“Add this kick!” I ordered loudly, demonstrating a sharp kick to a kneecap. “Punch! Punch! Punch! Kick! And again! …”

I walked down the rows vertically, watching them work. I could already see a few of them sweating. After five full minutes, I already had six who I knew wouldn’t have the stamina to hang with me.

“Stop. If I walked by you and touched your shoulder at any point in that exercise, please step out.”

The six heavy-breathers left the group, all of them with heads held down.

“You can leave or stay, but you lack the stamina necessary for the team. I hope I’ll see you in my training sessions later so I can remedy that.” I didn’t mean to be harsh, but I didn’t have time to baby anybody through this. It was only my first session and I was already feeling the pressure. This was going to be harder than I thought, picking the best eight. Stamina was a good starting point, but there was so much more.

The six I had pulled out stood off to the side, none of them leaving the area. I ignored them and continued with my evaluation.

“If you’re taller than the person in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move forward.”

They all hesitated for a second, looking confused.

“Do it!” I said loudly.

Feet shuffled and they moved to follow my instructions. The taller kids would now be in front.

I was happy to see that they didn’t question me. It was good in that they knew how to follow orders, but bad in that it didn’t help me eliminate anyone who might cause us trouble on our mission. George had specifically said in his journal that troops who questioned orders all the time were the source of many casualties.

“Turn to your right!” I waited for all of them to be facing the same direction before continuing. “If you’re taller than the person in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move forward!”

They moved faster this time. Now all the tallest kids were on my left and close to the front. Once more and they’d all be right where I wanted them.

“Turn to your left!” They were all facing me again. “One more time. If you’re taller than the person in front of you, tap him on the shoulder and move forward!”

When they were finished, I now had the group in size order, from tallest to smallest, from the front left corner to the back right corner.

“Look around at the people on either side of you and behind you. These people are closest to you in size. You …” I pointed to the largest one of the group standing in the front, the farthest on my left, “… step out. The rest of you, match yourselves up with one person of equal size and get ready to spar. Do it now!”

They were moving faster now, giving each other a quick once-over and then nodding to indicate their partnership. I had four teams standing together, and one odd guy out, looking confused. He kept glancing at the teams and then at the group of kids who’d already been asked to leave.

I got his attention and motioned for him to join me. “You’re with me. The rest of you, get in one long line, one partner on one side of the clearing, the other partner on the other side. Like this …”

I walked up to my partner and grabbed him by the upper arms, pushing him back forcefully until he was at the edge of the clearing, his back to the group of rejected kids who had moved away until they were nearly in the trees. They were watching with rapt attention.

I let him go and backed myself up until I was about twenty feet away, and then looked at the other teams. “Spread out. Line up with me and …” I looked at my partner. “What’s your name?”

“Rob.”

“Other partners, line up with Rob.” In less than a minute I had two lines of kids, facing off against their teammate.

“The goal in this exercise is to overwhelm your partner. I’m not looking for any special moves, just natural talent. I’m going to demonstrate a possible scenario. Please do what you need to in order to show me your skills. I know we don’t want anyone hurt, but if you hold back too much, I won’t be able to accurately judge what you can do.”

A couple of the girls looked at each other warily. Others seemed totally ready for the challenge. I could’ve probably just eliminate candidates based on that, but decided to hold off until I actually saw them in action. George’s journal suggested that people who love fighting too much were almost more trouble than they were worth. He said that rational, thinking warriors were the most valuable - the ones who didn’t rush to violence, but used it when necessary, and only in the amounts needed to neutralize the threat.

I looked at my partner. “Rob, I need you to attack me.”

He gave me a half-smile. “Do you have a cup for me to wear? I’ve heard about you.”

That earned him a few laughs and smile back from me. “Sorry, dude. Do what you can to protect yourself. Pretend I’m a canner and I’m going to eat you for dinner.”

That wiped the smile off his face.

He dropped into a crouched stance that instantly had my back up. I could see he had good balance already, the way he held himself before he moved.

I got ready, shifting my weight back and forth between my two feet. He had me by at least eight inches and sixty pounds, maybe more.

It was difficult for me to figure out what his plan was for attack. He was the kind of fighter who didn’t broadcast much, which was good for him but not so much for me.

I only had about a second to think before he charged me.

I knew protecting his sensitive parts was his goal, since he’d been stupid enough to tell me, so that meant he was going to be wasting a lot of time focusing on that and not enough on taking me down.

A second before he was in range, I realized his plan. I was going to be his football tackle dummy, and his nuts weren’t going to be anywhere near where my feet could reach. His tactical error was in lowering himself down to a point that could easily put him off balance.

He hit me like a ton of bricks, but my plan was to let him. I used the opportunity of having his upper body bent over to grab him in a headlock and gouge his eyes, using the momentum of his own forward movement to bring him down to ground-level.

