May 2076
Fort Ord Pacific Command Naval Base
Monterey, Pacific Territory
United States of America

“I don’t have all day, ladies and gentlemen! Kick those legs, I want to be across for my lunch date with time to trim my beard!” bellowed Drill Sergeant Roderick Dempsey. “Let’s move it, people! This boat won’t propel itself! If those fools in the Corps can push a rowboat across a stream, I’ll be damned if you can’t push my boat across this pond!”

The team of would-be recruits splashed and kicked as they pushed the pontoon boat, captained by Sergeant Dempsey, across the manmade pond that sat in the middle of the aquatics zone of the training grounds. Alex gulped a breath of air and plunged his head back under the murky water. He had learned early on in the exercise that trying to push and keep your head above water at the same time was much more tiring than swimming with your head down. Twenty recruits pushed the pontoon boat, the kind that could hold ten or twelve people comfortably. Right now it held the Sergeant and about five hundred pounds worth of sandbags he had ordered the recruits to load on before the swim. 

Alex had arrived at the camp the morning after his talk with Blake and had been surprised to find almost a hundred other recruits present for the training exercises. The training grounds were located in a reclaimed stretch of what Alex learned was a large military base, Fort Ord. It had last been active during the second World War and then closed down, but the Territorial government had decided to reactivate it with the losses suffered in San Diego and Los Angeles during the Mexican War. With so many bases located in the southern part of old California, the military had needed a large place to relocate so many of its troops.

The first week of Basic had been nothing but pure physical conditioning. The recruits had been instructed during the first day about making a bed, keeping a kit, and the appropriate way to secure and fasten their uniforms and gear. Alex had gone to bed tired, but not exhausted. The recruits were awakened before the sun was up the next morning. Drill Sergeant Dempsey had personally ripped off each recruit’s covers and dumped them out of bed. He had then forced the entire group to run two miles up and down a half mile stretch of road leading up a hill. The rest of the day saw the recruits lugging sandbags up and down the same stretch, running weighted relays, and performing alternating sets of pushups and situps, again with extra weight added. Alex had fallen onto his bed thoroughly exhausted the second night, wondering why he had signed up for Basic in the first place.

The rest of the week saw repeats of the second day’s exercises and increases in the amount of weight, repetitions, and distance. By the time they ended the first week or training, more than half of those who had been present at the beginning were gone. Dempsey had given a speech, saying that every week the recruits survived meant they were one step closer to the next level of training. He never said explicitly what the next level was, but Alex had felt proud when he made it through the first week. As he struggled through the water, he thought that pride may have been premature.

“Boy, Dempsey is in a good mood today. Glad we got to do this on a sunny afternoon,” said Shawn Woods as Alex popped his head back above water for another breath. 

Shawn was the closest person to a friend Alex had in Basic. They had been assigned the same bunk on day one, along with another boy named Daniel and a sullen girl named Gwen. Daniel had washed out after the second day of training and Gwen had suffered a broken leg during the beginning of the second week. Where Alex was reserved around his peers, Shawn was raucous and loud, always ready with a joke and a smile. He was a lean guy, 20 years old, just a few months older than Alex. His skin was the color of milk chocolate and his eyes a matching shade of brown. Before the officers at Basic had shaved his head, Shawn had sported a full set of dreadlocks and looked decidedly as unmilitary as possible.

“One more quip like that outta you, Woods, and I’ll loop a rope over your shoulders and have you mush all the way to the other side like goofy looking dog you are!” Dempsey shouted over the thrashing, bringing a laugh from the rest of the recruits. Dempsey was the kind of officer that expected only the best. While he was always hard on the recruits, he was not sadistic about his exercises or punishments.

“Yes, sir, Drill Sergeant Dempsey, sir!” Shawn shouted back, barely a trace of mocking sarcasm in his voice, at least so little a trace that Dempsey couldn’t really do much but chuckle himself. “You heard the Drill Sergeant, move your asses boys and girls.” 

