The hardest part of going back to the way things were was the job market. Because of the amount of food I ate during the lock down all my clothing became baggy on me. I went from a medium to a small in the last few months. Not that I had any small clothing. With the baggy clothing and taking job interviews, I had a hard time finding work. It was already hard to make ends meet before, but now the companies are extra greedy for the objects that came from the tower. Companies told employees they could go back to work and not face any repercussions for leaving during the fall. Though with the new objects from the towers, the economy took a hit. Those greedy people might as well have beaten the economy to death with how things were going. Everything skyrocketed in price, with minimum wage staying where it had been before the fall. Many people take out major debt, if they could get approved, to continue living.
I went back to work, which John did for only a few weeks before quitting. Skyler also went back to work. They began telling everyone how heroic they were. That Skyler's the one that noticed the spears and warned everyone. Now, even John kept a closer eye on Skyler. I thought it meant he found out that they were not a good person. Apparently, John had taken Skyler home during the fall and fell into their bed. Now Skyler's pregnant and never gonna get punished for everything they did. Skyler made sure everyone knew John was the baby's daddy. They would brag about how Skyler needed someone with them during the fall. That they were so scared of being so far away from their family. "John had been so strong and helpful that my fears melted away," Skyler would boast. I gave up all attempts at solving this problem when Skyler bumped into me and screamed. They told everyone that I was trying to hurt them for being pregnant with John's baby. That I'm in love with John and was jealous. At that accusation, all I could think is 'no' and walked out without a second thought. John called to tell me he would love to give my job the next recommendation, but that's all he could do.
The world governments acted after there were protests. People wanted to enter the tower to earn money or to find the belongings of their loved ones. They opened the first boot camp for those that wanted to enter the tower. There's a limited entry to the boot camps, 20 people at a time. With one being in each country that owned a tower entrance, there's 200 people entering the tower every five months. After the first group entered the tower, they said the boot camp would open again in a month. It gives each group enough time to work their way through the tower. While giving the different governments enough time to analyze the data that came through with each group. I saw an opportunity with the twelfth group. I had nothing left to do to survive. No jobs paid enough to stay here and I'm gonna die in a gutter or in the tower. It is easy to pick the high-risk with an amazing return. It's $1500 for the boot camp that lasts for three months. There's still a way to fail out of entering the tower. By checking your status screen, we assessed your growth. They have made a correlation between being level 15 and surviving the tower. They would look at your level at the beginning of the boot camp and at the end. If you were lower than level 15, you weren't going into the tower.
I had to take out a loan to get into the boot camp. It's not unusual for people to do this. For you to go to the boot camp, you would have to go to a sign-up location. At the sign-up location, someone will explain the expectations that they will have for you. They have you come back to get on the bus that will take you to the training location. When I arrived at 5:30 am, they handed me a bag with a uniform and blanket that I would use during the boot camp. We didn't need to bring anything as we would enter the tower the day after we graduated from the camp.
The first person who I met at the boot camp was the trainers. There are four for each group of 200. Every country had the rights to send in two companies of people. From the moment they sorted me into a group, I would be with them until we either left the tower or died. Each trainer was a part of the original military unit that entered the tower and survived. They looked as intimidating as you would think. I assigned to group 2. The trainers were three women and a man.
The woman in charge looked like a monster in her own right. At least I thought she looked in charge. She stood tall over us, appearing to be about 6'8'', and had a body built like a brick house. Her deep brown eyes sent a 'try it, I dare you' energy. It's obvious that you should never get on her bad side. Her hairstyle is the dramatic undercut that has more hair on the top. She didn't smile when greeting us, nor did she say anything. She waited, hands behind her back, watching us gather and whisper to each other. I looked at the other trainers but they were standing the same way, not talking, watching us. I decided that there must be a reason, so I copied them. Though after a few moments, I began rubbing my hand behind my back and looking at the ground. It's hard to keep looking at.
