"Today is the first day, so rest well tonight. Wake-up call at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, training begins. Dismiss!"
The captain still didn't introduce himself. After speaking, he turned and left with a leisurely stroll, his relaxed demeanor making others jealous, as if today's training was just a warm-up.
However, Renly had no energy left to envy the captain. His body and soul seemed to have separated. While earlier he could feel the intense muscle soreness, now he moved like a walking corpse. He felt like he was carrying Mount Tai on his back, every movement requiring the entirety of his strength. He needed to go lie down. If possible, he wouldn't even want dinner, but his stomach was already swearing at him. The sandwich from lunch had already been digested long ago.
"Hey, you!"
A hoarse, somewhat sharp voice came from behind. Just those two simple words conveyed the exhaustion of his body. The suppressed emotions, the anxiety, and the irritability couldn't be hidden.
Renly's footsteps didn't pause. He didn't think the person was calling him out; there was no direct address. Although he recognized it as Richard's voice.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, that little white-faced pretty boy who shows off!" Richard was a bit exasperated. He was already holding onto a grudge, and now, after the long training, all his patience had been exhausted. He exploded without care, "Are you involved with the captain? You knew there'd be training from the start today. Why didn't you tell us? Did you want to see us embarrassed?"
Though his emotions were flaring, Richard was somewhat shrewd. He accurately seized upon the psychology of the others. The majority hadn't changed into their uniforms on time. With just a couple of sentences, he rallied a group of allies and united them to pressure Renly.
No one spoke, but Renly could distinctly feel that numerous gazes, heated and sharp, were fixed on him. He wasn't bothered by it. He was prepared to continue forward. However, Rami, by his side, came to a halt, looking around with a hint of panic. Clearly, Rami was more aware than Renly that starting the first day by offending their colleagues in the same production was a terrible situation.
Renly's footsteps involuntarily stopped in their tracks as well. Then he turned around, his gaze falling upon Richard.
At this point, Richard looked genuinely disheveled. The deep blue shirt he was wearing had long lost its color, the smudges on his forehead and cheeks looked like camouflage makeup. His bare feet were covered in injuries, a mixture of blood, flesh, and mud. It was a gruesome sight, entirely different from the confident demeanor when they had first met.
"Captain, please address me as 'Captain'!" Renly's first words instantly froze the atmosphere. Everyone's gaze swayed back and forth between Renly and Richard, and then they realized: Renly was a Private First Class, while Richard had no military rank. Even though Private First Class still fell within the category of soldiers, even in the military, soldiers treated each other as friends on an equal footing. However, the situation was unique now, and rank was rank.
Richard remembered the Colonel's words before the training began, and his expression became even more unpleasant.
"I'm not obligated to tell you anything, because you're not my pretty boy," Renly's smile, as refreshing as spring breeze, contrasted sharply with everyone's disarray and bewilderment. However, his vulgar yet humorous words made everyone chuckle softly, "Or is it that you're ready to sell your ass?" He paused slightly, and a glint of radiance flickered in Renly's narrow eyes, vanishing as quickly as a devil's whisper. "But I'm quite selective."
"Ha-ha!" The crowd burst into collective laughter. No one cared about Richard's dignity. They clapped and laughed heartily. However, the consequences were apparent—quite a few people began coughing violently. The grimacing expressions clearly displayed their agony. At this point, everyone realized that, compared to Richard's well-being, their priority was to rest.
Consequently, the onlookers began to disperse, one by one. Richard's face had turned red to the point of nearly dripping blood, but he was unable to utter a single word. He struggled like a turtle carrying a heavy load on its back.
Renly resumed his slow, turtle-like pace and moved forward. Richard, a mere underling, wasn't worth expending too much energy on.
Before long, Rami caught up, panting heavily like a bull. The simple steps were a substantial burden for his current physical state. "Our barracks aren't in this direction; you're going the wrong way," Rami kindly reminded Renly, who was obviously walking in a different direction from everyone else.
Renly raised his chin and gestured towards Barracks No. 3 not far away. "That's where I'm heading." Rami didn't quite understand, so Renly explained, "Our beds are just wooden planks. Shouldn't we at least have a piece of cloth to cover up with?"
This humorous explanation made Rami grin widely.
The two of them, dragging their weary bodies, arrived at Barracks No. 3. Indeed, someone was already waiting. Renly and Rami turned out to be the first to arrive. "You guys are quick to react," the soldier who had distributed their uniforms before remarked, still wearing a friendly smile. "It seems you've had an unbelievably awful day."
