Nexus [COMPLETE]

20. Winston

July 2013

I ducked and darted out of the way of my opponent's quick swipes. There was no way that I was going to let a fellow trainee take me down. I had been fighting Duklan for nearly two weeks now, and I just barely able to keep up with him. My enhancements were coming along nicely. I moved so quickly that my body blurred when I dodged another blow and dashed around my opponent to get a good kick to his the back of his left knee. I was strong enough now to lift nearly a ton of weight on my own, and my muscles bulged even more acutely from my body than the day I graduated boot camp.

Taking down a hot-headed Trainee was child's play. Speaking of which, my opponent had just fallen thanks to the punch I threw at his jaw. He waved a hand in defeat as I loomed over him, ready for any backlash, but he didn't get up. There was an appreciative applause as I dropped my guard and helped the other Trainee to his feet. He offered me a bashful grin before limping off to join the ranks of onlookers.

The game was a free-for-all. One man would stay in as long as he could, and the last man standing got the prize. I came in after four had been eliminated, then took out three myself. There were still 9 men to go though, and as tough as I had gotten, I doubted that I would last much longer. Michael was the next unfortunate soul to be pushed into the fray. He was less timid than he had been back when we came to Pluto. He was the best free-fighter in our group, so I wouldn't be going easy on him.

He came at me like a tornado. He moved faster than the eye could see and punched me six times before I could so much as land one blow. Yeah, I was done for. I estimated three moves before he beat me.

It took four.

As I grinned at him from the mat on which he had just thrown me, he offered a small smile.

"I'm done," I said, breathing heavily. He helped me up.

"If you weren't already exahusted, I bet you could beat me," he said, good-naturedly, patting my shoulder.

He was lying. I'd seen him lay down some of the toughest vamps in our training group. The guy may have looked like an angel with that fair hair and those soft features of his, but in reality, he had all the fighting qualities of a demon.

"I bow down to your awesomeness!" I joked, giving an exaggerated bow, and the crowd around us laughed. "May you win this battle of idiots and receive the trophy of a half day tomorrow!"

The crowd cheered as I stumbled away, half letting them catch me, so I wouldn't just fall over on the floor and pass out. I was exhausted. Done for the day, and not willing to stick around and watch the rest of the spars, I made my way to the showers. When I finally stood under the hot spray, I allowed myself to slump against the walls.

It had been a tough couple of weeks.

Training had been brutal, and though I had trudged through the majority of it, I was starting to fold under all the stress. From boot camp to this place - what had I been thinking? It was a nightmare.

I couldn't wait to hit the short recovery period when I got my vampire. However, I had learned a lot for being here, and the enhancements were a plus. I felt like a superhero with a shitty cause. Guard the prisoners - was that a joke? Half of the prisoners had more privileges than I did! In fact, I had it under good authority that Hazel Greyson had her own phone line! I wasn't even allowed to call home until I had formed a true bond with my vampire. Not to mention, I wasn't even sure if that was a guarantee anymore. The leadership hadn't mentioned it again since day one. I wondered if it had been their way just to get us to shut up and listen in the first place.