The Gauntlet

Chapter 05 - The First Day

When her battered alarm clock woke her at seven o'clock Codi very nearly turned it off and went straight back to sleep. However, in the nick of time she remembered where she was and what she had to do. With a groan she sat fully upright before shutting off the piercing tone of her alarm, and then threw the thin covers away from her. The combination of missing last night's sleep and the long day that followed had meant she slept like a log.

Swinging her legs off the side of the bed she scrunched her toes against the featureless grey carpet. Light streamed in through the small window aperture, but when she looked over at it, Codi realised it faced the wrong way to see the sunrise. A small jab of disappointment hit her, but she shook her head and got down to the business at hand. Forcing herself to stand, she invaded the wardrobe and took stock.

Everything lay in meticulous organisation, with a boldly functional array of whites, greys and blacks. First she grabbed a towel, feeling the soft, feathery fabric between her fingers before slinging it over one shoulder. Then she delved into the clothing that had been provided. It wasn't much, but free was free. Tugging out a pair of black leggings and a long-sleeved grey top, she turned and crossed the room to the en-suite shower.

While the hot water washed away the previous two long, hard days, she wondered what Drake Vasco would have in store for her today. Codi fully expected to be pushed to her limits and a coil of worry gripped her. Today was the real test to see if she really could handle the demands of the Gauntlet training programme. What if she failed?

That line of thought persisted as she exited the shower, dried off and dressed. This was her one chance to back up the claim she'd made to Mr. Barrow. She wanted something more and he'd given her the chance to take it. She slipped her feet into a pair of black plimsolls and started toward the door when an afterthought struck her. Turning to the desk, she swept up the empty locket and clipped it around her neck before leaving the room.

As she made her way through the corridors the niggling feeling of apprehension pressed its way into the back of her mind. Physical activity didn't worry her, but Drake Vasco did. If he was going to be standing over them like a drill instructor for the entire day then her temper would see things quickly spiral into chaos. She re-ran his words though her head. If you're going to compete, do exactly what I tell you.

She let out a resigned sigh. She owed it to Barrow to and to herself to see this through.

Entering the canteen area, Codi found the rest of the group already there, the four of them seated at a table eating, drinking and chatting. To her surprise, Vasco himself stood in the kitchen area, cooking. He glanced around when she entered and nodded approvingly.

"Bang on time, kid," he said. "You're off to a good start."

"Thanks," she murmured, uncertain of what to do next.

Vasco beckoned her over. "C'mon, get some breakfast." She obeyed wordlessly, not looking at the others as she passed their table to the kitchen area. Vasco turned and placed a large steaming bowl of what looked like oatmeal in front of her.

"You a coffee drinker?"

"Uh-huh." A mug of coffee materialised a few seconds later. She stirred the food suspiciously with the spoon provided. "What is this stuff?"

"Think I'm trying to poison you?" Drake rolled his eyes. "It's a kind of porridge, but heavy with vitamin and protein supplements."

"Drugs?"

"It's not drugs, Codi. But it will give you a boost that normal people don't have...over time. Gauntlet fighters are not like everybody else. The preparation by necessity makes you hit harder, move faster, and it'll ramp up your pain threshold a few notches." He inclined his head to the food. "So shut up and eat so we can get on with the day."

Codi resisted the urge to snarl a reply, contenting herself with a derisive snort as she scooped up the bowl and mug before turning to sit down. She sat at one of the empty tables and kept her eyes downcast, shovelling the porridge into her mouth. It tasted good, richer than the glop the orphanage had fed her, and she could almost feel the nutrients flooding her system. Maybe it wasn't a d**g, but right here, right now, it certainly felt like one.

"Too good to sit with the rest of us?" said a female voice. Codi paused, l*****g porridge from around her lips before looking up to see Lita glaring back at her. She held the other girl's gaze unblinking for a long moment, then smirked and returned her attention to the food. She heard the outraged snort but ignored it. A small part of her mind pointed out that these people would be her team mates and she needed to get along with them, but right now she didn't feel like speaking to anyone. The nerves were beginning to build. Instead she rooted her attention to breakfast, ploughing through the entire bowl and then draining her coffee in several long gulps.

