Inferno: Remember Me

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Hi. I just wanted to say that if you have made it this far in this story, I literally love you so much. 😊😊😊💖💖💖

Also... you guessed it: FLASHBACKS. I woke up from a horrific nightmare and decided to write this chapter. 

Each moment you stood under the merciless sun, the more you felt... recharged. 

If only you could absorb the heat, let the flames lick you, caress you, if only you could feel the fire in your veins, if only you could be enveloped in warmth. 

Well, maybe 'warmth' wasn't your biggest concern. Right now, it was making sure your recruits were whipped into shape, and aware of every peril they would have to face in the inevitable war. Every second they wasted meant another life taken. And every second you watched them running laps made you feel like killing someone. They had less endurance than you were hoping for. The majority were only scraping the bare minimum when it came to physical expectations. James was performing excellently, you had to admit that, yet he was one of the few who seemed fit for the army. Another recruit, Timothy Dugan, or 'Dum-Dum' as he expressly stated his name was, was not too far behind James. You were sitting in your jeep and filing tedious reports for Colonel Philips when you saw that they had reached the halfway point. A desolate, murky green flag with the bold letters 'CAMP LEHIGH' flowed in the wind. 

The man leading the group of soldiers yelled 'HALT!'. The mass of sweaty, tired bodies nearly collapsed on the spot. A black-haired man whispered something to Dum-Dum, causing him to burst out laughing, and the black-haired man was sporting a devilish grin.

You heard Dum-Dum frantically whisper, "Shut up, Jimmy." as he tried to contain his laughter in time to be avoided by the leader and to avoid getting into trouble. 

The leader, Sergeant Michael Duffy,  spoke loud and clear. "You see this, gentlemen? This flag here means that this is the HALF-WAY point. First person to get that flag gets a ride back with Agent Carter!"

All eyes turned on to you, and you smiled politely. 

There was a frantic scramble as all the men rushed over to the flagpole, shoving and stepping on each other's faces to climb on to pole, and seize the flag. To seize victory. Sadly, they slipped by a mile. Violent strings of cursing filled the air with each failure. 

Not one man managed to climb up the pole, and you cracked up when you saw James slip and fall flat on his back and groan. The other men faced a similar fate, yet you couldn't control yourself when you saw the leader's exasperated expression as he surveyed the chaos in front of him.

He gave up, and raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, stop. STOP, Morita, get off the floor." he sighed. "Well, no one's gotten that flag in nearly 16 years now, so I can't really blame you. Still disappointed in you, though."

He walked in front of the group, and pointed forward. "Keep running, folks." Taking their time to groan, the men took off, and your eyes shot back to your completed reports. You threw them onto the seat next to you, placed your arms on the steering wheel and feet on the accelerator, and took off to the base point. 

Over there, you saw a gaggle of soldiers now doing push-ups, the very same ones that had fallen flat on their faces, backs and many other laughable positions. You wearily surveyed them as you sat in your jeep. The man that was leading them cleared his throat behind you. "Carter, you take care of them. I'm done." Leaving you no time to respond, he walked away. You stepped out of the jeep, straightened your skirt and moved towards the recruits. The man named Jim fell flat on his face. Dum-Dum, James and a handful of other soldiers continued their push-ups, their arms straining from the pressure and their muscles tensing, but with every movement down and up again, their speed decreased greatly. You sighed.