Bill starts slightly at her set choice not to tell them what would happen if they lost. He curls his hand into a fist, keeping it close to his side, and presses his lip together to keep from snapping at her.
Carlos, on the other hand, loses his self-control.
"You can't fucking do that!"
Completely unfazed, Katy simply glances at them before turning back to the board. Her lack of response seems to piss him off even more, his face turning a darker shade of red by the second.
"I said. You. Can't. Fucking. Do. That."
Richerson grits his teeth as he watches his men be so disrespectful towards her. He moves to step in, but Snapper pulls him back by his arm.
"Don't. She has a method to what she is doing, and if you step in, you're going be fucking it up." He whispers, so that he doesn't get overheard.
Richerson furiously whispers back, "But she's letting them walk all over her. She bitches about not be respected all the time but then goes and let's this happen."
"Whatcha whispering about over here?"
Richerson jumps slightly at Brownies voice right in his ear.
"I'm trying to keep him from messing up her method."
"Oh. Dude," Brownie pats Richerson on the shoulder. "Butt out. She knows what's she's doing."
Snapper nods, "Plus, it's only the higher ups who have no respect for her. Everyone else does. Well, aside from those two."
Richerson slowly nods with him, his lips pressed into a thin line. As Snapper and Brownie return to wherever they were sitting, Richerson turns his attention back to Katy.
"ARE YOU EVEN HEARING WHAT I'M SAYING TO YOU?!"
Carlos yells so loud that the person in the next room over poke their head through the door to see what was happening.
Katy notices the person and waves at them, "Don't worry, he's just throwing a tantrum. A really loud one."
She wags a finger in Carlos' face, tutting like a grandma who's done with their grand-kids misbehavior.
"Now, now, Carlos. Look what you've done, going and making other people concerned."
The other men try to smother their laughter and fail pretty badly after seeing Carlos's bright red face. The person chuckles a little before nodding towards Katy and retracting from the room.
Katy "tut's" once more before she turns back to the board. As she begins to write, she says, "Now that you're done with your tantrum, I'll explain what is going to happen."
She spins around on her heel to face the collection of men. Richerson manages to catch her eye and after a second, he tilts his head slightly toward the two, wordlessly asking a question. She rolls her eyes in response, shaking her head for a split second before turning her attention back to the men.
- Later (same day) -
A bead of sweat drips down Katy's cheek as she watches the rope swing back and forth violently. Carlos watches her from the other side of the gap between obstacles with a look of triumph. Just moments before, he had launched himself off the rope and had flung it backwards to set her behind him and Bill.
Sudden movement on the other side of the gap snaps Carlos out of his trance and just as his eyes focus on the other side, Katy lands with an 'oof' next to him.
She sends him a grin just before she launches herself off the landing pad and up onto the free-swinging cargo net that starts 5 feet off the ground. She seems to fly up it, getting off it with a somersault onto the landing pad at the top.
By the time she stands and looks down to see where Carlos is, he's made it up about half way and Bill is an obstacle and a half ahead of her.
Just as Carlos gets over the edge of the pad, she jumps down and flies through the next obstacle.
Bill is stuck hanging upside-down halfway through the monkey-bars and is cursing up a storm. Katy hooks her legs up next to Bill and helps him turn himself the right way round before quickly making it through to the next landing spot.
She seems to hardly touch the ground as the two men attempt to keep up with her despite the 20 minute head-start they got.
The other men are going absolutely crazy, cheering all three of them on so loud that some of them are starting to lose their voices.
Richerson watches Katy and the two men grow bigger and bigger as they get closer to the end of the course. The cheering of the men on the sidelines echos in his ears as the three on the course get closer to finishing.
The cheering dies down when the three reach the final obstacle as everyone watches with bated breath. The two platoons had made this final obstacle the hardest of them all.
Starting with a rope that hangs 6 feet from the ground that one must then climb to the top, then a midair transition to rolling monkey-bars rungs. After getting through that, one must then transition, with one hand holding onto a rolling rung, to another hanging cargo net that is only attached at two points instead of four. After completing this, one is free to make their down the 500 yard sprint to the finish line.
The platoons had done a few runs through the course before presenting it for the race and the fastest time they got was 1 hour 45 minutes and 12 seconds.
Katy beats that time by a full 45 minutes and has time before Carlos and Bill get to the finish line to cool off, change shirts, and gather water bottles for all three of them. Richerson walks over to stand next to her as they wait.
Katy glances over to him, grins and looks back toward the approaching men.
"See why I did this, instead of letting them decide to take it upon themselves to discipline those two?"
"Yes, yes I do," Richerson rolls his eyes as he mocks her. "I shall kneel before you and thank your amazing knowledge before making a sacrifice of twix, yorks, and any caramel I can find."
She makes a face and turns to look at him. He raises an eyebrow at the smirk on her face and narrows his eyes when she slowly leans in closer to him.
"Any chocolate and caramel will do thank you. Just nothing with coconut --"
"Cause you're allergic. I know, I know. I already owe you a lunch on our next off-base day, so I can just add a visit to the candy store to that."
"Yay!" Katy jumps up and down before stepping away and tossing a handful ice into the crowd of men on the sidelines.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I'm so sorry that I'm late again. Last week was finals and I was recovering over the weekend. I really do need to work out a better schedule for this stuff. I'll have the next chapter by Friday. See you then!
Why is it so cheap to throw a party at a haunted house?
Because the ghosts bring all the boos.
YOU ARE READING
Project: High School
AzioneKaty Westford. Better known as Sergent Maze, the youngest person to achieve the rank in the history of the North American Military. She worked hard for the respect from her supervisors and her hard work payed off. Or, at least, that's what she thoug...