She sat fiddling with the spoon and staring into the dregs of the coffee while the others finished eating. When they did, Vasco strode between the tables making sweeping gestures with both arms.

"Alright everybody," he bawled. "Chow time is over. Let's get down to business." Leaving their dishes where they were, the group rose almost as one and followed him into the elevator. With six people crammed into it, Codi found herself standing uncomfortably close to Max, his own narrow shoulders hunched as he did his best to make room for the others.

They rode the cramped little elevator to the basement where she scrambled gratefully out of its confines when the doors opened, out in front as the group entered the training centre. Looking back over her shoulder, Codi saw Vasco waving the others away to the sparring equipment. As they split off, the instructor walked straight over to her.

"You ready to work?" he enquired, though the question seemed to be a nicety more than anything else.

"As ready as I'm gonna be," she said.

"Good, because this morning I need to get a sense of what you can do." He started towards the treadmills. "C'mon, kid." When they reached the line of machines pointed at one. "Get on and start running."

"For how long?"

"Till I tell you to stop." His face remained totally impassive as he spoke, and Codi realised he wasn't joking. She stepped onto the treadmill and braced herself as Vasco keyed in a pace. Then the floor beneath her started moving, forcing her to run almost flat out to keep from falling.

It wasn't long before she slumped against the rails of the machine gasping for breath, swinging her aching legs off the moving surface. Vasco eyed her grimly.

"Did I say you could stop?" he queried.

"My legs…are sore," she hissed between breaths.

Her tutor merely shrugged. "Get used to it. Now get back on that treadmill till I say you can get off."

Shooting him a venomous glare, Codi swallowed her rage for the moment and did as he asked, forcing her limbs back into the punishing pace. She managed another agonizing stint of running but just as she thought she was about to collapse, Vasco punched the stop button on the treadmill. Leaning heavily on the supports of the machine Codi turned her eyes skyward, thanking whatever higher power had spoken to the man.

"Well," he said. "Your endurance isn't exactly up to scratch is it?"

"Kiss my a-,"

"Now let's check how much that scrawny frame of yours can lift." Before she could even formulate a stinging retort Vasco was walking away from her, towards a daunting arrangement of bench weights and gravity bars. Cursing him under her breath she followed him to the next test. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but rather than picking out one of the weights, he beckoned her over to a strange, box-like contraption standing slightly off to one side. It looked like a chamber of some kind, maybe seven feet in height, half that across, and she could see two hand-shaped black marks in the roof.

Codi eyed it dubiously. "What's this for?"

"Stand under there." Vasco pointed inside the thing. "And put your hands where the indicators are. You'll see what it's for in a second."

Still wary, she took a tentative step into position and placed her hands above her head, but even reaching all the way up she couldn't quite touch the indicators. Vasco pressed a button and suddenly the roof plate unlocked, falling gently to press against Codi's outstretched hands. He looked at her for a moment then raised an eyebrow.

"You might want to brace yourself," he advised. "That plate is about to get a lot heavier." Her eyes widened in realisation and she immediately dropped into a firmer stance, legs spread apart and knees slightly bent as she waited. "Ready?"

"Ready."

He pressed another button and she felt the weight increase straight away. At the moment it was manageable though; she stood firm with her arms braced against the roof panel.

"How does that feel?" Vasco asked, his voice displaying genuine curiosity.

She thought about it for a moment. "Err…it feels okay I guess."

"Alright, how about now?" He pressed another button. This time Codi couldn't stop a growl of exertion escaping as the pressing weight increased dramatically. Her knees almost buckled under the surge, but she gathered herself in the nick of time to hold the panel steady once more.

"Not…great," she snarled through gritted teeth.

"And now?"

The weight ratcheted up again and she almost screamed as she fought to hold her ground. Her arms and legs trembled violently as she pushed back the panel for several seconds. Then Vasco pressed large green button and the weight mercifully vanished. The roof panel retracted back into its original position and Codi doubled over, pain lancing through her body after the ordeal.

"A hundred and ninety pounds." Vasco lolled his head from side to side. "Not bad. You're what, 5'5?"

"Something like that," she grated. "Why?"

"Just getting a sense of where you're at." He jotted the information down on a clipboard that seemed to have materialised from nowhere, then gave her a nod. "Alright, next."

