by John Darling
“PLEASE! STOP! I’M SORRY!”
It was no use. He didn’t say anything back and his face got closer. The goggles were caught under my nose. What had been a helpful tool a few minutes ago had become a nuisance. As he continued to move his face lower, I felt his disgusting breath hit my face. He was way too close for comfort so I turned my face away from his as far as I could. A feeling of hopelessness and panic set in. Frantically, I started once again to try to get my hands free. With every ounce of strength I had left, I wiggled three of my fingers free. In the corner of my eye, I could see what looked like a rock. A beautiful, baseball-sized rock only a foot away from my right hand. I kneed him in the back again and for a split second, he lifted his weight off my forearm. I grabbed the rock as quickly as I could and smashed it right into the left side of his face.
Off balance and stunned, most of his weight fell off me. I wasted no time in taking advantage of this opportunity and got to my feet, as the man let out one of the loudest screams I have ever heard. All in one motion, I flipped the goggles back onto my eyes and looked at him. The googles revealed a man with a burned face, bloodshot eyes, veins bursting out of his body and pockets of foam gathered at both corners of his mouth. Fear crippled my senses as I took in what looked back at me – it was far from human. My mind told me to run, as I quickly determined that I would not receive any kind of help from this abomination.
I took off running in the other direction as I heard him scream again. Despite my efforts to sprint, he quickly caught up to me. Just before he could grab me, I swung my backpack off and hit him with it in one motion. It spilled open and all of the items scattered across the ground. The swing knocked him a few feet away and I searched for something to defend myself with. The closest thing was a pair of handcuffs. He lunged at me and I responded with a dodge. He tripped over a giant root, falling flat. This is my chance to get away!
Then another idea came to mind. I grabbed the handcuffs and secured one of the metal rings onto his right ankle. He flipped over and kicked out the cuffed foot. Meanwhile, I grabbed his other foot and quickly cuffed that ankle, too. I scurried backward and watched as he struggled to escape. Frustrated, he let out multiple screams while he kicked out his feet in rage. His screams got louder and all of the sudden the ground began to shake. I looked off in the distance and saw a group of figures running toward us. I frantically gathered up my supplies and ran in the opposite direction.
Screaming, gunfire, car alarms and explosion began again like a haunting chorus. I sprinted as fast as I could. The rumbling got louder and louder, sounding as if a stampede was behind me. I kept running with no intention of finding out who they Were. Frantically looking ahead, it seemed that the small flashing flicker I saw before is getting bigger – perhaps closer. I rushed past trees, one after another weaving through them like a snake. All I want to do is get to that rippling light. I wasn’t even sure if it is light, yet it seemed to be the only sliver of hope in this forest of hell.
The forest appeared to be coming to an end. Just then, a loud rotor sound roared over my head and I looked up to see a helicopter. Has help arrived?! Does someone actually know I’m out here?! I got excited for a moment; however, the feeling vanished as the growling and screaming plagued the air behind me. I ran faster. I passed the final tree and jumped right out of the forest. The flashing that I saw before turned out to be a huge bonfire next to a landing pad with a giant “H” in the middle of it. It was only a few hundred yards away, and I had to reach it. Looking back, there were at least fifty people emerging from the forest. Turning forward again I saw the helicopter extend a rope down from its cabin as it transitioned from flying into a hover. That’s my way out.
I stretched my legs for maximum extension with every stride. The people behind me were gaining and I didn’t have the courage to look back again. That would only slow me down. I raced through the tall grass and weeds, estimating only about a hundred yards to go. Three guys leaned out of the side of the helicopter and yelled out to me. One began shooting at the people behind me. Fifty yards, forty yards, thirty yards.
My heart pounded and I swore I just felt someone’s fingers brush my shoulder. I forced myself to use my last bit of energy to sprint faster. Twenty yards, ten yards. I leapt into the air and grabbed the rope. Immediately, the helicopter gained altitude. Now two guys hung out of the helicopter and shot while the other began reeling me in. My eyes were forced to close from all the wind from the rotors and I held on as tight as I could. The adrenaline that had gotten me out of the forest was wearing off and the noise of the helicopter made it impossible to hear. As the gunfire stopped, I felt someone drag me into the cabin. I opened my eyes slowly as three men moved me onto a bench and began examining me. One of them cleaned the cut on my cheek with a wet cloth. The cabin door closed and to my delight, I regained my hearing.
“We’ve been looking all over for you Trevor!”
Looking for me? Who the hell was chasing me? I gave the guy a blank stare while I searched for any kind of clue to indicate where I was. Noticing the S.T.O.R.M crest on his jumpsuit, I relaxed for a moment. The helicopter began to move forward as I took a deep breath.
“Glad we found you. You look very dehydrated and we want to give you an IV. Lean back and lift up your sleeve.”
I watched one of the officers move toward me with a huge needle and tried to tense up but my muscles didn’t move. Every bit of energy and strength I had had been drained while I was on the ground, fighting for my life and racing for the helicopter. I watched the needle get closer and closer. Tired and unable to move, I heard an eerily familiar phrase.
