Modern Mulan

Chapter 6

A boom of laughter shattered the silence left from Adam's speech and Col. Brickwell stepped forward slapping him on the shoulder.

"Ignore him, Lads. He holds a grudge so well he might as well be a woman!" I scowled but the tension eased slightly. "Now let's talk about where you'll be staying."

We were dismissed shortly after a short speech about our bunks. For security reasons the 'Elite squad' was to be broken into 2 groups of 25 and trained separately for different missions, that way there was less chance of large amounts of information to get out, get out to who I had no idea.

The colonel had sent his son to show us to our hut, he didn't try to hide his frustration at the suggestion he give us a quick tour.

"Mess hall, shower block, command centre, first aid centre. The farm is down there." Farm? A bloody farm in an army compound? There was no time for questions as he rushed around the compound waving his hand casually to different buildings before we stopped at a small hut numbered 14 and he read a list of names off a tablet in his hand, neither mine or James' names were called but Wes' was, he gave me a small nod before going in. I noticed for the first time that James' dad wasn't with us. I thought back to what Wes had said; the only older men that were with us were here because they had army experience, and it seemed they were all being bunked together. Adam stood in the doorway talking to the men inside for a moment before he started walking in a different direction and those of us left followed him.

We arrived at hut 23 and he read out the rest of our names, a sigh escaped me when he referred to me as 'Mathews' rather than my dad's name, Colin.

"This is where you'll be staying while you train. I suggest you get yourself settled because tomorrow starts at 6am and it's not going to be easy. Dinner in the mess hall at 8pm if you don't show up you don't eat. Breakfast is the same place at 5am. Sheets are in the boxes at the end of the bed and you'll be expected to keep this place tidy, the women here aren't your slaves.'

My head snapped up. Women? A few of the others looked interested.

"Why are there women here?" I thanked the gods that someone else had asked.

"They are wives and daughters of some of the army families or girls that we've found on scouting missions with nowhere else to go. We gave them a choice and some chose to stay. They help with cleaning, cooking, the nurse's station and looking after the animals. They are not here to pick up your shit so get to sorting it. Dinner's at 8" He turned at left and I forced my head to turn so I couldn't check out his arse.

The hut was long and narrow with a low peaked ceiling with small windows placed close to the roof, the light grey walls were plain and the 3 long strip bulbs fixed along the length of the ceiling flickered slightly. The walls were lined with basic metal beds with a trunk at the foot and a one door metal wardrobe at the head. Shrugging my bag higher on my shoulder I rushed to the end of the hut after noticing a few men choosing their beds. A bed in the corner would suit my needs best, I'd be able to discreetly get changed, possibly hide behind the wardrobe, perfect. Now all I had to do was scout out the shower block and see how that would work, hopefully there would be cubicles. The clock read 7:23pm, enough time to make my bed and empty my bag before dinner.

A thin folded duvet and pillow had been placed on the end of each bed,grateful that they weren't the scratchy kind I moved them aside before dumpingmy bag and opening up the trunk before pulling out a plain standard issue beddingset and got to swiftly making the bed. It seemed like most of the hut had thesame idea and I snickered at the idiots who were incapable of making a bed,they were tangled in the sheets, had the duvet covers inside out and one manwas sat on the floor inside the cover trying to stretch it out. And these werethe people we trusted to save our planet, I shook my head. I emptied my bagnext and pulled open the wardrobe. A hanging pole ran along the top and 3 metalshelves sat at the bottom, one with some metal baskets which I assume was forthe wash bag in my pack. I folded my new clothes on to the shelves and hung up onejacket deciding to put the other one on, no longer able to brave the cold. Another glance at the clock told me it was 7:45 so I prepared to head to the mess hall by myself. I had been sitting on the side of the bed facing the wall, so I was shocked to see James on the bed next to mine watching me, he wasn't there when I was laughing at the other men. But there he sat, with his bed made and his empty bag sat on top of his trunk. Neither of us said anything as I stood but he moved in sync with me to walk toward the door. He fell in to step and we walked out together, glancing down and gave me a small sad smile before looking forward once more. I gave him a quick elbow to the ribs and prayed that everything, including our friendship, would be ok.

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*creeps quietly from behind the rock that i've hidden under for the last millennium*

first point.... I'm sorry for the massive gap between updates.

second point... I'm sorry i cant commit to a regular schedule but im gunna try

third point...i know its short and not much happened but i wanted to post something

i hope you liked it for those of you still reading :)