Getting up early wasn't a struggle for Holly with a Sargent ordering everyone to get outside. The barrack came to life at six in the morning, while everyone inside rushed to get dressed in their uniforms. They only had twenty minutes to use the latrines and wash-up. And Holly did what was asked for her, all in a small state of shock. She wasn't even aware of anything until the cool morning air brushed against her pale cheeks.
"Alright, ladies…hope you all got enough beauty sleep. By the looks of it, none of you did. You all look exceptionally ugly today! Congratulations!"
Holly had to hide her smile.
Slusher continued to tell them;
"Usually, I'd let you enjoy breakfast, made by a few enlisted men. However. I have decided that breakfast must come second, meaning two of you will be on kitchen patrol once we return. If you fail this exercise, you are on KP with one other. Follow me, ladies!"
Holly gave Winters a tiny confused stare.
Shrugging, he whispered to her;
"this might be a tough one".
"Heck, no". Tent whispered, "it's 'gonna be embarrassing".
Following in behind the line, the Platoon marched away from their barracks and followed a strip of wood for ten or so minutes. When the strip of wood ended, they soon walked in a field, where a building could be seen in the distance. It was another brick building, with two doors at the front. One said entrance, the other exit. And standing there, waiting for them, was another Sargent, who had a barrel beside him.
"Sargent Slusher". The Sargent greeted, "have the men form a line".
"Form a line!" Slusher ordered.
As quickly as they could, the Platoon formed a line.
Slusher then revealed his surprise;
"behind me, is a brick barrack!" He said, "inside that barrack, is a can. Filled with a certain type of gas, which we like to call – tear gas. Ten at a time, you will enter the barrack with your gasmasks on. This exercise will teach you, to trust your mask. And over time, you will build up confidence towards gas. As you know, during the Great War, they were exposed to a certain type of gas. At the cry for a gas attack, the men had to quickly put their masks on correctly. And they trusted their masks. As will you – clear?!"
"Yes, Sargent!" They called back.
Holly had a certain about of fear in her voice.
But she put on a brave face, not wanting to stand out among the men. Forming a line around the back of the building, the first ten put on their masks and entered the building with the Sargent who met them and of course, Sargent Slusher.
"This is going to suck". Trent mumbled to Holly and Winters, "I knew it would be something embarrassing".
"Yeah…it's 'gonna suck". Winters agreed, "but we've just 'gotta keep our masks on, right? That's the aim of the exercise – to trust our equipment".
But when that first group left the chamber, everyone could hear them coughing and retching.
Holly's eyes widened a little;
"fuck is going on?" She mumbled, "they all took their masks off?"
From behind her, she heard a sigh;
"quit complaining, Holly". Zerbe muttered, "it's just a bit of gas-"
"a bit, eh?" She muttered, "we'll see how you feel after a bit of gas, won't we, Eugene?"
"I ain't stupid enough to take my mask off". He muttered back.
"So, you think they all did?" Holly said, "or were they ordered too?"
Zerbe sent her a tiny glare;
"oh, you're real funny, you know".
Pulling a face, she looked at him;
"what? Because I might be right?" She questioned sounding angry, "back off, Eugene. You pinhead".
Zerbe's glared hardened;
"you think you're brave, huh? Just 'cause your dad was some war hero, don't mean you are".
"What the fuck is your problem?" Holly was close to snapping, "don't bring my dad into your shit, alright? If you're nervous, okay. But don't unload all your personal shit onto me, mate".
"Or what?" Zerbe demanded, "what the hell are you 'gonna do about it?"
"Guys, stop it". Trent hissed, "you're both acting like kids".
"Don't get involved, pal". Zerbe warned him, "I don't got a problem with you".
"So, it's just me?" Holly asked, "don't I feel special".
He snorted;
"you ain't special, Holly".
"I was being sarcastic, you fanny".
"Did you just call me an ass?!"
Holly shrugged;
"maybe".
Zerbe continued to glare at her;
"if this gas don't kill you, then I will".
Holly snorted;
"right – okay, Eugene".
Winters, Holly, Trent, Zerbe and six others collected a mask, put it on and walked inside the barrack. It was very dark; Holly could almost make out her hand. Pressing up against a cold wall, Sargent Slusher gave loud instructions through his mask;
"breathe normally!" He yelled, "the gas is being released!"
Holly felt her heart race, she could see thick smoke cloud her mask. But she was still breathing, despite the bundle of nerves and fright. It was hard to keep her mind calm but Slusher soon had everyone jogging on the stop, which helped keep herself distracted. They jogged on the spot for another twenty seconds, minds calming down and hearts pumping quickly. Slusher ordered everyone to stop and then told them;
"open the seal! Let some gas inside and then leave the barrack!"
Holly, like the rest of the men, opened her seal.
"Breathe normally!" Slusher ordered.
It took thirty seconds for the effects to kick in.
Her mouth, eyes, nose and lungs started to burn. She could feel her eyes tear up and she began to cough, finding it very difficult to breathe. Saliva and snort poured out from her, as well as the tears. Holly felt someone grab her arm, helping her outside of the barrack. Taking her mask off, she bent over and coughed until she retched, while water and snot poured out of her like a tap. It was horrible, the worst physical feeling she had ever felt. The men around her struggled with the same fate. And Holly's eyes were too watery to see who was standing next to her.
"Open your eyes!" Someone ordered her.
Holly tried.
The man ended up pushing her head back, so her eyes faced the sky.
There, he tipped water into them.
"Don't rub your eyes!" He then told her, before moving onto the next man.
While trapped inside her own misery, someone ran into her and pushed Holly onto her back. By that point, the effects were starting to wear down and Holly could see Zerbe on top of her. Pulling a face, she grabbed his jacket and tried to push him off, but the man wouldn't budge. Growing angry, Holly released his jacket, curled her hand up into a fist and punched him.