I twisted my body around and went down with him, but ended up on top instead of under him like he’d probably planned. I laid across him perpendicularly, using my superior position to slam him in the face a few times with my upper arm and elbow, before twisting around and hammering a fist down into his crotch.

I pushed him away from me as I sat up, and he curled into himself, grabbing for his aching body parts. I stood up and brushed myself off, re-tightening my ponytail before speaking again.

“Okay, so that’s what I’m looking for. Who’s first?”

They all just stood there, staring at me. Then three girls walked away from the group and went over to stand with the rejects. I was happy to see they were the ones who’d looked reticent about the exercise earlier. The one girl who was left without a partner glanced in my direction. I could tell she thought she was going to get stuck with me as her new partner, but she stood firm. That impressed me more than anything I’d seen so far today.

I looked at her. “You can just wait. Let’s see what happens with the others.”

I picked the biggest guys first. “You two, move this way a little. And go!”

They stood there for a moment, looking unsure. But then the one nearest me took the bull by the horns and ran at the other. His partner wasn’t totally ready, but he recovered quickly. They entered into a wrestling match of sorts before the guy who’d charged got a good punch in. The injured kid jumped back up and went after his attacker, kicking his legs out from under him.

“Finish him!” I yelled, angry that he was stepping back, giving the other kid time to get up. “No one gets up once he’s down! Take him out!”

The guy rushed in and jumped on him, no fear on his face whatsoever. He was sloppy, but he got the job done. He clearly overwhelmed the guy he was partnered with, even though he’d initially been at a disadvantage. The other guy was aggressive, but he lacked any skills at all other than brute force. His partner had shown everyone that it wasn’t enough.

“You, step out,” I said, ending the sparring and gesturing to the guy on the ground. “Next!”

And so it went, through all the partnered guys until it was just the girl left. I had eventually eliminated almost everyone.

I looked at her and decided that I had to do it - either make her or break her with this one exercise. There was no point in keeping her in the mix if she wasn’t up to it. I was actually surprised to see any girls still standing, knowing that without training, most of them were at a distinct disadvantage.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Winky.”

“Winky?” I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly.

“Yeah. Winky.” Her shoulders went back a fraction of an inch as she stood straighter. I could tell she’d gotten some crap over her name before, the way she stared at me in challenge.

“Okay, Winky. Face off against … Rob.”

Her eyes opened a little wider, but she moved into position across from him in the clearing.

Rob had recovered from his earlier ball-racking by me and had been standing off to the side, laughing at his friends as they went down, one by one. He opened his mouth to protest, probably thinking it wasn’t a very fair fight, but I cut him off.

“Rob meet Winky. She’s about to have your heart for breakfast. Better take her down before she takes you down.”

I looked at Winky. “Winky, meet Rob. He kidnapped and attacked Celia. He’s got a group of kids in his pool house he plans to eat later this week. Better do what you can to take him down or you’re going to join them.”

Her face took on an expression of grim determination, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Rob, and even I was a little intimidated by her at this point. She went from looking like a sweet, innocent fourteen-year-old to a cold-blooded killer.

Rob made the first move, but Winky was ready for him. He came rushing at her, looking like he was going to choke her, but she ducked down and punched him hard in the thigh. I think she was aiming for his nuts, but he twisted to the side, causing her to miss.

He turned and came at her again, but she faked him out a second time, sweeping her leg out to trip him up. He stumbled, and might have recovered, if she hadn’t spun around and jumped on his back like a lunatic monkey.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanked his head back and bit his ear, hard.

Rob screamed, reaching up to take her wrist, but she slipped out of his grasp, using her free hand to poke her fingers in his eyes.

He went down on his knees, yelling, “I give! I give! Shit, that hurts! Get off me, Winky, you crazy bitch!”

Winky let go of his hair and jumped off his back, doing a couple quick hops on the balls of her feet before stepping over a few paces to join the group watching her. She almost looked like a dancer, the way she moved, with her feet turned out a little, bouncing as she walked.

I watched as she morphed from a street fighter into a sweet, peaceful-looking teen again. The only thing that indicated she had just been in a fight was her heavy breathing and messed up hair, but she quickly put it back to rights, turning to smile at her partner who was slowly getting up from the ground.

“Sorry, Rob. I was just following the instructions.”

He limped away, rubbing his head and his eyes. “Yeah. Whatever.” He went over to join the rejected kids with stooped shoulders.

“Where are you going, Rob?” I asked loudly.

He stopped and turned slowly. “I thought …”

“You thought wrong. Get your butt back over here.”

“Are you going to poke my eyes out again?”

Everyone laughed.

“No,” I said, laughing along with them. “You’re safe for today.”