Woah, so it's been a while. I'm really sorry but, hi guys! Thanks for sticking around (which I presume you have done if you're reading this). Life has become so mad recently. Starting college and AS levels gave me much more work than I expected (and exams are soon so...) and I got a job! So I'm in college Monday-Friday and McDonald's one day a weekend (up to now, I'd been doing two, so that explains the lack of updates!). This chapter, I'm so not happy with it. But it's written and it's out there. It's needed for the plot but I don't like the way I've written it. Ugh, well, let me know!

The next day began in pretty much the same way as the previous, except, when Wolf crashed through the door of the cabin, ten pairs of feet slammed hastily to the wooden flooring and ten hands snapped quickly to salute him. Alex was impressed but he couldn't decide whether it was with his classmates for having adapted so quickly or with his Unit for having bent his schoolmates into submission.

Woah, that was new. Alex referred to the soldiers as his unit subconsciously.

He supposed that's what they were though. A fifteen year old boy with messy hair and wiry limbs or not, he was still a part of K-Unit. Fox - the gruff Liverpudlian with a hint of playfulness lying beneath his exterior. Eagle – the 'strong and silent' type with a grudging kindness in his heart (this always surprised Alex when it showed). Snake – the medic and member of the unit who, in Alex's opinion, least fitted his codename. And Wolf, the one who fitted it most. Not a bad lot, he reckoned. Could have been stuck with worse.

The boys in Alex's hut dressed quickly and hurried outside to see what the day was to bring. Teeth chattering more than their voices, the students were actually glad to see the Snake beckoning from the mess hall where the rest of the unit were. Once inside and seated, provided with a breakfast of bacon, scrambled egg and beans, the world must have looked a little rosier to the pupils. Alex wasn't fooled; there was a reason for this – food was fuel and he wasn't exactly keen to know why the unit were so keen to set their tank dials to full. He expected a day of long runs and boredom; after all, what else could the soldiers really do with a bunch of teenagers? Alex was pretty sure that the government would frown on them participating in the weapons sessions he'd seen when he first met K-Unit.

Abruptly Wolf stood up. He waited. He simply waited until all heads swivelled in his direction and the sixty students grew silent of their own accord.
"Right. Breakfast's done. Hope you all ate plenty – today is going to be more exercise and I'm pretty sure you'll need all the energy you can get. You'll be combat training in the martial arts hall." Short and sweet as usual, Alex mused – and maybe the day would turn out better than expected. There was a ripple of murmured excitement around the hall; this was more like it! Not ridiculous scrambles through mud; real army stuff. Wolf cocked one eyebrow and sat down.
Eagle stood up and explained the plan. The morning would start with instruction in self defence and then there would be sparring, using what they'd learnt.

The sparring segment of the day had begun and Alex looked around at his classmates. Some had looked surprisingly strong in self-defence this morning and he was keen to see them fight. In a way he hadn't experienced before, he was craving the adrenaline rush of his own sparring session. His chest hadn't hurt once when practising the katas – even the more advanced ones – he felt good. Snake had caught his eye a couple of times, worry dancing through his eyes, but Alex just let the enjoyment he was finding from the exercise play across his face momentarily.

They were in a large hall with cold linoleum flooring surrounding a large square of cushioned blue mats. Groups of students were scattered over the room, relishing the break before the sparring began. They sat leaning against the walls and bantering about the fights to come. Meanwhile, the Unit were stood together in a corner, clearly debating something and Alex was dying to know what was going on. Before he could devise a way to find out, however, Fox wheeled around, clapped his hands once and "this is how it's going to work..."

After a good twenty-five minutes of watching his classmates fight, sometimes proficiently, sometimes dismally, he finally heard his name called. Alex's feet carried him towards the centre of the mats and adrenaline coursed through his body. Why was he so ready to fight? He didn't know but that wasn't really important right then. His opponent was a curly haired boy, slightly taller than he was, who he didn't actually know that well. But the boy looked as if he knew who Alex was and was almost amused about being drawn against him. Well, Alex wasn't about to go without a good fight. Who even was this boy? How dare he look so amused?

Before he knew it, the fighting had begun. It came so naturally to Alex, the fluidity of his movements earned him a few good hits and some dodges, before long a mutter of consternation could be heard. Alex ignored them, it wasn't his problem that he was a better fighter than they wanted him to be. In fact, no, he was going to make them feel worse; show them he wasn't that boy to be laughed at with the 'problems'. His opponent shrank back as Alex began to punch more and more fervently, the slightest prickle of guilt nudged his mind – it was just bad luck that he'd become the scapegoat of Alex's frustration – but then again, he had looked at him for an easy fight.

Hitting, kicking, ducking, dodging. Punches connecting with soft flesh, the sound of air being forced out of lungs. The strain of his heart against the scar, like a restriction but also an aggravator. Grunting with the effort. Arms around his shoulders? Shake them off, off, OFF.
"Get off me!" Alex snarled, breaking the hold Eagle had around his shoulders. He whirled around and went to punch him in the stomach, why was he stopping him when he felt so good?
A hand caught his wrist, twisted his arm up and in towards himself. Wolf was looking into his eyes, he was told to get outside 'now!' Alex whirled on his heel and stalked out of the hall, barely seeing his opponent being surrounded by his classmates.

He kicked open the doors and threw himself into a sitting position, knees hunched, heavy breathing and leaning against the wall. Where'd that come from? The anger? There'd be a hell of a lot of explaining to do later but he wasn't sure he understood himself. Alex waited, one of the Unit would be out soon, he had no idea what they'd do with him, but he'd messed everything up hadn't he? No chance anyone would be accepting him in school after this; he hoped he hadn't hurt the other boy too much. For now he just had to wait.

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