“Speak for yourself, Shawn, you’re probably doing more harm than good thrashing around like that,” Alex quipped at his friend. “Good thing there aren’t any sharks in here or we’d all be fish bait thanks to you.” 

That brought a round of laughter from the rest of the recruits and Shawn had the good grace to blush, though it was difficult to tell between his natural skin tone and the water reflected off his face.

It took the group almost half an hour to paddle the boat across the pond but finally Alex felt the grinding of the pontoons against the dirt. He quickly left the back of the boat and made his way toward the front, his assigned position for beaching the craft. Alex, along with three other recruits, grabbed four lines attached to the front and began pulling the boat further up out of the water. After a strenuous twenty minutes they managed to pull the craft completely out while the rest of the recruits splashed and pushed from behind. Dempsey jumped off the edge of the boat and landed nimbly on the gravelly mud created by the beaching of the vessel.

“Form up! I want you in ranks now!” he shouted over the splashing as the last of the recruits who had been pushing, including Shawn, clawed their way through the mud at the bank of the pond and up onto the dry land.  Within seconds the ragged mess of muddy, wet recruits were assembled in neat order.

As Dempsey walked down the line of recruits for inspection, Alex took a moment to make his own appraisal of the group. Every youth in the group had put on about 10 pounds of muscle over the course of their training. A few had dropped significant amounts of weight. Alex himself felt stronger than he ever had in the past. He had always been trim, but now he had added a whipcord ruggedness to his frame. His face had tanned in the spring sun from entire days spent outside with little to no shade. His hair remained the same platinum blond it had been from day one, but it now stood out even brighter against his toasted skin tone as did his bright green eyes.

“Alright, that was better than last time,” Dempsey said, barely raising his voice over the sounds of artillery fire in the background. 

The explosions and other noises associated with the base had kept Alex jittery for the first few days, but he had eventually acclimated to them. Alex cast a quick sidelong glance at Shawn, who was smiling slightly to himself. 

“Don’t feel so good about yourself just yet, Woods,” Dempsey said to Shawn. “Tomorrow morning will mark the next phase in training. You all will have the remainder of the day off in preparation for this next phase. While you may think you’ve managed to survive where others have failed, know that you are in for a rude awakening.”

As if to highlight his point, the rumbling grunts of a transport truck echoed across the training yard. Every recruit turned his or her head to examine the source of the sound. The truck was massive, easily twenty feet tall at the top of the cab. Twelve wheels, six on either side of the vehicle, crunched over the gravel road as is crept up to the center of the training facility. Alex could see figures, sitting on benches, through the metal slats at the rear of the trailer. The front of the vehicle looked less like a truck and more like a tank, with a huge gun barrel protruding from above the cab on a swivel. There were three stages of the vehicle in all. The first was the cab and turret while the second served as what looked simply like an armored trailer with small slots interspersed across the length of it at various heights. The final segment of the vehicle held the figures Alex had first noticed. All in all, it looked like a giant, mechanical insect on wheels.

The vehicle chugged up the hill and then ground to a halt in front of the mud-spattered and dumbfounded recruits. The figures on the benches in the back poured out while a door opened at the front of the cab. From the cab, a short, heavily muscled man jumped the four feet down to the ground, landing lightly. He turned to watch those from the rear as they formed up in order across from Alex and those standing near him.

Alex studied the milling group of newcomers. They were dressed head to toe in black fatigues. Their black pants were tucked into shining, polished black boots and they all wore black berets on their heads. They were all uniform, like they were already serving in a mercenary company. What Alex noticed most was the smug look plastered on nearly every face in the crowd as they looked at the wet, muddy recruits standing by the boat.

“Company! Attention!” yelled the man who had dropped out of the cab of the vehicle. He was shorter than Dempsey and wider too. But Alex noticed there seemed to be no trace of fat on the man. 

Like a solid wall of muscle, Alex thought. 

Clearly this wasn’t a man to be trifled with and from the way he held himself before the recruits, Alex could tell the man was one used to getting his way and being obeyed without question.The newcomer was dressed similarly to the younger company now standing at rigid attention, backs straight and eyes forward. But Alex was distracted by any further investigation of the new officer as his eyes darted to the side, caught by something that made his heart pound and his stomach drop..

