Soldiers in Heat: Training Session (8 page)

Jonathan watched in amusement. Harvey pulled
free, took a few steps, and was stuck again. He thrashed around and
repeated the process until he reached Jonathan. By the time Harvey
stepped out of the thorns, his uniform looked as if moths had
gotten a hold of it.

Kimberly returned, clearly holding in laughter
as she saw Harvey. “What the heck?”

“
We’re going to have to run back
in order to make it,” Jonathan said.

Harvey looked bewildered.

“
There’s the road back right next
to the other marker. Come on.” Kimberly started out in a slow
jog.

They made it to the road. Kimberly’s limp had
come back. He didn’t want to hurt her more.

Jonathan checked the time. “If we walk fast,
we can make it.”

Harvey sped in front.

“
You okay? Can you make it?”
Jonathan asked

“
Yes.”

They made it back with five minutes to
spare.

“
What the heck happened to you,
Candidate?” Staff Sergeant Isome asked as they turned in their
paper to be checked. “Look like you been through a shred
machine.”

Jonathan glanced down, hiding a smirk on his
face.

“
How the heck is it you two are
fine and he ain’t? Somebody didn’t wait for their team. Always one
dummy running off into the bush. Well, at least you got your
points.” Staff Sergeant Isome shook his head and marked off a Go on
their papers.

Chapter
Thirteen

You’re sexy when you’re hot and sweaty.
Kimberly blushed at the text and put her phone away. Ever since the
student leadership passed out all their cellphone numbers, Jonathan
had sent her several messages. She had no idea how he found the
time.

They were practicing operational orders while
other candidates were doing the second day of the practice text.
She sat on a log and the rest of her squad was nearby writing down
their orders for the practice run.

Kimberly wiped sweat off her brow and focused
on the paper in front of her. She
was
hot and sweaty but
doubted the sexy part. She glanced over at Jonathan. He had
positioned himself against a downed tree branch. His head down, and
the hat covered his eyes. There was a small smile on his
face.

She reached her foot out and kicked his boot.
He put his head up and shrugged his shoulders to show his
innocence.

“
Who’s up?” Captain Brown asked.
“Who’s ready for the practice run?”

No one moved.

“
You may as well get it over now.
All of you will have to go.” He looked around at them.

“
I’ll go, sir.” Kimberly followed
Captain Brown to another covered area. The rules to an operational
order were simple: make sure you hit all five steps, keep it short
and concise, and don’t make up weapons or support you don’t
have.

Captain Brown took a seat next to Staff
Sergeant Lopez, and they stared at Kimberly.

“
Any day now,” Staff Sergeant
Lopez said.

In the distance, she could hear Staff Sergeant
Isome hollering at a candidate, giving him the operational order.
Her nerves kicked in.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, she
began, “Situation. The enemy has deployed ground troops in an
effort to take over our communications and gain the high
ground…”

Kimberly wasn’t new to doing operational
orders as all noncommissioned officers have covered them, but this
was a more stressful environment. As she spoke, her confidence
grew. When she finished, Staff Sergeant Lopez nodded.

“
Good job candidate,” Captain
Brown said. “Send in the next.”

She went back to her squad.

“
How was it?” Rice, one of the
guys in the squad, asked.

“
Fine once you get started,” she
said. “Who’s next?”

“
I’ll go.” Harvey headed for the
cadre area.

She took a seat back on her log.

“
I knew you’d be fine,” Jonathan
said.

“
Oh, if you do fine the first
round, you don’t have to do it again. Captain Brown mentioned it on
my way out. I heard Staff Sergeant Isome screaming at someone. No
way I want endure that again. With my luck, I’d get
him.”

“
Guess I better get a first time
Go too then,” he said.

She nodded in agreement. A few minutes later,
Harvey walked back to their area with his head down. Rice got up
and walked to the cadre tent.

Harvey stopped in front of Kimberly. “You said
it was easy.”

“
I said fine, not easy. It is as
long as you know what you’re doing,” she said.

“
It must be because you’re a
female,” he huffed.

Kimberly resisted punching him for the
remark.

“
What did they say you did wrong?”
Jonathan asked.

“
Service and Support. They laughed
and put me out when I said we had F22’s on standby.”

“
F22’s? Dude, where the heck do
you see any fighter jets? You’re supposed to use the weapons you
know we have. The example didn’t even have fighter jets. You can’t
just make stuff up.” Jonathan looked at him sideways.

“
And somehow my passing is because
I’m a female? No, I think it had to do with me using mortar rounds
from our artillery and not F22’s.” She rolled her eyes at him and
put her head down so he couldn’t see her holding back her
amusement.

“
Screw both of you.” He stormed
away from the area.

Jonathan turned towards Kimberly and laughed.
“F22’s? Really? The Air Force is loaning us their jets
now?”

“
He’s still trying to be a big
shot.”

“
More like get shot down. No
wonder they kicked Harvey out the tent,” Jonathan said.

They stopped talking when Rice
returned.

“
It went fine for me. I don’t know
what Harvey’s problem was,” Rice said.

“
F22’s,” Kimberly said.

Rice looked at her and cracked up. “What a
douche.”

“
I guess I should do my duties and
go check on him.” She headed in the direction Harvey had stormed
off to. Kimberly saw him standing by the water buffalo filling up
his Camel Pac. “You okay Harvey?”

“
I’m fine.”

“
It didn’t seem that way. You were
pretty upset when you walked off.”

“
Why’d you call me out in front of
the white boy?” he huffed.