Once everyone saw the trainers were not moving, they got into position and became quiet about it. "All but three of you are dead," she announced to the group. "My name is Emile Payton. I am your senior drill, Sergeant. You will address me as sir. You will answer when I ask you a question with 'Yes sir' or 'no sir', understood?" She waited a split second. "ANSWER."
"YES SIR" We called back
"AGAIN!"
"YES SIR!"
"You won't stop training until I tell you to. You will not eat until I say so. I will dictate when you can sleep. If anyone thinks this will be hell, I have good news. Hell will be a walk in the park once I'm done with you. Questions?"
"NO SIR,"
"Sargent Jones, show them their sleeping quarters and tell them how to keep it clean." She commanded with a smirk on her face. I have a bad feeling about that smirk on her face. After getting there, everyone set up in their rooms first. Each room has five bunk beds. We are told that they will have inspections of the rooms to make sure they are clean. They will conduct the inspections randomly with no prior notification. Our last names assigned bunks to us. Sargent Anders told us she would let no one be lazy about getting up, or keeping their area clean. That she will make our lives a living hell if we don't follow the rules. It held less weight when Sargent Anders said that, as she is only 5ft tall. I got a bottom bunk near the door thanks to the name Sander.
"Sander, right?" my bunk mate asked me with a hand held out. He's a lengthy stick of a man that owned the greenest eyes that I have ever seen. He spoke in a slight New York accent. Dirty blond hair that only looked blond in the sun. The rest of the time it the color is a light brown. He is wearing the same navy blue uniform that I am.
"Uh yeah, right," I said, shaking his hand. My answer made him laugh a bit.
"Yeah, I get that. I'm nervous too. Name's Mathew, by the way", Mathew said. I tried to focus on anything but how his nose scrunched when he smiled, or how he had a dimple on his right cheek but not the left. I gave him a slow nod. When he just stared at me, I realized my mistake.
"Oh, uh Noa, Noa Sanders… my name I mean," I said, taking a deep breath. My face burned with embarrassment that I couldn't even greet him properly. The words clung to the back of my throat as I spoke.
"Wow, you okay bro?" He asked, his smile disappearing from sight. The worried look on his face made my embarrassment worse.
"Yeah, just anxiety," I said, trying not to like a weirdo. Though I'm sure that the ship had sailed. Mathew looked at me for a moment before the stunning smile reappeared on his face.
"Oh, I get that. My sis has anxiety too-" Mathew started when the trainer interrupted him.
"-LETS GO,"
"-ON THE FIELD NOW!" Two trainers called into the barracks. We turned and rushed out onto the field we were in.
"GOOD NEWS YOUR RUNNING" Sargent Payton called out.
"YES SIR" we called back. She got onto a bike and began pedaling. My jaw dropped as she rose her bike past us.
"HURRY, IF YOU WANT DINNER," she called out, and we ran after her. It didn't take long before we were wheezing and huffing. Most of us didn't stay informed, but that had more to do with the fact that we were all not used to running for so long. A few hours passed with us running after Sargent Payton. She would sometimes slow down, but never did she stop. When the first person collapsed on the floor, we all stopped.
I hunched over, gasping for air. My heart beat so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. My stomach turned as I huffed. When a hand fell on my back. I looked over to see Mathew. He faced red, and he was gasping. I heard someone throwing up to the left of me and wanted to join them. I also didn't want Mathew to see me throw up, so I stayed put. When my vision cleared a bit, having gotten more air. I saw the dirt below me. I hadn't realized that I collapsed.
"W- water," Mathew gasped out handing me a plastic bottle. I took it and chugged it. I only got a gulp or two before I choked on the water. Mathew patted my back "Don't die on me" he said between breaths. My body pulsed while I sat there, not moving. Looking around the group, I saw the trainers watching us with a sour expression. I didn't stand, too worried that I would fall over the moment I moved my legs.
"WE'RE HEADING BACK," Sargent Payton yelled. "AND I EXPECT YOU TO RUN!" she added, taking off back down the trail. I watched her bike away from us. I attempted to stand, still panting at the earlier sprint. Sargent Payton is long gone. By the time I was confident in my legs. The other trainers were here. No way I'm gonna phone it in. Running back after they hustled us. They wanted us to go faster than when we had gotten here. There is no way that we got that done.
