7PM - Jack (A 5PM Short Story)

by Chris Heinicke

  “Oh, yeah,” she said as each inch of my hardness slowly filled her. She opened her legs as wide as humanly possible, and I pumped her again and again and again for a few minutes until I could no longer postpone the pinnacle of my excitement from spilling over.

  I felt the tension of the events of the last few months wash away, and although the act was purely about sex and not love, it felt like my body must have craved such a release for some time. Kathy smiled again, mouthing the words ‘thank you’ before grabbing my neck and bringing my mouth in contact with hers for a long, deep kiss.

  ******

  Becoming a drill sergeant came naturally with my military history and ability to project a loud commanding voice from within. Adding the fact that I was the one yelling orders and not the one obeying them, very little physical exertion was required of me. But saying that, a drill sergeant must never ask his recruits to do what he himself is unable to do. I had read over my briefing sheets for how they expect the new group of recruits to be trained, as well as a brief roster on what should be taught on which days.

  Looking at the small group of people, I knew I could intimidate them, even if most of them had seen me naked, and vice versa. A talk with Kathy over breakfast informed me that our interlude was far from a rare thing in the shower block. In fact, it’s almost a daily occurrence that people have sex in the shower. She told me the reason for the communal shower is to allow people to expend any built up sexual tension to clear us making us ready for the given day’s business.

  Ed and Kathy joined the six women and one man on the field, and they received the same sneer given to the others.

  “All right, you two. Get in line with blondie at the front here who thinks she deserves to be this close to me.” I waited for them to do as ordered and smirked before the next words came out. “On the ground and give me twenty.”

  Kathy winked at me, an obvious sign of her approval of my methods. My face set in stone, I yelled at her, “Another twenty for the cheeky baldheaded short-ass wench.”

  She obeyed, continuing her moves while the others had well and truly finished theirs. If she truly believed in what she and Ed were cooking up in poaching me to be a drill sergeant, she wouldn’t take it personally.

  The day consisted of aerobic type exercise, running and an obstacle course. I hadn’t spent so much time talking before, let alone yelling, and by sundown, I felt my throat almost burning.

  Everyone showered again at the end of it all, but Kathy washed down at the other end away from where I was. The night-time shower much quieter, no one so much as looked at anyone else while we all rushed through the process of getting cleaned up in the most clinical way possible.

  Dinner was next, food served at precisely 7PM. I couldn’t complain about the food at the PM compound. It compared favourably with what I consumed in the forces in the mess halls. Observing the groups of people, I dug into strips of roast beef and veggies at a table all alone. Ed and Kathy didn’t so much as look my way as they sat at a table together while the new recruits all sat together at two tables pushed together.

  Metal clanged on the table as a food tray was placed opposite mine. “Mind if I sit here?” the woman I knew only as Blondie asked.

  I looked up at her. “Sure, be my guest.”

  “By the way, my name’s Emily, not Blondie.”

  I stood and shook her hand. “Griffon, Jack Griffon.”

  “You’ve sure made an impact on your first day here, fucking Hayley in the shower and working us all like Special Forces recruits.”

  “Hayley? Oh, yes, I almost forgot after all this time knowing her as Kathy.” I frowned.

  “We all have many names. She was placed in New York as a friendly neighbour for you as soon as Ed saw that your girlfriend was killed and as bait for the real killer. I bet she made it seem like she gave a shit about you, sympathising about your girlfriend’s death. She could have taken the guy out herself, but you wouldn’t have known that until right at the end.”

  I lowered my head. “Yes.” The lies piled up as the day progressed, and the distinction between fantasy and reality faded together in the same shades of colour.

  “It’s okay, Jack. She obviously liked you or else you wouldn’t have made it here.” She began to eat her meal at the conclusion of her words.

  “I guess so. I’m a drill sergeant, so I don’t expect to make friends here.”

  “Which is a good thing.” She pointed to the table of recruits. “See those faces? In a few months, only one or two of those will still be here. The training’s tough, the job can be fatal, and the bosses want only the best to work for them. You wouldn’t believe who I had to kill to make it to where I am, but that’s a story for another time.”

  “What kind of people do you kill?”

  “All types. We’re paid to transform people into corpses, and we’re paid well. I’m the best, the absolute embodiment of the Praying Mantassassin. I flirt, seduce, fuck and kill all with the same emotionless disposition. Men can’t resist me,” her voice trails off in a husky tone.

  “So basically, this place is like Charlie’s Angels’ sociopathic, nymphomaniac rebellious sister.”

  She laughed at me, flashing one of those smiles she must use on her assignments. I looked at her and wondered what it was she wanted from me.

  “Just try to make the best of things here. You’ll be making more money than you could ever dream of as a gym instructor or soldier and with zero risk and hot women throwing themselves at you.”

  I nodded. This was not the life I had dreamed, but neither was my shell of an existence back in New York after Melinda died. Yes, I decided to go along with their plans for me, but I would always look for the truth to the conspiracy resulting in me ending up at the compound.

  I decided to call her bluff. “Why don’t we go to my room tonight?” I asked.

