"The goal is to get your opponent down on the mat. Brownie points will not be awarded for anything else. Pair up, get started," Reznik barked, her hands resting stiffly on her hips.

The 9 of us dismantled from our stances and a few started pairing up: Nugget with Teacup and Poundcake with Dumbo.

"Sir," Ringer said dully, "We have an odd number of soldiers." Ringer's eyes darted over to where I was standing, and I felt my hands curl into a tight fist (not for the first time that morning), frustration boiling inside me.

"Quite aware," Reznik said impatiently, "The last soldier will be practicing on the dummies."

Ringer rose her hand slowly, "I call the dummies," she said, "Maybe they'll be more of a challenge," she added, muttering under breath.

Ringer walked over to the corner where the dummies were, leaving Flintstone, Zombie, Oompa, and I to ourselves.

I opened my mouth to claim Oompa but Ben, sorry, Zombie, opened his first, "Canary," he said, avoiding my eyes, "I'll work with you."

I bit my lip, my head swirling, "Ok," I said, walking over to the first mat.

Needless to say, in all the times I had daydreamed about running into Ben Parish after the Others arrival, never did I imagine fighting hand to hand combat with him. This was certainly something new.

I sucked in a sharp breath as I positioned myself in what I thought was an appropriate fighting stance.

I was annoyed that, apart from the brief introduction last night, Squad 53 and the rest of Wright Patterson had left me to fend for myself.

Never had I ever fought someone (aside from online, of course), so there was no way in hell I knew what to do now.

"Put your hands up like this," Zombie said, raising his balled fists up to his face, "Fold your thumbs over your fingers, not under," he continued, eyeing my hands.

I pursed my lips as I clenched my fists and moved my thumbs over the other fingers.

"Position your feet like mine," he said.

I let my eyes drift down to his feet, noticing how his left foot was more forward than his right, and how his body was slightly turned to the side.

I mimicked his behavior, trying to perfect it before looking back up at him.

"Ok, now hit me," Zombie said.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?" I asked, completely and utterly in disbelief.

He wanted me to hit him? Not a single part of me was intent on making a fool of myself.

Zombie shifted slightly in his stance. "Hit me," he said, "Give it your best shot."

I glanced down at my feet momentarily before looking back up at him through my eyelashes.

Fine, if he wanted me to hit him then I would.

I clenched my right fist tighter before making a jab towards his jaw. Without much effort, Zombie angled his body away from my incoming fist, letting my punch collide with air.

I let out a small sigh of frustration, crossing my arms over one another.

"Try it again," he said, repositioning his body to face mine.

"I'm pretty positive Dumbo would've been a better teacher," I said, letting the words tumble out of my mouth without much thought. "This isn't helping at all."

"Because you're not trying hard enough," Zombie said, his deep voice calm and patient. "Try again."

I grit my teeth, letting my jaw set in impatience. I allowed my hands to curl into fists again and stood in the fighting stance. Taking a quick glance at Zombie's feet, an idea sparked inside me and a small mischievous smirk took place on my lips.

I thrust my right foot out to catch him behind his left ankle, kicking him with as much strength as I could manage (which apparently wasn't a lot).

Zombie let out a small grunt but remained completely still, unfazed by my epically failed attempt at a surprise attack.

I pursed my lips in clear annoyance. This was the first time since I'd met Zombie that I was thoroughly displeased by how strong he was. This was when someone like Dumbo or even Flintstone would've been a much better partner.

"What are we, Canary? A bunch of pansies?" Reznik yelled from across the room.

I felt my cheeks grow warm, humiliation and anger flooding up my face. For not being properly briefed or trained like the rest of the squad, I thought I was doing pretty damn good.

"And what in the name of hell are you doing, Zombie? You should've had her on the ground already!"

Zombie waited for Reznik to approach our mat before saying, "Sir, it's Canary's first day, sir," he said, placing his hands behind his back.

Reznik looked over at me before back at Zombie. "We don't go easy on our soldiers, Private Zombie. The Others don't care if it's Canary's first day, they'll kill her anyways."

