Cadet Carter

First Day of Training

The next day, around 5am, Bradley is woken by daily morning bugle, and Chris comes to Cadet Unit 4's dorm rooms to wake every single cadet out of bed, including Bradley. "Get out of bed, Carter! It's training time!", Chris called out from the front door, before going to wake the other cadets.

Bradley sit up from his bed, still tired and quickly makes his bed and gets changed for his very first day of military training. However, when Chris returns to check on Bradley's bed, he is not happy the way the bed was made.

"That's lame! Make the bed again, properly this time!", Chris yelled, before leaving. Bradley sighs in frustration and does it again, trying to make it neat as possible. Chris came back and this time he brings Shane in to help and teach Bradley how to make his bed, and Shane shows him how to make his bed and watch him do it himself.

After learning how to make his bed, Bradley heads to training, and he starts his training immediately and for him, it isn't easy, it's tough and it slows him down, whilst everyone does it swiftly. Chris is not impressed with Bradley's lack of speed in training, and as a result, Bradley is forced to do 100 push-ups, with Nick counting.

For the first 3 days, Bradley tries really hard with his training and still hasn't improved his training skills. He still slowing down and is always coming last in his training, and kept getting punished with 100 push-ups. After the first 3 days of training, Bradley felt like giving up.

One day, after training, Bradley is sitting on his desk, writing his journal and looking at the photo frame of his family. A tear falls down from his eye and he felt like he had failed his family. Shane walks pass by when he sees Bradley in his room and check on him. "Hey, Carter!", Shane called out. "Hey, Parrish.", Bradley greeted. "Are you alright?", Shane asked.

"Yeah, I'm good.", Bradley sighed, as Shane comes in and sees Bradley holding a photo frame of his family. "Is that your family?", Shane asked. "Yeah.", Bradley smiled. Shane pulls out a photo from his pocket of him with a pregnant woman and shows it to Bradley. "This is my family.", Shane replied, as Bradley looks at the photo.

"Who's the pregnant lady?", Bradley asked. "That's my wife, Lori. She's currently 7 months pregnant with our daughter.", Shane smiled. "That's great!", Bradley smiled. "It is, I'm just hoping that I'll be back home in time before the birth.", Shane replied. "You will, I believe you will.", Bradley smiled. Bradley looks at Hailey in the photo and he sighs.

"What's wrong?", Shane asked. "Nothing, I'm thinking about my sister, Hailey.", Bradley sighed, as Shane looks at the photo and sees Hailey in it, and points at her. "Yes, that's her. We used to be close, but our relationship is estranged due to my lifestyle, and she resents me.", Bradley sighed.

"Relationship between two siblings can fall apart, but they can always be fixed.", Shane sighed. "Parrish, when I said goodbye before my departure, she wouldn't even talk to me, and she didn't had the guts to say goodbye to me. But after 3 days of being here and training, it's hard for me, because I'm not fast or strong like you guys and I'm always the one doing 100 push-ups! I feel like giving up!", Bradley cried.

"Hey! Look at me, giving up is for the weak and I'm not going to let you give up on this, just because you're not fast or strong. You came here to make a change, right?", Shane replied. "Yes.", Bradley replied. "Then, don't give up. Train hard and show Sarge what you got. I'm fighting really hard to get back home to my wife and see my daughter being born.", Shane replied.

After Shane's wise and encouraging words, Bradley smiles at him. "You're right, I shouldn't give up. If I can prove to my family that I can change, then I have to go through this.", Bradley smiled. "Now that's what I like to hear!", Shane smiled, as the two men gets up and embrace each other.

"Thanks, for giving me the strength and courage.", Bradley smiled. "What are friends for?", Shane smiled, as the two men laugh and embrace once again. So, from that day, Bradley continues to train and study hard, and he even starts working out to improve his strength and speed.

A week later, Bradley is able to pick up the pace at morning training, getting used to being around the Army Base. Chris is happy how Bradley is improving.