Luhan rested his hands on his knees, refusing to collapse onto the floor as Jongdae had. They had been outside in the progressing cold and darkness for the past two hours. This was their fifth try at completing the exercises and course.
They were going to be here all night if they didn't get this, damn it! Junmyeon stamped his foot to get some warmth back into it, frustrated. Chaelin grinned at them, enjoying watching the young men, so full of vitality, panting in need of air and a jacket.
Strolling over, Taeyeon lifted Jongdae effortlessly onto his feet, choosing not to show her pleasure at their suffering efforts.
"Aigoo, you're a really unfit bunch, aren't you?" She murmured condescendingly. Jongdae glared, jerking his arm away. He started to fiddle with the weighted belt on his waist. Ailee watched him, amused.
"And you are doing what, exactly?"
"I'm taking this damn thing off, obviously. I'm tired, hungry, dirty and bruised from falling onto the freaking ground so many times. I acknowledge that I won't get any food tonight, so I'm going to bed- just let me sleep."
"Um, no. You may have received a little shock from falling over so many times, and lost some recent memory, so I'll remind you again. Those who refuse to comply with the punishment, particularly one as simple as this, will have to answer to us." Chaelin reminded. Jongdae scowled, ignoring her, having finally gotten the heavy ass belt off his body.
As he turned to leave, his shoulder was grabbed and he cringed as his mouth was suddenly filled with the dirt of playing field's ground when Chaelin pushed him face first into it. He found that he couldn't move his hands whatsoever and this irritated him beyond anything.
"Yah! Get the hell off of me! Who the hell do you think you are?" He growled. When he was stood up again, he almost sank back to the floor. They had put the heavy belt back around his waist, but added some extra weight to his arms and thighs also.
"What do you think you're doing?" He was so frustrated, trying to remove all the extra weight. A powerful flick landed on his forehead, distracting him. He lunged forward at Irene who had provoked him, but was tackled by Taeyeon and brought to his knees much in the same way that Minseok and Luhan had been earlier on that very day.
"You've consciously disobeyed orders twice in a row. You must now do double the exercises and complete the course in half the amount of the original time given. I hope you learn to listen to orders given by us from now on."
Junmyeon and Luhan shared an unsteady look. They were already struggling with the original punishment. Doing it all double time with all that extra weight was insane- impossible even. Jongdae tried to get up; when he couldn't, he shot a ball of spittle at Taeyeon's feet with accuracy, lifting his head to stare defiantly into her eyes.
"Screw you, you don't own me. What the hell gives you the right to a say in what I'm allowed to do?" Though her face remained neutral, it was evident that the disciplinarian had been pissed off. The dark aura that seemed to flood the area as she looked down at him was enough of an indicator.
Sucking one cheek in with an eye roll, she lifted Jongdae to his feet again with little effort, punching him in the gut the moment he was stable, eliciting a small gasp as the air forcibly left his lungs.
"Kim Jongdae. Aged twenty three years old." While he was bent over, she kneed him in the lower abdomen, using her elbow to impact the centre of his spine, effectively making him keel over with saliva involuntarily dribbling down his chin from the winding.
"Arrested for partaking in large scale hacking schemes into governement facilities and illegally obtaining classified documents on particular members of the public and also organisations affliated with, or not with, the government. Governmental rehabilitation requested because of impressive display of skill." Grabbing his hair, she pulled him up so that he was forced to look up at her, wincing from the pain she had inflicted. With eyes empty of pity or guilt, she addressed the youth blankly.
"I think it's really very simple. Consider me your gateway to hell. Try and push me. You'll have a hard time dealing with the demons that flood through to destroy you. And they will destroy you. You really want to see that, you imbecile?"
Exhaling as he tried to breathe in a way that didn't hurt, Jongdae chose not to make a comment for the sake of his safety. After searching his eyes for any more signs of defiance, Taeyeon released him with a shove, ordering him to rise from the ground. She cut her eyes to the other two, who were suddenly working more furiously than before to finish the course.
Jongdae got up, his ribs feeling bruised, but he made no complaints as he wiped the saliva from his chin, realising that these woman were not to be screwed with. At least, not upfront and physically. Yet.
~*~*~*~
By the time the sun had disappeared beyond the walls of the institution, Jongdae found himself trudging alone in the darkness to the dormitory. Luhan and Junmyeon had each managed to finish the course soon after they witnessed the punishment the sassy youth had received.
He had hoped that the developing cold and dark silence would get to the young women who weren't wearing many layers, but they stood firm, only Irene leaving to guide Luhan and Junmyeon to the dining hall so that they could eat and then to sleep.
He had eventually managed to finish the course through sheer frustration at his weakness, but his body had suffered dearly as a result. His thighs and arms were sore and purpling from the physical effort of lifting them up with those weighted bands they had put on him, particularly for climbing over obstacles and up those damn ropes! His abdomen was bruised and throbbing after being punched with the impact of the weighted belt around his torso increasing his pain, and from falling over so many times.
He wanted to be angry, to be outraged and to retaliate. In fact he was, but the humiliation and self pity came in larger waves. All he wanted to do was curl up on himself and prevent any tears from letting the others know of his pain, but he knew that it would be too costly on his body and he needed to calm down and think things through properly.
Ignoring the vague wafts coming from what he assumed was the place everyone else had eaten, he made his way to the floor that they had been cleaning just that morning. He didn't want to be asked any questions, he didn't want to deal with any concerned or pitying looks from the others, and he didn't want to be taken care of.
He just wanted sleep, so, moving quietly down the corridor, he walked past the rooms with voices in them, knowing that everyone had chosen to bunk with their colleague, bypassing the room that he could hear Baekhyun and Kyungsoo's and entered the room at the far side of the corridor, the only empty one as far as he knew.
Letting himself down onto the bed as gently as he could, well aware of his tender condition, Jongdae winced as he removed the combat trousers and boots from his lower body and laid on his back, the only position that didn't make him want to cry in agony, staring with unfocused eyes at the ceiling.
YOU ARE READING
Camp Exodus
أدب الهواة"Screw you, you don't own me. What the hell gives you the right to a say in what I'm allowed to do?" "Simple. Consider me your gateway to hell. Try and push me. You'll have a hard time dealing with the demons that flood through to destroy you. You...
