four taught me all the kicks and punches. He taught me where I would go for if someone was shorter than me, taller than me, bigger than me, thinner than me and he even showed me where most peoples biggest weaknesses would be. The neck, groin and/or shins. I was really happy with Four for teaching me all of this stuff. He then got me to practice while he watched.

"You seem to be getting the hang of this, I'll come back later" he said as he walked away.

As I turned around to see where he was going I saw Jem. She looked very shaken up. Instantly I was worried. I knew it must've been Eric.

She walked passed me heading to Four. I quickly whispered, trying to get her attention "Hey Jem. What's wrong?" I questioned. She just looked at me and kept walking in silence. When I see Eric he is gonna get a whooping!

I continued practicing. I looked around at everyone else. Sussing out my competition. Everyone seemed to be good at it, but these were just lifeless bags. But there were a few people I noticed who didn't seem to 'get' the whole concept. Maybe Four didn't 'tutor' everyone else like he did me... I wandered.

Four stopped us after another twenty or so minutes of punching bag practice.

"Lunch break!"

"Everyone head down to the Hall and get lunch. Although I know some of you are to be filling out your 'duties' during this time. So those of you who are, go and do what you need to do".

"Meet back here in an hour!" he finished loudly.

We all headed off towards the Hall. I noticed Christina, Emma, Tess, Amy, Will and Edward stay behind.

"Sucks to be them" I turned to Peter.

"Yeah! I'm just so glad I don't have to miss out on lunch" he replied, laughing a little.

"Yeah but we will probably miss out on a little bit of dinner, depending what time our trainings finish up" I pointed out.

His face turned down, he looked really glum. I laughed at this though. He laughed at me laughing. Peter and I have always gotten along well. From the very start. Even though this was practically day one.