  “Well, I wasn’t that hungry anyway.” She put down her cutlery, and getting to her feet, she shrugged her shoulders, waiting for me to lead the way.

  Chapter 5

  Emily left sometime in the early hours of the morning, after a few crazy hours of gymnast type sex. The new sun told me I needed to face my second day at my new home. Looking at myself in the mirror, I saw the same person on the outside, but the man inside was someone different. In my previous life, having sex in full view of several onlookers would never happen, nor would having sex with a near complete stranger. Yes, it had all been fun and felt good, but I had always been one of those old-fashioned types who wouldn’t sleep with women I didn’t feel anything for.

  But what else did I have? The menace who came into my life took everything from me, which made finding him my new everything. But I found him, and hunted him and ended his miserable existence only to find out I was set up to do all that.

  So I resolved to settle in at the compound, looking for diamond moments in a truckload of rubble filled days. Each day would be the same—breakfast, shower, training, lunch, more training, shower and dinner, and maybe sex with someone. And for what? To teach people to kill.

  My room was well stocked with sets of green pants, shirts and caps, a crude version of an army uniform. But when worn, said uniforms earned me the respect of a group of people for a few hours a day. I had a king size bed, a TV with a box for selecting television shows and movies to view, and a couple of dressers. One held drill sergeant clothes, the other, civilian clothes.

  And there was also a toilet and a hand basin in a small separate room. I grabbed a set of clothes for the day and headed over to the shower block.

  “Hey, wait up, man.” A male jogged to catch up with me. I hadn’t come across this man on my first day, and looking at his physique as he wore just a pair of briefs, I thought he’d draw all the attention away from me in the showers, which would be fine with me.

  I extended a hand. “I’m—”

  He accepted and finished my sentence for me. “Jack Griffon. Yes, I have heard about you already. All good things, my friend.”


  His skin had the shade which would cause envy to those who sunbake for hours and his accent full of smooth European flavour. I doubted he would ever spend a night alone.

  “So you were out yesterday, then?”

  “Yes indeed. I can’t tell you the details, okay? I’ll be around for two days, at least. We have a drink tonight?” he asked.

  I had never been a big drinker, but one or two couldn’t hurt. “Sure. You haven’t told me your name, though.”

  We reached the shower block. “You can call me Bjorn.” He opened the door and I saw another new face. A long-limbed African looking woman, completely naked was walking to the shower. At that point, I guessed her to be taller than me and her muscle tone more pronounced than my own.

  “Her name is Nakato. She is the only woman here I haven’t made love to,” Bjorn said.

  “She’s magnificent.” I could picture her out in the jungles surviving on hunted prey and protecting her territory with lethal force.

  “Stick to the other women. That one will only reject you time and time again. She doesn’t talk much to anybody, and they don’t talk much to her. She only speaks to the bosses.”

  “When do we get to meet the bosses?”

  He let out a big belly laugh, and as we reached the showers, he removed his briefs, much to the delight of the young female recruits. I stood under the showerhead next to his and concentrated on having a quick wash and getting the hell to the mess hall for breakfast.

  But two young women had different ideas. “You can have Bjorn today, and I’ll have DS. Tomorrow we swap,” the dark haired one said to her friend. “If you guys are okay with that?” DS became my call sign from my very first day at the compound, a quicker way of saying Drill Sergeant. While such an action wouldn’t fly in the marines, I found the abbreviation kind of cool.

  “Of course.” Bjorn smiled as the other one walked up to him, pressing herself into his chest.

  At my age, I could have nearly been this girl’s father, but the tattoo on her right breast pretty much guaranteed she must be at least eighteen years old. She smiled at me, and if I said the sight of her in all her glory wasn’t a wonderful sight, I would have been lying to myself.

  ******

  Bjorn and I sat together at breakfast, the pair of us having just had sex in the showers with a pair of eighteen-year-old girls. I couldn’t help but feel a little dirty about it, although if only early in the day, I could have used a strong drink.

  “It’s okay, my friend. We’re encouraged to be free here and experience as many sexual partners as we can. You know some of those girls won’t be around in a matter of time. They just don’t know that yet, so we can, at least, be accommodating to their desires.”

  “They’re so young.”

  “Yes, but they’re women. I won’t make love to the underage ones. I do have some morals.”

  “I was always brought up that things like sex were between two loving people, and our bodies weren’t meant to be on display to everyone.”

  “Yes, but you probably had a mother and father who told you that you would go to hell for that, but if I couldn’t make love to so many women, I would be in my own hell. If God didn’t want us to lust over the female body, then why did he create them to be so beautiful?”

  I could have tried to argue, but what would be the point?

  “In Europe, we sunbake naked on public beaches, and no one bats an eye. Why be ashamed of what we’ve been given?”

  “I guess this isn’t like me. I’m in my mid-thirties, and in the two days I’ve been here, I’ve doubled the number of women I’ve had sex with in total. How can I concentrate on doing my job?”

  “You just do it. Have the sex and move on. Of course, you get into the moment and give it your best because your reputation is on the line, but once it’s over, just push the emotion away.”

  I looked him in the eyes, and he smiled back. “You know if you come out to the field today, I’ll be making you work as hard as everyone else.”