Cassie stood at the end of the column, the corner position furthest from Alex. Her hair shimmered in the sun, black as raven feathers, straight and cut short just below her ears, shorter than he had remembered. Her skin was still pale, though a shade darker, probably from whatever training she had been put through in recent weeks, judging by her inclusion in the group of black-clad newcomers. She momentarily glanced sideways at Alex and graced him with a twitch of her lip that looked vaguely like a smile. 

A swift elbow to the ribs from Shawn told Alex he was staring and he quickly composed himself, just in time to hear the shout from Dempsey, “At attention, recruits!”

Alex snapped his heels together, the first in a series of sloshing recruits coming to attention, still dripping wet and covered in mud. He stared straight on, trying to do his best to mimic the newly arrived guests. 

“Roderick, old buddy,” the short man in black as he strode purposefully across the gravel road, hand outstretched. 

“A pleasure, as always, Roberts,” Dempsey replied in what Alex could only think of as being annoyed. Dempsey shook the other man’s hand. “I was told your recruits wouldn’t be here until sundown, Sergeant.”

“Well, the kids were itching to get here and see what they were up against,” Sergeant Roberts laughed, slapping Dempsey roughly on the shoulder. Dempsey didn’t so much as smile at the jest, Alex observed. He nodded around to several of the recruits in the group, including Alex and Cassie. “Operation Angelfire all over again, eh?”

Dempsey, for his part, simply narrowed his eyes and almost imperceptibly shook his head. Roberts dropped the smile and his eyes took on a more serious look. To Alex, it looked like to wolves squaring off over a meal in winter.

Operation Angelfire, Alex thought, wracking his brain for why the term seemed so familiar. He didn’t have much time to think about it.

“I don’t think Dempsey likes the good Sergeant here,” Shawn quipped over Alex’s right shoulder. Alex took the opportunity to grunt an agreement and immediately wished he hadn’t. Either Shawn spoke louder than Alex thought, or Dempsey and Roberts both had exceptionally good hearing. The two Drill Sergeants turned toward Alex and Shawn as one.

“Did anyone ask you for your opinion, Woods?” Dempsey yelled at the two of them. Roberts simply watched, his face blank but his eyes showed a spark of amusement. “And you, Samuelson. You don’t agree with Woods that sky is blue unless I give you permission to do so. Now both of you get into the water. I want that boat on the other side of the pond in a half hour, is that clear?”

“Yes, Drill Sergeant Dempsey,” the two shouted at once. 

Alex ran to the rear of the craft and began the desperate attempt at pushing the boat back out away from shore. Shawn pushed from the bank and Alex could hear snickering from the assembled recruits in both groups.

“Would anyone else care to join them,” Roberts roared as he wheeled on the group he had brought. “No? Good. The rest of you,” he pointed at his team, “will assemble up at the barracks and wait for those two to finish. If you so much as whisper a nice word to them, I will personally ride you across the pond like a damn dolphin, is that understood?”

“Yes, Drill Sergeant!” the assembled group in black boomed in unison.

“Drill Sergeant Dempsey, permission to help the recruits in the water!” came a shout from one of the others in Alex’s group. He was the smallest, and youngest, of the group, a little runt of a kid named Jimmy Sanders. He had decided Alex and Shawn were the only ones in the group who did not seem totally uninterested in making friends and had been at their heels for the past week. Dempsey looked as if he was about to say no, when Jimmy simply walked into the water

“Did I say you could help them, recruit Sanders?” Dempsey yelled after him.

“No, Drill Sergeant, but seeing as how you’ve punished them with doing this, I think my volunteering is punishment enough for my stupidity at speaking out of turn, sir!” Sanders called back, already into the water and pushing the boat on the opposite side from Alex.

“He’s got a point there, Rod,” Roberts chuckled.

