N87 Virus | Book 1 | After the Outbreak Kadin, Karri (booksvooks TXT) 📖

shoulders heaving up and down as he took deep, controlled breaths before finally coming to a halt at Allison’s feet.

“Good. Do it again,” Trevor said. And she did.

They ran this same drill repeatedly until Allison could no longer pick herself up from the ground without assistance. The sun was high in the sky, and the field was full of other people practicing their skills. When did all these people get here?

“Let’s take a break,” Trevor wheezed.

“No, I want to keep going,” Allison argued.

“Your first lesson should have been how to know when to quit. It’s lunchtime. We need to refuel and your body needs a break.” Trevor started to leave the field. “Come on, let’s go get lunch.”

They walked side by side silently to Town Hall. The room was crowded and people bustled around with trays, finding seats at long tables. Trevor grasped Allison’s hand and weaved through the crowd to the lunch line. Her heart raced when his hand enclosed hers. He picked up a tray and passed it to Allison before picking up one for himself. He leaned over, brushing his body against hers, and spoke into her ear.

“Get something portable so we can take it back to the field.” Allison nodded as she picked up a turkey sandwich. At the end of the lunch line, Trevor traded their trays for a bag and slipped all their food into it. He then took Allison’s hand and guided her through the crowd to the outside before releasing her.

They found a shady spot under a tree at the edge of the field. Allison sat on the ground, leaning against the trunk as she devoured her lunch. Trevor sat in front of her, glancing at her while he ate his own food.

“How about an anatomy lesson?” he said.

“Sure.” Allison shoveled her turkey sandwich into her mouth.

Trevor pointed to his ribs and then leaned over and touched her ribs in the same area. Allison flinched slightly under his touch but didn’t pull away.

“Feel this. That’s your intercostal space. If you stick a knife here, between the third and fourth rib, you can puncture someone’s lung. Your opponent won’t fight well when they are struggling to breathe.” He leaned forward and took her hand in his and gently guided it over her ribs. “You feel the indentions? Each one is a space between your ribs. You will do some damage if you make it into any of them but aim for the area between the third and fourth ribs on either side.” He guided her hand to her neck and raised his other hand to his own neck. He pressed her fingers into her neck and she felt her pulse race beneath them. “That is your carotid artery. It’s on both sides of the neck. You sever that and a person would bleed out within minutes. No one could help them in time. Compress it like in a choke hold and they will pass out within twenty seconds. Hold it for two to four minutes and you will kill them. But that goes two ways. Don’t let anyone near your neck.”

Allison nodded, eyes locked with Trevor’s, as he guided her hand down to her thigh. His other hand went to his thigh. “The femoral artery runs along here.” His hand traced a line on the anterior of his thigh and he used his other hand to mirror the movement on Allison’s leg. “The depth depends on the person. Count on at least an inch beneath the skin. Cut it and within five minutes they will have lost so much blood there’s no recovery. But the blood loss will cause a drop in blood pressure so they won’t be able to function long before that.” He released her hand and turned around, placing his hands on either side of his flank. “Kidneys are here. Hit someone here and they will double over with the pain. Will probably piss blood for a while too. Hit them hard enough and you could cause some permanent internal damage, maybe even bleeding that could lead to death.” He twisted back around, facing Allison. “Any questions?”

“Yeah. Tons.” Allison’s mind raced as she tried to absorb all the information just told to her.

“Good. Get up. Let’s keep going.” Trevor smiled.

Allison slowly limped through the door of her temporary home. Morgan walked around the corner, and the two almost collided into each other.

“Whoa!” Morgan said. “Wow, you look like death. What happened?”

“Trevor happened. He’s the guy that fought Elliot. My body is one giant bruise,” Allison said.

“What did he do to you!” Morgan screamed.

“No, no, not like that. I asked him to teach me to fight. I’ve been at the field all day with him. I’ve been practicing, or really having my ass kicked.” Allison plopped onto the couch.

“Just a sec.” Morgan disappeared down the hall before returning with a first aid kit and a glass of water. “Let me clean up some of these scratches.” Morgan handed Allison the water and some Tylenol, then set to cleansing her wounds.

“Thanks.” She flinched as the alcohol burned her skin.

“Us girls have to stick together.” Morgan finished applying the final pink bandaid to Allison’s knee. “All better.”

“You didn’t have to do all of that. Thank you. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a friend close to my age,” Allison said.

“Yeah, me too. Every day of my life since the outbreak has been about surviving. I am looking forward to living again.”

“I don’t know if there is a ‘living again.’ What does that even mean nowadays?” Allison sighed.

“What’s the point of being alive if you aren’t living?” Morgan’s eyes met Allison’s.

“I’m not someone who can answer that.” Allison averted her eyes.

“So why do you want to learn to fight?”

“To defend myself.” Allison’s eyes grew heavy; her body yearned for sleep.

“Seems pointless to fight to be alive if you aren’t living.” Morgan’s words echoed in Allison’s brain as she drifted into sleep, vaguely aware of Morgan covering her with a blanket.