"Alright," Lieutenant Marco raised his hand and signalled to the female recruit. "Get out of line and start from the touch line."
The female recruit nodded solemnly and stepped out of line and jogged back towards the beginning. She seemed to have gotten accustomed to the rule of 'obey before questioning'. Arianna jogged past the Lieutenant.
Over the past few days they'd been made to undergo intense training and exercises. They pulled heavy balls, practiced on Punch Throwers, took combat lessons, sparred with each other and often the other soldiers, run around to increase their speed and endurance, taken aiming practices and war zone survival lessons.
She would return to her quarters every night with cramping body and aching muscles. Her combat skills had increased really well and she was doing well in the shooting practice but one thing made the training camp hell for her.
It was Lieutenant Marco. The mean Lieutenant who kept referring to her as 'short stuff' or 'bean pole'. It was very frustrating and nothing she ever did seemed to ever tick his good side. He would always order her to go another extra round and when she protested, he would punish her.
She jogged past him hoping to have been invisible but luck wouldn't have it. "Hey, beanpole!" the Lieutenant shouted and she knew it was her. She stopped and turned to face him.
"You're too rigid. Be more flexible, go back from the top." He ordered with a wave of his hand. He ignored Arianna's eye roll and continued to inspect the others.
Today was fitness training. They had to run through an obstacle course, carrying the heavy tires on their way towards the large net on the other side, they would then leap off the large tires and catch the net and climb over it.
The next part was to roll the large stones up to the end of the track then pull the large balls along till you reached the end of the road then leave them and dash back towards the stones. The lieutenant was keeping record and so far he wasn't impressed with anyone. Only Arianna had gone close to the net while the others just didn't run right.
Arianna scowled and began running again from the beginning. Up ahead she could see the others struggling with the tires. If you dropped it then you'd have to start again. This training was torture. She had gotten to the net yet the Lieutenant had called her back because she couldn't jump at it in one go.
She soon ran towards the tires again. Edwin was in front of her. He was the only other person that the mean Lieutenant picked on—though he was mean to all the recruits. It was because of this that she had somehow developed a sense of familiarity with the General's son.
Edwin wasn't physically as strong as her so she also had the urge to protect him sometimes. A gesture that pissed Marco to no end.
Edwin bent down and pulled at the tire while flexing his muscle. The tire was heavy but he managed to pull it into the air while hunching over. He steadied his body for a few seconds before he began to take short steps towards the net.
Sweat broke out on his forehead and his lips quivered due to the weight he was carrying. His hands trembled and he tried to support the tire with his knee. A bad choice. The tire fell and pushed him backward to the ground.
Marco shook his head sadly. He walked towards Edwin with a smug smile on his. "You're more pathetic than the others. Who wants to keep this baby in diapers?"
The other soldiers who were supervising the training snickered. Edwin struggled to sit up. The Lieutenant scoffed. "Go back from the touch line."
Arianna dropped her heavy tire and offered a hand to Edwin. He took it and she pulled him up. Marco stood with a questioning gaze. "I appreciate you trying to show team spirit, short stuff but this is an individual training. Take it from the top."
Arianna rolled her eyes and straightened her body a bit. Lieutenant Marco shook his head. "Bean pole, to the wall. Give me 100!"
"But I didn't do anything!" she protested.
"You just did," he smiled. "Make that 120!"
Arianna jogged to the wall. She had learnt that protesting would only add to her punishment. The wall was just another word to describe a hanging test. One had to grab the strings, pull himself up and flip while in mid-air.
He would then hand upside down then do a reverse pull up while facing the white wall. It was terrible and always left one feeling dizzy and prone to puke.
….
It was in the afternoon that the training stopped for lunch. Arianna only had time to clean her body with a towel as she didn't want to be late for lunch. Lieutenant Marco would make sure that no one ate beyond the time stated in the schedule.
She grabbed a tray and went to the kitchen and got food. Most times the food would be really bland. They claimed that being a soldier was more than luxury after all one didn't expect to eat lavishly in a war front.
She met Edwin Trueman on her way to the canteen. He had also gotten his food. He joined her and smiled slightly. "I'm sorry for getting you involved in my mess. Because of that you'll have an extra time this evening."
"Don't worry about it. Anything to piss off Lieutenant grumpy!" she said with a smile.
"Careful," Edwin looked around. "You know he has ears and eyes around here."
Arianna shrugged. "Let's eat. You should try and stand up to him sometimes."
Edwin gave a sigh and sat down with a deflated look. "I know but sometimes I just feel like I'm out of place here."
Arianna raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Edwin avoided her gaze. "I'm not cut out for military life. I just decided to attend because I want to please my father."
Arianna paused and looked at him for a while before asking, "Why do you want to please your father?"