Prepared

Chapter Six

I had a lot coming. The ache I felt in my muscles from the previous weeks constant exercise wasn’t the worst of it, because training through pain and stiffness was something I had habituated myself to do.

The morning routine was the same as everyday and I removed my clothing at the cabin so I was only in sports bra and boxers, (leaving my clothes on the beach far away from the water so it wouldn’t get wet). I dunked myself in the water so that I wouldn’t get a shock when diving in and I had a towel wrapped around me as I sat in the Helicopter, not to warm me up but to cover me up.

“Out,” the General Major ordered. We always got farther away from the shore everyday and when I jumped off and dived into the water – leaving the towel behind – I felt that ice cold water hit me but it didn’t shock me like the first time because I was already cold.

I pushed through the water, finding it easier without the heavy material, but still difficult as the waves moved me the way they wanted to forward and back.

When I was done I shook the water off me and let myself dry in the cold as I ran around for a bit, not caring that it was cold as long as I didn’t wear my clothes whilst still being wet. When I was dry I wore my long sleeved white t-shirt, grey jumper and grey jogging bottoms.

I took out my hair and squeezed it dry before tying it back up, walking to the cabin where General Major Harris had instructed me to go when I was done. This was always the worst part because it wasn’t routine – I never knew what to expect.

He was sitting on a step with his hands together in front of him, his forearms resting on his thighs.

“Major General Harris, I am ready for my next task,” I said, alerting him to my presence.

“Come with me Trent.” He stood and started walking deep into the forest until we arrived to wooden gates. There were tall stone walls stretching out on either side. He unlocked the gates with a key and pushed them open to reveal what was behind.

There were ropes, walls, rocks, metal poles and stands, guns, grenades – everything. The thing that stood out the most was all the men in the khaki green trousers and jumpers.

“Officer Spock!” Major General Harris shouted.

“Yes Sir,” Officer Spock shouted once he was standing in front of the General Major.

“Your task is to complete all the obstacle courses in the same amount of time as this girl,” the General Major said.

Officer Spock looked down at me with a questioning look, but he was quickly distracted as his senior talked.

“If this girl beats you I will find a suitable punishment for you to serve for the next few days, do you hear me?” General Major shouted.

“Yes Sir,” the Officer shouted in return.

“Trent, follow these men through the obstacle course before your final trial.”

“Yes Sir,” I said, feeling awkward as all the officers stared at me. It would have been unusual enough if I was a boy but I was a girl, and the only female here.

I followed behind all the men as they worked through all the exercises. I had to admit that it was hard, and their strong builds went through it all a lot quicker than me.

I was strong for an eleven year old, almost twelve in a few days, but I wasn’t stupid enough to be able to delude myself into thinking that I was as strong as the men surrounding me.

Having always been in the Academy and rarely gone outside of its walls unless to go to my parents’ house or in the last two months to go on a mission, I had never been so close to such strong men or so many at once.