  “I would be disappointed if you didn’t.”

  ******

  At the end of my second day at the compound, I met up with Bjorn and Ed in Bjorn’s room. He brought out a bottle of Vodka and three shot glasses and put on a playlist of classic rock with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Deep Purple.

  “Welcome to music trivia shots. When a new song starts, the first person to correctly guess the song and artist is the winner, and the other two have to drink. Bjorn is the reigning champion,” Ed said. He filled all three shot glasses and while one song finished, another began.

  “Brain Damage by Pink Floyd,” I called out within a few bars. I knew I was right. My Dad played the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ album continuously when I was a young boy.

  “You’re good,” Ed said, and he and Bjorn took a shot.

  A few more songs played, and I was yet to take a drink while Ed appeared to slur his words. Bjorn held the same expression as he wore before the game started, like a World Series of Poker player. We shared conversations while the songs played, but I made sure to steer away from asking too much about the place I had found myself in. While Bjorn seemed to enjoy a chat, Ed always looked at me as if he were waiting for me to say something wrong so he could pounce on it. I put it down to him being a cop.

  “Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos,” Ed said as the playlist took a different turn. “What, you thought we only listened to stuff your dad might play?”

  I returned the icy stare. “That was my hope.”

  Bjorn and Ed both stared at me. If these near drunken men thought they could scare me, they were in for a surprise. I picked up the shot glass and poured the liquid down my throat, the dryness burning all the way down to my chest. I’ve never been good at drinking straight spirits. I felt my face warm up, and the other two laughed at my short-lived discomfort. The next song came on, and then a few more. Being nineties pop songs, I had no clue. The alcohol ran through my body, relaxing my muscles and causing me to smile for no reason whatsoever. With the second bottle of Vodka opened, I pushed all thoughts on waking up in the morning aside.

  “So who here thinks Kathy, or whatever her fucking name is, is the best lay here?” I asked. So I let it slip while my inhibitions were rapidly slipping away.

  “Well, she’s up there for sure, but I’m biased given she’s my sister,” Ed said.

  I spat out my mouthful of Vodka, not caring that it wasn’t even my turn to drink again. What the hell did I just hear?

  “Okay, sorry about that, Jack. She’s my stepsister, so there’s nothing wrong with that. But you know who my other favourite lay is?”

  Bjorn stood and removed his shirt, signalling Ed to come over, which he does. They pressed their bodies into each other, hands sliding up and down each other’s chests while their lips locked. I’m not homophobic by any means, but that didn’t mean I felt comfortable watching this right in front of me. Their hands travelled lower and found the zipper to the other’s jeans.

  I poured another drink and threw it down, and then another. My ass remained on my chair while my eyes didn’t wander away from what unfolded in front of me. As I poured another shot, both men continued kissing, now completely naked and fondling each other.

  I thought to myself, so this is how Ed answers my question. I’m not ready for this. I need to go back to my room.

  “Hey, Jack, won’t you join us?” Ed asked, his eyes moving their way down my whole body.

  I tell a lie. “I don’t feel so good. I’m not much of a drinker.” I staggered away from the table, opened the door to the outside world, and then ran back to my room.

  I wondered if everyone at the compound wanted to fuck everything in sight. Opening the door to my room, I saw Nakato lying naked on my bed.

  “What the hell,” I said out loud. To have called the sight of her breathtaking would have been a disservice to her. It was time to add another notch to my belt.

  Chapter 6

  Weeks passed, and the reality of the pl
ace hit me day after day. Sometimes, I got with Emily, and some nights were filled with wild African style lovemaking, while the morning shower interludes occured about twice a week with young recruits. Bjorn gave up on asking me to join him and Ed for late night drinking sessions while Kathy—Hayley or whatever her name was—still hadn’t spoken to me since my first day there.

  I hadn’t stepped foot off the compound since arriving. Apparently, those high above didn’t trust me to such a degree yet. The money was good, and I could buy stuff if I placed an order at the office. I didn’t bother with trying to personalise my room. The little amount of money I did spend was on bottles of scotch, books, and CDs.

  My time at the compound was just like New York, constantly surrounded by people, but still lonely. It suited me. I received constant sexual release without having to form a relationship with someone who could never shine a candle to Melinda.

  I woke at five a.m. and made my way to the shower blocks. I finally had a chance to shower alone without the temptations of female flesh surrounding me. I desired to turn my life around, starting with going to bed earlier and rising earlier, going for longer runs and scoping this place out. While far from a prison, I had never been offered the opportunity to leave for a weekend, nor informed the actual location of the compound. I had my theories, given the climate and varieties of native flora, but I estimated we could be anywhere from California to Brazil. However, if I couldn’t leave, it didn’t matter.

  I opened the door to the shower block and saw I wasn’t alone. The young dark haired recruit known as Avril lay naked in a pool of blood flowing from a deep cut in her neck.

  “Oh crap,” I said aloud.

  “So it’s begun,” I heard Ed’s voice behind me. “Once one of the recruits is able to figure out what the practical exam consists of, we soon accelerate to the end of the test.”