Chapter 7 – Reveille
Bella's POV
The mood inside Edward's new Volvo was a little tense. Edward and Jacob were still glaring at each other. Renesmee and I were trying to keep the peace between our respective boys.
Because Edwards Volvo could only seat six, Alice and Jasper had gone with Rose and Emmett in Rose's new car, a brand new BMW M6, candy-apple red, of course.
Rose was upset that Emmett had dragged her along, and Alice was more uncomfortable than ever while Jasper was focused on trying to calm her. It seemed the only ones who were actually going into this with an open mind were Renesmee and I.
We left at ten past five, and, thanks to Edward's insane driving, we made the hour-long drive in thirty minutes. Edward turned off of the interstate at exit five, and we made our way on the long, winding and steep road to Norwich.
"This must be lovely in the winter," I thought out loud.
Edward grunted in response. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I loved him dearly, but sometimes his "Emoward" persona was a little much, even for me.
We made another right and entered the town of Northfield. The campus was right on the outskirts of the town.
Emmett enthusiastically gave us a run down on the campus, and I had to admit that it had a certain charm to it. All of the dorms and academic buildings were brick. The library, in contrast, was painted white and made of wood rather than stone.
Edward drove through the campus and parked in the very last row of a student parking lot to ensure that nothing damaged his new car. Rose screeched to a halt beside us. Once both cars were parked, we headed toward the center of campus. It was beautiful this early in the morning.
I could see a lot of activity in the dorms. Students in different colored running suits were starting to file out and were moving into the large, open space between the buildings.
"Emmett, why do some of them have different outfits?" I asked.
"Well," Emmett answered with a smug tone in his voice, "after morning formation, the cadets have physical training, or PT, with their respective service branches. The black nylon suits are Army, the blue nylon suits are Air Force, the blue sweat suits are Navy and the green sweats are the Marines. The maroon suits are the Norwich issue ones, so those cadets haven't committed to any branch yet."
We kept moving. Rose, who was lagging behind, stopped to admire one of the cars. "Nice Land Rover."
Jacob turned and looked surprised. "That's a Range Rover Sport. Nice truck." He walked over, and got a closer look. "Wow. This one's got the supercharged v-8 engine and the off-road package."
He thought for a moment, and then turned to Rose, "Don't you think this is a little too nice to be in a student lot?" Rose thought for a moment and then shrugged.
He took a step closer to the truck, sniffed and jumped back.
"Vampire!" he exclaimed.
Jasper and Edward rushed forward and sniffed as well.
Jasper spoke first, "You're right. It's faint. Whoever it is hasn't used the vehicle in a while, but a vampire was definitely here. Good nose, Jacob." Jasper turned to Edward. "What do you think?"
Edward took a moment to analyze the situation before responding. "I know that smell. It's faint, and I can't quite place it, but I know that smell."
"Friend or enemy?" asked Jacob.
"I'm not sure."
"Should I take Nessie home?" Jacob asked.
"Jacob, I don't need to be escorted home," Renesmee interjected.
Jacob and Edward ignored her.
"Not yet," Edward answered.
"What do we do now?" Jasper asked.
"Let's find out who it is!" Emmett exclaimed. "If it's a fight they want, we can take 'em!" Emmett smacked his fists together, itching for a fight.
"I knew this was a stupid idea!" Rose spat.
"It's okay." Alice said. We all turned to stare at her. Hadn't she been opposed to coming here? "Whoever is here is not a threat to us."
"All right," Edward said, still surveying the situation. "Stay close together."
We walked carefully forward. Eventually, we were out of the parking lot, up one of the many flights of stairs and behind one of the dorms.
The rest of us could smell it now. There was definitely a vampire around here somewhere. I agreed with Edward. I knew the smell from somewhere, but couldn't place it.
We turned a corner, and I was immediately struck by the sight in front of me. Standing in an impressive formation were close to one thousand young men and women.
Emmett, our personal tour guide, explained the situation. "This is called the UP, or upper parade ground. Right now, they're waiting for reveille.
"There are four battalions, and each has three or four companies. Each company has two platoons. The first platoon is for upperclassmen, the second is for freshman, or rooks."
He then started pointing out the different groups, "Over there is First battalion. That's Alpha, Bravo and Charlie companies."
