Grey stopped laughing instantly. He turned and swung his fist through the air so quickly that I flinched in shock. The man with the beard hit the ground with a sickening crunch and blood started streaming from his nose. He yelled and writhed on the floor as his friends backed away from him.
"Break it up!" Unibrow's voice boomed over the noise.
The crowd glanced at Grey as they started to disperse. He stared at me, a gleam in his eyes. Slowly, he raised his fist and wiped the bearded man's blood down the front of my jacket before turning and walking out of the hall.
Dolly sauntered after him and the double doors slowly swung shut.
I sank back into my seat and sat on my trembling hands.
Chapter Ten
On the fifth day, we were working on the mats. I was doing no better and my temper was rising after being thrown onto my back for the tenth time.
"Place your feet and twist into the movement," Laurie said, exasperated.
I got back into position and motioned Taylor forward. He grabbed me and I twisted, knocking him off balance but I didn't get my shoulder into place and he managed to stay on his feet.
"Again," Laurie snapped. She was getting very bossy in her role as our trainer.
Taylor lunged forward and I started to move but something caught my eye on the other side of the training area and I hesitated. He hit me hard in the shoulder and I was knocked off of my feet and flung across the mat. I scrambled to regain my balance and see what had distracted me.
"Really?" Laurie began, but she was cut off as a scream broke out above the rest of the noise in the room. It was swiftly followed by the buzz of several tasers. The room exploded into shouts and chaos.
Grey hit the floor with four Wardens piling on top of him, several taser cords were attached to various parts of his body. He was twitching out of control but his face was pointed in my direction and he was smiling. It was almost a snarl but I could see a light behind his eyes that hadn't been there before. He looked excited.
The Wardens, led by Unibrow, dragged Grey out of the room, using metal batons to strike at him as he resisted.
One of the time servers was sprawled on the floor, his arms were twisted at an unnatural angle and a training knife was protruding from his chest. The force it must have taken to get that plastic knife to cause any kind of injury was immense but, as I thought of Grey's hulking mass, it didn't surprise me.
A pool of blood was spreading out from the man's body and his eyes were staring lifelessly at the ceiling.
I felt cold. The sweat from my workout chilled against my skin and I shivered.
A female Warden stepped across the room carrying a large blanket and covered him up as other Wardens started to segregate all of the convicts and check that there was no more trouble brewing.
"Goddamn psychopath," Laurie muttered, ushering us back into the safety of our mat area.
"What will happen to Grey now?" I asked her.
"He'll be locked up in solitary when he's not training. But he's a lifer anyway, there's not a lot more we can do to him. He won't be allowed near the knives again though."
I couldn't quite believe what she was saying.
"But he just killed that man. He could have a family waiting for him back in the city," I protested.
Laurie fixed me with a hard stare but it was Taylor who replied.
"That's the whole point of SubWar, Maya. There's no guarantee you're going home."
"But this wasn't SubWar. It's just stupid training, with a stupid plastic knife!" I shouted. Some of the other Wardens were looking my way.
"Maya, stop." Laurie inclined her head towards the other Wardens. "Or I'll have to do something neither of us will like." Her hand was on the taser at her hip and I knew she meant it.
I shut my mouth and forced my feelings deep down into a ball of rage inside my chest as I headed back to the mat.
When Taylor swung at me I dodged his fist and, using his momentum, managed to send him crashing to the floor. It was my first win against him on the mat but it did little to improve my mood.
I didn't sleep well that night, nightmares haunted me every time I closed my eyes until I gave up. I woke early and wanted to get to training as quickly as possible. Taylor tried to argue but eventually realised it was pointless and joined me for an early workout.