“Yeah, guess he does,” Dempsey said, a tiny twitch at the corner of his lip indicated his approval of Jimmy’s gesture of help. Turning to the rest of his recruits, he yelled, “Anyone else want to volunteer for punishment?”

Five others out of the remaining twenty four nodded and simply jumped into the water. Alex felt their extra strength as they finally slid the boat out of the mud and into the pond. The remaining recruits on the shore looked anywhere but at Dempsey. He nodded to them.

“The rest of you will shower and assemble at the barracks. You will have new room assignments. Two recruits from each company will bunk together in four person rooms. These will be your units for the remainder of training,” Dempsey yelled, addressing not just his group, but those under Roberts as well. “Tomorrow, we find out who among you are leaders and who among you are followers.” His gaze lingered a moment on the eight recruits slowly paddling the boat back across the pond.

“Dismissed.”

* * *

Alex, Shawn, Jimmy, and the other five recruits who had helped them push the pontoon boat back across the pond trudged slowly up the hill toward the recruit barracks. The sun was already setting and the wind off the ocean chilled Alex in his damp, muddy clothes.

“Operation Angelfire,” he muttered once again to himself as he slogged uphill.

“What are you mumbling about?” Shawn asked next to him. “You’ve been saying that out loud since we got out of the water.”

“It’s something I overheard Roberts say to Dempsey, something called Operation Angelfire,” Alex replied. “I’ve heard it somewhere before, but I can’t quite place it.”

“Sounds like old war stories to me,” Shawn said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I heard Dempsey and Roberts served together, in the Marines or the Army, don’t know for sure which. They were in Detroit when the Canadian’s shelled the city. Mark Denets told me they both received silver stars for their parts in the defense of Chicago.”

“Not guys I’d wanna mess with, that’s for sure,” Jimmy said as he jogged to catch up to the other two.

“Oh, and what do you call that stunt you pulled back there,” Alex asked with a grin.

Jimmy smiled sheepishly and shook his head. To be fair, Alex hope he would have been so brave in that position, to stand up to Dempsey when he was already issuing punishment. The support meant a great deal to Alex and Shawn. Not to mention the others who had willingly helped the two out, despite knowing they would end up wet and tired and possibly miss dinner. That thought of food set Alex’s stomach growling. They were only a couple of hundred yards from the barracks and chow wasn’t for another hour or two.

 A gust of wind caused the eight of them to groan in unison at the cold. Beyond that miserable noises of those trudging behind Alex, Shawn, and Jimmy, a more rowdy noise started echoing across the training field. As they crested the rise that gave way to the flat area where the lodging quarters were located, Alex finally saw the sources of the shouting.

Two of the newly arrived strangers had assumed fighting poses, right feet back, knees bent, fists up. Two of the recruits from Dempsey’s group stood opposite them, one clutching his nose. Alex could see blood seeping through his fingers. He signaled to his group to pick up the pace and they quickly jogged the last hundred yards up to the circle of recruits now forming around the combatants. Alex saw the circle closing and sprinted ahead, forcing his way through the milling spectators before they could cut him off. Shouts and curses erupted behind him as Shawn, Jimmy, and the others caught up just too late.

Alex slid to a stop, facing the four in the center of the circle. The two on the right, dressed in the black of Roberts’ team, cast wary glances at him. The two on the left, from his own group, smiled.

“What the hell is going on?” Alex demanded. The recruit from his group, the one without a broken nose, turned to Alex but kept his hands up ready to fight.

“That asshole,” he yelled as he pointed to the taller of the two black-clad recruits, “said he won’t share a bunk with ‘darkies’ like us.” 

Alex realized then that every single recruit dressed in black was caucasian, though he suspected a few were probably hispanic with light skin. Alex didn’t really see lines between race and certainly never judged people because of their ethnicity. He looked at the indicated recruit. He was about Shawn’s height, but the similarities to Alex’s friend stopped there. Where Shawn was dark, he was pink, like he had never spent a minute outside in the sun. Where Shawn’s hair was brown to match his eyes, the other recruit had blond hair a little darker than Alex’s and blue eyes the color of the ocean. He also seemed less sure of his surroundings, like he was uncomfortable being outside in the elements.

