Beth
I paced slowly up and down the group of soldiers, scrutinising them carefully. They were mostly men, only six women had made the cut, and all had a slightly hard-edged look to them. A good sign, I supposed. I lowered my mental shields a little as I walked, supressing a wince at the spike of pain it caused, and tasted each mind as I passed. I got the uncomfortable feeling that I was back at castle colony, choosing recruits for the guard.
“Has anyone had any training with blades before? And I’m talking swords or long knives here, not bayonets.”
I pitched my voice carefully to reach the back of the ranks. A few hands went up, but not many, and I scowled.
“Oook… how many of you have used blades, but not had formal training?”
Nearly everyone put their hand up that time. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing… either they’d be comfortable with a sword and therefore easier to teach, or they’d have ingrained bad habits into themselves and I’d have to spend most of my time undoing them. I blew out a slow breath, closing my mind off again as I did.
“Fine. There’s too many of you to properly train all at once, so what I’d like to do is run through some basic drills and then split you into different groups based on proficiency. There’s a whole bunch of wooden practice swords over there,” I gestured towards the large boxes that had been dragged to the edge of the field, “but I don’t think there will be enough for all of you, so there’s some short staffs too. Go grab one, and then spread yourselves out with enough space that you’re not going to wallop your neighbour.”
No one moved… I cocked an eyebrow at them,
“Well go then!”
I frowned after them as they headed towards the boxes, making a mental note to spell out exactly what it was I wanted from them. It had been a long time since I had done anything like this, and patience was not a virtue that I possessed much of at the moment.
Everyone spread across the field in front of me, as I’d asked, and I drew one of my own swords and began to lead them through some basic movements. It quickly became apparent that they differed wildly in competence; some were holding the weapons and moving with them quite naturally, but too many were stilted and awkward. I hissed a little in frustration, getting some of these people ready for close combat with ferals in just one month was going to be an impossible task. Nevertheless, I split them into three groups, which I called “OK”, “Rubbish” and “Hopeless”… in my head, at least. I kept the OK group, and sent the other two away, asking Rubbish to come back in an hour, and Hopeless in two. Now with a much more manageable group size, I pulled them in to a tighter semi-circle around me. Before I could open my mouth though, one of the men stuck his hand in the air.
“What’s up?”
“Permission to speak freely.”
I squinted at him suspiciously, he had short, dark ginger hair and pale blue eyes, with an open, honest sort of expression.
“Suure.”
“Why do we need to use swords? I for one do not want to get too close to those suckers.”
“well you tell me… how’s shooting them been working out for you?”
He grimaced,
“True, but… still…”
I sighed a little before answering.
“If you hit the scales head on, even with a bullet, they just crush. So you have to hit them a few times in the same spot, and you have to get a perfect heart shot to stop them. Blades can slide underneath their scales. And anyway, the vampires are going to get close to you, whether you like it or not, it’s better to be prepared for it, don’t you think?”
He grinned at me,
“Yea. I just wanted to see what you’d say.”
My eyebrow shot up at that,
“I’m sorry?”
“Well,” he explained, looking unabashed, “you’re just a wee girl, and we’re expected to put our lives on the line based on the information that you’ve brought us. I’ll be testing you every damn chance I get.”
“Oho, really? Care to test my fighting skills..? You know, just in case I’m not up to the task of training you?”
He stepped forward without hesitation, despite the dangerous edge that had been in my voice.
“With or without swords then?” he asked, unphased.
“With. I’m not training you to fight empty handed. Although I welcome you to test me on that too.”
The men around us shifted a little, and their feelings washed over me; an interesting mix of nerves and amusement. I sauntered over to the weapons boxes and drew out a wooden practice sword, before returning to stand opposite the soldier inside the loose circle the other men had made. The soldier dropped into a classic fencer’s stance as I entered the circle and I chuckled slightly,
“en garde.” I said drily, and he grinned at me and gestured slightly with his sword.
“Ladies first.”
I advanced on him slowly, stepping carefully to my right, seeing how smoothly he followed. Not bad. Darting forwards, I swung my sword in an obvious, diagonal slash, which he blocked easily before skipping backwards again. I tutted,
“you should have pressed the advantage there. I was off balance.”
He ignored me, waiting for my next move. I pressed forwards again, snaking my sword in quick, tight motions that I knew he would be comfortable with as a fencer. After a little parrying, he lunged at me, using his far greater reach, and almost managed to jab his sword into my sternum with a fierce flash of his teeth.
“Good,” I muttered, “but vampires won’t be fencing.”
I threw myself hard to the left, rolling under his flailing sword to come up behind him and slap the flat of my own sword against his back. He swung in a circle, scything his sword around at arms length, which I ducked under, getting inside his guard easily, before reaching up, grabbing him by the neck and yanking him down so that my sword pressed against his ribs, directly over his heart. The men around us cheered laughingly, perfectly happy to see one of their own get beaten.
The soldier blew out a shocked breath against my face,
“damn, you’re quick!”
