Mistakes Made

2 - Stepping Stones.

I shot awake as my alarm went off, hitting it off as I sat up, groaning. "6:00" read the clock. An hour before training with that ignorant girl. I forced myself out of bed and went into the bathroom. A hot shower was exactly what I needed. My muscles felt so tense and I needed to feel at least a bit relaxed.

The water ran smoothly down my body, giving me that sense of warmth I haven't felt in a long time. I let the water wash my stress and worries away. After a couple of minutes, I got out, wrapping a towel around my waist. I wiped the steam off the mirror and stared at my reflection. My hair hung over my eyes, all messy and wet. My eyes were still half open, the bags underneath beginning to show. I look like I've been through hell and back. It was pathetic.

After brushing my teeth, I exited the bathroom, the cold air hitting me in the face. I walked over to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. The clothes hung neatly on the rack above my shoes. I decided to throw on some sweatpants, compressed shirt and a pair of sneakers. Nothing too flashy, it was just training anyway.

I finished getting ready and left my room to go to the canteen. The halls were busy, soldiers moving up and down, going about their regular day. As I reached the canteen, I was greeted by the sight of soldiers from all squads crowding the place. Some sat with their fellow squadmates and some mixed with other squads, eating and chatting amongst themselves. They were serving buttered toast. This is the fourth day in a row that they were serving buttered toast. And it's not like there's no other food, it's that they're lazy. Toast shouldn't be the only thing we have for breakfast, it's not enough nutrients to keep you going until lunch. I decided to skip breakfast, heading straight for the gym.

The gym was set up differently than the one you'd find in the pre-outbreak world. Instead of it being an open space where different pieces of equipment was set out for anyone to use, it was a long row of secluded rooms where you could choose to train by yourself or a spotter. Commanders were the only ones with assigned rooms, just like in the barracks. Obviously, I always chose to train alone but there have been instances where I've been a spotter for soldiers across all squads.

As I entered the gym, I found Alex sitting in the waiting room, her hands in her lap as she smiled softly. She was wearing biker shorts with what looked like a jacket made for yoga. It surprised how she was there before me and that even her resting face had a smile on it. Her eyes found mine and her smile widened. "Commander! Great to see you again!", she said cheerfully. Her and her cheerful attitude. I didn't have the energy for it. "You're here early.", I said as I walked towards the wall, grabbing a clipboard and a pen. "Well, it's my first day! I can't be late for my first day! It sets a pretty bad first impression.", she chuckled. "Right.", I muttered as I glared down at the clipboard.

I began filling out the information sheet on the clipboard. It was used to assess new recruits by using a scale of one to ten to rate their strengths and weaknesses. One being the lowest and ten being the highest. "What's your name?", I asked. "Alex!", she replied cheerfully. I sighed deeply, trying to gain some kind of strength to deal with this girl. "Your full name." "Oh! My mistake.", she chuckled, "Alexander Aubrey Walker.", I wrote down her name, moving onto the next question. "Date of birth and age." "28th of September 2005. I turned twenty-five last month. Best post-outbreak birthday ever!" "Step on the scale."

She got up and walked over to the scale, standing on it very carefully. After a few seconds, the scale configured and flashed the number. "Forty-eight kilograms?", I said as I glared at her in shock. She just smiled happily at me, showing her teeth. "Step off and on again. I wanna see something.", I added as I stared intensely at the number on the scale. She did as I said, stepping off and on again. The scale configured and flashed the same number. Forty-eight. This girl was the same weight as an eleven-year-old child. "Come over here, let's take your height."