The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

Dirt, Meet Rug

Captain Carver led Cam up to the second floor and down a long hallway. He stopped at the last in a series of identical wooden doors that ran along the left-hand side.

"Kinsler, you home?" Carver asked, rapping his knuckles against the wood.

Cam heard a thud, a click, and the door opened.

Keegan Kinsler was a couple of inches taller than Cam, although they weighed about the same. Keegan had an oval face with dark, almost black hair that would curl if he let it get long enough. Keegan also wore PT clothes, but unlike Carver, he looked like someone who just got up from a nap rather than someone on his way to the gym.

Carver pushed the door open, which had the added effect of shoving Keegan back into the room. "Wake up, Kinsler," the floor captain said with a lilt. "Time to meet your new baby brother!"

Keegan blinked the sleep from his light brown eyes and waved everyone inside.

Cam assumed he'd be in a bay like the one in orientation, but this room was almost livable. Closets and built-in dressers occupied the corners on either side of the door. Twin beds sat perpendicular to the side walls with two small desks in the far corners of the room. A large window with drawn blinds dominated the wall opposite the door. The floor had a tiled entryway but was covered with a thin, gray carpet everywhere else.

Carver gestured to the bed with the bare mattress. "Home sweet home, cadet! PT's at oh-five-fifteen." He closed the door with a bang, leaving Cam alone with his new roommate.

"Hey," Cam began awkwardly. "Uh, how goes it?"

Keegan flopped onto his bunk. "Sheets and stuff are in your closet."

"Thanks." Cam set the laundry bag on the floor in front of his dresser and slid the closet door open. Inside, he found a pillow, a set of white sheets, and a gray wool blanket. He tossed everything onto the bed and dug into the laundry bag. When he turned around, Keegan was unfolding the sheets. "Thanks, but I got it."

"No," Keegan said, drawing out the word. "You don't got it."

Cam jammed a hanger through the collar of a still-buttoned shirt and hung it in the closet. "I think I know how to make a bed."

Keegan spread the bottom sheet to cover the mattress. "The floor captains do daily inspections," he explained, focusing on his work. "The floor with the highest grade goes to chow first." Keegan pulled the sheet tight and was sharpening the crease on what Cam would soon learn is a hospital corner. "They grade us by floor, not by bed. If one guy's bed looks like ass, then the whole floor gets screwed." Keegan moved to the next corner. "You don't want to be thatguy."

"Okay..."

"And you know you're a week behind on homework, right?"

"There was a typo in my letter," Cam said casually. "Did I miss anything big?"

"Just some notes. You can copy mine."

Cam was relieved to hear that, but also a little worried because he'd only been here five minutes and already owed his roommate two favors. "So, what's the story on this place?"

The door swung open behind him. "Uh, it's prison, dumb-ass."

Cam spun and saw what looked like Captain Carver's younger brother standing in the doorway. The brawny cadet was Cam's age and height with dark blue eyes and blonde hair clipped in the same style as the captain's. He wore a similar gray shirt, only with gray sweatpants and a pair of gray socks that may have once been white.

Keegan finished with the top sheet and moved on to the blanket. "Burke, new guy. New guy, Burke."

Cam held out a hand. "Hey, I'm Cam. Cameron Drexler."