“Is that true?” Alex asked, keeping his voice calm. The last thing they needed was free-for-all between the two groups.

“Yeah, it’s true. Bunking with these two would be like living with my gardeners,” he scoffed and spit into the dirt in front of the three muddy recruits. The two men facing the black-clad recruits stiffened at the insult, but stayed put.

“Where are the bunk orders?” Alex asked.

“Right here, Alex,” he heard Jimmy shout as the small boy weaved through the crowd, list in hand. He passed by the other four and handed the paper to Alex.

“Thanks, Jimmy,” Alex said with a smile as he scanned the list. Then he looked at two in black and asked, “What are your names?”

“Sebastian Malwood,” answered the tall one.

“Jeremy Reeves,” sneered his friend. 

The two suspiciously regarded Alex.

“Ok, I’ll make you a deal so we don’t have to get bloodier than we already are,” Alex started. He paused a moment and looked from face to face to make sure no one was going to try and assault him before he could finished. When he saw now objections, he continued, “I’ll switch spots with Jorge and Jimmy here will switch spots with Eddie. They can bunk with whoever recruits Jackson and Robinson are.”

Two hands shot up from the crowd as the named individuals responded. They both looked at the one named Sebastian, who seemed to be some sort of a leader in the group. He just shrugged, then looked at Alex.

“Fine. But stay out of my way, Samuelson, and don’t think for a minute I’m not watching you,” he said with a sneer. “My parents are good friends of the Jameson and Hawthorne families. I heard what you did and you won’t get away with it again on my watch.” 

With that, Sebastian turned and stalked off, followed quickly by Jeremy and half the rest of the recruits who had arrived with them. The other half hung back, obviously not part of the inner circle. They were soon making introductions, the first of which were between Jorge, Eddie, Jackson and Robinson.

Alex barely noticed the exchanges. He felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. 

I heard what you did and you won’t get away with it on my watch. 

Sebastian’s words echoed in his head as he stood there. Alex had taken great pains to not reveal his past. He knew no one could find out through court records; he still was not of majority and his records were sealed until then. Alex was so focused on piecing together how to handle the situation that he jumped when he realized someone was standing next to him. As he jinked to the side, he realized Cassie had snuck up next to him.

“Sorry we haven’t had time to catch up, Alex. But thanks for breaking that up. Sebastian isn’t a bad sort, he’s just out of his element, you know?” she said quietly, as if she didn’t want any to see her thanking him.

“I’m honestly still surprised to see you here,” Alex replied, trying to keep his voice even. “Besides, I’m just trying to keep all our noses as clean as possible. Those four will get the chance to fight this out, but I don’t want it while I’m around to take the heat. Why are you here, Cassie? Your dad is the second most powerful man in the Territory and you decide to join a military company?”

“I couldn’t be at home, not after my Aunt started coming over, trying to get my Dad to do something about... you,” she replied. She stared off across the training field for a moment, lost in her memories. She heaved a breath and then flashed a smile at Alex. “So I figured I would do something with my life, rather than just sitting around at home or going to some stuck up school. I want to make a difference, you know? So here I am.”

“So here we are,” Alex said, not sure how to react. “I take it he’s the boyfriend I heard about?”

“Yeah, kind of a family setup thing between my Dad and his parents, you know how it goes,” she replied.

“Not really,” Alex said. “I’ve never had a girlfriend, remember?”

“Hey, Cassie, hurry up!” Sebastian shouted from up the path.

“Well, gotta go, it’s good to see you again, Alex,” Cassie said as she flung her arms around Alex and hugged him close. He felt the warmth of her body, the slight tickling sensation of her breath on his neck. He also saw the reddening rage on Sebastian’s face. 

“Get some rest, Samuelson, tomorrow’s going to be a big day,” she said with mock formality.