Zombie pursed his lips, glancing momentarily down at his feet. "Understood, sir."

Reznik gave him a stiff nod. "Show me then," she said.

My lips curled in distaste, completely sick of this lady's attitude and overdone lipstick.

Every fiber in my body absolutely hated this woman.

Zombie nodded and turned back around to me, putting himself in the fighting stance again. "Ready?" he asked.

I rose my fists up to my face, knowing that there was no way I'd win this fight. Was I ready to fail? I guess I had to be.

I nodded quickly, right before Zombie yanked my arm, pulling me towards him before flipping me onto my back.

I let out a groan of pain as I hit the floor before looking up at Zombie, who was crouching over me, his face inches away from mine.

Lucy from five minutes ago would've been having a heart attack right now, but Lucy now just wanted to punch Zombie in his perfect face.

And I did just that, bearing my teeth as I gave him a hook to the side of his head.

Zombie's eyes widened in surprise as he fell slightly to the side, his body weight shifting off me.

I scrambled up off the ground, brushing my hands on my pants in irritation.

Part of me felt bad for what I'd done. But then the painful throbbing in my head reminded me that I shouldn't feel anything but pride.

Reznik smirked in satisfaction once Zombie stood up, the two of us standing at attention. "Nicely done, Private Zombie," she said, nodding to Zombie. "Not a bad hit," she said, giving me a small nod.

With that, she left the mat, no doubt to go pick on another pair.

"You ok-"

I sent a small glare to Zombie. "I'm fine. Let's go again," I said.

All the anger I had towards him came rushing into me. I was angry that he was no longer Ben Parish, angry that he didn't recognize me, and angry that he didn't look out for anyone but himself.

How dare he suddenly act like he cared after all the crap he had put me through, after he had just thrown me to the floor?

We spent the rest of our time in combat taking turns at trying to take one another down. It was safe to say that I had gotten no where close to pinning him on the mat. In stark contrast, Zombie took me down every opportunity he got, somehow managing to do so in a creative way each time.

By the time Reznik blew her whistle, signaling the end of hand to hand combat training, I was winded and pissed beyond comprehension.

We got into a line, walking in a straight line towards whatever was next on the schedule (As long as it wasn't more combat training, I was rather looking forward to it).

"Canary?"

I looked down at Nugget, who had his hand pulling at the edges of my sleeve.

I smiled softly at him. "What's up, Nugget?" I asked, making sure to keep my voice low so Reznik couldn't hear me.

"Well, I saw Zombie flip you earlier. Are you ok?" He asked quietly.

I gave Nugget a reassuring smile. "I'm ok," I said.

Nugget nodded. "That punch was cool though!" he said excitedly. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

I laughed quietly. I wasn't sure I could do that punch again if I tried. It had been a lucky shot in all honesty.

"Uh, sure," I said, ruffling his mass of brown curls. "On one condition."

Nugget nodded eagerly. "What?"

"You have to teach me to fight the way you did with Teacup," I said.

I had seen Nugget fighting with Teacup; although Teacup was much bigger (and considerably more aggressive) than him, he had fought well, catching Teacup off guard with a couple kicks to the stomach.

Nugget smiled, "Yeah! I'm not very good though," he said trailing off.

"I saw you with Teacup, you're amazing!" I said, happy I could give him a little confidence and even more importantly, someone he could trust. From the looks of others in his squad (cough Ringer), he didn't have much of a support system.

Nugget's smile widened. "You really think so?"

I nodded. "Way better than me."

"Could you two shut the hell up? I'm not doing more P&D work because you can't keep your trap shut," Poundcake said, throwing a dirty look towards Nugget and I.

I gave him a hard glare before patting Nugget on the head.

Yeah, Nugget was going to need all the support he could get from me. Squad 53 wouldn't be much of a help in anything.

<><><>

Thoughts?

I'm thinking either Len or Zanary for Ben/Zombie & Lucy/Canary 's ship name. What do you think?

Vote, comment, and all that jazz (do it for the Zombie)!