Mistakes Made

3 - Turning point.

The general called me in today. Another disciplinary hearing I assumed. Not that I cared, of course. I knew he wasn't going to do anything. I was irreplaceable. The best commander and a fearsome fighter. Nobody could fill my shoes.

His office wall was decorated with medals, certificates, and photos, some with him and friends and/or family, some with his subordinates, some of his dog. It was a lot. I sat across from him, glaring with a stoic expression as he pulled up a file.

"Commander Maxwell. I assume you're doing well.", he said as he began skimming over the file. "I've been better.", I muttered. "Well, considering how you managed to lose nearly half your squad to the infected, I'd understand.", he put down the file, his eyes meeting with mine. My eyebrows furrowed slightly at his remark. His tone sounded so sarcastic. It was like he was mocking me. What a prick.

"But fortunately for you, we're not going to discuss that. I wanted to discuss the newest recruit, Alexander Walker.", he added. My interest piqued as he mentioned her name. What could he possibly want to discuss about the Nina Sayers?

"What exactly do you wish to discuss regarding her?" "Let's begin with what we both know. She's an underweight, inexperienced soldier who was previously rescued by Squad C." "Correct. The rubric of the assessment you made me run should be in her file. She's improved quite a bit over the past few days since then." "So I see. And your squad is undercapacity for the mission tomorrow on clearing out the infected on the outskirts of town, yes?" "...Yes?", I answered cautiously, not liking where this conversation is going. "So then I assume you understand that even though Alexander is not an experienced soldier, she has to go on Friday's mission."

I paused for a moment, stunned at his words, "With all due respect, there is no way in hell I am letting her go anywhere near the infected as unprepared as she is. It's suicide." "I've seen her assessment rubric and there are some good aspects to her. She could be useful-" "She hasn't even done the hand to hand combat task yet! That is the basic fundamental of surviving outside the base!" "Then you will have to work your ass off today to ensure she is fully equipped tomorrow!" "You know that is impossible! There's no way I can properly train her to be the best in under a day!" "Maxwell Hameld, this is not up for debate! I am your superior! You will follow my instructions, do you hear me?!"

I gritted my teeth as my irritation began to bubble over. Even though he was my superior, his order was absolute insanity. Sending her out with the rest of Squad D would get her killed within minutes. I may despise her personality but I would never use her as bait. I couldn't bear to think about adding her to the pile of dead soldiers I was responsible for and the general didn't seem to understand that.

"Yes, sir.", I said with intense frustration. "Thank you for your cooperation. Dismissed.", he replied sharply. I got up from the chair angrily as I headed out of his office, the door slamming closed behind me. I was fuming. So pissed off. The general had no idea what he was doing. This isn't the quantity over quality type of situation he assumed it is.

I paced angrily towards the gym to find Alex. If she is going to die tomorrow, then she should at least go out with one good fight. My gaze landed on her signing the check-out sheet with the receptionist. Her eyes soon found mine and that familiar overexaggerated smile formed on her lips. "Commander, hey! How's your morning going?", she asked cheerfully. I completely ignored her question, not in the mood for her enthusiasm. "We're training. Right now. C'mon.", I said curtly as I pushed passed her. "What? But I just got done-" "I don't care.", I interrupted as I continued to march down the corridor. I heard her groan in frustration as she approached closer, following along reluctantly.

I found an empty sparring room, letting her step in before me and shutting the door behind us. "Shoes off. We're sparring.", I said as I unlaced my shoes, kicking them off. "Sparring? I thought I wasn't ready for that yet." "Unfortunately, there's been a change of plans. On the general's orders, you will be going on tomorrow's clearance mission. I need to make sure you're the best you can before then."

She scoffed in disbelief, her smile widening. "Seriously?! I get to go?! Am I dreaming?", she chuckled happily. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. How was she so happy about going on a high risk mission severely unprepared? She could literally die and she's laughing. You cannot make this up. I sighed deeply as I pinched my nose bridge, "Just get on the goddamn mat."

She happily kicked her shoes off and hopped onto the sparring mat. I rolled up my sleeves and balled my fist as I glared at her, "I'm going to throw a punch. I want you to block it." "Sounds easy enough!"

I raised a brow at her enthusiasm but ignored it. I threw a fist at the side of her stomach with minimal strength. She barely managed to block it, winching slightly as she stumbled to the side. "What happened to easy enough?", I mocked as I kept pressing her with punches. She didn't have the best form but managed to keep up. She was resilient, a fast learner. However, due to her poor ability to block a simple punch, she would get hit a few times here and there. I stopped, lowering my fists.

"Your defense needs work. You have good agility but your overall form is pathetic.", I said. She doubled over, holding onto her stomach as she breathed heavily, "Gee, I hadn't noticed.", she chuckled tiredly. I chose to ignore her sarcasm, adding on to what I was saying, "You need to stop flinching and stay alert, the infected can easily catch you off guard if you're not focused. Let's try again."

She straighten back up, taking a deep breath as she balled her fists. I did the same and we were back at it. Her form improved slightly and she actually took my advice. She stopped flinching as much as she did before and had a more focused look on her face. It felt refreshing to see something other than that gleaming smile on her-

I stumbled backwards as I clutched my face in shock. I glared back at Alex who was just as surprised as I was, maybe even more. She managed to catch me off guard and land a hit. It was a mildly strong punch, decent for someone as scrawny as her. I quickly recovered, glaring at her with slight respect. "Impressive.", I said. She chuckled sheepishly, "You're not angry? I think I went a bit overboard..." "No. This is sparring after all. It's good to take advantage of that while you can."

I readjusted myself, getting into position. "Now because you decided to take action, I don't want you to hold back. Keep that energy.", I said. She nodded as she mimicked my stance, her eyes full of determination. We ended up doing a few sparring matches and to no surprise, she lost each one. But I wasn't disappointed or angry. She definitely showed me that she was at least capable of defending herself to a certain extent. It made my conscious feel a lot lighter. Maybe even made me feel a bit proud.

"We're done here. Rest easy tonight, tomorrow is going to determine whether you stay here or die out there. Don't die on me, soldier.", I said as I tossed her a towel. She caught it and wiped her face. "I'll try my best not to!", she chuckled. "Dismissed."

I watched as she flashed me a smile and picked up her shoes, walking out in her bare feet. Strangely enough, I didn't have that feeling of irritation as she smiled at me. The feeling of hate, it wasn't there when I watched her walk happily out of the room. Instead, I felt... wary. Like I had an obligation to shield her from any danger. That's weird. I shook my head as I dismissed the very sudden and unwanted thoughts in my head. I probably just need to rest for a while. A long while.

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