6 - Dead

Beep Beep Beep-

I opened my eyes at the sound of the alarm. This time it didn't scare the shit out of me like it did yesterday. My body was sore due to the exercise yesterday, but it didn't stop me from getting out of bed, as I knew that 10 minutes after the alarm, 07 would be in the hallway waiting. Or so I assumed.

Reaching the wardrobe, I took the military suit and wore it the same way I did yesterday.

One thing I realized is that Rebecca lied to me. My body was aching, and I could say that it wasn't in a perfect state. But anyways, I have to do this training, at least if I want to keep living.

At 07:10 exactly, I heard 07 knocking on the door as he did the last day. Then, I exited my room and saw him standing in the same position he was in yesterday.

"Good morning. Are you ready for today?"

"Yes, let's go."

07 smiled, and we started walking toward the training field while chatting.

...

When we reached the training field, I was surprised to see Rachel in the workout machines.

"Hey, 07. Is Rachel with another trainer? I don't see anyone else here."

"No, she is alone. She knows how to do it."

'How did she know how to do this training? She didn't seem like someone who goes to the gym. Although she was indeed quite athletic.'

"Anyways, we are going to start your hand-to-hand combat. I am not going to explain too much, so let's start."

"Try to hit me with a punch."

'I know where this is going... But I don't have an option, do I?'

With that thought, I approached 07, who was in a relaxed position. Something about that irritated me a little, so with all the force I had, I tried to punch him with my right arm straight in the head.

And as I was expecting, the punch didn't reach him. With one hand he deflected my hit, and with the other hand, he grabbed my left hand. Then, he proceeded to twist my left arm, and using the hand he deflected my punch with, he pushed me down.

"Dead."

"Pffft."

I heard a laugh in the room, and I was sure it didn't come from 07.

"Can you release me? It hurts."

"As you will have your first mission in five days, I will teach you the fundaments of hand-to-hand combat. That was the first technique you will be learning. Block and control a punch. Did you see what I did?"

"More or less."

"Then we will repeat it. Attack me again. This time focus on my movements."

After he said that, I threw another punch at him. This time, I looked closely at his movements. I tried to stay with how he was moving his body to block my fist and how he pushed me down. After he did it again, I thought I was ready to try it myself.

"I think I can do it."

"Alright. I am going to attack you."

After he said that, he approached quickly and threw his fist at me.

'It's fast!'

I managed to deflect his punch, but I immersed myself in the emotion, and he took advantage of that. He grabbed me and threw me to the ground.

"Dead."

'Crap...'

"Don't lose focus while you are fighting. Trained people can take advantage of that type of thing. And that means you are dead. Again."

"Yes!"

...

He threw a punch at my face. I deflected it with my right hand and with my left one I grabbed his other hand, then twisted his left arm and pushed him down.

'I did it! Wait! Don't lose focus!'

After a moment of silence, a clap echoed in the room. It was Rachel, who had been watching the lesson since the beginning.

"You can release me."

"Ah! Yes!"

I moved away from 07 and saw him smile at me.

"You did it well. Although it isn't perfect, you will be able to defend yourself to some point."

When he said that, my body deflated like a balloon and sat on the floor. We had been doing that same exercise for three hours without stopping until I finally managed to stop his fist and didn't lose focus, which was more challenging than I thought at the beginning. But it seemed that it wasn't over, as I saw 07 looking at me with a perplexed look and Rachel with a pitiful one.

"What are you doing? We only have done one technique. There are more. Or were you expecting to be capable of defending yourself with only that?"

"Honestly, yes."

"Then, I am sorry. But no. Stand up, let's go with the next."

With my body aching, I stood up and looked to 07, waiting for his following instructions.

"Alright, as earlier, attack me."

Without asking what he would do, I approached and threw him a fist. Having learned from the last exercise, I focused on his movements. He blocked my fist with his elbow and grabbed my arm with his left one. Then, he used the arm which blocked my punch and threw his fist at my face. And it connected.

"Dead."

'Ahhh... It hurts.'

I moved away from him and put a hand on the side of my face he hit.

"Don't worry. I didn't put much force. Attack me again. This time try to block it."

'What is he going to do now?'

But again, without question, I tried to punch him. It was the same as earlier. He blocked it with his elbow, grabbed my arm, and threw his fist. But this time, I used my left arm to stop it. But it was in vain, as he then pulled from my arm that he grabbed, making me lose balance and hitting me again in the face.

"Dead."

'I am going to fill a cemetery if this keeps going. Not that I have an option.'

"Again. We will continue until you manage to stop my attack or hit me."

'At this rate, I am truly going to die.'

...

I finally managed to stop his attack entirely. It was evident that I wouldn't be able to hit him, so I discarded it from the beginning. So after many attempts, I stopped his movements with the first technique we taught me.

When I did that, he put an end to the training. No words could describe the happiness I felt at that moment. It was already after midday, so we decided to go to the canteen. Yes, a canteen. Although knowing there is an Olympic pool, this was less surprising. But I was left speechless when we got there, as I had the food delivered to my room the two days I have been here.

There was also something strange with the food delivery. When they brought me the food, there would be a knock on the door, and no matter how fast I opened it, in the hallway there would only be a cart with the food. And when I left the cart outside after the meal, I closed the door for less than a minute, then opened it and the cart would have disappeared. It is truly a mystery.

But coming back to the present, the canteen is a relatively big space with several tables and chairs. We had a menu and we could go to a machine to register our order, then our meal would appear from a conveyor belt. The lack of people makes it quite cold, but the food is amazing.

I realized once again how empty this place was. The only people I have seen are the Boss, doctor Rebecca, 07, and Rachel. I decided to ask 07 about it.

"07, where are the other people?"

He stopped eating and looked at me with a perplexed face.

"Other people?"

"Yes, I mean, there must be other people here. For example, your name is 07, so there must be other codes. Also the chefs and all the people that clean this place!"

"Well, most of the codes are on missions, and about the other people, most of them don't want their identity to be revealed, and the best way to do that is not to appear."

"I see, that makes sense. But what about the other codes, you mentioned that most of them are on missions. That means that some aren't on a mission."

"The codes that aren't in a mission is because either they are on their break, like me, or because they are dead."

"!!!"

What he said made my body stiff. He is talking so casually about the death of his companions. No. It is not that he is talking casually, it is like he assumed their deaths a long time ago, but if that is the case, had he also assumed his own?

"07. What is a Code?"

He looked at me with an expressionless face.

"A Code... It isn't something you have to worry about right now. You should worry about your training, so you don't end up like them in your mission. I have to go. There are things I have to do. Bye."

"Bye..."

With those words, he left the canteen, and soon after I did the same. I went toward my room, but someone was already there waiting for me.

"Rachel?"

"Aaron, we have to talk."

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A/N: I found an image for Rachel. I have already posted it on ch 4, but I will also leave it here.