He watched her jog to catch up with the others following Sebastian. He realized then that his heart was pounding in his chest, but he wasn’t sure if it was from breaking up the fight or from her hug. When she caught up with Sebastian, Alex watched her throw her arm around his waist. His hand drifted up to her shoulder as he hugged her to him. Sebastian graced him with a smug grin, as if to remind him of their positions with Cassie.

“Girl has you in a twist, huh?” he heard Shawn mumble behind him.

“We’re old friends. I’m gonna go wash up,” Alex responded, ignoring his friend’s barb. “Jimmy, grab your stuff and head over to the new room. I’ll stop by and let Dempsey know about the change and meet you there after I shower.”

“Got it, Alex! See you there,” Jimmy yapped, excited to be bunking with Alex.

Alex left the rest of the group, jogging up the stairs toward the main building that housed the recruits. The barracks were old military dormitories, built even before his grandfather’s grandfather’s time to train the United States military in the early years of the World War II. They were solid concrete structures with peeling paint on the outside. The insides of the rooms were drab and unpainted. Alex thought back to the comment Shawn had made the third day of training, that the plain walls matched the food and scenery. He chuckled silently at that as he purposefully strode down the corridor toward the showers.

Thirty minutes later, he was washed and clean. Alex nearly opened the door to his original bunk before remembering that he had volunteered to move. He resignedly turned around and marched back down the hall toward his new room assignment. The room was empty. Jimmy had dropped all his belongings on the lower of one of the two bunk bed sets. Alex glanced at the analog clock on the wall. 

Quarter to seven, maybe I can catch Dempsey before chow, he wondered as he struggled into a clean shirt and a clean pair of sweatpants.  

The night was getting chilly, and the fog had rolled in off the ocean. Gazing out the window, he could see the thick blanket of fog covering the training facility. Alex grabbed the plain black sweatshirt from his bag as he left the room and pulled it on, content with the soft warmth it brought.

If the room had been chilly, the hallway was frigid. Alex was doubly glad for the extra warmth as he padded down the hall toward the end of the building. The officer quarters were attached to the recruit barracks. Alex knew by now that Dempsey was always on time, precisely 7:15 pm, every night for dinner. Reaching the end of the hall, Alex straightened his back and knocked three times on Dempsey’s door.

“It’s open,” he heard Dempsey shout from inside. Alex hesitated. He’d never been invited into the sergeant’s room. “Come on in, Samuelson, don’t make me wait all day!”

“Yes, Drill Sergeant,” he stammered as he quickly opened the door and stepped into the room. Alex was surprised by the spartan state of the room. In fact, the room didn’t seem to have any more comforts than those the recruits slept in.

“You were expecting a suite with beautiful women bathing me in sweet oils, eh Samuelson?” Dempsey said, a sarcastic smirk glued to his lips. Alex had the good grace to blush and sheepishly shook his head. He found himself suddenly fascinated by the cracks in the cement floor. “At ease, recruit. What can I do for you, I was about to head to chow?”

“Sergeant Dempsey, I just wanted to let you know there have been some changes made to the sleeping arrangements,” Alex said, his body still rigid at attention. Somehow, it gave him the little boost in confidence he needed to address the imposing figure who sat in front of him.

“Oh? I thought I had made it clear during drills this morning, that assigned sleeping arrangements were already picked out?” Dempsey wondered, the duel hint of angry sarcasm apparent in his question. Alex quickly recounted the events of the previous hour. 

“I’m sorry to change the sleeping arrangements on you without first asking, sir. I was just trying to avoid any further confrontation,” Alex apologized after he finished the report. 

Dempsey just nodded silently. Then he rose, threw on his coat, and motioned for Alex to follow him toward the Mess Hall. Alex followed, equally silent. Dempsey could be hard when he needed to and Alex had a feeling he was about to be dressed down in front of the entire group for insubordination. He picture Dempsey’s face red with anger, sputtering screams in his face while the rest of the recruits laughed behind their hands. 

