The River (Clemerva)

Chapter Twenty-One: Some Compromises Must Be Made

Minnie was woken by a loud rustling noise. Squinting groggily in the dark, she saw the person in the bunk next to her getting out of bed.
They made no effort to be quiet while they retrieved their boots from the footlocker, practically slamming the metal lid shut. From there it was a cacophony of squeaking springs inside the rickety mattress as they got dressed. Their footsteps thundered down the aisle and out into the hall, towards the bathroom.
Minnie sighed angrily and rolled onto her side.
She checked her watch and noticed the time, three-forty in the morning.
Minnie closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep, hoping to sneak in a few more hours of rest before she actually had to get up.
It wasn't five minutes before the same footsteps came echoing back at her.
That stupid asshole who had no regard for anyone around them, kicked off their boots and lay back down in their bed. Minnie glared at them, her expression completely hidden by the darkness.
She was so tired that it only took a few minutes of having her eyes closed to fall asleep.

***

"Come on, move your asses! Everyone out of your racks and stand at attention, you got five seconds!"

Minnie jolted awake. Somebody was shouting at the top of their lungs while everybody attempted to get out of bed as quickly as they could, with varying degrees of success.
Heavy footsteps quickly descended on her and before she could do anything, she was being screamed at.

"Come on, get the fuck up!"

The drill instructor loomed over her, getting uncomfortably close while he yelled.
Minnie fumbled to get out of bed, getting partially caught in the covers.
The instructor left to go accost somebody else, leaning Minnie to scramble to her feet and stand up straight at the foot of her bed. It didn't take long for the rest of the platoon to get out of bed and line up along the hall.
It was freezing and Minnie hadn't had time to put any shoes on.
The room was dead silent except the echoing of the drill instructor's boots on the linoleum floors.

"If the enemy shows up at our doorstep, you'll need to be ready faster than that. Everybody get your gear on, PT in two minutes."

After that, it was a mad rush for everyone to get ready. Minnie hurriedly laced up her boots, not bothering to blouse them, as was expected on the base. 
They walked single file out of the sleeping quarters, each getting handed an empty rifle as they left. From there, they began running, looping around the base multiple times.
Minnie tried in vain to control her wheezing breaths, but she was already getting puffed after the first mile. The rifle was a pain to carry and they day was overcast and yet somehow still humid and swampy.
She hated running, so god-damned much. She wasn't unfit by any means, but the last time she had to do PT was nearly six months ago, so she was extremely out of practice.
Come to think of it, aside from the brand new recruits, PT wasn't usually something they had to do.  It made her wonder what prompted the officers to start running it again.

"Hey... why are we doing PT again? Do you think somethings happening soon?" Minnie asked the girl running next to her.

The girl shot her a dirty look.

"Just be quiet." She hissed, "You're gonna get us in trouble."

Minnie have a bemused sigh and continued running, keeping her musings to herself.
Still, it gnawed at her. Why would the Delta suddenly decide to hold physical training when it wasn't usually on the agenda. She kept arriving at the same answer: the brass was gearing up for something. They might be deployed soon, possibly for a large-scale operation.
A chill ran down her spine as she remembered the last time she was deployed. She had spent seven hours lying in the dark behind a fallen tree, pinned down by a sniper who had killed all but two of her squad.
By the time they finished their run, Minnie's shirt was completely drenched in sweat, her hair was plastered to her face and her lungs burned.
She unscrewed her canteen and drank nearly half of it, splashing some over her face.
Without even letting them catch their breath, their rifles were collected and they were told to get to their assigned jobs immediately.
Minnie dragged her feet knowing she was on cleaning duty yet again. Aside from a few random assignments here and there, she was usually on janitorial duties lately. No doubt a punishment for what happened with Todd and Nat.
She reported to her supervisor, picked up a broom and started sweeping.