I released him, stepping back with a wry smile,
“compared to the vampires, I’m not. And they’ve got talons on both hands and in some cases, usable wings… fencing is a good base to work off of, but you’re not going to be fighting against other swords.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” he scowled, “I think you forgot those glorious pearly whites of theirs as well, though.”
I laughed grimly,
“If they’re that close that you start needing to worry about the fangs, then rest in peace.”
He snorted, taking my comment in good humour, and returned to stand with the other men.
“Right then, sensei. You gonna teach us some shit, or what?”
The next three hours were a blur of activity. There were a few men from the OK group who had the potential to be actually quite good, including the red-haired soldier, who informed me he was Lieutenant Glen Salisbury, and I kept them the whole afternoon to use as assistants. Every single person in the unit worked hard and with no complaints, even those with no experience of using more than just a fighting knife, and by the end of the day I felt a little more hopeful. Glen helped me shift the boxes of swords back into the gym when we had finished, whistling merrily as he did. He stopped abruptly as we left the gym,
“you coming to that party Michael’s arranged for tomorrow night?”
I looked at him sideways,
“I was under the impression that I didn’t actually have a choice about it.”
“Too right,” he responded with a grin, “but it’s polite to ask isn’t it?”
“Pff.” I didn’t bother responding properly.
“Ah don’t sweat about it. They’re pretty fun… free beer, music, pool. Folks bring their partners too…” he trailed off, looking quizzically at me.
“Frankly,” I scowled, “I’d rather stay at home and read a book. I’m no
t a great fan of crowds.”
Particularly, I added to myself, when they’re going to be drunk and practically throwing their emotions at me. Ugh.
“I’ll protect you,” Glen dramatically pressed his fist over his heart, “no damsel stays in distress while I’m around.”
“If you call me a damsel again, I’ll put you in distress.” I snarled at him, just as Michael came up behind us.
“I see Glen’s charm is already working its magic on you.” His voice came from close behind my left ear, and I jumped, whirling towards him and only just swallowing a growl. Glen laughed as Michael backed off a couple of steps, raising his hands,
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to make you jump.”
I blew out a long breath, not used to being crept up on.
“It’s fine.”
Michael cleared his throat,
“I was planning on introducing you two,” he continued, gesturing with a hand towards Glen and I, “but apparently I don’t have to. He didn’t cause too much hassle did he?”
He directed his last question towards me, and I glared briefly at Glen before responding,
“No. He made himself quite useful after I kicked his ass.”
Glen chuckled happily at Michael’s questioning look,
“I felt it my duty as second-in-command to make sure our new sword master knew what she was doing. Turns out she does.” He winked at me, “she’s quite the little hell cat.”
I opened my mouth to swear at him, but Michael raised a hand, cutting me off.
“Ignore him. Seriously. He likes to think he’s funny and loves winding people up. Don’t engage, and he’ll get bored and go away.”
“Oh really? That’s going well for you, is it?” Glen questioned,
“Horribly,” Michael conceded with a grin, “but I live in hope that I might shake you off one day.”
Glen chuckled and returned fire, and they continued to banter back and forth until we reached the mess hall,
“Coming in for dinner?” Glen asked me,
“Uh, no, thanks.” I edged away from them, wanting to avoid the overwhelming smells and noise and people,
“I’m going to head home and eat there.”
“Huh,” Glen commented, “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t eat here either, but the only thing worse than mess hall cooking is my cooking.”
“True,” replied Michael, “I’m still not over that god-awful soup you made me while I was laid up.” He grimaced, “I’m pretty sure it added weeks to my recovery time.”
“Ha! OK!” I cut them off before another round of ‘banter’ could start, “I’m out. See you tomorrow.”
They waved me off as I headed quickly for my car. Michael succeeding on sneaking up on me, especially as he hadn’t meant to, had left my nerves jangling. I wanted nothing more than to get home and lose myself in the oblivion of sleep. Ordinarily I only bothered sleeping for a few hours a week, but without Ysabel around, it was the only time I got any respite from the pain. Although, I thought with a scowl, no Ysabel also meant my nightmares were worse.
I grabbed a bottle of blood from the fridge as soon as I got home, nuking it in the microwave to heat it up a little before gulping it down, although the slight edge of decay that always tainted dead blood still made me cringe. I poured myself a glass of good, red wine to chase the taste away, and settled on the sofa to check my emails. Lexi had sent through a few reports, although there was nothing in particular of interest, and I found myself staring into space, wondering what to do with myself. Everything I would usually do reminded me of Yzzy, and the scent of her lingered all over the flat, even though I had cleaned everything the day after she’d left. Bloody hell, I sighed. It was going to be another long night.
