Free Fight For You by Kayla Bain-Vrba Page B

People from all over The Zone milled around in the square, waiting for the few vendors to open their stalls to sell overpriced, low-quality food. Cherry clutched a few coins in her fist because only an idiot came to the breadline with an easily stolen purse.
    It was loud and crowded, and as the first vendor opened his stand, a mad dash began as the people hoarded around the food. Cherry pushed her way forward, holding her ground, shoving anyone who tried to cut ahead of her.
    Something struck her in the face and she stumbled back. When she righted, she saw two men punching each other, and within moments, a brawl had broken out. There was only a little time left, so she pushed and shoved her way up to the vendor, trading him her three coins for the sack of meal things even as she was jostled and battered. She pushed her way through the crowd, fighting to stay up.
    "Clear out! Clear out now! The breadline is closed!" The officials had arrived to put a stop to the fight—and to close the breadline. Cherry hurried back to Berlin's, clutching her sack to protect it from anyone who would try to take it.
    Back at the house, Berlin defeated her soundly and left her lying in the dirt as she headed back inside.
    *~*~*
    "This from your boyfriend?" Berlin asked in a teasing voice.
    Cherry glanced up. She was lying on her bed, reading the one book she owned, as Berlin trifled through her possessions. Cherry didn't mind Berlin digging through her things, until she picked up the necklace.
    "Don't touch that!" Her voice was sharp and commanding; Berlin raised an eyebrow.
    "Touchy."
    "No—I mean—that was my mother's."
    Berlin pursed her lips but said nothing, simply laid the necklace back down on the shelf, making sure the silver heart pendant lay on top of the coil of chain. Cherry waited for Berlin to ask the inevitable question, the obvious question, but she never did.
    *~*~*
    "Again," Berlin ordered as Cherry stumbled back to her feet only to be knocked back down. It was late in the week and so far, every day had been exactly the same. Berlin beat her soundly, gave her far less than enough time to recover, and then beat her again. When she had gotten permission from the Lord of The Zone to be trained as a fighter, she had expected more training . If she wanted the get the shit beat out of her, she could have gone anywhere. Instead, she had picked Berlin. She had seen what Berlin could do in the arena, saw her turn into a precise weapon, a skilled animal going in for the kill, and she wanted that for herself. Maybe she had made a mistake. She had thought Berlin had some form of honor, but maybe Berlin was just playing her. Maybe Berlin was toying with her, beating her up for her amusement, and then going to dump her aside. That's what most of the people in The Zone would have done.
    All the air was forced from Cherry's lungs as she hit the ground. For a moment, she licked over the blood beginning to rise in her newly split lip and considered staying down.
    "C'mon," Berlin ordered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Back on your feet."
    Cherry obeyed and moments later a kick and two punches sent her back down, Berlin on top of her. Berlin swooped in to kiss her mouth, blood and all, and then rolled off. "Again."
    Cherry got to her feet but refused to get into position. "No."
    Straightening, Berlin kept her eyes cool and careless. "You done now? Giving up on fighting with the big girls?"
    "Fight with you? You mean, get my ass kicked! How do you expect me to learn if you won't teach me?"
    "I am teaching you." Berlin's voice was flat.
    "No, you're not! You nearly knock me out a dozen times a day, you're not giving me advice, and you're not telling me anything!"
    Berlin kept still and emotionless, waiting out Cherry's outburst. "Fighting isn't about telling. It's about watching. I can't teach you anything you couldn't figure out on your own."
    With no warning Berlin pounced forward, grabbed Cherry's ponytail, and let the