Apocalypsis: Book 2 (Warpaint) Read Online Free PDF Page A

guys got out of the way.  
    He walked up casually as if he were waiting for some kind of formal start to the fight.
    I didn’t see the need, though.  I strode up to him without stopping and put him immediately on the defensive.
    But he wasn’t quick enough.  Like every guy who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, he stood there with his legs apart, looking for balance, assuming I wouldn’t go there.  He lifted his hands up in a move I’d seen guys do who’d had some Kung Fu training.
    I telegraphed an obvious punch, but pulled it at the last second and brought up my leg, nailing him in the nads.
    He bent over in half, which brought his face down to my level, putting him in the perfect position for a couple of palm strikes.  That sent him stumbling off to the side, and he valiantly tried to stay on his feet, but an elbow to the cheek and a hammer strike to his neck ended that plan in a hurry.
    He lie face down in the grass, writhing in pain.
    I wiped my forehead off with my arm and danced back and forth on my toes, my hands up for some straight punching action in case anyone decided to get stupid.
    “Anyone else wanna go?” I asked, looking at the high-fiver guy and his friends.
    No one took me up on my offer.
    “Yeah.  I didn’t think so.”  I stopped bouncing and dropped my arms.  “You guys ready to train?  Or you still want to goof around and act like you can take me down?”
    Paci smiled, speaking for the group, looking as proud as my dad sometimes did when I brought a big guy down in the dojo.  “No, Nokosi.  We’re ready to train.”
    “Good,” I said, bringing my hands together in one clap, like my dad always used to do with his groups.  I walked in a big circle, getting my head around my plan, talking to them while I looked at the ground and paced.  I’m sure I looked a little crazy, but that was part of my plan.  They needed to see that I was no lady out here.  I was a machine.  A monster, even.  Nothing was personal.  It was all about defeating the enemy … immobilizing him … ending him if necessary.
    “Fan out,” I barked.  “Two rows.  Straight punches.  Ready?”  I stopped in front of them, raising my hands up near my face, my elbows bent and in, resting my weight on one foot while the other balanced on its ball.
    They rushed to get into position, trying to avoid stepping on their downed friend.  I just ignored him.
    “Follow my lead.  One-two!” I shouted, demonstrating two straight punches.  “Use your hips and shoulder.  Drive into it!  Drive!”  Mine were aimed slightly upwards, because everyone I fought was taller than me.  “Not up , out straight!” I yelled, correcting their form.  “You’re taller than me.  You’re aiming for faces.  If you’re tall, bring it down a bit.”
    I did a few more reps.  “Again!  One-Two!  One-Two!  One-Two!”  Then I walked around watching their form.  Some of them had raw talent, like Paci and Kowi.  I could already see who was going to need extra attention - guys like Yokci.  I stopped occasionally, lining myself up with someone, doing a series of punches so they could watch me, side-by-side.  I could see it already improving their work.
     The injured guy slowly got up and stood off to the side.  I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.  “You ready to work?”
    “In a minute.  Hey.  I’m … uh … sorry.”  He grunted the apology out, probably still feeling the aftershocks of my stinky-shoes-to-the-crotch move.
    I didn’t even look at him.  I just let my hand drop and walked away.  He was going to have to work a lot harder than that to earn my forgiveness.
    As far as I was concerned, this was no game.  What we were working on here could mean the difference between life and death with these guys someday.  If he wanted to make it about jokes or stupid crap like guys are stronger than girls, he could go live in someone else’s swamp.  We were only going be strong as