The two arrived at the Mess Hall within a few minutes. The small building was located just across the from the Barracks, a squat, one-story building with a sheet metal roof that constantly seemed to be dripping wet. The walls were old wood constructions with wide glass windows set into the top half. Alex could see the recruits had almost completely divided themselves, each set of recruits off on one side of the room. The only exceptions seemed to be a small group sitting in the middle of the room. Alex was relieved to recognize Shawn, Jimmy, Eddie, and Jorge. Mixed in with them were Jackson and Robinson, the two who Alex had reassigned to bunk with Eddie and Jorge. He was also surprised to see two other black-clad recruits Alex didn’t know, but he recognized them as two who had introduced themselves as the rest of their group had walked away earlier.

Dempsey slammed the doors of the Mess open. The gust of air caught everyone inside off guard and Alex heard more than a few of them mutter curses at whoever had decided to let in the cold air. The crowd turned to see Alex, but their eyes quickly bulged as they saw Dempsey. The shuffling in the room was deafening as Alex’s fellow recruits instantly shot up to attention. The few newcomers at the table with Shawn and Jimmy did likewise, obviously uncomfortable remaining seated in between the others. The rest of their peers remained seated, obviously unsure what to do.

“Suarez, Gonzalez, Sanders, front and center!” Dempsey boomed. Eddie, Jorge, and Jimmy wasted no time and quickly moved to stand at attention in front of Dempsey and Alex. The three gave Alex suspicious looks, but he slowly shook his head. No one knew what Dempsey would do. “Samuelson tells me you all dislike your assigned rooms.”
The three remained quiet. If Drill Sergeant Dempsey wanted an answer, he first asked a question. Right now, he was simply stating the facts. Arguing would be a surefire way to night laps loading and unloading the boat down at the pond. Dempsey looked at each one of the three standing in front of them. Alex noticed they looked concerned, but it seemed more from the uncertainty of the situation than any real fear of punishment from Dempsey. 

“Recruits Malwood and Reeves, front and center!” Dempsey yelled at the black-clad mass of recruits, some of whom had decided to stand at attention. Alex noticed with satisfaction that Sebastian and Jeremy were not two of those more intelligent and respectful recruits. To his disappointment, he noticed Cassie had also remained seated, though she looked a little more uncomfortable sitting than the rest of her friends. The two called didn’t move, but several sets of eyes turned to them.

“We only take orders from Drill Sergeant Roberts,” Sebastian said, standing menacingly. Though less sturdily built compared to Dempsey, Sebastian still towered over him. With a wry smile, he sarcastically added, “Sir.”

“Hmm, very well. Does anyone else agree with Recruit Malwood?” Dempsey asked the assembled recruits, a note of amusement in his voice, as if he were playing a fun game with them. A few nodded and several vocally agreed. “Good. Anyone who just agreed with Recruit Malwood, listen up. Drill Sergeant Roberts has been reassigned for the remainder of Basic. I’ve been left with full authority and discretion for the remainder of non-specialized training.”

There was an audible groan from several of the black-clad recruits. Alex noticed an impressively bright hue of red rising on Sebastian’s cheeks. The rest of his posse, as Alex thought of them, also seemed to be both angered and embarrassed. They knew they had just been played. Dempsey briefly turned his attention back to the four recruits still standing at attention before them.

“At ease, recruits. You and your friends here,” he said, indicating the black-clad recruits standing at attention at the table with Shawn and Jimmy, “will be Alpha squad for the remainder of training. In response to these recent events, I’m changing the rules I previously had in place. Each squad will consist of nine members. This means there will be uneven numbers of my original group and Sergeant Roberts’s group. You will be judged on your ability, in the coming weeks, to perform as unit.”

“Samuelson, you’ll serve as Corporal, Alpha Squad. You are now in charge of these eight recruits. If they piss, you watch. If they trip, you pick them up. If they try to fail, you make sure the succeed. Understood?” Dempsey said, turning to face Alex. Alex gulped, suddenly aware that every pair of eyes in the room was concentrated on him.

“Understood, Drill Sergeant,” Alex replied, stamping his heel down as he came to attention. His friends, now his squadmates, took the hint and the eight of them snapped to attention as well.

