by Yazz Ustaris
We all stood up and exited the room, following behind Jamie as she led us down a maze of corridors. Last night, I had thought the building was in a “U shape” but this morning, I saw I was wrong. Even though there were hallways everywhere, it seemed like the building was really formed in a huge square shape. As we were passing by the Mess Hall, I saw a familiar face looking at me from within the kitchen area.
“Amos!! I knew I recognized your delicious cooking this morning!” I greeted, as I made a quick pit stop and zoomed into the kitchen to give Amos a quick hug. He chuckled as he returned my hug. “Good morning Miss Teagan. It’s good to see you.”
“So… this is where you hide out the rest of the time?”
Nodding at me he offered, “Miss Kyrie will be helping me frost cupcakes later. Will you be joining her? She talks about you non-stop and I know it would just make her day if you joined us. I only let 4 people into my kitchen, you know. You and Kyrie are two of them. Be here at 4 o’clock?”
Smiling indulgently at him, I said, “Yes Sir. You know you don’t have to guilt me into it. Of course I’ll be happy to help! See you later!”
I darted back out to rejoin the others as Gideon and Sam smiled and nodded at Amos. “We both saw him on our way to your room. It was great starting the day off by seeing a familiar face,” Sam explained.
Two more hallways later, Jamie led us into a large conference room that was empty except for a huge rectangular table in the middle and had enough chairs to fit maybe twenty people. In front of each chair sat a laptop, and I gleefully rubbed my hands together in anticipation. She directed us to sit down and I chose a spot in the middle so that I could supervise the guys’ screens on either side of me if they needed my opinion on anything they wanted to add to their shopping carts. Jamie gave each of us a small notepad and pens to first make a list of all the things we needed to get, so that we didn’t get overwhelmed and forget to order something crucial.
“Do you guys need anything else before I take off?”
I immediately held up my hand and said, “Two things. First of all, we need some ambient noise for shopping, so is there a radio we can borrow?” Jamie nodded her head and pointed to the corner of the room where a large stereo sat. It was so big, I don’t know how I missed it when I first walked in.
“Based on the past habits of you three, we knew you’d ask for “mood music” so Sergeant Flynn brought this in here earlier this morning for your use.” Jamie smiled as she asked me what the second question was.
“I just wondered if you knew what Kyrie’s shoe size is. I couldn’t help but notice that she has an affinity for all things pink and I thought it’d be nice to get her a “roommate gift”. I might be lucky enough to find a pink pair of sneakers online in her size. She was so nice and welcoming this morning when I met her, I just want to thank her for bringing me breakfast and making me feel at home. I like her a lot already.”
Jamie shot me an approving smile as she said “Awww….I knew you guys would hit it off! I’m so pleased! You’re a sweetheart, Teagan. She’s a size 5.” Turning for the door, she called over her shoulder, “Okay, you guys have fun shopping. I’ll be back for you in a few hours. And remember… everything in your shopping carts will be reviewed and approved by a military staff member before the orders are submitted, so make sure you don’t order anything inappropriate!”
I bit my lip and snorted in amusement at that last comment, but Jamie was already gone out the door. As we all turned on our laptops, we heard the gentle whirring of cameras and turned our heads to see that there were two cameras in the conference room currently aimed in our direction. In unison, all three of us waved at the cameras before smiling at each other. The guys got to work on their lists, while I got up to turn on the radio. I tried not to sigh in exasperation as one of the cameras followed my movements. Finding a station I liked, I sang to the music and danced my way back to my chair to do some serious shopping. I smirked as I peeked over Gideon’s shoulder and saw that the first purchase of the day for him was a new gaming console.
In no time at all, Jamie was back and I couldn’t believe three hours had sped by so fast. My stomach growled though so I knew it had to be true. All three of us successfully bought everything we needed on our lists and we were just absently browsing through art websites for decorations for the guys’ walls when Jamie returned. Gideon clicked on one last poster to add to his cart before submitting his order. Throwing my arms over my head, I arched my back and stretched just as my stomach let out another growl louder than the first. Sam went to turn off the radio as Jamie smiled and asked, “All ready for lunch?”
