Just a Bad Dream

Present day

Two days later they were back on the assault course. Alex felt like he had been hit by a train. His back was constantly burning, and he felt like he was going to pass out everytime he did something remotely physically challenging. It was getting harder and harder to hide it. He was slacking in everything he does, and he could tell his unit members were getting suspicious. On a good note, setting an alarm for every thirty minutes has stopped any nightmares from appearing so far. It still leaves him feeling tired, but not as bad as before.
"Cub it's your turn", Snake shouted from the start line. Alex made his way over and started as soon as he was told. He was nowhere near as fast as he was last time, struggling to get himself through the nets and up and over the walls. Everything seemed so much bigger and longer this time round. The teen almost fell into the slime pit like last time, but managed to catch himself last minute.
By the time Alex made it to the end he felt sick. Everything was burning, and he could barely see straight. He staggered over to the rest of his team to receive his time.
He went last this time, in the hopes that everyone would be too tired to focus on him.
"Twenty-one minutes fifty-one seconds. What the hell Cub, that's almost ten minutes slower than last time. Care to explain?", Wolf bellowed.
"I don't know. Just tired?", Alex said through gasps.
"Just tired! Just tired! How can you add ten minutes to your time from being just tired. Cub you have been seriously slacking these past few days and you know it. You really need to get your act together before our wilderness exercise tomorrow or you are going to get us all binned. You got that?"
"Yes sir", the teen replied like a child getting reprimanded.
Alex knew what was the cause of his slacking, but to get help for it would mean thinking about it, and it shouldn't have even happened. It didn't even happen. It was just a bad dream. It didn't happen, it didn't happen, it didn't happen.

Later that day after dinner Snake decided to confront Cub about his terrible assault course results. The medic had noticed changes in Cub's behaviour, but just ran it off as someone being too young to keep up. But of course Snake knew that wasn't true. Cub may be the youngest in the unit. Heck, probably in the entire camp, but he certainly held the ability to keep up, and his struggle to do so is concerning. He seemed way too exhausted the first run on the course, but the second was ten times worse. The boy looked like he could pass out. He wasn't even that tired after the first time he did it when he came about a year ago.
Snake waited until the rest of the unit left their hut for dinner before trying to talk to Cub. Maybe he would feel more comfortable without everyone listening.
"Hey Cub, can I talk to you?"
"Um, yeah sure. What's up?", the teen asked, unease settling in his stomach.
"Are you sure you're fine? I mean like Wolf said you have been slacking, and you looked like you were going to pass out after the assault course earlier, and not to mention-"
"Sorry to cut you off, but I am fine. Really. So don't worry about me. Okay?", Alex cut in. He didn't need to be told what he already knew. He was working on it.
"Are you sure? You can tell me. I won't tell any-"
"Snake, I'm fine. I'll pick up my act, okay? I'm not going to get us binned"
"That's not what I'm worried about right now. Somethings wrong with you Cub, and you're not letting us help", the medic snapped in frustration. Why won't the kid just tell him what's wrong?
"I'm fine. Seriously. Look, let's go get dinner before everyone else finishes", the boy said while halfway out the door already. With a sigh, Snake followed. Who the fuck is this kid?

Alex couldn't believe how close that was. What if Snake demanded to look underneath his shirt or something. He needed to hide whatever was going on with him better. They can't know about any of his scars. They can't. That just leads to questions, then that leads to having to answers, and that leads to thinking about- no. He really needs to stop this. It. Never. Happened. How many times does Alex need to tell himself?
Alex ate his food in record time, needing to get to the showers before everyone else. It didn't go unnoticed by his teammates. They watched as their youngest member put a small serving on his plate, and ate it like if he didn't finish it in under a minute he would die. Wolf was about to say something when Cub got up and left.
"What is wrong with him?", Eagle asked. The rest of the unit was surprised to hear Eagle talk about Cub. He doesn't really like to talk about people behind their back, but there really was something wrong with the boy.
"I don't know, but we are going to find out", Wolf replied, determination and frustration evident in his voice. He wished the boy would stop playing the hero and get some help. He was clearly in pain, mentally and physically. If he keeps going the way he is, the long lasting damage on his body and mind are going to be astronomical.  Wolf hates to say it, but he cares about the kid. No matter how bloody annoying the prick gets, he has clearly been through too much, and when he saw him crying the other night, his war-toughened heart broke. Actually broke. Cub doesn't deserve whatever pain he is going through. He also doesn't deserve to feel that he can't ask for help.