Chương 52: [Just You]

The flat was dark and quiet. Luka had been up since half three. He hadn't meant to be. They'd found an old battery powered alarm clock and it was set for four, but two weeks in a new world hadn't fixed ten years of early starts. He'd laid there for ten minutes listening to the silence, then given up and got dressed in the dark. He was on his second cup of tea by the time the alarm went off. He turned it off before it finished its first beep, stood up, and listened. Snoring from Phil's room.

Deeper snoring from Leo's. Something that was technically snoring from Parmo's, one arm over his face, completely still. Sam's room was quiet, which meant nothing. Sam could sleep through anything and sound like he wasn't even breathing. Luka set his mug down and went to Phil's door first.

"Phil." Nothing.

"Phil."

"Urghhh."

"It's quarter to four. Get up."

"No."

"Phil." The snoring resumed. Luka opened the door, reached in, and turned the light on.

"Dude, what the fuck?" He pulled the duvet over his head.

"You've got fifteen minutes," Luka said, and closed the door. Parmo's door was already open a crack. Luka pushed it and found him flat on his back, one arm over his face, completely still.

"I know you're awake," Luka said. A pause.

"No I'm not."

"Get up Parmo."

"Five more minutes."

"We're due at the barricade at half four."

"That's stupid," Parmo said.

"Yup. Now get up." Leo's room was next. He was on his side facing the wall. Luka knocked on the frame and Leo rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Already?" he said.

"Already." Leo sat up, ran both hands over his face, and stayed on the edge of the bed. Sam's room was last. Sam was already sitting up, stretching.

"I heard Phil," he said.

"I think everyone did, dude's a total primadonna."

"Is he up?" Luka looked back down the hall. Phil's light was still on.

"I think so, I'm chucking water over him if he doesn't get up in the next four minutes," he said. By quarter past four they were downstairs, more or less functional. Phil had found his boots. Parmo had made toast and eaten it standing over the kitchen counter without fully opening his eyes. Leo had said nothing since his bedroom but he was dressed and upright which was progress. Sam put the kettle on.

"There's no time," Luka said.

"It's either this or we're useless for the next hour," Sam said. That was true so Luka didn't argue. They stood in the kitchen while it boiled, passed mugs around, and were out the door by twenty past. The street was dark, the sky just starting to lighten at the edges. Their breath came out in small clouds. Further down the street a door opened and two of the village guards came out, already dressed, weapons at their sides, looking like people who had been awake for hours.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Phil watched them over the rim of his mug.

"How are they that ready?"

"They're used to it, they probably don't sleep til 5pm when they don't have work like some people..." Luka said.

"Fuck you man," Phil said.

"I'm getting old, sleep calls to me." Shai, Rika and Torren came round the corner a moment later. Rika took one look at the five of them and her wings lifted slightly.

"You look terrible," she said.

"Cheers Rika," Parmo said.

"How's first light treating you?" Shai asked him. Parmo looked at her over his mug.

"Shai."

"Yes?"

"I will remember this." The rest of the group filtered out over the next ten minutes. Mars came out last with Growlie on his shoulder, wide awake and already nosing at everything within reach. A small group headed south with Mars, Growlie jumping down to trot alongside them, tail up. They were out of sight quickly. The rest fell in together and headed for the northern barricade. The training ground was on the other side of it.

Someone had finished this before it got dark last night, the grass was cut back in a wide square, rocks cleared, the earth flat and compacted. Wooden posts had been driven in at the corners. Twenty odd people from town were already waiting, standing in loose clusters, breath misting in the cold air. A few ex-military types stood together near the far post, arms folded. A mix of ages, some sharp and ready, others looking like Phil felt. Shai looked across the group, then at the seven trainers behind her.

"Right," she said.

"Before we split into weapons groups I want to know what we're working with. Basic tests. Fitness, strength, coordination. Nothing complicated." She looked at the town side.

"Don't try to impress anyone. I just need to know where everyone is starting from." A man near the front raised his hand. Broad across the shoulders, mid thirties.

"Hey, name's Max. I was a personal trainer before all this," he said.

