HOLLA! So I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that you have a chapter! The bad news is that this story is coming to close. It's for two reasons: a) I'm not getting very much response to this story, I don't know if you guys like this story at all or if you don't like it. I don't know if you think my writing style is good or not. I've adored writing this story but people just don't seem interested. But b) it is coming to a natural ending.

Sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than others. By the way, Toby Nomad is Trent's alias and Scott Sampson is Sebastian's alias. Do you recognise the name Jordan Wellen from another chapter? If so, well done! So the first half is done in e-mail form, from when they were received.

Wednesday 1.30pm

Toby Nomad: hi, I'm new to the school here and I was wondering if I could as you a couple of questions about the place?

1.34pm

Adam Mitchell: sure, welcome to hell on earth. Unless you're serious about going into the forces, you don't want to be here.

1.39pm

Toby Nomad: why do you say that?

1.41pm

Adam Mitchell: I'm sure you've figured it out but this place is dead strict. It's like you're in the military already. Sometimes that's a good thing it is preparation for what we are going to face, unless of course you've been sent there by a parent that hates your guts.

1.44pm

Toby Nomad: yeah, I'd got that impression pretty quickly. I'd heard about the place from an old friend of mine. My dad was a naval officer and I want to follow in his footsteps.

1.47pm

Adam Mitchell: oh, who's your friend? I know everyone at this school, well pretty much know everyone. Was it your dad that landed you here then?

1.51pm

Toby Nomad: he died, three years back, serving in Iraq. His first deployment. My being here is a sort of memory to him.

1.54pm

Adam Mitchell: you're not alone, same thing with my mum but she was on the ground. So who is the acquaintance?

1.57pm

Toby Nomad: I've got two actually. One is now a teacher at my old school, Bertie Ross, and Hunter Clarington.

3.50pm

Adam Mitchell: how you do know Lieutenant Clarington?

3.55pm

Toby Nomad: we met through Bertie, mutual friends. Why, do you know him? Are you two friends?

3.59pm

Adam Mitchell: I could never be friends with that fairy. I can't believe he still exists.

4.02pm

Toby Nomad: is there something I should know about him? Was he not liked at school?

4.06pm

Adam Mitchell: aside from some of the members of the Springboks, everyone hated him. He was a wuss and was never going to be a good soldier, no matter what our superiors said. Never take or granted anything that prick says because he's arrogant and will manipulate you. He may have a smile that can charm a colonel who's seen the wars, but he will never amount to anything.

4.10pm

Toby Nomad: a wuss? Was there something that happened? I don't know Hunter that well and he never says anything about his past.

4.12pm

Adam Mitchell: a complete and utter prat. He seemed to think that he ruled the roost because he had been here the longest out of any of us in the year. There was an incident in our junior year that is never spoken about.

4.14pm

Toby Nomad: never? How curious! He never mentioned any incident. Do you think if I asked him, we still keep in contact although I've transferred here now, he would tell me?

4.18pm

Adam Mitchell: I wouldn't try to ask him about it. In fact, it would be much better if you stopped talking to him. He has influence that you couldn't dream of and a wicked mind that tries to trap you and you can't get out once you are in. Nomad, it would honestly be better if you didn't bring it up. But if you want to find out, just look at the student newspaper articles from the last couple of years. We have our own to circulate and it tells all the news, especially when something as…as impacting as his event and the results appears.

4.21pm

Toby Nomad: thanks, I really appreciate the advice. I'll take a look and see for myself whether it is something I need to bring up or not.

4.23pm

Adam Mitchell: good luck around here, I expect I will see you around the place.

Friday 5.15pm

Scott Sampson: hi, I'm new around here and I saw that on the board that you were one of the people I should go to if I had any questions. Are you a senior here?

5.20pm

Jordan Wellen: yes, I'm one of the senior prefects at the school. Welcome to the best place to learn discipline and to realise whether you are good enough for the army. Lieutenant Jordan Wellen at your service.

5.23pm

Scott Sampson: um, I'm not sure of my rank at the moment but I'll presume Private? Private Scott Sampson, sophomore. I don't exactly want to be here, I was thrown in here by my father.

5.25pm

Jordan Wellen: let me guess, trouble maker at your old school and so your father thought it would be a good idea to give you military training? See if you are a real man or not?

5.27pm

Scott Sampson: yup, I got busted for drinking alcohol on site and doing some soft drugs. Nothing too harmful, everyone just overreacted, nothing that was a big deal.

5.30pm

Jordan Wellen: how harsh was your old school to get you busted for that? I mean sure the drugs I could understand if they were at least decently hard, but soft? And everyone drinks alcohol on site, except here. I'm sure you've worked out how incredibly persistent they are about checks here.

5.33pm

Scott Sampson: it was like I'm in freaking jail or something! I seem to be watched every hour of the day. Does that always happen with guys like me? Or are they just that paranoid?