Mathew and I kept our steady pace toward the back of the group. When I stumbled, he would grab my arm. When he later stumbled, I did the same. "Dude *gasp* I think *gasp* we should," Mathew said, gasping for air. He struggled to come up with the words to say. I didn't know what he wanted to ask. When he linked his arm up with mine without saying another word. I leaned on his arm and let him lean on me.
That is how we made it back to camp. The sun was set by the time we returned. Every step I took made my legs wobble. I didn't dare let go of Mathew at this point. I didn't need to be psychic to know that I would lie on the floor if I did. Glancing towards Mathew, it is easy to tell he's in the same situation. Sargent Payton greeted us at the end of the run.
"You made it back," Sargent Payton commented. I looked at her, hoping that she would let us go for the night. "You're in luck. As it's your first day, I'm going easy on you" The smile that curled up on her face terrified me. This is the easy training? We ran for hours before some of us even threw up. She strides closer to the dorm. "Get to bed. You only have a long day tomorrow," she sang.
I waddled over the door and onto the bed. Looking at Mathew with worry. I'm lucky that I'm on the bottom bunk. I can almost fall into bed, but Mathew had to climb up to get to bed. Mathew's face fell when he saw the ladder between him and his bed. "I'll help" I muttered. Mathew shook his head, taking a breath. He unlocked our arms and leaned on the bed. I watched him climb the ladder before flopping on his bed. His feet hung over the side of the bed.
"Mathew?" I asked when his feet didn't move into the bed. The answer I got back is a snore. I laughed before climbing into my bed. I took off my shoes before laying down. The moment my head hit the pillow, I followed Mathew's lead.
PHAT!
I shot up, hitting my head on the bed above mine. I looked over to see an angry Sargent Anders and guilty Mathew standing next to him. "Get up," the trainer growled. "You two are in uniform, your shoes are a mess and you are late to wake up," she sneered. I slid out from my bed to stand next to Mathew. "I will punish you for this. CLEAN UP YOUR BEDS NOW!" she yelled, leaving.
"Sorry bro, I didn't get the chance to warn you," Mathew whispered.
"YOU HAVE 15 MINUTES TO GET OUT HERE," Sargent Anders yelled back into the room. I just gave an understanding smile before rushing to make my bed. I looked at the other beds around me to see what mine was supposed to look like. Changing my clothes, and ran out to the trainer. I stood in front of her, waiting for Mathew to join me. When he joined us, he didn't do it in a hurry. "What took you so long, boy?" The trainer asked, throwing gritted teeth.
"Well, I'm already in trouble, so I thought I'd take my time to do it right," Mathew said with a smile. I looked at the trainer, whose face flashed with disbelief at his answer before smiling.
The trainer moved forward into Mathew's personal space. "Oh, is that so? Do a push up," she commanded with that smile. As if he was dense, Mathew shrugged in response. He got on the floor, did a push-up, waited a moment, and stood. When Mathew stood, the trainer's smile dropped. "Again" She stated. Mathew did the how thing again. After the third one, Mathew began panting and turning beat red. The trainer had him do the push-up and stand another 25 times before letting him stop. "After training today, both of you will do 25 extra laps. Go join the rest of the group," she commanded. We walked over to where the others were watching and waiting for us. I felt bad that they waited so long for us.
'Bitch,' Mathew muttered low enough that only I heard him. I glanced his way but didn't move my head. I didn't want to draw attention to him.
"MATHEW THAT'S ANOTHER 10 LAPS," Sargent Payton yelled out. Sargent Anders now standing next to Sargent Payton. Looking at the Sargent I saw it pissed her off. "NO ONE WILL SHOW DISRESPECT TO MY OFFICERS. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, I WILL HAVE YOU THROWN OUT LIKE A RAT WITH NO WAY BACK INTO THE TOWERS," Sargent Payton yelled to us. I could feel the gazes from the corners of people's eyes.