He then pointed to the right. "There's Second Battalion. And it's Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot companies." He gestured to the groups in front of us. "This is Third Battalion; they've got Golf, Hotel, India and Kilo companies.
"If you look to your left, you will see Provisional Battalion, which consists of Drill Team, Cavalry Company and the Norwich Regimental Band. Thank you, and please enjoy your flight." Emmett added, doing his best imitation of an airline pilot.
Rose smacked him in the back of the head.
I looked around and noticed that some of the cadets seemed to be relaxed and were talking amongst themselves, but others, the youngest ones it looked like, were completely still, staring straight ahead.
I turned to Emmett, and he explained without being asked.
"The ones who are standing still and staring straight are the rooks. Freshman year is like going through boot camp. The rooks are told how to eat and walk. They aren't allowed to wear anything except the clothes that they were issued, not even on weekends. They have to be at attention whenever they go outside. They have to march to all their classes, and they are forbidden from talking while in formation. Once they become upper classmen, they get to act like normal people again."
Then, I heard a bugle call. The change in mood was tangible. Instantly, all talking stopped. I noticed that everyone was standing with their feet shoulder width apart and their hands clasped behind their backs.
I turned to Emmett again, searching for an explanation.
"That's called parade rest. They hold that position until the Cadet Colonel calls them to-"
A deep voice called out from across the field interrupting Emmet's explanation, "Regiment! Atten-hut!"
Emmett pointed to our right. "That's the Cadet Colonel. The nine other cadets he's standing in front of are his staff. Each one of them has a different part in running the corps. They're kind of like the Presidents cabinet."
I turned and looked. Sure enough, one cadet was standing in front of nine others. Behind him, I noticed a flag pole and a cannon.
The campus echoed with the sound of one thousand pairs of shoes clapping together in unison. The sound was chilling.
The voice called out again, "Present arms!"
There was another mass movement as everyone on the field raised there hands in salute.
Emmett leaned in and whispered, "Next, they'll fire the cannon and raise the flag. Talking during the flag raising is considered disrespectful."
Sure enough, as soon as he was done, I heard the boom of a cannon followed by a bugle call. I saw four young cadets in camouflage uniforms hoisting the American flag.
After a moment, the flag was up, and the bugle stopped. In front of the flag staff, I saw the Cadet Colonel drop his salute and turned around.
"Regiment, order arms!" he called out.
Emmett continued explaining what was happening. "At this point, the Cadet Colonel will make some announcements and then dismiss the Corps. The announcements are for the sake of the cadets, so don't be surprised if you have no idea what he's talking about. "
"Regimental Room inspection will be this Friday. Anyone interested in going out for Ranger Platoon, INDOC begins next Monday at the Ranger House. Upperclassmen uniform standards are starting to slip. Fix it! Freshmen, you are not allowed on the fire roads or in the snack bar! Battalion commanders, take charge of your units. Carry out the plan of the day!"
The four battalion commanders saluted and turned to face their respective battalions. They then repeated what the Colonel had just said.
I leaned into Emmett and whispered, "Why are they repeating what he just said?"
Emmett chuckled a little. "That's a bit of ceremony. Right now, the battalion commanders are 'passing-down' information to the companies. Next, the company commanders will pass down to the platoons' leaders, who will in turn pass it down to the cadets in their platoon. Then, they all go to their morning PT."
Sure enough, a few moments later, the formation began to disperse. Some cadets looked like they were going back inside, but most seemed to be going off to separate corners of campus. There were several cadets walking towards us.
"Uh, I think we might be in the way," said Renesmee.
We moved off to the side, so they could go past us. I noticed that Alice, Rose and I were getting a lot of second glances. Every so often, Edward would cringe.
"First Sergeant Cain!" a voice called.
One of the cadets about to pass us turned around, "Yeah?"
The first cadet caught up. "Hey, we really need that training schedule for the new Ranger INDOCs. Think you can have it done by Friday?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," Cain responded.
The two walked passed us, and I got a whiff coming off of the one named Cain. My nostrils flared, my fist clenched and my chest tightened.
I knew that smell.
I turned to the rest of my family. Alice and Edward had similar expressions.
The three of us said in unison, "Jane."