My entire body rebelled against me as I heard the loud thudding of a fist against the door. "Rise and shine Greenies! Time for training. I squinted my eyes open, not that it made much of a difference, the room was completely dark. With no windows, night within the room looked exactly the same as day. My whole body hurt from training with Levi last night, and my body had still not fully recovered from our final the other day. With the state I'm in, I bet I'm going to make a really good impression on my new squad.
I let my right arm and leg slip off the edge of my bed, just more or less half on half off the bed. I keep myself wrapped in my blankets as my toes hit the cold stone ground. I swing my other leg around to follow, slowly but surely making my way out of bed. I always hated mornings. With my blankets still around me, I felt blindly around the room, trying to find the pile that was my uniform. I could hear Levi rustling on the other side of the room, but dark as it was I couldn't see him. I quick changed from my oversized shirt that I wear to bed to my uniform, praying that he didn't go lighting any lamps or opening any doors in the process.
As I finished tying off the last strap on my harness, Levi commented from across the room, "Ready?" I hoped it was by mere chance that he happened to comment exactly when I finished dressing.
"Let's go," I quickly replied.
Even though it has only been one day, I feel like I'm finally starting to understand the seemingly random twists and turns throughout the massive castle.
We slowly opened the massive wooden doors to the outside world, and were immediately blinded by the day's immense light. I shielded my eyes as we made our way further into the dried out courtyard. To the left there was a smaller building, most likely holding weaponry and other materials for training. To the right was a barn, holding our horses. I saw Kuehl leaning up against the side of the small weaponry building, talking to two other men who I could not make out much detail.
I looked over to Levi, whose mind seemed to be racing. He was glancing every which way, as if keeping watch for someone.
A couple yards away, Kuehl caught sight of us and stood up straight, hands behind her back. The two men turned around as if to see what had caused her sudden change in attitude. They both went wide eyed, as if no one had told them we would be joining their squad.
Keuhl cleared her throat. "Good morning recruits. This is your new squad. Meet Oluo and Uwe."
She gestured to the two befuddled men stood before her. Uwe had long dark brown hair, if not almost black, down to his shoulders. It was slightly wavy, and very much unkept. I looked over to Oluo, whom I recognized at once. The drunk man from dinner last night. He probably doesn't remember me, but I most definitely remember him.
"Alright, we're gonna start out with some sparring. Oluo, you face Levi," Kuehl looked over to me. "You'll be against Uwe."
Uwe was tough, extremely tough. If I wasn't so exhausted, I'm sure it would have been a more even match. Levi, on the other hand, looks like he got lucky because by the time that I had finished fighting Uwe, Oluo was already sitting nursing some bruises on his ribs.
"Usually right about now we'd be taking our 3DM gear and working on our maneuvering through that forest," Kuehl gestured to the forest surrounding us on all sides as Uwe and I made our way back over to Levi and Oluo. "Sadly, our shipment of gasoline was delayed a few extra days because Shadis hasn't been around the past week or so. So instead we'll be heading inside and I'll explain some of our formations to you two newcomers. Oluo and Uwe, you two could probably use a refresher.
Staying on the first floor, we made our way to the mess hall and opened one of the adjoining doors. It was a smaller, dimly lit room with shelves of books lining one of the stone walls. In the center sat a table, surrounded by 6 chairs.
Kuehl sat at the head of the table, while Levi and I took the two chairs closest to the door. Olou plopped down across from me, and Uwe slid into the seat next to him.
Kuehl reached into her front pant pocket and pulled out five red chips and placed them on the table.
"Our position in the Survey Corps pack in on the front left side. Once out on the feild, we will have no contact with the center ring. Our objective is to protect those in the center, escorting whatever scientists or important cargo we carry with us. Our positions is one of the most dangerous, and we will come across titans quite frequently. As far as individual positions go," Kuehl placed the chips on the table, a square formation and an additional chip in the center back, "I plan on having Uwe and Levi in the front." She gestured to the first two chips. "Levi you'll be on the inside, Uwe on the outside. Uwe get used to working with Levi, because when a titan comes up you two will be the first to attack. You and Oluo will be in the next row, as our backup. If anything happens to either of them, both of you head in. I'll be in the back, calling shots. Our first expedition as a squad will be in two weeks. Any questions?"
"No ma'am," we responded.
"Alright, dismissed for the evening."
I stood, only to let my mind run rampant with anything and everything that could possibly go wrong out there.