Gary veered off on the third floor, opening the stairwell door and flying down the hallway. He went through an office where several people were working at computers, literally flying directly over some of them to get to a window across the room. When he reached it, he threw himself through it but caught the window ledge with a hand and swung himself downward.
Angie hesitated, and Noah passed her, flying through the window just as Gary had done, and using the ledge to stop his forward momentum and drop to a balcony just below. Gary was already inside, back through the window beside the balcony and running like mad through another office full of computer terminals. Noah dived through the window and rolled to his feet just as Angie hit the balcony behind him, but he didn’t wait to see if she followed.
The shortest route to the door Gary had disappeared through was diagonal, so Noah jumped up to run right across the tops of several desks. The people sitting at them were screaming and yelling, and sliding themselves away from their desks, and Noah realized that he had stepped on and broken at least one keyboard, but simply yelled, “Sorry!” as he ran out the door.
Gary went into another room, this one apparently just for storage, and Noah got to the door just in time to see him going out the window on the far side. Noah followed, of course, and found himself once more on top of a trailer, but then they ran down the cab of the truck and onto its hood, sliding off onto the road in front of it and continuing their run.
Up this, over that, leap here, run there—for more than an hour, Gary kept them moving, but finally, they were back at the exercise yard. Noah estimated that they had run a good twelve miles, and he didn’t even want to think about how many of those miles might have been vertical. The entire group collapsed onto the grass of the field, breathing heavily and gratefully accepting the bottles of water that were being passed around.
“So,” Noah heard Jackson’s voice, “how did that feel?”
Noah looked up at the man, and managed a very feeble grin. “At the moment, the stitch in my side feels a lot like I’ve been shot, but I think that will pass. We do this every day?”
Jackson nodded. “Five days a week,” he said. “We’ve found that there is absolutely nothing that can keep a man in better shape, as well as keeping you ready to move on a split second’s notice. You get good at this, and you’ll find that you’ll see escape routes that no one else would believe, or ways to reach a target that anyone else would think was untouchable. This discipline is a lot more than just exercise and fun; it changes your entire way of thinking. Where other people will see obstacles, even blank walls, you’ll soon start to see pathways you can use to get where you want to go. It’s awesome.”
Noah nodded. “Like I said in the beginning,” he said. “This is gonna be fun.”
NINE
“I’ll let you get to your room and get a shower,” Marco said, “while I go grab one myself. Soon as you’re done, come on out by the car, because you’ve got weapons class next. I’ll drive you over, but I got something else to do after that. Someone else will show you how to get back.”
Noah nodded, and as soon as the car was parked, he got out and jogged over to his door. He opened it quickly and slipped inside, stripping off the sweaty clothes he was wearing as he walked toward the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, quickly showered and dressed, he pulled the door shut behind him once again.
He was sitting on the hood of the car when Marco came out of his own room, and they got in without saying a word. Both of them were still feeling the effects of their workout, and Noah was honest enough with himself to admit that he wished he had time for a nap. He leaned back in the seat as Marco drove, but the ride was far too short for any real rest. The car pulled up in front of a large brick building, and Marco pointed at the door.
“That’s where you go,” he said. “Your instructor in there is Daniel, and you’ll know him because of his German accent. He’s a good guy, and if there’s any kind of weapon he isn’t an expert with, I’ll guarantee you it’s not one you’ve ever heard of. I’ve gotta get to a class of my own, so I may not see you again today. Take it easy, and we’ll probably see each other tomorrow.”
“Later,” was all Noah could manage, as he got out of the car and walked toward the door. He opened it and walked inside, and immediately realized that he must be late. There were quite a few people seated at long tables, all of them facing toward the front of the room where a tall, dark-haired man was pointing at a projection screen.
“Well, it seems we have a visitor,” the man said, and the accent told Noah that this must be Daniel. “You would be Noah, then?” Daniel asked.
“I am, Sir,” Noah replied. “I apologize for being late.”