8.
Text: (Thoughts) The lunge came a lot faster than I had anticipated. The wooden shaft aimed squarely at my midsection drove straight and hard, knocking me back a few steps.
Situtation: Protagonist and Guard are fighting. The Guards uses mop.
Problems:
I have no idea about `drove` in `drove straight and hard`. Guess, this means something like `hit exactly to target with full strength`, but `drove` with `straight` tangle me a lot. Правильная догадка. "drive" is a synonym of "push."