So the morning crawled on, and Vasco pushed her limits in every way he could think of. They continued to use the box (he informed her later of its affectionate nickname, Crusher) for several more tests, seeing the kind of loads her body could bear in different positions, compiling a spreadsheet of painfully accumulated data for the head instructor to mull over.

"You might want to stretch off," Vasco suggested as she stepped out of the Crusher's confines.

Codi gave him a quizzical look.

"Trust me, you'll wish you had."

The truth behind his words soon became apparent. She did as she was bidden, after which they moved on to a blistering range of exercises that tested everything, far beyond her physical strength. He led her to another machine, this one designed like a large metal archway around seven feet tall. Vasco flicked an activation switch on its right side and a film of blue light filled the empty arch.

"Stand there," he ordered, pointing to a dark square in front of the machine. "In your stance – knees bent, feet wider. Toes of the front foot face forward, back foot forty-five degrees. That'll do."

Codi processed the rapid reel of instructions as quickly as possible, eyes locked onto the curtain of shimmering blue. After a few seconds the cover transitioned into a grid.

"Simple stuff," Vasco explained. "I want you to punch the yellow targets as they appear. Okay?"

She nodded, tensing to spring and clenching her fists.

"No, no, no." He shook his head. "Don't seize up. Stay loose. If you let your nerves take over you'll get tight and if you get tight you'll start making mistakes. Just take your time and work your way into it. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

"You have a lot of sayings like that?" Codi enquired with an impish smile, but the smile faded under Vasco's disapproving glare.

"Just hit the targets."

She shut up and did as he asked. He pressed another button on the machine and a yellow circle a few inches in diameter appeared. Codi snapped out a jab with her right hand, passing through the target, whereupon it melted away into the grid. The targets kept appearing, moving slowly at first but getting faster and faster, appearing more and more frequently until she found herself pumping her arms as fast as she could just to keep up. When Vasco flicked the machine's power button she let her hands drop with a gasp of relief.

"No breaks yet, kid," Vasco declared as he jotted down whatever information the machine had given him. Codi glared up at him but bit her tongue. This was what she'd signed up for.

He tested her endurance lifting gravity bars, walking her through the safe techniques to make sure she didn't injure herself in the process. By the time they'd finished that she felt her arms were about to fall off.

Then it was on to the legs, and she found herself bundled into a frame that looked something like an upturned wheelchair with two fat pistons where she placed her feet. The pistons grew in weight, and Vasco urged her on to greater lengths and Codi gritted her teeth, pumping her legs up and down as the pressure gradually ratcheted up. Her thighs burned with exertion but she kept thinking the same thing: this is your shot, don't mess it up. Eventually she was allowed to stop, and she virtually fell out of the rig onto all fours.

But they weren't finished yet.

Then final set took the form of a reflex test. Codi walked shakily out into the centre of a square arrangement to a black floor tile, with four machines that she could only describe as cannons facing inward.

"If you're going to fight in the Gauntlet you can't let up," Vasco said as he picked up a portable control pad. "You could be twenty minutes into a fight, muscles burning, mind tired, but you have to keep making the plays. You've got to keep moving, fighting and reacting." He inclined his head. "In your stance. I'm going to call a direction and I want you to face and dodge, but keep your feet inside the tile."

The first rubber ball thwacked her in the thigh, not hard enough to be dangerous, but hard enough to sting. The second hit her in the midriff, the third in the left shoulder. The fourth she finally avoided, getting herself into a low crouch and leaving the ball to whiz overhead. Despite her leaden limbs, Codi adjusted for the sheer velocity of the balls and started avoiding more and more. However, Vasco kept her going for minutes – minutes spent coiled and ready to spring and twist.

At last he let her have a break. Blowing out her cheeks, she flopped down on one of the padded mats, limbs splayed out. Her body felt numb after the storm of tests. Vasco scribbled down the last of the information on his clipboard then looked it over. A few minutes later he sighed.

"Well, kid, you're about as average as they come." That phrase made her sit bolt upright, a hollow feeling settling in her stomach. However, when she looked up at him he simply grinned. "Not to worry. We've got plenty of time to turn you into something special."