Survival

Chapter 3: Snare Wire

By the time Shawn finally calmed down, it was time for me to go to class... Well, teach a class. I walked over to where the level threes were gathered and called them over. Matt, being in level three, watched me very intently as I took the level threes over beside the cabin across the bridge to start the lesson. I managed not to freeze while I was walking, but I still had a bad feeling. I told myself it was all in my head, and no one was out to get me.

"Good morning class," I said to the level threes as I got my lesson set up, "I am Flight Sergeant Jackson and I will be teaching EO M390.27, 'Construct a simple snare'."

"Did you make that up?" Mia asked suspiciously.

"The number, not the name, but I'll give you half a point," I smiled as I threw an MRE chocolate pudding in her direction.

I like to make one small mistake in each of my lesson plans so I know that my class is always paying attention. Whenever a cadet spots my mistake, I award them with either something from canteen or extra rations.

"Just get on with it," Matt muttered under his breath with a fake German accent. I ignored him and continued.

"At the end of this lesson, you will be expected to be able to construct a simple snare in case of a survival situation. Let's get this thing going." I moved towards a tree where I pulled some snare wire out of my pocket.

"This is non-ferrous snare wire," I said as I held up the snare wire, "Non-ferrous means it doesn't corrode and it is easy to bend into shape. Of course, you can make snares out of other materials as well. For example, you could use string, horse hair, dried animal guts, and other materials to make snares, but non-ferrous wire is the easiest."

"What kind of wire would you use to catch people?" Matt asked.

"Ew, Blake, why are you asking this?" Mia practically gagged.

Matt looked up at me with a sly smile and raised his eyebrows as if he was trying to make one of his evil plans.

"What the f***?!" Cortez exclaimed as he noticed Matt's expression towards me.

"Flight Corporal Blake," I said, silencing the class, "If you wish to leave, I'll gladly send you to the level one class instead."

"I was just asking a very informational question, Flight Sergeant Jackson," he grinned, "What good is this class if it will never come in handy?"

"Dude, stop!" Thina said as she covered her face in disgust.

"The information in this class will come in handy... But not by catching people," I said.

"I can prove otherwise," Matt smirked as he crossed his arms.

"Blake, level one class," I said. All the cadets know that whenever I threaten to move a cadet, it doesn't happen. Despite this, my classes always stay silent after I make the threat.

"Wh—," Matt started.

"Leave," I said once more. Matt got up and started walking towards the level one class. I didn't take my eyes off of him until he was actually sitting with the level ones. Some of the cadets snickered behind me.

"Hey," I said, cutting off the giggling, "Let's get back to class."

"Are you okay Jackson?" Thina asked.

"I'm fine, Flight Corporal Kehosho," I sighed, "Let's just get back to the lesson."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Just before I started the lesson, some of the cadets moved closer to me. The cadets that moved said they were moving closer to so they could hear me better. I think it was because they were still a little shaken up from what happened with Matt.