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“He got kicked out?” an older man asked.
“He did.”
“Can you explain why?” an older woman asked.
The other groups grew quiet to listen.
“Like Roni said, we’re looking for team players. There were times out in the field when I had to go a little hungry because I was on guard duty and couldn’t eat. I understood that responsibility and was willing to make that sacrifice to keep the people with me safe. The man’s actions were self-focused, not team-focused. We understand that you’ve been without quality food. But we need you to understand that there may be periods of time that you will be asked to do without, and we need to know you’re okay with that. There were nights out in the field where we all managed maybe four hours of sleep at a time. It was necessary for survival.”
“That is not the life I am asking you to live,” Molev said suddenly. “But it is something you need to be willing to do. Once we reach my people, we will have the men and supplies to see you are safe and fed.”
“But you may need to sacrifice both food and sleep to get there,” Steve said.
“Did we answer your question?” I asked the woman.
She nodded.
“All right. Then let’s get started. Whether you want to be selected or not, I highly recommend that you pay attention during the next few hours. What we are about to show you may save your life one day.”
Everyone worked hard after Roni and Steve demonstrated the basic blocking moves. I paired up the people in my group based on size at first, then rearranged based on skill. The older woman only lasted twenty minutes before she looked at me and apologized.
“I’m not making excuses,” she said, breathing hard. “But I’m out of shape and feel like I’m two seconds from a heart attack. I’m willing to keep going, but I need a minute to catch my breath.”
“Go ahead and sit for a minute. There’s water in the coolers if you need it.”
She nodded and sat off to the side, looking like she was on the verge of tears. I caught Molev’s gaze as he watched her.
“Talk to her,” I said softly.
He hadn’t said anything since his interjection to our announcements, choosing instead to be a silent observer for now. Focused on the task at hand, most of the people barely noticed him as he moved around the groups. A few did, though. And not in a good way. Suspicion and fear reflected in their eyes. It wasn’t reason enough to cut them from the list yet, though. Molev was new. Different. It took some of us several days to warm up to him.
The woman didn’t move away when he sat next to her, but she did duck her head to try to hide the fact she was crying in earnest.
Letting Molev deal with her, I focused on my group and had her partner pair up against one of the better defenders.
We took more breaks and did more slow demonstrations to show technique as the morning progressed until there was a pretty clear group of people who couldn’t fight at all and those who could or probably could.
Molev called for the lunch break and personally handed out the sandwiches. Katie followed behind with the bag of chips. I observed them eating while I nibbled on my own sandwich, watching for anyone who looked like they were coveting their neighbor’s food. A few stood out, and I mentally crossed them off the list for Molev but kept a few of them as potential Waurlyn recruits.
After lunch, we reshuffled the teams. Sid and Roni took twenty to the first course to train them there. Molev took four women, including the one who’d needed a break.
“How do you feel about walking a mile with me?” he asked them.
I watched them leave and focused on my own group.
By the time dinner rolled around, I was ready to go home and relax. While the day hadn’t been exceptionally taxing physically, I was mentally exhausted and a little down. I had a list of names, and only six of them had made the cut for Molev’s group. Waurlyn had thirty potential candidates. Every rejected name had a note next to it. Not one of them was rejected simply because they were a male.
But my impression of people wasn’t the only one that mattered. We all had our own lists.
Brandon came over to stand by me as we watched them leave.
“Think we should eat in the mess hall with them tonight?” he asked.
“I wasn’t planning to. I don’t think they’ll talk as freely with us there.”
He nodded.
“Was there someone you wanted to keep an eye on?” I asked.
