The Trip

Chapter 9:

*Alex's POV*
What the hell just happened? 8 minutes 34 seconds! I broke the record. I achieved the fastest time!
That's unbelievable. How am I going to explain that without raising suspicion? This whole trip has being a disaster!
Trying to put the negative thoughts out of my head, I turned around and trudged towards the weathered wooden door to the barracks reluctant to enter.
Once I arrived at the barracks I realised the door was ajar and I could hear voices from inside. Instinctively, I leaned against the door in order to listen to the commotion inside.
*Back to the story*
The teenagers eagerly jogged back to their barracks intimidated by the Sergeant's orders. "Does anyone know the record time for the assault course. A blonde girl with round glasses replied "I can't remember exactly, but I know Wolf said that no one had ever done it in under 10 minutes!" Everyone looked at the girl in shock. "Then how did Rider, the boy who hasn't had being at school for full term in the last 2 years, mange to break the record set by the best SAS soldiers to ever have trained here!?" A tall brunette boy exclaimed!
A loud bang startled the confused teenagers. The looked at the entrance to the barracks and saw Alex staring back at them with a sour expression. Unwilling to stand there any longer, the 15 year old went over to his bunk in the corner of the room and took an old battered book out of his bag and placed it under his pillow before rearranging his pillows and blankets to make them look neater.
Fortunately, before his fellow teenagers could bombard him with questions Wolf entered the room.
The students looked up at the soldier intimidated by his serious expression. He shut the door behind him before walking over the fair haired boy's bunk and whispering "Cub come with me. The Sergeant wants to talk to you."
Alex swiftly nodded his head in response and followed the intimidating unit leader out of the room.
Once they had left the barracks Wolf looked over at the boy and exclaimed, "that was amazing. You broke my record you know." "Thanks" the young boy muttered deep in thought. "Don't worry" Wolf reassured his companion. "The Sergeant just wants to talk to you about maybe giving you extra training because you clearly already know the basics that your class will be taught. He also said he would contact Mrs Jones to ask what to do about a cover story. You have nothing to worry about."
I acknowledged his words with a simple nod as he knew that despite people saying that everything would be ok, he knew that things would only get more complicated going forward.
After what felt like hours of walking in silence, the pair finally reached the Sergeant's office. The older man knock on the door three times before taking a step back ready to salute his superior officer once he opened the door. Not wanting to appear disrespectful, Alex also took a step back and peeped to salute the commander just as the unit leader would.
A few seconds later, the thick wooden door opened to reveal the Sergeant angrily setting down his phone on his desk. Alex quickly copied Wolf in saluting the superior officer before awaiting further instruction.
"Sit." The Sergeant commanded in a powerful voice. Alex obeyed and sat in the uncomfortable wooded chair facing the desk. The Sergeant studied him for a
moment before placing a file marked 'top secret' in large black letters in from of him on the desk.
"Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on breaking the record for the fastest time to complete the assault course which was set 2 years ago by Wolf here." The Sergeant stated gesturing to the SAS soldier who was also sitting on a wooden chair to Alex's left. He took a breath before continuing.
"I have just spoken to Mrs Jones to arrange your cover story about your record time. We came up with the conclusion that you can say the timer was broken and stopped at 8 minutes 34 seconds even though you had not completed the course. As for your bullet wound, if anyone ever asks you cannot tell them the truth but just say you accidentally were caught in a military training exercise and that it is classified and you are not permitted to answer any questions on the subject."
Alex slowly nodded his head in response. 'Maybe this unusual trip wouldn't be so bad after all.'
(A/N - I hope you all had a good Christmas and thank you all for reading my story so far. I will now get back to the routine of trying to post a part at least once a day.)