Hey guys, back with another update. Hope you enjoy this one. As always, I don't own any of the characters, Infinity Ward does.


Chapter 2

Ramirez stepped out of the barracks into the blazing sun. His mind was still reeling from the bomb Foley had dropped. No way was Foley his CO. No way.

He wondered what caused the Army to call in the reserve troops like this. Maybe the rumors were right. Maybe the Russians really were invading the US. It was probably why the almost triple amount of troops were milling about the base.

"Yo, Ramirez, you coming or not?"

The corporal's words pierced through his thoughts. Ramirez looked up at the waiting corporal.

"What, do I look like a fucking Barbie doll or what?"

Ramirez shook his head. Although he didn't know Dunn that well, he knew that only a guy like Dunn could make a comment like that. Probably because he himself plays with

Barbie dolls. Ramirez made a mental note to check his footlocker for Barbie dolls. That would be hilarious.

Sighing, he followed the corporal to the firing range.

The base was full of activity, with soldiers loading up on ammunition, some playing basketball, some doing some PT, but most of them were either fooling around or just chatting, what with the 24 hour leave and all.

It took longer than Ramirez expected to get to the firing range. When the duo finally got there, however, all Dunn did was walk straight past the range master.

"What the fuck?" Ramirez muttered under his breath. He jogged up to the Corporal and tapped his shoulder. "Why aren't we going to the range?"

The Corporal looked over his shoulder without breaking stride.

"That stand and shoot bullshit is too easy for me," he replied. "I'm going to The Pit." With that, he quickened his pace.

Ramirez stopped dead in his tracks, confused. The Pit? He had never heard of this "Pit" in boot camp or any of the bases he had been in. What the fuck was the Pit? Inwardly sighing, he ran after the Corporal with a "Wait up!" and flailing arms.

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Not long after, the duo finally reached The Pit. Nodding to somewhere above, Dunn walked deeper into a room while Ramirez looked up, curious. There was a soldier high above, entering something into a console. Guessing it was observation, and judging by the stairs it probably was, Ramirez made his way to the other room.

It was not what Ramirez had been expecting, what with the dark, dank hallways and dim fluorescent lights hastily wired to the walls. There was a long table covered in gun oil, and two olive drab weapons crates closed tight. There were a few weapons laying around, propped up by lazy soldiers. Someone would eventually have to clean and store them.

Ramirez stood around, taking in the entire area. He barely registered Dunn getting suited up in full combat gear beside him, still trying to figure out what he was supposed to do.

It appeared that he had been staring at Dunn, for the Corporal decided to make a snide remark.

"Like what you see?" he said, shaking his rear end at Ramirez, who quickly looked away, embarrassed. "You've been staring at me for five minutes. What's on your mind?"

Ramirez didn't reply. He didn't want to admit that he had no idea what to do, or that he actually did have something on his mind. Much less to a guy he had only just met.

Dunn snorted at his silence and resumed gearing up, now loading magazines.

Still looking around, Ramirez tried to make sense of what the hell he needed to do. The first thing that occurred to him was to gear up like Dunn, but for some reason there was this feeling that that was a bad choice to make.

Dunn, now finished loading up and suitably dressed, walked over to the two weapons crates and opened them, murmuring to himself. Ramirez could hear a faint "...where are you?" before a louder "aha!" escaped from the Corporal's lips and he pulled out an angular rifle in grey-and-white digital camouflage pattern.

Ramirez, being an avid shooter himself, had looked up a few weapons before coming to the base. One quick look was all it took for Ramirez to identify the weapon as the revolutionary Magpul Masada.

"That's a pretty nice piece of kit you've got there. I thought the Masadas were still in the prototype stage." he said, pointing out the weapon.

Dunn gave him a quizzical look. "Masada? This here is the ACR. That's A-C-R, if you're getting confused. But... Yeah. This baby looks like it can pack a pretty decent punch, if you ask me. Alright." The Corporal snatched a standard-issue sidearm from the table, stuffed it into his holster, walked over to a large red button and slammed his palm over it. "Watch the master at work." With that, he disappeared into the course.

Ramirez double timed it to observation. He nodded to the Sergeant manning the console, and looked out over The Pit. From up here, he could get a clear view of everything that was going on. Even so, Ramirez couldn't quite understand what was going on. Like a typical greenhorn, Ramirez turned to the Sergeant.

"What's going on here? What is this?"

The Sergeant looked up from his console.

"You're from the reserve, aren't you? You have that look around you." He drawled, his Southern accent flaring. "Well, welcome to The Pit, the toughest live-fire course in the base. One run-through and you'll be wishing you were dead." The Sergeant paused, turning to the course. "What you need to do is simple. Move forward, take down 'enemy' plates while avoiding the 'civilian' plates as fast as possible. You'll be doing a fine job if you complete the course in under thirty seconds. This man here is starting his run.

"Watch," he said, turning to the console.