We all grinned tiredly and nodded our heads. Who knew shopping could work up such an appetite? Go figure! As we re-entered the Mess Hall, I was surprised to see that it was still empty. Amos was there though, and he nodded at us in acknowledgement as he finished loading up one last metal tray into the food warmers. The food was set up buffet style so we all grabbed a plate and helped ourselves. I was ravenous, and everything looked good. I chose a couple filets of citrus salmon, and loaded the other half of my plate with a steamed veggie medley. I was already seated and eating when the guys finally joined me. Jamie had fixed herself a plate too and to my happy surprise, Amos sat down to join us as well. He had never eaten with us in the past and I was happy for his company.
I guess all of us were starving because we finished eating in record time. We were all sipping our drinks, listening to Amos complain about what picky eaters some of the other program participants were, when the door to the Mess Hall suddenly opened up, and lo and behold in marched the current topic of our conversation. Not including the sergeants, I counted eleven other test subjects including Kyrie. With the exception of Kyrie, the others all looked shocked to see us sitting there because they had all stopped in one big cluster right inside the doors.
I recognized Sergeant Ramsey’s booming voice as he shouted, “Men to the left! Women to the right! Shower first and then you can return to the Mess Hall to gawk at the newbies!” I heard Gideon choke on his drink beside me and I whacked him on the back until he got his breath back. I saw that his face was red again as he tried not to notice that several of the girls were staring directly at him. Those girls all jumped as the woman whom I assumed was Sergeant Kami clapped her hands loudly behind them and yelled, “To the showers, ladies! Move, move, move!!” Well, at least the sergeants were all consistent. It seemed they each yelled at the same volume level.
Kyrie shot me a quick smile and a wave before turning to dart down the hallway. I had a feeling it was going to be her fastest shower ever. I bit my lip to prevent the laughter from coming out as I noticed that some of the guys took their time strutting down the hallway, puffing out their chests like they had something to prove as they darted quick looks my way. I tried not to roll my eyes at Sam and Gideon. Once all the participants had cleared out, Sergeant Ramsey made a bee line for our table. I scrambled from my seat and stood up in order to properly meet the other sergeants. Sam and Gideon followed my lead and fell in place on either side of me.
Sergeant Ramsey put his arm around the woman and said, “This is Sergeant Kamealoha, but you may call her Sergeant Kami. Her charges are Kyrie, Logan, Zima, and Marisol.” We all took turns shaking her hand and respectfully said, “It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am.” Next, Sergeant Ramsey gestured to the handsome brunette guy next to him and said, “This is Sergeant Flynn. He’s in charge of Allegra, Gabe, Ruby, and Leif. I don’t expect y’all to remember all these names, I just thought I’d include who they’re in charge of in case you need to report any suspicious or offensive behaviors or anything.” We all smiled at Sergeant Flynn and took turns shaking his hand, while murmuring, “Pleased to meet you, Sir.” Sergeant Flynn smiled warmly at us all before chuckling and elbowing Sergeant Ramsey in the ribs. “You lucky bastard! They’re a polite and respectful bunch and I like them already.”
A second man stepped forward, obviously impatient to be introduced. Holding out his h
and to me first, he stated, “Hello! I’m Sergeant Honda and I’m in charge of Aidan, Harper, and Cassidy.” Sergeant Honda’s smile was so bright and genuine that I liked him right on the spot. “Pleased to meet you, Sir.”
The Mess Hall door banged open, and we all turned to look as yet another Sergeant jogged in, nearly out of breath. “I’m sorry I’m late! I wanted to be here for the introductions too but lost track of time.” He was staring directly at me as he held out his hand and introduced himself, “I’m Sergeant Quartermaine. I’m in charge of Dee, Wyatt, and Angelo.” I held out my hand to shake his but was a little unnerved by the intensity of his stare. He was scrutinizing me very closely and it made me wonder what he was looking for. A sudden chill of foreboding worked its way down my spine. “It’s nice to meet you Sir,” I said, but when he didn’t immediately release my hand, I panicked and looked questioningly to Sergeant Ramsey for guidance.
