ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ Battlescars [The Expendables]

04

A little test to get you started. Nothing earth-shattering or dramatic.

There was a slate on a side wall of the hangar, and Barney and the small group of freshmen had stopped and turned in front of it as one of the old Expendables had coughed. Lips pursed and eyebrows knitted, Sierra looked at the drawing, tilting her head more and more to the side.

"How old is this building?", Sierra wanted to know, because a building plan usually had a date and other important data on it, like which version it was, "If I'm reading or seeing it right, there's a sewer running underneath, but with a bore or a load of C4 underneath, it would be good to know in advance how old a building is, so it doesn't collapse or one of the neighboring buildings.

"Okay," Barney replied, looking intently at Sierra to see what else the brown-haired woman had to say, "1876. So what?"

"Where is the building?" Sierra continued, pushing her way through the people to the front, "What kind of building materials were used, you can find out by the year of construction and a location, after that you can see what would be best to get into the building. There are also buildings, mostly old row houses, connected by the attic. At that time, they just built one big house, so they have the same attic, and later in the construction, it was divided. The attics themselves were never built to be used. If you can get into one of these houses, you can get into any of the others through the floor. Having plans is nice for a first impression, but being there is better. I don't know what you want to hear. I can't give you more than that as an answer, but you could tell us what it is. It should help you as well as us."

It was about the job they were here to do, and it had to be done in a few weeks. Nothing more. So much for information and answers. There should have been a little more. At least a little. It didn't have to be the whole plan, but a little more. A sentence or two wasn't too much to ask, right? But no.

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If Sierra had counted correctly, the group consisted of twenty-six people. And they should get to know each other now. Why? 'Team spirit'. Each of them had been invited for a reason, and it was important to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. They were a team, as Barney pointed out, not competitors.

All around the hall were huge wooden crates. Some were stacked on top of each other, creating the perfect seating arrangement. The candidates looked around with interest, then dispersed throughout the hall. Sierra walked over to a row of crates with several black suitcases on top and walked away from the others.

None of the group had noticed that Christmas had gotten up and walked to the other side of the hall. There he leaned against a pillar, threw the knife up, caught it again and watched Sierra curiously. After throwing it up a few times, he began to aim and threw it where it stuck in the box next to the brunette's head.