Disclaimer: New characters are mine, mine, mine.
Meeting the Men
Stephanie looked around. She could already see that this exercise was going to have some interesting interaction. Of the five men, Stephanie had only worked with Maurice. They had been paired on monitors for a shift late at night. Normally that shift was a slow killer for Stephanie. Nothing too exciting happened unless there was an alarm at a client's residence or business.
She had coerced some information out of him during their shift. She knew that he was a former SEAL who used to be afraid of water as a child. He had overcome his fear and had served in the Navy for fifteen years. He was an older new hire and had a calm demeanor about him. Stephanie had instantly felt at ease with him. Maurice was married and had a young son. He pulled out his wallet and showed her a picture of his wife and son. He told her their names were Naomi and Joel. Naomi looked about Stephanie's age and she hoped she would meet her soon. Her smile was gentle and she was holding their little boy in her arms. He looked to be about three. He had his father's eyes but his mother's facial features. They looked like a happy family.
He knew that she was involved with Ranger and without prying had asked her what he was like. Stephanie mentioned that hopefully he would meet Ranger in the very near future. He had been in the wind for four months now and had left a message with Tank that he was hoping to be home soon. She really missed him.
They had just chosen to work on a real relationship when he got the call. He had less than eight hours before he left and they had made the most of the time. They had locked themselves into his apartment on seven and nobody saw them until he left.
Terry spoke up."OK, here's what I get from the file. These co-ordinates will take us to the first checkpoint. I assume the plastic baggie is for something there. I'm also assuming that everyone knows compass reading, so let's saddle up and get moving. We probably have a long way to go before we can stop today."
He looked around. Everyone but Stephanie had their compass in their hands. Hers was conspicuously empty. His face quickly took on a look of contempt. Stephanie could already suspect that he would think that she was the token female and would have to be coddled along the way. Her spine stiffened. She may not be the true outdoorsy type, but she had other skills. She hoped that Bobby was not about to make her look completely helpless on this exercise.
They set off. The men set a strong pace and Stephanie had to speed up to match their step. She fell in beside Maurice. He patiently showed her how to read her compass and told her she would catch on quickly. It was easy to figure out once she was shown the basics.
They chatted along the way. Almost before she knew it, they had reached the first destination. Hanging in a tree was a duffle bag. Terry took it off the hook and opened it on the ground. Once again, they all sat down and perused the contents. Inside were power bars, water bottles and five tokens. Everyone took a token and put it into their plastic baggie. They filled the water canteens on their web belts. There were another five files. Each grabbed one and opened it.
Reading quickly, they noticed that there was another compass reading. This time, Teddie spoke up. He had a loud and booming voice. "Alright, everybody got the new reading?" There were four nods. Stephanie smiled at Maurice. She had figured it out quickly with the knowledge she now possessed. "I think that the first leg was the warm-up. Look around. The terrain is changing. Everyone take care on the trails. We don't need an injury this soon. "
Stephanie looked around. What had been grasslands was now changing to slight hills and rocky terrain. The sun was higher in the sky now and she put her hair in a ponytail and put on her baseball cap. Her sunglasses were already on her head and she pulled them down. They set off. The pace was a bit slower now due to the terrain. Teddie was leading. He checked back to make sure they were all following.
Stephanie fell in with Eddie this time. He was Teddie's identical twin. She introduced herself since they had not worked with each other before. Quickly she noticed that he was on the quiet side. She had grown up with identical twins in her childhood and knew that they were usually quite different personalities. While one would be subdued, the other would be loud. Eddie was obviously the quiet one. She found herself doing most of the talking, not a problem because she always felt that she talked enough for two.
Dragging out information, Stephanie found out that they were both former Rangers who had served with Ram. He had recommended them to Ranger. Tank and Les had interviewed them when they were looking to get out and had hired them. They had been out of the Army for only three months and after visiting their family in New Mexico had joined Rangeman in Trenton. They had only been employed for a month and really had not met anyone other than the core team. It was a Rangeman rule that new hires be paired with the core team members until their probation period was over.
Eddie had been paired with Bobby most of the time as he was a medic. Bobby was showing him the ropes and he was helping him to keep the infirmary running smoothly. Stephanie knew that Bobby was needing some time off. He was studying to be a doctor and his classes and interning schedule was getting very heavy. Rangeman was footing the bill and Bobby was at the top of his class. Stephanie knew that Ranger was hoping that eventually the future Dr. Bobby Brown would be in charge of all the medical facilities at all the Rangeman offices. Ranger was looking to the future and Bobby would be a very strong and vital part of the new Rangeman.
The walking became harder. They were now climbing hills. As Teddie had mentioned, the terrain was becoming more rocky. Stephanie slipped a couple of times. Her boots were excellent quality and she had lots of traction, but the rocks were slippery. She noticed a long stick by the trail. She picked it up and used it for balance. Along the way were more sticks. A number of the men also picked them up and the pace quickened. One refused to use any assistance. Coming down a particularly nasty incline, Terry lost his balance. He skidded down the hill and fell on the rocks. Instantly, Eddie took off to his side. Terry was holding his knee. He was grimacing in pain. His pant leg was ripped and there was blood oozing out the hole. Everyone stopped and watched as Eddie gently pressed around the knee. Terry grimaced in pain and gritted his teeth. Eddie was talking to him and continued his examination. "I think you hyper-extended your knee, Terry," Eddie said in his soft tone. He had taken his first aid kit out of his backpack. There was a tensor bandage in it and he expertly wrapped the knee.
Everyone stood around. Terry had refused to use a walking stick, and now he was hurting. He was helped to his feet by Eddie. "How does the knee feel? Do you think you can walk on it?" Terry grimaced a bit. He walked around. Looking around, he said. "It's gonna take more than this to make me quit. I should have sucked it up and taken a stick. Now I'm going to hold everyone back. My fault. I let my pride get in the way." Teddie clapped him on the back. "Could have happened to anyone, man. Do you want my stick? I can find another." With that, he held out his stick. Terry gratefully took it.
Teddie took the lead once again. "Let's move out. We need to get off these hills before dark. Slowly they moved down the hill. Their confident swaggers were gone. Now, everyone was concentrating fully on the task at hand. Stopping at intervals for Terry to rest, they reached the bottom of the rocky, hilly terrain. There was another duffle bag laying by the trail.