Sergeant Kami stepped forward and stomped on Sergeant Quartermaine’s foot to snap him out of the weird trance he seemed to be in. To break the awkward silence, Sergeant Ramsey emitted a forced laugh and nudged Quartermaine hard before stating, “They’re MY subjects, not yours.”
When Sam and Gideon both inched protectively in front of me, he went further on to explain, “Please forgive me, Teagan. It’s just that you fascinate me, and you remind me very strongly of someone I know. It’s a little disconcerting.”
Sam and Gideon both took turns politely shaking his hand, but they hadn’t budged from their protective stance in front of me. As I openly studied Sergeant Quartermaine, I realized that he reminded me of a tall and muscular Santa Clause with his close-cropped mustache and beard that was purely white. He wouldn’t be so bad if he’d just lose that creepy stare of his.
Sergeant Kami cleared her throat to announce, “Now that we’ve all been formally introduced, I think we should move this meeting to the conference room.” The other sergeants all concurred and started heading down the same hallway that Jamie had previously led us from. Before following them, I first looked at Gideon and then Sam. Gideon just shrugged in agreement that he found Sergeant Quartermaine’s reaction to me baffling as well. We all waved goodbye to Amos before hurrying to catch up with the others. Jamie was still behind us, bringing up the rear in order to guide us in the right direction.
Throwing her arm around my shoulder she murmured low, “Don’t mind Sergeant Quartermaine. He’s a little on the quirky side but I promise that he’s harmless. I think he’s just star struck by you.” Jamie fell silent as we all approached the conference room. The others were already seated so we hurriedly chose seats that allowed us to face the sergeants. I saw that they were all beaming at us. Sergeant Kami smiled widely and began the meeting. “First of all, welcome! We’re so happy to have you three with us! We’ve been watching your progress so long on the live cams that it almost feels surreal to be talking to you across this table.” She chuckled a little nervously as she continued, “We have a lot of faith that you three can knock some sense into the other program participants. Sergeant Ramsey assured all of us that you were fully on board 100% with receiving another DNA shot. We feel that once we can get the others past the shock of the physical anomalies the animal DNA causes in us, then we can convince them all to join you in advancing in the program.”
Sergeant Ramsey cut in to voice what they planned for the week. “We all know firsthand how eager some of the others are to join y’all in physical training, so we made the decision to keep you three separated. I know from yer point of view it probably seems cruel, but we all think it’s a strategic move that’s going to help keep them motivated. We plan to have y’all training in the gym at the same time, but you’ll just be on the other side of the gym. They’ll be able to actually see you and the special exercises we’ll be having you do. We think it’ll be incentive for the rest to take the program more seriously. But most importantly, it’ll help us to weed out the few who aren’t interested in advancin’. The few bad apples are holding back everyone else in their units. That’s why so many of the others want to ditch their own units and join ours. Once we can determine who the truly dedicated ones are, then we’ll reward them for their hard work and give them the same chance to advance by offering more DNA shots.”
Sergeant Flynn rubbed his hands together when he announced, “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to work everybody hard in the Gym. This should be a cakewalk for you three because the others haven’t been training nearly as hard as you have been. Since you’re already all physically fit, Teagan you’ll be coaching Sam and Gideon on their animal abilities and how to leap farther distances. They also both need to learn what you’ve been doing with that rope. Very impressive by the way.” There was admiration in Sergeant Flynn’s eyes when he looked at me, and it only made me feel motivated to get started already. I almost wanted to go to the Gym and start now!
Sergeant Honda reiterated our specific plan for the week as he ticked them off on his fingers. “So, goal for this week is stealth training, jumping, and climbing. Since all of us will be in the Gym at the same time, we’ll all get a chance to rotate and get some hands-on training with you three! We’ll put in lots of hours this week but at the end of the week, we have a surprise for you!” That last sentence was said in a little sing-song voice of excitement, and it made me laugh over his enthusiasm. “We’re going to have a test of sorts that will determine who will get to train with you next week. If all three of you pass on the first try, then you’ll get the opportunity to receive your third DNA shots next week if you want it. But keep in mind that this third shot is what triggers the physical anomalies. We don’t expect any of the others to pass the test on the first try, but we’ll give them two chances each to try. That seems fair considering how advanced you are in comparison.”
