Chapter 18

Lucas felt his heart starting to pump as he felt like this was the most anxious situation he's been in this whole week. He found himself in their yard in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt facing down death. He took a big gulp as he looked at his well tone and fit sister. Her eerily calm and collective composure caused a nervous sweat to bead down his head. This caused him to do a mental double-check to ensure he didn't get on her bad side today or the last few days.

While Lucas was worrying, Martha was calmly focused on putting and tightening her gloves. She was dressed almost like her brother, except her shorts were a little more fitting for her, and she was wearing a sports bra. Her hair was in a high ponytail with a jump french style and rested on her back. She had a small scratch/bruise on the side of her face from Amay getting in a lucky punch. As she finished putting on her gloves, she looked up to see her brother with a worried look. Her head tilted a little, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Are you gonna do me like you did, Amay?" Lucas asked out of fear from seeing how she spared like a beast. So far, he's seen her fight Amay all week, and for the most part, she has been decimating Amay for a solid majority of the time. It took Elizabeth to tell them both to take a break for a while so their bodies can rest; however, he thinks she did that for Amay's sake.

Lucas took pride in the fact that his sister was the strongest person he knew. He remembered the days when he asked her to arm wrestle, and each time she let him win. Or when she stood up for him in a fight against a school bully, then basically one-shot the guy. He even remembered asking her for piggyback rides when he was a lot younger, and she didn't mind for the most part. Yet standing here with her now, he felt a sense of happiness but an underline fear with her training him.

"Hmmm. Did you retake some of my candy or eat any of my pudding cups?" Martha asked while she popped her fingers. She then stretched her arms upwards, allowing them to pop. Lucas could see her toned muscles become more defined as she stretched. She opened one eye to see if he had a guilty look or not.

"I'm innocent this time," Lucas exclaimed before raising both hands in defense. His face became surprised when he actually saw Martha smirk and giggle at him. He watched as she placed her hands on her hip.

"I'm glad you're finally learning your lesson," Martha smugly told him as she was actually joking. "But no. Mom wants me to teach you defensive fighting and to start you a workout regiment." She told him as she slowly began to approach him.

"Oh. I'm guessing she doesn't want me to be involved with the fights and want me to leave it all to Amay?" Lucas asked, putting it together.

"Correct," Martha said as she came to a stop arms reach of Lucas. She then saw a sad look grow on his face. "Are you not alright with that?" She asked, slightly tilting her head at him.

"No. No. I'm fine with that, but...Well," Lucas hesitantly began to speak. His eyes then looked towards the house, then back at his sister's concerned eyes. He then took a deep breath. "Sis, I don't mind that, but I don't want to feel helpless. Would you show me some of your offensive fighting moves? You know, just in case I have no other choice." He asked, seeing the concerned look become a look of curiosity.

"Mother gave me strict orders only to teach you defensive fighting." She informed him with a straight face. Although she could see and heard how much it did bother him, she still had to follow orders.

"Oh," Lucas said, disappointed. He exhaled as he figured she would say something like that.

"Yup. So even if you offer me a bribe in sour gummy worms, I still would not be able to teach you some of my offensive fighting moves," She finalized while crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Yet she opened one eye, hoping he would catch on to her hint.

"Oh. Oh? OOH!" He said as he slowly caught on to her request. A smile came across his face as he looked up at his big sister. "Thank you, Martha. I will make sure to double it for you."

"Don't mention it." She said, smirking at him while closing her eyes and nodding. She then brought her finger to the lip to show him she actually meant what she just said.

"Right. Don't tell mom." Lucas acknowledged and agreed to keep it a secret between them since it was only him and her at home at the moment. He then clenched both on his hands as he took a deep breath and readied himself for her. "I'm ready."

"Good. Drop and give me 50 push-ups, then 50 Jumping Jacks, 50 sit-ups, then 2 laps around the forest line, and then come back and try to hit me." Martha said in a straight voice.

Lucas looked at his sister for a moment to wait for her to give him a slight smile or a chuckle or even to say she was joking, but he slowly realized she wasn't. "Oh shit. You are serious."