“From now on, anyone not serving as a team leader will address Corporal Samuelson by his title. That goes for the other seven recruits who will be taking over the squads,” Dempsey shouted and this time everyone stood at attention, though Sebastian look especially perturbed at having to do so. “Alpha Squad, take a seat. Except you, Corporal Samuelson, front and center.”

Alex nodded and moved into the position previously occupied by Eddie, who threw him a guarded smile at the promotion. The other four recruits now under his command took their seats and shared a knowing gaze with their four new-found friends. Alex took some comfort knowing he had a squad who would likely be the first to trust each other and work together.

“When I call your name, take your place up here next to Corporal Samuelson,” Dempsey said as he removed a small sheet of digital paper from his pocket. Alex saw it flash images of the various recruits as Dempsey searched through the brief database for his next selection. 

“Recruit Johnson, front and center. Your rank is now Corporal, Bravo Squad,” Dempsey shouted as he began to list off the newly appointed team leaders. 

Steve Johnson was a strapping youth and was the eldest of those who had started out alongside Alex. At 26, he had passed the Territorial Guard minimum age by almost a decade. Johnson was quiet and rarely spoke unless he really needed to. Alex wasn’t sure what Dempsey was up to, but he wasn’t about to question the Drill Sergeant’s motives either. Steve took his place next to Alex and gave him a firm grin, which Alex briefly returned. Three more recruits were promoted to lead Charlie, Delta, and Echo Squads. 

That’s five of seven so far, Alex thought, wondering who would be chosen as the last two recruits. So far, three of the five were recruits from Alex’s group, so he could only assume the last two would come from the other group. 

“Recruit Malwood, front and center. Your rank is now Corporal, Foxtrot Squad,” Dempsey barked. Alex kept his eyes forward, not wanting anyone to see the apprehension in his eyes. He knew he had made an enemy of Sebastian earlier in the day, but now he had to deal with the possibility that the tall, blond, newly-minted corporal now commanded eight other recruits. Alex had a sick feeling in his stomach that this was going to be a far different type of training starting in the morning, and he wasn’t sure he liked that.

“Recruit Hawthorne, front and center. Your rank is now Corporal, Golf Squad,” Dempsey intoned. 

Cassie took her spot at the end of the line, next to Sebastian, who looked even more red with the idea that his girlfriend was now the head of another team he would be competing against. She just smiled at him, then briefly at Alex. It wasn’t altogether a cheerful smile, more of a competitive, daring smile, as if to say, bring it on, boys. Dempsey turned to regard the seven corporals, stamped his feet together, and saluted them.  Amazingly, all seven returned the salute more or less in sync.

The next half hour was spent detailing out the teams, food completely forgotten in the rush. Dempsey set up the teams so that each squad leader had a close friend in the group. Alex assumed that was meant to give each newly promoted recruit someone to help them get a firm grip on the command and have something like an aide-de-camp, a term Alex came to learn meant an assistant. When the teams were complete, Dempsey ordered each group to assemble in a different part of the room. He took his place in the center of the room, all thought of eating an evening meal forgotten.

“From tonight on, for the next three weeks, this will be your family. Look around you, get to know these people. They are the only ones you can rely on. Basic training is over. Specialization starts tomorrow morning. This is where the boots hit the dirt, boys and girls,” Dempsey lectured, slowly turning in a circle to face and address each squad. “Starting tomorrow, you will begin learning tactics, weapons, hand-to-hand combat, survival skills, and many, many more useful skills that will get you hired and keep you alive. You might find this exciting. I promise you by the time you finish, if you finish, you’ll only be thankful you survived. 

“At the end of Basic Training, you will be evaluated. If anyone washes out, that squad simply has fewer members for the evaluation tests. I promise you this though; lose too many, and the likelihood of shining during the evaluation will be nothing but a dream. The commanders of every major military contracting and security company will be watching these drills. You impress them, you might get offered a job. Fail to do so and you will find yourself cold, hungry, and out on the streets before the day is through. Get some sleep. Tomorrow morning, the real work begins.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 7 - Specialties