Heathen Series - Changed

Chapter 15

Stephanie stood in line next to the others that had joined the program; her hell-mates as they now called themselves. Over the past couple of days, she had gotten to know them better but only ever spoke to one of them; Kyle; as the others still put themselves on a pedestal.

The training had been intense and they all struggled to remain up right; their bodies already starting to turn on them by shaking uncontrollably - painfully - though they were starting to show physical progress of everything they have been doing.

This was the last day in the terrain and everyone was very grateful and very excited to leave.

They focussed on their breathing as it was the only thing that helped defuse some of the pain that they experienced but it did little to lessen their excitement about leaving.

The Captain stood in front and critically studied them; his eyes always pausing momentarily on her before looking to the others as to not suggest anything.

She had noticed it since landing but only became sure of it now.

Stephanie could feel the hatred radiating off those who stood next to her – they didn't agree with the Captains or RHWs methods of training nor any of their punishments but there wasn't much any of them could do about that.

She stared at the Right-Hand-Witch who glared at her daily for no known reason, making her look down shyly every time. She had no idea what she did wrong or why the RHW despised her so much, but she suspected that it was because she sometimes spoke her mind when the situation called for it or when RHW really pissed her off.

"You all did better these last couple of days. Well done..."

Sighs.

"We will be heading for Base Centre tomorrow at 08:00 hours, so you have the rest of today all to yourselves. No emailing but if I were you, I would take a relaxing swim. It might be the last chance you get to do so." and he walked off; heading into his tent while typing on his phone – a message about them she gathered.

'Asshole!'

They were dismissed a minute later after a critical evaluation of the skills that they had developed over the past couple of days then went back into their tents to pack all their things – well the things they had. They walked to the lake whose water were very inviting, waiting patiently for them. They set up whatever they had brought and dispersed into small groups.

Stephanie stood at the waters edge and watched as the small groups slowly came together little by little. She looked around at the soldiers who stood on guard watching them; making sure no shit happened like it did the last time. They took no interest in her but kept their eyes on Irina and her group that wore something skanky as usual.

She stretched out her tired muscles before she dove deep into the refreshing waters that seemed to pull her deeper than she intended to; it felt amazing to feel so free.

Stephanie emerged and allowed the water to race down against her cheeks, caressing her body closely. She floated back and rested on the bank analysing her surroundings carefully.

Irina laid on the sand, trying her best to get a tan but looked like she was about to turn into a dried-up tomato. Dylann and El were half in and half out of the water; they tried to swim all the way down to the lake bed without getting their hair wet - idiots - but now floated there aimlessly. They tried to explain to one of the soldiers who was confused at what they were trying to accomplish; the soldier clearly hadn't witnessed such stupidity at such depth before.

Kyle and Lu sat on chairs behind Irina deep in discussion which could only mean that she was filling him in on the information she gathered from the soldiers who did speak to her – LIES! Everyone knew that she loved to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations and then turn the story into something else completely; she had a talent for it too and would be a billionaire if it was an actual job. She could see that Kyle seemed to be interested but had his mind was set on other things, he glanced at her then and she looked away quickly. She could sense the smirk he had probably given her.