“
What? I didn’t call you out. I
asked how you did.”

“
You can speak to white boy but
never make time for me?” He walked away from her.

“
They’re all white.” She followed.
“I speak to everyone. Look around there’s only a hand full of black
people here. I’m not going to separate myself and only speak to
those who are black.”

Cutting his eyes at her, Harvey twisted the
cap to his Camel Pac and put it on his back. “I know better for
next time.”

“
You ever think part of the issue
is you’re too eager to show off? Leading isn’t always about jumping
in head first, especially if you’re unsure of what it is you need
to do. Look, most of us are prior enlisted; we’ve all been through
a majority of this training. But we haven’t done it their way.
There’s nothing wrong with relearning something. If you were to act
that way when leading troops, someone is going to get hurt. You
have to stop and think about your actions.”

Harvey shrugged his shoulders.
“Whatever.”

“
Harvey.” His behavior was working
on her nerves.

“
Look, I said whatever. It’s all
good.”

“
Fine. We’re in this mess
together. If you need help, ask for it. There’s no reason for you
to fail. Let’s get back. I can take a look at what you have. Then
you can go again and show the cadre what you’re made
of.”

He followed her to the rest of the squad.
Kimberly sat down with Harvey and showed him the areas, besides the
F22’s, that needed improvement. Once he updated everything,
Kimberly gave him another pep talk and sent him to go stand in line
and wait for the next opening with the cadre.

“
I applaud your leadership, but I
still don’t like nor trust the guy,” Jonathan said when no one else
was paying attention.

“
I feel bad for him. Besides, we
do get evaluated by our peers. You’ll have your say then, just as
he will have his.”

Chapter
Fourteen

The cadre who came up with the route for the
seven-mile road march had to be one sick bastard. The trek uphill
most of the duration, and the terrain constantly changed from
gravel, sand, to wooded area. With less than a mile left, all
Jonathan could do was will himself forward.

His entire body hurt. He, along with the
entire company, wore full “battle rattle.” All the marches leading
up to this one were mild in comparison. The medal plates in his
vest crushed against is body. Weight from his ruck sack caused the
prongs on his load bearing vest to jab his lower back, and his
hands cramped from holding the M19.

Kimberly foraged on in front of him. From time
to time, he could hear her singing cadence to herself. They weren’t
supposed to talk so she kept it low and went silent whenever the
cadre passed her.

“
You doing okay?” he
asked.

Her nod could barely be seen. Daylight was
coming, but with the trees surrounding them, it was hard to tell.
Jonathan did see the piece of beef jerky she held back for him to
take. Hours had passed, and he needed a boost.

He grabbed it. “Thanks.”

“
Almost home, going for the
stragglers,” Captain Brown shouted to Staff Sergeant
Lopez.

Jonathan watched as he ran to the end of their
platoon. The way Captain Brown’s ruck sack bounced, he knew it was
stuffed with nothing more than pillows. The cadre had nothing to
prove, therefore why hurt themselves? They did this at least four
times a year with the different classes. He did the same a drill
sergeant.

The last hundred meters were nothing but sand,
breaking the spirit of those barely holding on. With each step, one
of his feet sunk in and he had a hard time pulling it free, but he
didn’t give up.

Their platoon made the last turn in and formed
up. The faces of some of his squad looked worn, but they made
it.

“
Second Platoon, listen up,” the
Student Platoon Sergeant said through gasps of air. The leadership
had changed, and Craig was now in the position. “Great job,
everyone.”

They stood around until Captain Brown and the
stragglers made it in. “Congratulations to all those who made it.
Those who didn’t, you know the routine. I’ll be seeing you this
evening. Go ahead, drop your sacks, and get some hot
chow.

A detail had set up breakfast next to a
makeshift staging area. The smell of the food was the only thing
making his feet move. Dropping the weight from the ruck sack and
load bearing vest did little to stop his pain.

Jonathan and the rest of his platoon slow
dragged over to the breakfast buffet. Powdered eggs and rubbery
sausage never looked so good. He filled his plate and took a seat
on a large boulder with a few of his squad members.

Everyone but Kimberly made small
talk.

“
You okay?” he asked
her.

“
My body still feels like I’m
marching. It hurts to lift this spork.”

“
You don’t look so good.” Her
normal caramel complexion looked greyish. “I think you need more
than water.”

He went to get some Gatorade. Jonathan knew
the look all too well; she was dehydrated. Water didn’t have the
nutrients she needed. If her skin didn’t change colors soon, he’d
have a medic look at her. But a medic was the last resort. Call him
selfish, but he didn’t want her away from him longer than she had
to be. Being near her each day gave him something to look forward
to. He found himself smiling whenever he thought of her.

After filling two cups, he headed back to her
and handed her a cup. “Here, drink this.”

She sipped a little, made a face, and then
sipped some more.

“
Take your time. Your body needs
it,” he said.

By the time she was on the second cup, she was
able to take small bites of food. Relief sweep over
Jonathan.

“
Finish up, candidates. It’s time
to pack it up and roll out,” the Student Sergeant Major
said.

A shower was exactly what he and everyone else
needed. The road march had him dripping with sweat from head to
toe. The sun came up and the flies were swarming. He smelled awful,
or like hot garbage as he heard Kimberly say before.

They gathered their gear and packed it in the
truck. A few moments later, the buses pulled up to transport them
back. Within in minutes of loading the bus, Jonathan was
sleep.

“
We’re here,” Kang said, bumping
him.