Gideon cleared his throat before asking, “Just out of curiosity, what if none of the others pass this test after their two chances?”
“Then every Friday, they’ll each get another two chances to advance forward!” Sergeant Honda’s smile was so wide that I couldn’t resist pleading, “Oh come on! Tell us what the surprise is already. It’s only Monday! You guys are going to torture us all week by withholding that information from us? Seriously?”
The others only laughed at me, and ignored the question completely. I sighed and shook my head as I looked at Sam and Gideon. Patience, Teagan…patience.
“Every Friday while the tests are going on, you three are more than welcome to be spectators, so that you can watch the action live! It’s only fair since the other participants have been secretly watching you on live cam for half a year. Now it’ll be your turn to sit back, relax, and watch them!” I grinned at Sergeant Honda’s over-enthusiasm, and joked, “Do we get popcorn?”
There was a brief pause before they all said in unison, “Yes.”
“I was joking!” I snorted, trying to hold back the laughter. Clearing my throat, I said, “Won’t that be, like, insulting for them or something to see us sitting there eating popcorn as they take their tests? I’m assuming it’s something physical.”
“We don’t really care what they think about that. We might eat popcorn with you, as we sit there and watch them. They ate donuts and cupcakes while they watched you three working your asses off at the mini barracks. So quite frankly, a few of them need to be knocked off of their pedestals and I’m looking forward to watching the trouble makers get their asses handed to them on a platter.” Sergeant Kami was ruthless as she declared her opinion. Judging from her expression and the way she currently sat with her arms crossed over her chest, I assumed she probably had to put up with a lot of crap. But Kyrie was in her group, and I couldn’t imagine her giving Sergeant Kami any trouble.
I considered her words before nodding my head. “Okay. Popcorn it is then. You’re right, it’s only fair. You guys aren’t going to make us turn on each other like a bunch of gladiators, are you?” I was totally fishing for information, and the others knew it, because they just smirked at my lame
attempt to unearth their plans. I rolled my eyes at them and said, “Fine. What are the plans for the rest of the day then? I promised Amos that I’d help him and Kyrie frost cupcakes in the kitchen at 4 o’clock, but what do we have scheduled after that?”
“Ooh! Can I help frost cupcakes too?” Sam pleaded. I nodded my head since I knew Amos liked all three of us. Undoubtedly, Gideon would probably tag along too and keep us company. None of us were used to being separated from each other unless it was time for lights out.
Sergeant Ramsey informed us that we were free to do whatever we wanted this afternoon, and that it was a day to rest, get settled in, or try to make nice with the other program participants. I laughed out loud as I looked at Sergeant Ramsey in disbelief. I was pretty sure Gideon was petrified of meeting the others, especially the girls.
“What are the rules?” I asked. “Jamie already told us the rule about having a chaperone if girls and guys are going to hang out in the same room, but what are the rest of the rules we need to know?”
Sergeant Honda looked at the other sergeants, and I saw the slight bobbing of heads before he turned to me and said, “Actually, we’ve decided that that rule doesn’t apply to you. We’ve been more lenient and flexible with you guys because we all feel that you’re 100% trustworthy. We’ll allow you three to hang out together without need of a chaperone but we don’t trust the others enough yet for that. We would also never give the others hair clippers, razors, or anything else that was sharp for that matter. We all had a meeting about whether or not we should allow Gideon to receive the scissors, clipper, and hair products he asked for in the Common Room. Sergeant Ramsey argued on your behalf that you were all very responsible and trustworthy. Our eyes were all glued to the camera monitors, waiting for you guys to emerge from Gideon’s room. When you all came out of your rooms safe and sound without any bodily injuries, at that moment we knew we could trust you fully.”