Army Strong

Chapter 7

They all grabbed their packs and began to run. Nikita was shocked at the weight. This pack had to be 100-120 pounds. The beginning of the run was no struggle. They passed a sign with a one mile mark on it. At this point they were a little bit more exhausted. They kept running. The second mile was a lot harder. Each step became more of a struggle for them. When they reached the two mile mark another sign followed it. This sign said "crawl", so they dropped down and crawled. It was about a fourth of a mile before the finish line came into sight. Nikita looked up and counted to see how many people were near her, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. They were all there. Hannah was struggling, so Nikita extended her hand and helped pull her the rest of the way. They crossed the finish line at 25:23. The top time for the platoon.
No one in the platoon failed the mission, luckily.
"Hit the showers," the sergeant said, "Dinner at 1800, eat with your squad. Good work today," After the showers, Nikita, Hannah, and Madison walked to go get dinner together. Madison
and Nikita were much more focused and prepared, compared to Hannah. On the way, Hannah talked about how she felt a "connection" between her and Garrison. The other girls were disgusted as to how she could even think of dating someone while out here. This was the military, not a dating convention.
"Did you see how much he helped me? He is so helpful, and such a leader. Not to mention how gorgeous he is too. He has amazing muscles, and his eyes are as blue as the sky. His hair is perfection. He has got to be the only person who has the ability to pull off a military haircut." Hannah went on.
Nikita and Madison saw no point in attempting to argue it. This girl only cared about the petty things in life. How she looked, whether people liked her, and if she could get the guy. She needs to realize that there are more important things in life. To be in the military you have to be focused. The person next to you depends on you, and it was hard to depend on someone like that. They made their way to the dining hall where squad 1 was labeled. The men were all on one end of the table, as the women approached. Hannah sat next to Garrison, of course, and Nikita sat in between Madison and Hannah.
"I heard today was just a practice day. The hard work really starts tomorrow," Barrett said.
"I'm gonna be sore. Ugh. I hate being sore," complained Hannah. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes. This girl would be the death of the entire team.
"So where do our strengths lie?" Andrew asked.
"We have speed, we have muscle, and we have leaders. I guess our weakness lies in the bond between the team. As well as personal issues." Nikita responded.
"I'd say that's a pretty good review," Garrison said.
Hannah glared at Nikita. Apparently it was not ok for Garrison to respond to Nikita. They continued to talk about where their strengths lied. The conversations were mainly led by Nikita and Garrison. They figured that Nikita and Garrison would co­lead, Barrett was the designated runner, Andrew would think up the strategy to the strikes, Brayden was the muscle of the squad, Madison was amazing at hand­to­hand combat, and Hannah was designated for communications, wardrobe, and disguises. They finished eating their dinner and headed out.
On the way out of the cafeteria Nikita's foot caught on something and she found herself falling face first into the dirt. She rolled onto one shoulder and glanced up to see Garrison standing over her. He extended a hand to her, she grabbed it and pulled her up to him.
"Sorry about that," he said.
"I swear I've seen you before,"
"Yeah, I remember you from the plane,"
It all came back to her. He sat next to her on the plane ride. They didn't talk much, but still. "You're tough for a girl," he continued.
Nikita laughed, "Well I better be. It's important out here."
"So, Hannah seems to struggle," he said
"I'm just not sure what to do. She's just not fit to be here. I know it's not my job to tell her, but it's something she needs to hear," Nikita responded.
"Yeah, I guess. Better from you than from someone else, but give her a chance. Maybe she will surprise us."
"It's possible,"
"We should talk strategy sometime," Garrison asked.
"Sure," she responded heading toward her cabin.
"Sorry for tripping you!" Garrison shouted. Nikita glanced back and shrugged, as Garrison
smiled.
Over the next couple of weeks they continued in physical training and began combat training.
Garrison and Nikita continued to talk and discuss strategy. They made it a point to sit next to each other at every lunch so they could continue talking. They would talk about their combat training, they'd talk about what they did wrong and give each other pointers on what to do better. She enjoyed his
company. He made her better. He understood her. They began to grow closer. They would walk with each other places. He became a life­line in courses. Whenever she was in trouble Garrison was there for her, and vice versa. They both led the squad strongly, though he always joked about her gunning for being the only leader. These two seemed to be inseperable.
The sergeant called platoon 1 to meet up in front of the cafeteria. They formed lines by each squad.
"We are redoing the obstacle course to see improvement. Failure to improve will result in extra
punishment. Report to the same location," the sergeant commanded.
All the squads began running toward the course. This time squad 4 was to go first. Garrison and
Nikita looked at each other and took a deep breath. Garrison read what she was feeling and mouthed "we got this". She smiled and shrugged mouthing back "we better". He laughed and looked back to the course.
"Go!" The sergeant yelled.
They began running, they blew by the first half. Even Hannah didn't struggle as much. Garrison and Nikita scaled the wall together. They climbed at the same rate, no struggle. They reached the top at the exact same time just as three fighter planes raced above them. The sound of the engine shaking the wall.
Garrison began, "Where those­,"
"Fighter planes. Yeah, they looked Russian." Nikita finished.
"What do we do?" Garrison asked.
"We finish the task at hand, quickly, and then we figure out what the heck is going on. Hey! We need to hurry let's go," she shouted to the rest of the squad.
The squad went into overdrive, powering through everything. Nikita and Garrison acted as mom
and dad, guiding them through the course. They finished monumentally faster than the first time, though the sight they were left with was jaw­dropping.