Friendly Fire

(21) Route 1

Sergeant Collins shot Cadet Bones a glance back.
“And you are?”
“Cadet Bones, reporting for duty, Sir”
Colonel Hitchen turned to her as well. With a look of uncertainty as to who she is.
“Right- I'll be with you in a moment Cadet. I'm sure both yourself and other troops have some news to discuss with me later.”
I frown at that statement. I was never informed that there would be new recruits joining us. What’s stranger is Cadet Bones came alone. Usually with the type of convoy that she came in, there’d be at least 4 others. 6 if you push it. It seemed too odd to dismiss her so lightly.
She shook her head and cleared her throat.
“These matters can not wait another moment. You requested for more Cadets. I’m here. Put me to work.”
Sergeant Collins started again.
“Fine. Hit the tracks. 1 mile laps. Don’t stop. Not even when you feel your legs give out. You keep running. Got it?”
It’s a drill of endurance, resiliance, agility, speed, and strength. However, it isn’t an induction. Either Sergeant Collins is taking her word and putting her straight to work or he just thought of a way to get her out of this room as quickly as possible. One way or another, we need this room to ourselves to discuss matters of our own.
“Laps? You want me to run fucking laps when all I heard about this Elite Strike Force is how much you’re losing to a small group of rebels. Please. Everyone within this force is weak. You completed your last mission to save my people but at the cost of one of your own. You didn’t stay and fight. Defeat the threat. You retreated like cowards. So I say I stay and talk about bringing these mother fuckers down”
Lieutenant Davis then glared at her.
“Listen. I get that you want to fight. But you’re a Cadet. You’re inexperienced. Let us build you up and train you first. You can’t go into battle without knowing how to fight, how to use our comms, our code words. And we aren’t weak. We are working on eliminating the rebels. At Nha Trang, our focus was strictly on saving you and your people. So, please leave so we can talk about our next plan of action.”
“No! I want to be apart of this. I want to work beside you.”
I sigh and take control over the situation myself.
“Let me show her our scout routes. If she is as tough as she says she is. I’m sure she can make sure our supply convoy make safe passage and clearance. Not to mention to keep watch since myself and Lieutenant Davis are currently away from our posts at the watch towers.”
I was surprised when Colonel Hitchen nodded.
“Very well. I can update you one on one later. Just get her the fuck out of my sight”
“Yes sir.”
I shot up from my seat and gestured with my head to the exit to imply that she should follow me out.
“Now that’s more like it.”
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I had led her to our armory to get well equipped with our gear but I was surprised to see that she already had a standard pistol along with a slight bulge at her upper thigh where a dagger sits neatly in it’s sheath. Cadet Bones isn’t looking like a cadet since she already knows how to discretely arm herself. I was even more shocked when I took notice of a couple bombs that are linked onto the strips of fabric around her combat pants where a belt should be.
I ignored it for now and waited until we were on route 1.
“This track is our main line… it basically snakes around the river… great for beginner scouts as they can follow the water to get back to base if they wander and get lost for whatever reason…”
Cadet Bones kept her silence as we continued to walk deep into the denser bush. Before I could even give her directions she seemed to already know which way to go. That was when the alarms in my head really started to ring.
“Alright. I’m just going to be upfront. You seem to know what you’re doing”
She simply frowned.
“You said this route follows the river- that’s what I’m doing-”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I had told her that seconds after we left the base.
“Okay, that’s- that’s true- but your load out. Can we discuss it?”
“What is there to discuss?”
She instantly placed her hand on the hilt of her pistol, ready to draw it as if I am a threat to her.
“I think you know. You are no Cadet. If you truely did come Nha Trang, you wouldn’t know a single thing about weaponry, combat, how our operations and ranks work. You’re different.”
Her grip became tense around the pistol and drew it only to fire at a bush benhind me before I had any time to react to the fact that her gun was pointed toward my direction. My head whirlled when I heard a small screech and slowly but cautiously made my way over to see what she hit. A brown rabbit.
“At Nha Trang. I am a well known huntress. I know how to fire a fucking gun and gear myself up for the adventure ahead. As for combat- well- I grew up with brothers. We would always rough-house and fight one another for fun. And with your operations and ranks. I watched as you saved my people. I know how your ranks work and how some of your operations work base on what I had observed.”
She made me look like a fool. Maybe I am for having my suspicions up.
She then went over to the rabbit and picked it up by the foot as if to examine the head shot. She has keen eyes and good hearing if she was able to see and hear this thing before firing at it.
“I hope you and your force like stewed rabbit”
I nearly gagged as I saw the exploded skull with bits of brains seeping out of this rabbit’s head. I swore I swallowed a mouthful of vomit at the thought of consuming a meal from something wild. You don’t know where it’s been or what diseases it has picked up.
“Gross-”
“Your supplies are being raided, might as well use the resources around you rather than relying on your suppliers to bring you shit. Food and water isn’t hard to obtain here. Weapons, technology, and fuel? That’s different, of course you’d need someone to deliver that shit.”
She makes a fair point but it's risky with the amount of diseases and bacteria that are lurking in the wildlife as well as water. Who's to say that animals can't carry Langply? Langply could also be in the water sources here too. Imagine it, one sip and you're dead. One meal and you're dead.
“What about Langply?”
“Water can be purified if you bring it to boiling point. Same applies with meat, that's why I'm going to stew this rabbit when we get back to base. Bring the damn thing to a boil for a couple minutes then let it simmer and you'll be fine. I mean- you could starve tonight if that's what you want.”
I rolled my eyes and continued to take her along the trail. We didn't run into any trouble, surprisingly and made a safe journey back just in time to see the others leave the briefing room after their meeting.
“I'll leave you be, I need to get up to date with the Sergeant and Colonel”