“Trevor, you’re going to feel a slight pinch…”
Chapter Seven: New Kid On The Block
“Excuse me, Trevor? Please wake up.”
I felt a poke on my shoulder as I tried to open my eyes. A bright light blinded me, instantly causing them to seal back up. A few seconds later I attempted to open them again, doing so much, much more slowly than before. Only a few inches away from face with a clipboard and some kind of weird glasses on her head was the blonde nurse that was with me in the medical room before, which was where I appeared to be back in now.
I cautiously lifted my head off a sweat drenched pillow and Stacy helped me sit up. Was all of that just a dream? Either I was really tired, or the jet lag hit me harder than usual. After rubbing my neck and wincing in confusion, I glanced up at Stacy, who immediately flashed a smile.
“OK, so you’re cleared for our training program. When you’re ready Lieutenant Ward is here to escort back. I have to go help another recruit get ready. It was nice meeting you Trevor, good luck!”
She scampered out the door and let Lieutenant Ward, who I could see standing in the hallway talking with a few doctors, know that I was good to go. I rested for another minute before standing up and accepting the fact that whatever I just saw had been all in my head. However, it had seemed so real and lifelike.
Lieutenant Ward stuck his head in the room, pointed to a stack of clothes on one of the chairs in the opposite corner of the room, and instructed me to put them on before coming out. The clothes were all black, and appeared to be made of a stretchy athletic material. They were just a shirt, shorts, socks and a pair of brand new sneakers. I followed his instructions and did so once he had closed the door. The shirt was a little odd, and the sleeves extended down to the middle of my forearms, as if it couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be long sleeved or short sleeved. On the right breast was the logo I kept seeing with the eagle and lightning bolts, as well as the number 3187 next to the word “Recruit”. The shoes were comfortable too, and even though I still felt a little woozy, I did look good in this new outfit. I scooped up my old clothes and shoes, and exited the room.
“Ahh, we’ll have someone bring those to your room. You can wear them when you’re not in training. When you are going through an evolution, it’s required that you wear this gear. And don’t worry, there will be several additional sets in your
room.”
Lieutenant Ward handed the clothes off to a different nurse and instructed me to keep following him. We exited the medical bay and went back into the elevator. Before we did so, I noticed one of the clocks on the wall said “10:20” along with the date, which immediately alarmed me. According to that clock, Uncle Keith had handed me off to Lieutenant Ward two whole days ago. How is that possible? I had been given one shot and then went to sleep. There was no way that I’d been asleep for two days.
Ignoring that strange piece of information, I tried to clear my head as the doors of the elevator opened up to Deck Two. Lieutenant Ward escorted me into the giant obstacle course area that I had seen briefly earlier. Just like last time, dozens of people were running, jumping, climbing, and swinging on different parts of the course. Before we got near anyone, Lieutenant Ward stopped to talk.
“Here’s what’s going to happen. Today is one of the last days of the O-course phase of training and everyone else has a major leg up on you. You must pass this course in order to move onto the next phase of training. There are five stages and if you fail to meet the requirements of any of the stages, you will be reverted to the next training class in three months. You look like you’re in fairly good shape so you should be fine. I assume that you play hockey like your father did.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Like I said, you should be fine. Oh, here comes Commander Knight now. He’s the lead instructor for this class.”
I looked over to see one of the most ripped guys I had ever seen in my life walking toward us. Even though he was wearing a uniform, I could see the outline of his massive body structure. His arms looked like they want to bust out of his rolled up sleeves. There wasn’t a speck of hair on his head and his face screamed “be afraid of me”. He looked like the poster child for the United States Marine Corps, and someone that I do not want to mess with.
“So, this must be the prodigy everyone can’t shut up about.”
“Yes, Commander, this is Trevor.”
The man smirked and wrote something down on a clipboard before looking back at me.
“Hmm. Well, until graduation your first name is Recruit just like everyone else. Go get in line. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
He looked me up and down once more and then walked away. I watched him for a minute as he slowly slithered his way through some of the obstacles, glaring at the people going through the course as they went by. He had a snake-like way about him, as if he could attack his prey at any moment, but chose to just watch and stare from a distance. Lieutenant Ward pointed me to start of the course where several other people are waiting in line. I assume that they are the other recruits he was referring to.
“Who was that guy?”
“Commander Damien Knight. He’s in charge of the training, and someone you should do your best to stay away from. You’ll learn more about him in the upcoming weeks, but I do believe he was on a strike team with your Father at some point in his career. We shouldn’t talk anymore. Line starts over there. Good luck.”
There were a few people in front of me and I made awkward eye contact with two of them as Lieutenant Ward left me. I quickly examined the four guys in front of me, as well as the two girls, and noticed how much more in shape they are than I am. I looked past them to see a huge wall with a rope hanging down. It blocked my view of the rest of the course and must have been at least ten feet tall. I watched the recruits in front of me scale it one by one until there were no more in front of me, indicating that I was up next.
“Ready, GO!”
A man in uniform clicked a stopwatch and I sprinted toward the wall. Grabbing the rope, I used it to climb up the wooden structure. Once I reached the top, I flipped my body over the wall and jumped to the ground. I quickly caught my breath and jumped up onto the next obstacle. I barely made it up onto a high beam, which I noticed was suspended over a pool of water. Luckily my balance did not fail me and I was able to get across it without falling in. Although, there were a few moments where I thought I was going to get wet.
