Army Strong

Chapter 6

The next three weeks were filled with the same thing. Most of it was classroom things. They learned all about rifle marksmanship, the uniform code of military justice, fundamentals of physical readiness, nutrition, and other various things. These weeks were pretty boring for them. Nikita was a smart girl, so she was able to understand everything that was taught. She actually liked to learn these things, because she knew that she would use all the information in the future. The food was not too great though. They were granted 3 meals a day, with only nutritional options.

When week 4 began Nikita knew that she would be pushed harder than she had ever worked before. It was the beginning of the physical training. It all started off with a nice early wake up call. All the women jumped out of bed dressed for the day, and hustled outside. They formed a straight line with the men, and awaited further instruction by their Sergeant.

"Today we will be putting you into your squads. Then you and your squad will have a mission that must be carried out. Failure to do so will result in punishment. Squad 1 is: John, Beckett, Lance, Javelin, Adam, Carmine, and Linden," he announced. He finished announcing squad 2 and 3, but Nikita's and Madison's names were not called."Squad 4: Barrett, Andrew, Nikita, Garrison, Hannah, Brayden, and Madison. Squads 1 through 4 you are platoon 1. Follow the corporal for further instruction,"

Nikita smiled that Madison was in her squad, but then realized so was Hannah. Nikita immediately scanned the rest of the people in her squad. Barrett looked tall and had a runners figure, and she could tell he liked to smile. He had short bleach blond hair and brown eyes. Andrew wasn't tall, but wasn't short either. Andrew looked like he knew what he was doing. Through his black hair and grey eyes, she saw someone who meant business. Brayden was short compared to the other men here. Though he looked strong and tough. Lastly her eyes fell upon Garrison. Tall, well built, runners figure, and he looked like he had a pretty heavy past. She remembered him from somewhere, but wasn't quite sure where.

All platoon 1 began to run with the corporal to an obstacle course. Running into the area it didn't seem like this event would be much of a challenge, but the second that Nikita laid eyes on the course she had second thoughts. Her previous deployment, she did not recall any event seeming as difficult as this one did.

"Squad 1. Up and ready," he commanded, "you have 30 minutes to complete the course. In

case it isn't obvious to you. Go through the tires, over the walls, crawl under the barbed wire, climb up and propel down the wall, grab the packs, and run until the designated mark, from there you will crawl through the mud, until your whole squad reaches the finish line. You are a team now. No man left behind. I am aware of what sergeant said, failure to complete will result in punishment, but unfortunately for you. I'm not that nice. Should you fail the first time, you will redo this assignment as many times as it takes for you to get it right. Then you will do the punishment. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir!" They responded. "Squad 1, go!" He commanded

One by one he sent the teams off. When it came to be squad 4's turn, they were nervous. But they remained fierce, for a soldier has no fear. Fear and hesitation is what kills them. Andrew knew it would be smart to think up a game plan. They only had enough time to strategize the basis of the plan. It was that since Garrison was a natural leader and he was the fastest, he would lead. Brayden was the strongest, so he would be in charge of boosting everyone over the wall. They began planning how to beat the barbed wire, but were interrupted.

"Squad 4. Up and ready." He said. They knew their goal and were ready to achieve it.

"Go!" He yelled

Off they ran. The men of the squad led. Garrison in lead followed by Brayden, Barrett, Andrew,

Nikita, Madison, and then Hannah. The tires were easy. Foot in foot out, foot in foot out. It was a pattern. No sweat. The walls were more of a challenge. The first wall was small, one leg over then the other. The second wall was bigger. Brayden boosted us all over, but needed help getting himself over. Hannah wasn't strong enough to pull him over, so she jumped down and yelled to the rest of the squad. Nikita and Madison were the closest to her, so Madison set up a base which Nikita used to climb over and grab Brayden pulling him over.

"We're behind let's go," Brayden said.

The four of them hustled to reach the other three who were already about halfway through the mud. Brayden, Nikita, and Madison dove into the mud. Nikita loved the mud, it made her feel like one of the guys. They all treated the women like a hassle. She hated that feeling, but when she was in the mud she was just like everyone else. Hannah didn't like the mud and refused to jump in. Nikita rolled her eyes and thought, what a princess

"Hannah! Come on, once you're in it isn't as bad. We need you to move," Madison shouted to her.

Reluctantly Hannah jumped in too. Nikita looked up a little bit to see how far ahead the guys were. They had stopped to wait. Garrison extended his hand to Nikita pulling her out of the mud. Hannah wasn't far behind. When they were all together, they ran to the biggest wall they had ever seen.

"Brayden, Barrett, and I will lead. Andrew trail the girls. Make sure they don't lose their grip," Garrison commanded.

Nikita, against better judgement, agreed to their plan. She didn't need anyone to keep her safe. She didn't choose the army life to be protected. She chose the army to do the protecting. Unfortunately, now was not the best time to bring it up. The three men began up the wall. Then the three women followed. Andrew came up after.

Nikita loved to climb. She climbed as a girl with her dad. It was a passion of hers, but this wall was different. This wall wasn't meant for enjoyment, but the opposite. This wall was climbed to suffer. Nikita reached a point where she was stuck. She reached for a rock, but it was too far. She knew that she would be unable to move on until she got that rock. On the count of three, she would jump. She took a deep breath. One, two, three! She jumped, barely managing to cling to the rock. But she lost her footing. She was hanging with one hand on the rock and her feet dangling. Andrew tried to help her, but she was stubborn. She fought her way back, until she was firmly on the wall. From there they kept climbing. When she was close to the top, a hand extended down to her. She refused and finished the climb by herself. As everyone made it to the top they began to harness in for the descent. Hannah didn't know how to harness herself in, of course. So Garrison stopped, and helped her. They all managed to propel down without any sweat. Then it was time for the run.