Sappho's Commando

TWENTY-FIVE (RUBY POV)

"It's cold... it's fucking cold, colder than a penguin's ass... This is a hell made of freezing water... it sucks..." Dakota grumbles behind me while I cross my arms over my chest, trying to keep the little heat that remains in my body inside the wet suit.

"You can repeat those words as many times as you want, sister, but you won't get any warmer," Nora grunts angrily.

"Get off my back and let me curse, I'm blowing off steam," the Marine blurts out through her gritted teeth and I hear Iselen sighing wearily in front of me.

The light of a full moon illuminates the beach and allows us to see where we put our feet when we're standing on the sand. It's our only advantage tonight. Unfortunately, the ocean is rough and waves are big and dangerous, which means that we must remain on alert every time we carry the heavy inflatable boat on our shoulders and jump in the water, spitting and cursing. This is the third time that Colonel Larsen forces us to reach the buoy that's miles away from the coast and come back rowing on a boat that shakes like a mad bull. After that, we have to jump in the water and drag it towards the beach fighting the undercurrent, trying not to drown, carrying the boat on our shoulders again and dropping it on dry sand. And we repeat the exercise one more time...

I'm cold, thirsty and hungry, I'm exhausted, my muscles are shaking and sometimes I have cramps that I have to ignore to keep rowing and swimming. Sand has sneaked into my wet suit and it's causing chafing on my skin, my eyes itch because of the salt and I think I'm about screaming like a mad woman, or crying like a baby, or about hugging Iselen and begging her to take me out of this hell. Tara remains silent next to me. It's been half an hour since the last time she opened her mouth to ask the universe to take her out of the water and bring her fucking helicopter back. I'm concerned, to be honest. The French girl usually expresses her frustration in funny ways that cheer up the entire team. If Tara doesn't feel like joking, it means that the situation is pretty bad.

"What are those assholes doing here? I thought they didn't want to train with us," Hanna stutters looking to our right. Her jaw is shaking so badly that she's almost unable to speak clearly.

"Technically, they're not training with us, they're just standing near," Iselen answers quietly, looking at the SEALs out of the corner of her eye while they carry their own boat and pretend to ignore us, even if they shoot curious glances at us.

"Coronado beach is huge," Dakota heaves a sigh. "There're almost two miles available but they have to be here, on our square foot of sand..."

Colonel Larsen blows a whistle, cutting her off, and we all run to the water again, obeying the order without hesitation despite the cold is freezing our bodies, although we're cursing the Valkyrie's Viking ancestors inside our heads. I'm sure that even Tara is hating her a little right now. Iselen counts to three and we drop the heavy boat at the same time before climbing on it while fighting against the waves. The Spaniard is obsessed with keeping our movements coordinated since it's the only way to succeed in this exercise, using our combined strength. If one of my sisters falters and tries to transfer the weight to the others, we'll all fall. And none of us want that, not in front of the SEALs and their senior officers who are watching us from the other end of the beach.

I take my oar and wait for the Lieutenant Colonel's order, Iselen shouts loudly in order to be heard above the noise of the waves and we start rowing at the same time, clenching our jaws, with our eyes fixed on the rough sea. I'd love to pee myself just for the pleasure of feeling something warm against my skin in this frozen hell, but I did it earlier. My shoulders are sore but I keep rowing obstinately, dreaming with a long shower, a good dinner and cuddling with a pretty Spaniard under the blankets in my apartment in Edinburgh. Even sleeping in my castle surrounded by my horrible family is better than this.