5.35pm

Jordan Wellen: we all go through the same thing in our first couple of weeks, even the good guys, no matter what age you join the school at. They'll drop your tail in a couple of weeks.

5.37pm

Scott Sampson: great, a couple of weeks…I can't believe Hunter ever said he liked it here.

5.38pm

Jordan Wellen: wait, that wouldn't happen to be Hunter Clarington you're talking about?

5.39pm

Scott Sampson: yeah, he's a great friend of my brother's, really good guy. Do you know him?

5.43pm

Jordan Wellen: know him? I had to suffer with that git for 7 whole years of my life! I am so glad he has scarpered off to goodness knows where. I only hope that he's lying dead in a morgue somewhere. That little piece of…he didn't deserve his title and he certainly didn't deserve his place at a military academy. Wimps like him never last long and I'm surprised he did.

5.45pm

Scott Sampson: clearly you failed to see the 'great friend' part of my last e-mail Lieutenant Wellen. How come you hate Hunter so much? What did he do?

5.48pm

Jordan Wellen: oh I wouldn't want to waste your pretty happy image of that sissy. But if you really want to know, I suggest you mention me. I was the only person he was truly scared of.

5.50pm

Scott Sampson: and I bet that made you really happy, didn't it? I get the feeling that you really enjoyed the fact that despite he was captain of the Springboks and had a position of power over you; he was still scared that you might reveal a secret to the world.

5.52pm

Jordan Wellen: well, well, well some sophomore is getting cocky. You shouldn't speak like that to your superiors if you want to last anywhere in this school Sampson. But if you want to know why your pal was hated by pretty much every single person, I suggest you follow this link and enjoy. Maybe you'll see why we all hated him so much and so glad that he's gone.

5.53pm

Scott Sampson: maybe, maybe not. You'll find out that I don't change my mind very easily and those who get in my way tend to get hurt.

5.54pm

Jordan Wellen: oh I'm so scared. Save the big talk for the younger kids Sampson. I'll be keeping a very close eye on you.

5.55pm

Scott Sampson: and I on you.

"Well thank goodness that Jordan actually had the guts to give us the link." Sebastian sighed as the boys reconvened in his room on the Saturday afternoon following their usual morning classes. "The git may have been a coward and clearly a bully but he wanted to get Scott to hate him rather than admire him."

"Adam seemed to have a similar attitude." Trent nodded; opening up the e-mails he had sent and received three days previously. "He was nice but he wasn't as vocal as Jordan about his hatred but it was clear there was no love for him."

Jon frowned. "Do you think that everyone else really thinks like that? I mean, two people aren't exactly an accurate representation of the Colorado Springs populace. Were either of those two boys a Springbok?"

Thad typed quickly before nodding. "Adam is, he's now the captain of the group. Jordan is varsity captain of the football and soccer teams, the exact opposite of Hunter. No wonder the guy hates him." He raises an eyebrow. "I'd say that represents a good lot of the population of the Academy."

"But has anyone actually read the article?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow and asked around the group, looking at his friends.

They all shook their heads. "When you forwarded it to me, I kind of assumed you had already read it and would either have told us to read it or have not read it and wanted to read it altogether." Thad added and this was met with agreeing nods.

"Well," Sebastian got off his bed, "give me a minute and I can connect the projector to the laptop so we can all see it clearly."

The boys waited patiently for their resident computer genius to do what he did best. It was useful often to have a friend like Sebastian when it came to random and rather complicated needs like this and it was through these kinds of things that the boys became friends, an unlikely but strong bonding exercise. It didn't take very long for Sebastian to rummage around in his room to find all the necessary cables to connect the laptop and the computer. However it was the internet that slowed the boys down. It seemed that the internet had decided to be especially slow at that moment just to annoy the boys. It was hard work being patient for something that they had been working on for a while.

Finally the page loaded. The student newspaper looked extremely professional and all the boys were secretly rather impressed. Most of them agreed silently that if they had not known it was a student newspaper and the rather incriminating headline and style of writing that perhaps wouldn't have been used on the front page article, they might have mistaken it for a newspaper they could have bought at the local corner shop.

But it was the headline and the front page that shocked the boys into silence. It blared out at them like it was staring at them right in the face. heavy breathing was the only sound that could be heard as they read, growing red faces as the tone danced teasingly out at them as if taunting them to reply with anger and bitterness. On the other hand it was very persuasive and the photo of Hunter in action was rather good.

"Sebastian have you –" a sudden voice broke their silence as the door turned and Hunter himself entered the room. He took in the boys shocked and surprised faces, slightly reddened with both anger and embarrassment at being caught. And then he saw the reason, he saw the projector, the laptop and what was on the screen. Suddenly his whole demeanor changed. His shoulders shrunk, his eyes lowered and he took a step back. "Oh, you found that." Was all he could manage before he turned and fled the title of the article: Captain Chicken Clarington still standing with a strange pride and forwardness on the wall.

What did you think? Why do you think Hunter is being called a 'Chicken'? All will be revealed next chapter!