Chapter 11
Michael
Glen talked nineteen to the dozen next to me as we headed for the meeting rooms after our morning work out. I yawned, trying to focus on what he saying, but it was way too early, and I was still way too tired to listen properly. Bloody nightmares. It was only something about the playlist for the party tonight though. I shot him a mild glare, and he grinned at me, knowing full well that he was being annoying. I sighed in mostly mock irritation, turning my thoughts to the tasks for the day. I’d planned a whole day of ‘team building’ style activities, culminating in the party that Glen was so enthusiastic about. The morning would be spent doing obstacle courses and fitness drills in teams, then the afternoon was a good old-fashioned orienteering competition. The rest of this month was likely to be a pretty hardcore round of training exercises, so I figured a light-hearted day would give a good starting boost to morale. We took the shortest route, cutting down the edge of the car park, and as we were mid-way, Glen nudged me with his elbow.
“Check that out” he said, nodding towards the entrance, “where the hell has she been?”
I looked up to see Beth pulling into a parking space in a sporty Audi. She climbed out and started sauntering towards the entrance to the building while lighting a cigarette, so she didn’t notice us watching her until she looked up.
“Ah crap.”
She swore upon seeing us, scowling.
“Good morning to you, too” Glen drawled sarcastically, “bit early for a ride out isn’t it?”
“Please tell me you haven’t been out overnight”, I added, frowning at her.
She cleared her throat, giving me a measuring look.
“Would you believe me if I said no?”
“No,” I said flatly, “where have you been?”
She raised an eyebrow at me, taking a long drag on that bloody cigarette,
“You know you’re not my father, right?”
“But he is your captain,” Glen spoke sharply, without a hint of humour, “so answer the question.”
“Wrong again, he’s your captain. I’m a civilian, remember?” she huffed a sigh as we continued to glare at her, “whatever. I’ve been at home, where I go every night. You didn’t really think that I was going to stay in that awful, poky little box that you assigned me on base did you?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my cool.
“Inside. Now!”
She rolled her eyes, but continued her original path towards the double doors into HQ,
“And put that fag out!” Glen called after her.
We headed for the small kitchen, where Beth plonked herself down on a chair while Glen filled the kettle.
“Tea or coffee, Beth?”
“Coffee, please.” She turned to me, “I’m not telling you where I live.” She said bluntly and in a tone that dared me to argue.
“You’re supposed to be living on base, like everyone else, where it’s safe and you can be reached easily if you’re needed.”
She waved her phone at me,
“That’s what these are for. Reaching people easily.”
“Stop being a smart arse,” Glen chipped in, “that’s my job.”
“Why don’t you want to live here?” I pressed on.
“Because I like having my own space. We have a flat in London anyway, and I’ve been perfectly safe there all this time. Largely because no one knows where it is.”
“We?”
She grimaced, apparently unaware that she’d said ‘we’.
“Another IGS member.”
“So you’re not there alone, at least?”
“Well, not usually. She’s gone to America to be the advisor for their version of this unit.”
Glen placed my tea and Beth’s coffee on the table, grinning at me as he did,
“I bet you wish you had kids now Michael, with all this teenage angst to look forward to.”
Beth stared at him incredulously, those weird ultramarine eyes of hers sparking,
“How the hell do you get through life without being punched on a daily basis?”
“Pure, bloody skill.” He winked, sitting down,
“Seriously though, you do need to move onto the base.”
“No.”
&n
bsp; “Well why not?!”
“For fucks sake!” She stood up abruptly, “because I don’t want to! I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself and living where I goddamn like. I am not one of your soldiers. I am not yours to command. Just drop it!”
With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room, leaving me glaring and Glen trying to hide a smile behind his coffee mug.
“What?” I snapped at him.
He smirked harder at my tone, shrugging as he answered,
“I like her. And it’ll be good for you to have someone around who won’t mince their words with you, captain.”
“Oh piss off. I have enough snark and insubordination to deal with by keeping you around.”
He just chuckled slightly,
“and breathe… we’ll try again another time, if she’s lasted this long on her own then I’m sure she’ll be fine for a bit longer. Finish your tea and let’s get outside and start our day of fun!”
He waggled his eyebrows at me, looking genuinely excited, until I couldn’t help but grin back at him.
Thankfully, the day was a roaring success. Everything was so serious now, and everyone always so on guard, the chance to laugh and play games, even if they were very competitive games, was welcomed without reserve. Even Beth seemed to enjoy herself, laughing and joking with Glen and her other team mates. The barriers between the different services that made up the unit were breaking down nicely, and I hoped that some music and drinking this evening would finish the job.
Chapter 12
Beth
I hopped up on the weapons case and lit a cigarette, kicking my heels against the wood as I watched the soldiers training. Most of them were slow and hungover today, so I didn’t see any point in really hammering them. Glen’s partner broke away, leaning his hands on his knees and groaning, as if to prove my point. Glen grinned merrily and waved him off, then headed over to me. He sat next to me, wrinkling his nose as I blew out a cloud of smoke.
“Please tell me you’re at least a little hungover?” he grouched at me. I smirked at him,
“no. Some of us know when to call it a night.”
“Some of us,” he scoffed, “you and Michael, you mean. You’re very boring for an eighteen year old. You know that?”
The Guard Page 7