"I've got a stopwatch, tape measure, bleep test app on my phone. Mike got it charged when I mentioned it." Shai looked at him.

"Show me." He held up the phone and explained the test. She looked at it, then nodded.

"Run it," she said.

"I want to watch." He turned to the group.

"Two lines, twenty metres apart. When you hear the beep you run to the other line before the next one sounds. Miss it twice and you're done." The first beep went off. They ran. The bleep test ran longer than Max expected. He'd set up the lines, started the app, and stepped back. Usually by level eight or nine the weaker ones dropped out, twelve was solid, fourteen was exceptional. He'd run these enough times to know what would happen before it finished. By level ten nobody had dropped out. He glanced at Shai.

She was watching without expression. Level twelve. Still nobody out. A few people were breathing harder, one of the ex-military lads had gone red in the face, but their feet were still hitting the lines. Level fourteen. Two people dropped, hands on knees. The rest kept going. When it finally finished Max stood with his stopwatch and said nothing for a moment. He looked at his phone, then at the group bent double catching their breath, then at Shai.

"That's not normal, most of the people here weren't in the best shape, some of them actively avoided working out. An office nine to five does that to you," he said.

"I thought so too," Shai said.

"This more or less proves the UI has done more than fix people." She walked across the training ground slowly, looking at the group as they recovered. Press ups next, sit ups after that. Same story each time. The numbers coming back were the numbers of people who trained seriously for years, not a random cross section of a town. She called Max over when it was done.

"Is this consistent? All of them roughly the same level?"

"Give or take," he said.

"There's variance but nothing like what you'd expect. It's like someone set a baseline and built everyone up from there."

"More questions than answers," she said quietly to herself. Shai stood in front of the group.

"Right. The fitness testing is done. What I just saw tells me you're all starting from a higher point than most recruits I've worked with. That makes things easier." She paused.

"What it doesn't tell me is whether any of you can fight. That'll come shortly." She turned and gestured to the line of trainers behind her.

"Each of these people specialises in a different weapon. I'm going to introduce them and what they teach. When I'm done you walk over and stand near whoever you want to learn from. If you're not sure, that's fine, watch for a bit first." She started at the left.

"Kai. The Sarren, a long curved two handed blade. Range, power, single precise strikes." Kai stood with his hands clasped behind his back and said nothing.

"Shai. Dual blades. Speed, close range, reading your opponent." A few people looked between her and the group, working out she was talking about herself.

"Rika. Bow. Distance, accuracy, keeping yourself out of the fight where possible." Rika raised a hand.

"Torren. Maul. Blunt force, endurance, breaking the line." Torren smiled at the group.

"Bram. Hammer and shield. Defence, the bulwark, protecting others." Bram nodded once.

"Aldric. Spear. Reach, footwork, keeping distance between you and your opponent."

"And Nessa. Daggers. Close quarters, precision, stealth." Nessa was leaning against one of the corner posts. She didn't move.

"Take your time," Shai said.

"Once you have a weapon you like, move to stand by your trainer." The group broke apart slowly, people drifting toward the trainers they'd chosen, a few stopping to talk to each other first before deciding. Kai stood where he was. Nobody moved toward him immediately. Leo watched the groups forming. Rika already had six people around her, Parmo among them. Phil had gone straight to Shai, two others behind him. Someone near the back was asking Shai if a single sword was an option and she nodded, adjusting.

Torren had a small group forming, Luka first among them, already looking at the maul propped against the post beside him. Sam had crossed to Nessa without hesitation, the only one in her group so far. Bram had three people, Aldric four, all of them looking comfortable with the choice. Leo looked back at Kai. It was just him. He couldn't entirely blame the others. Kai hadn't smiled once since they'd arrived.

He'd stood with his hands behind his back through the entire introduction and said nothing beyond his own introduction. Leo walked over. Kai looked at him. Then at the empty space around him.

"Just you," Kai said.

"Seems like it." Kai looked back at the training ground, the groups settling into place around them.

"Good," he said.

"Let's see what you're made of."