"It's either that or you beat me in a fight," Martha said with a straight emotionless face. "Your choice."

Lucas looked at her for a moment as a cold sweat went down his back. He then got on the ground and got into the pushup position. He then lowered himself down to the ground before rising. " 1." He said as he began to repeat the process. "2....3....4....5" He continued under Martha's watchful gaze.

"Smart Choice," Martha said as she sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. She took a deep breath before exhaling as she closed her eyes to meditate.

"25...26," Lucas said as he began to feel the struggle setting in as he stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He then looked up to see Martha was deep in meditation as a greenish aura leaked from her body. Then an idea came across his mind. "48.....49.....50." He struggled to say as he pretends to do the last 3.

"Okay, Martha. I-" Lucas didn't finish the last words as Martha glared at him with a very annoyed expression as she knew what he just did. She dared him to finish that sentence. Lucas swallowed hard and knew what he needed to do. He got back on the ground as her gaze burned into him.

"1....2....3....4...5," Lucas began to struggle again.

Martha then got up and stood over Lucas as he did his push-ups. She then placed her foot on his back, and he immediately went back down. Lucas felt as if she had placed two heavy cement blocks on his back. He let out a cough as he struggled to get back into a push-up position.

"I deserve this. Very. Very. Much." He said, fully accepting his punishment as he struggled to rise with the additional weight.

2 hours Later.

Amay searched around the house, trying to find Lucas. She was trying to find him to ask how does he active his game on the TV. Yet, he was nowhere to be seen. She then went to the porch to find Elizabeth, who watched the setting sun as the fireflies began to come out.

"Hey Lizzy. Have you seen Lucas? I need him to get his glowing box on so I can play a game on his Tee...Vee." Amay asked while sticking her head out the door with her hair now a pinkish red.

"Huh? Oh. He's training with Martha at the moment." Elizabeth casually answered her.

"Still?!" Amay asked, very shocked. She then came outside and took a seat on the swing chair with Elizabeth. "I thought he would have been done by now. "

"I'm surprised he's still going after an hour," Elizabeth commented as she remembered seeing him an hour ago, breathing heavily and nearly throwing up.

"I thought she would have taken it easier on him compared to me," Amay said while bringing her legs up on the seat as she watched what she could make out was Lucas and Martha on the line.

"Technically, she is. When I trained her, I made her do at least a hundred more than what he's doing now. But no, she's going easy on him." Elizabeth said while going back to reading the book on her phone.

"Oh. I remember that! You were not going easy on her at all." Amay remembered watching Elizabeth training the younger Martha. She also remembered how brutal Elizabeth was to try and prepare the young girl for war. "Those were.....interesting times."

"Mhmm. That was the period right before the second war broke out. No one had the chance to relax and needed to be prepared." Elizabeth said, letting out a sigh. She remembered the pain of being a part of something like that. "It's always a blessing that it didn't last as long as the first one, but those were a bad time all around."

She sighed as she looked out to where a very tired Lucas was at his point of passing out from exhaustion as he pushed himself to keep moving to finish the lap. Martha just watched with her own eyes as Lucas was so close to finishing.

"Sometimes I do wonder about the next generation." Elizabeth found herself saying to Amay. "I envy their youthful thoughts, without much of a care in the world. Not really worried about the true monsters out there. But I don't blame them for not knowing. Sometimes ignorance is a blessing."

"Yeah. I know how you feel. I almost feel out of place with his world. I envy these humans for not understanding how lucky they have it with everything almost given to them. Yet none of us are truly different." Amay said, remembering her time at the mall and Lucas's job.

Both Elizabeth and Amay share a moment of silence as they look out into the setting sun as they watched Martha carry Lucas over her shoulder. His body had given out on him, so she called the training over for today.

"So, how long do you think it will take for him to go on his first real test?" Amay asked while turning to face Elizabeth.

"I don't know to be honest, but we have to make sure You are ready as well." Elizabeth popping her friend on her toe as it was close to her.

"I think we should be fine soon or so. I'm itching to get back into the action again." Amay said, showing Elizabeth her teeth smile.

Elizabeth smiled back at her as this did give her some hope.