Rebels (John Bates) by Scott Powell, Judith Powell Read Free Book Online Page B

know I have to act quickly. The man with the clipboard gives a brief nod to the two remaining Steel members.
     
    Luckily, I’m not the only one thinking quickly. As I see them running across the field, I notice David coming across and interlocks his legs on one of the Steel team members, slamming him to the ground. Both roll up onto their feet, but the Steel member is dazed and before he knows it, he is hit twice with two roundhouse kicks to his legs, knocking him back to the ground while two other members of my team jump on him with their knees to further immobilize and take him out. Good job, David. I have no time or convenience to praise out loud.
     
    Now we are down to one opponent, but he is not so easily surprised. Two of my Young Army team members are eliminated with a simple backhand. They’re both holding their noses, blood pouring from between their fingertips. He simply looks at me and grins. And for the first he time speaks.
     
    “You’re dead, you cocky little punk! You are going to pay!”
     
    Yeah, this one is real mad. But I can tell that even in his incredible condition he is starting to tire. He is not as great as he thinks. Though we are not as strong or as mature, we are the best in our entire region, which is why we are giving these highly trained soldiers a run for their money. I look at my other team members and give them the sign to back away, the look on their faces is simply are you crazy? At this point, I know I am able to handle this, if I keep my head on straight or don’t get it knocked off.
     
    “Well, I look pretty lively for being a dead person.” I reply to his angry taunts. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the clipboard man speedily jotting down things. I wonder what he could possibly be writing about with so much vigor, but I don’t have any time to spare for questions.
     
    “That’s it. Go ahead and make jokes, because when I am done with you and your pretend soldier friends here, you will wish you never stepped on this field!” He runs at me like an out-of-control bull seeing red.
     
    As he rushes me, I run into him. We clench each other’s arms. One might wonder why I would do such a thing, especially when we were trained to do otherwise. But my father’s reality based training tells me when I go into my enemy, their options are limited. Especially when they have allowed their emotions to override common sense. Generally speaking, he has run through his adrenalin, and he is now running strictly on his conditioning. Having to do this against twenty-four of us, I would say he is down to about forty to fifty percent of his true capacity. I hope it is enough and that I am now able to compensate against him, since I am not as exhausted as he is at this point.
     
    I control my emotions. But grabbing him was like grabbing rock and the power is still more than I had never encountered. Luck is on my side; he is fatigued and not thinking clearly. Feeling him exert his strength to push me back, I spread my legs to allow me to keep a strong balance position while he wastes his precious energy. As I feel him tire further, I quickly put my hands on the outside of his shoulders and come across with my right elbow as my father had trained me, breaking his grip on that side and giving him a stunning blow to his jaw. The Steel soldier staggers to one side while I rush in, this time kneeing him multiple times to his abdomen and pulling his head downward where he meets a powerful blow, knocking him to the ground.
     
    I watch him fall. Normally, the fight would have been over but no, these guys are made differently and I can only watch in complete surprise when he arises with his bloody mouth and states, “What, you thought it was going to be that easy!”
     
    My dad’s cardinal rules jumps into my mind— Never underestimate your opponent!
 
    I quickly make a statement , which had worked yesterday with David.
     
    “Hey, where are you going to take us to eat after this is all