Renly shrugged, but he found that his shoulder muscles were sore. His sparse eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, prompting the other person to chuckle lightly. Renly's smile turned slightly helpless at the corners of his mouth. "For you, it's just an ordinary day."
The soldier nodded with a smile, "It doesn't even qualify as a day. Sometimes, within a mere hour, you'll feel like you've traveled back and forth between heaven and hell."
"Like "Full Metal Jacket"?" Renly asked curiously.
The soldier paused and thought for a moment, "About fifty percent of reality in movies is captured." From his expression, that was a rather high appraisal. "However, it's more like "Platoon" than "Full Metal Jacket"."
"So, you participated in the Vietnam War?" Rami, standing beside them, asked curiously.
Both Renly and the soldier burst into laughter. Rami was puzzled, and Renly explained, "The Vietnam War ended in 1975." The soldier before them appeared at most forty years old, possibly even younger. Naturally, he couldn't have participated in the Vietnam War.
Rami awkwardly scratched the back of his head. The soldier gave an affirmative reply, "Gulf War, and later, I was in Iraq once more."
In an instant, Renly understood. In 2003, the United States launched a war against Iraq, plunging the entire nation into an endless quagmire. Clearly, following the Gulf War, this soldier had once again participated in this war.
The soldier perceived the understanding in Renly's eyes. In their brief encounters, the subtle details of their expressions and body language conveyed a fact: Renly had prepared diligently, not just for his role in "The Pacific", but to truly understand war.
"Tim Barneys," the soldier proactively extended his right hand in a friendly gesture.
"Eugene Sledge, Private," Renly also extended his right hand, and they lightly shook hands in mid-air. However, Tim didn't immediately let go. A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes. Renly caught on immediately. "Renly Hall, civilian." This made Tim burst into hearty laughter.
Rami, standing by, wasn't quite sure what was going on. He just stared wide-eyed at the brief interaction between the two. Unexpectedly, Renly's voice sounded, "Rami Malek, probably also a civilian."
Then Rami saw Tim extend his right hand toward him and hurriedly shook it. "Nice to meet you, I mean, sir! Merriell Shelton," Rami replied in a localized manner, prompting Tim to nod with a smile.
Tim handed over the beddings to Renly and Rami. Then he said meaningfully, "This is the new recruits' training camp. Don't take it lightly. They won't lower the standards just because you're actors. So far, this is just the beginning."
Renly had a premonition that Tim's words didn't just refer to the next nine days of training.
Leaving Barracks No. 3 with their beddings, Renly noticed others gradually leaving as well, dragging their weary bodies out. They finally realized they had no beddings left. If they didn't want to sleep on wooden planks tonight, they had to move their sore bodies again. "Train-rest-move-rest" – this cycle of torment nearly depleted their last ounce of vitality. Their dejected appearance resembled zombies attacking a city from "The Walking Dead", truly a magnificent sight.
Compared to that, though Renly and Rami were in pain, at least they weren't being tormented.
Back at Barracks No. 8, Richard lay on a wooden plank, half-dead, his whimpering sounding like a tortured little rabbit. Apart from that, a few people sat on the bed planks unwillingly, gazing blankly at the empty bed planks, seemingly stuck, their brains in a state of shutdown.
Renly placed the bedding on the bed plank and Rami settled down to Renly's right. After arranging the mattress and sheet, Renly lay down directly. However, even lying down, the pain in his back surged. He clenched his teeth and relaxed, experiencing momentary relief after a brief bout of pain. Then, sensation returned to his legs, a sensation akin to ecstasy.
"I feel like a complete idiot right now." A self-deprecating voice came from Renly's left. Following this, a series of rolling and clunking sounds reached his ears. Renly turned his head and saw two large 29-inch suitcases, blocking the corridor between the beds solidly. These gigantic objects found no place to settle. "James... no, Robert Leckie." The person proceeded with self-introduction. "I'm not used to suddenly having a different name."
"Eugene Sledge," Renly also extended friendliness. "Or Renly." He tugged at the corner of his mouth towards James Badge Dale, offering a smile. He knew it was a good time for socialization, but his exhausted brain couldn't muster up the energy. He drifted into a state of sleep, his eyelids not even twitching.
James glanced around at the other wailing and moaning actors, then at Renly, who had fallen into a deep sleep, and finally at his own suitcases, which he couldn't find a place for. Ultimately, he simply opened his bedding and lay down, closing his eyes.