Well, thought Ramirez, this is pretty straightforward. Shoot targets, don't hit civvies, and do it as fast as you can. He watched as a buzzer sounded, and Dunn began his run of the course. He was about to get his mind blown.

The first line of targets popped up. Dunn took them down lightning fast, not pausing in his step forward. The second line of targets met the same fate, and by the time Dunn approached the only building in the course, Ramirez had his jaw hanging open.

A multitude of targets popped up all around the building, with some moving and others in harder to reach areas. Dunn took them all down with equal precision. He disappeared into the building, and Ramirez saw the Sergeant working to keep up with Dunn's speed.

After a moment, Dunn emerged on the rooftop, and he ejected the last few rounds he had into the targets around him. Ramirez saw him jump down and pull out his sidearm in one fluid motion. The Beretta's report was clearly heard as Dunn displayed equal skill with the pistol as the rifle. However, when he approached the final line of targets, Ramirez could see him wince as he accidentally hit a civilian. A loud buzzer sounded, and Dunn sprinted to the end of the course.

Ramirez nodded to the Sergeant and descended the steps to the preparation area and began gearing up. Dunn was already waiting for him, panting heavily. The intercom sounded and Ramirez recognized the Sergeant's voice.

"Corporal Dunn, all targets hit, one civilian hit, total time 27.56 seconds."

Dunn raised an eyebrow. "Not bad. So," he said, stripping off the gear. "How did I do?"

Ramirez paused.

A twitch of the eyebrow.

"You did like shit."

Both men managed to keep straight faces for approximately three seconds before simultaneously bursting into uncontrollable fits of laughter.

"HAHAHHAHHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAH!"

Eventually, Dunn managed to calm down to clap Ramirez on the shoulder.

"Dude," he coughed out between breaths, "That was seriously one of the funniest statements I've ever heard here." Dunn's entire body shook, struggling to contain the laughter that was threatening to build up again.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the two men composed themselves. Ramirez proceeded to select his weapons for the course, picking up a standard M4A1 as opposed to the ACR. He liked something that was familiar to him. Checking to see that his sidearm was secure, Ramirez moved into the course, just to have a sobered-up Corporal clap his hand on his shoulder.

"Look alive. General Shepherd's up in observation."

Inwardly, Ramirez flinched. He did his best to keep his composure though, and nodded before heading into the Pit. What the hell was a General doing in a lousy training course? Ramirez shook his head. It wasn't his right to question a General's motives. Sighing, he checked that his magazines were fully loaded and got ready.

The buzzer sounded, and he heard Dunn shout out, "Go! Go! Go!" over the microphone as he sprinted out. Three targets popped up, and he lined up the sights on the first one. The M4 was equipped with battle sights instead of the standard triangle sights Ramirez was used to, so he took a second before pulling the trigger. The man-sized steel target went down, and Ramirez shifted his aim right, taking the other two out with ease.

Dunn's voice blasted in his ears, and he pushed on, downing another trio of targets before running up to the building he had seen before.

As soon as he got to the first line of sandbags, a flurry of targets popped up all around the building. Ramirez fumbled with his rifle, firing in controlled single shots. Just as he shot down a moving target, however, a buzzer sounded, indicating a civilian hit. Ramirez caught sight of the hidden plate behind one of the terrorist plates as it went down. That was so cheap, he thought.

Moving into the building, targets popped up left and right, and Ramirez took them down with no hesitation, carefully not hitting the civilians. He ran up the stairs, pulling out his sidearm as he did so.

Out of nowhere, just as he reached the top, a terrorist target swung straight into his face, slamming into his nose. Ramirez stumbled, faintly hearing Dunn shouting and the word "knife", and rushed at the target with his combat knife. The metal made contact, and the target swung out of the way. Ramirez took down the four targets on the roof and jumped down, reloading as he did so.

He was now on the final stretch, a messed up mix of both civilian and terrorist targets everywhere. Systematically taking them all down, he sprinted through to the finish, where an ecstatic Dunn was waiting.

Ramirez put his hands on his knees, panting heavily. That was a pretty hard course and he felt completely drained from the experience. He didn't notice the blood dripping from his nose until Dunn clasped a hand around his shoulder and asked if he was alright.

Still slightly disoriented, Ramirez raised a glove to his nose, wiping away the blood before starting to shed his combat gear. The loudspeaker sounded, and he heard the Sergeant's voice ring out, "Private Ramirez, all targets hit, one civilian hit, total time 32.46 seconds. Good work." At his time, Ramirez looked up. Surely he didn't go that fast.

Really?

Dunn just smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. Ramirez set down his weapons and gear, about to go to the mess with Dunn. He was finally beginning to enjoy himself, even as a soldier. As they ascended the steps together, the emergency scramble klaxon went off. A voice called out over loudspeaker, "All units! We are at war, repeat, we are at war! All units scramble, head to RV point Alpha! Godspeed!"


I apologize for the weird ending, it was what worked at the time. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this. Review and subscribe!

*Disclaimer* ~ I am a slow updater. Please stick with me!