The next obstacle was a barbed wire pit and I got down on my stomach to start crawling under it. There was a guy in front of me who was barely moving and it took me a few extra seconds to go around him. I didn’t mind the crawling since my heart rate was able to slow down a few beats. That wall in the beginning had taken a lot of energy to get over.
After the barbed wire, I jumped over three sets of hurdles, ran through several large tubes, and made it through a set of curved monkey bars. The bars were not easy to get over since the structure was built like a rainbow and for the first half I had to keep lunging upward to get the next bar. It would have been much easier to get across if I had had longer arms. Regardless, I made it across. The next obstacle was a huge rock wall with colored spots all over it. Just as I reached for the first blue rock, one of the drill instructors approached me.
“Let’s go recruit! Get up that wall! I’m not getting any younger!”
His motivation skills definitely needed work, since he was only making it harder for me to focus. I climbed up one step at a time as the instructor continued to yell. It got tougher to do so as my altitude increased up this never ending wall. The colored steps were getting fewer and further between, which only added to the difficulty of the obstacle.
I was almost at the top and there was only one red rock left that I needed to get to before I could reach the top. I glanced down at the ground for a second and my heart sank into my stomach as I realized how high up I was. If I fell, I would definitely hurt myself. How come no one is using a harness?! I took a few deep breaths and stretched out my left arm as high as I could. My fingertips brushed the bottom of the rock, and I needed just a little bit more reach to get up there.
I thought about jumping when suddenly a rope slithered itself down in-between my arms. I looked up to find a different instructor on the landing holding the rope and he pulled me up onto the landing after I gripped both of my hands onto it. A feeling of relief instantly came over me and I took several refreshing breaths. Thank God I didn’t have to jump.
The drill instructor helped me to my feet and then strapped a harness around my waist. He reached out to a strange set of handlebars and that instructed me to grab on. I took hold without hesitating, and then looked forward to see one of the coolest zip lines I have ever seen in my life. I hadn’t been on one of these things in years and never on one this long. He asked me if I was OK, and I gave him a thumbs up before grabbing the handle with my free hand and pushing off. I held on tight as my body hurled faster and faster along the zip line. Getting up here was quite a challenge but I have to say the ride down was much more enjoyable. I held on as my momentum suddenly came to a stop thanks to a different drill instructor. He applied some kind of brake to the zip line and I landed safely on the ground.
“Hurry up! Harness off! Let’s go!”
Another recruit landed only a few seconds behind me. All in one motion he ripped the harness off and ran toward a huge cargo net in front of us. I watched him scale it like a human spider before wrapping his body around a horizontal wire. I followed suit and tried to get up the cargo net as fast as he did, but my feet kept getting entangled in the net. Clearly, that other recruit had had some practice on this net. I finally made it to the top and stared at the suspended wire ahead of me. I carefully grabbed it and wrapped my feet around it like the other recruit had. It took me an extra minute to cross them before I became comfortable enough to start shimmying my way across.
I focused on pulling myself along as two drill instructors yelled at me from below. They kept telling me I was running out of time, and I wasn’t sure if they are just saying that to get me to go faster, or if there was some kind of time limit for this course. I mean, the drill instructor at the start of the course did start a watch, and why would they time us just for the hell of it.
I continued to pull until my hands ran out of wire. In the corner of my eye I can see another cargo net, and I slowly uncrossed
my legs. I quickly found the net with my feet and began climbing down it. Evidently climbing down was much harder than climbing up these things and my feet practically got stuck with every other step. About thirty seconds later, my feet finally hit the ground.
I turned around and searched for another obstacle, but I don’t see the next part of the course. I wiped away some sweat from my forehead as one of the drill instructors ran over to me. He pointed at a different instructor across the room holding a clipboard and a stopwatch and told me to run as I fast as I could. I sprinted about a hundred yards to what the instructors deemed as the finish.
“Time… 14:58!”
I stopped running as soon as I passed the drill instructor with the stopwatch. I was about to lean over and catch my breath, but a different drill instructor confronted me.
“Are you tired?! Only the weak give up! Just because the course is over doesn’t mean you get a break! Get over there with the rest of your class!”
The energetic drill instructor pointed over to a group of recruits thirty feet away, all in the front leaning rest position. I reluctantly joined them and the female instructor that had ushered me away from the finish line moved on to bother another recruit finishing the course. I wiped each one of my hands on my shorts to get rid of the sweat and resumed the front leaning rest position.
This is one of the worst positions because it’s like doing a push-up without bending your elbows and going down. I looked around at all of the other recruits struggling to maintain the position. There must be fifty or so very in shape recruits, at least a third of them women. I have a tremendous amount of respect for any woman that goes through military training, especially Special Forces. I also couldn’t help but notice that the group was made up of people of several different nationalities. Why are people from other countries being trained here? From what little I knew, I had assumed that this organization fought on behalf of the United States. Maybe all of these different people are in fact American and I’m profiling too much.