Zerbe got off Holly and she managed to get on her feet.
Wiping the snot and tears from her face, she demanded;
"what the fuck, man?!"
Zerbe smirked;
"told you I'd kill you".
Her face scrunched up in anger;
"I punched you, you idiot!"
Seconds later, a very angry Sargent marched over to them;
"what the hell is this?!" He yelled, "two ladies fighting?! Over what?!"
Holly shook her head;
"he's a prick!"
Slusher grabbed Holly's shoulder;
"you! Private Duffy!" He yelled, "are on KP! By yourself! Get cleaned up and report to the mess hall – now!"
It was unfair. Holly didn't start it, Zerbe did. And when she looked at him, he shot her a smug smile. Clenching her jaw, Holly tried to go for him again but Slusher roughly pulled her back;
"for God's sake, Private!" He snapped, "that's enough!"
Winters stared at his best friend. He wasn't sure how to feel. He felt slightly concerned over her burst of angry, having never seen that side of her before. The only time that came close to this outburst, was with Liz, when Holly finally had enough of her bullshit. When their eyes met, Winters stare softened, as if trying to calm her down. Holly's shoulders seemed to drop a little. Licking her bottom lip, she nodded;
"sorry, Sargent".
Slusher let go of her;
"mess hall – now, Private!"
"Yes, Sargent".
…
Holly had to cook for fifty-four men.
Inside the kitchen, she cracked many eggs, fried bacon and burnt a lot of toast. However, she covered the burn marks with a generous amount of butter, to get rid of the bad taste. She didn't mind cooking; it kept her distracted and Holly no longer felt angry about what happened with Zerbe.
Holly served her cooked meal to the men, who accepted their share gratefully. All except Zerbe, who gave her another smug smile with a laugh at the end. When Holly served all the men, she grabbed a plate for herself and joined Winters and Trent at a bench. Picking up her fork, she tore her bacon and eggs apart roughly. Winters raised an eyebrow;
"okay?"
"Fine". She mumbled.
Clearing his throat, Trent said;
"we're hitting the obstacle course after breakfast". He said lightly, "should be fun".
"I'm ready to do some running". Winters said, "don't know what to make of the gas".
Trent laughed;
"we all looked ridiculous".
Winters smiled;
"we sure did, Trent".
"I swear…I thought I was this close to dying". He said, "but the effects wore off quickly, huh?"
"It felt like hours". Winters mumbled, before sending a concerned look at Holly. "Is he bothering you, Holly? I could-"
"no, don't". She cut him off quietly, "don't get in trouble, Dick. It's fine. I can handle Eugene".
"I know". Winters said softly, "I know you can, Holly. But I'm here if you need me, okay?"
Holly licked her bottom lip and shook her head;
"I can't believe I punched someone".
Trent smirked;
"how'd it feel?"
Frowning, she looked at her knuckles;
"sore…my knuckles are bruised".
Trent shrugged;
"maybe you should try out for the sparring team".
Huffing, Holly shook her head;
"no, mate". She said, "punching Zerbe was a one-time thing".
Holly hoped that was true. She didn't want to start making enemies with an ally. Holly also didn't expect to get into a fight on her first training day. She was sure she'd blend in, but Holly was turning into someone quite surprising. Holly and the men finished off their breakfast before meeting Sargent Slusher outside. From there, they marched to the assault course. It stretched on for a mile and a half, filled with different obstacles which got more difficult as it went on. Slusher wasn't expecting his men to get it right the first time, or even complete all of the obstacles but in six weeks, they were expected to run through this course and complete it, in a certain amount of time.
For young men like Winters, they had no trouble.
Even Trent did a great job for his first attempt.
But Holly did end up struggling.
She struggled with scaling the walls and climbing up the ropes. And she had to give up, much to Zerbe's pleasure, who managed to climb up the rope with ease and ring the bell at the top. When he reached the bottom, he laughed at Holly;
"God, Holly…you're an embarrassment".
Taking in a deep breath, she pushed the anger down.
And moved onto the next obstacle.
It turned out to be a ten-foot wall. Winters was already halfway up, with Trent close behind. Zerbe took a running start and jumped into the wall. He got around halfway, before sliding back down. Holly could hear him curse under his breath and she felt her lips twitch. Zerbe caught her almost smile;
"as if you could do it!" He yelled.
Holly looked over at the wall, which seemed to glare down at her.
Slusher was by the sides, yelling at his men to get over.
And if someone couldn't, the Sargent would order them to move on.
The same couldn't have been said for Zerbe, who wanted to give it another shot.
However, Zerbe wanted to watch Holly fail first.
Slusher watched the entire exchange between the two of them. He expected another fistfight, but Holly made no movement to start punching the guy again. Instead, she casually jogged over to the wall, as if she was jogging to fetch the morning paper. Once at the wall, she moved to the side, where two planks of wood held the wall up.
The planks of wood reached to the halfway mark on the wall, giving Holly a boost up to reach the top. While her hands grabbed the side of the wall, her boots pressed against the plank of wood and she pulled herself up. Once she was standing on the plank of wood, Holly grabbed the top of the wall and pulled herself the rest of the way up, until she was comfortably sitting on the top. It gave her a great view of Zerbe, who didn't look very happy.
But instead of gloating or rubbing it in his face, Holly said to him;
"is this cheating?"
Shrugging, Zerbe looked away from her;
"maybe".
"Just…do what I did?"
Zerbe snorted;
"what? The easy way?"
Holly nodded;
"yeah…yeah, that's why I suggested it".
Looking at her, a smug smile reached his lips;
"I'd rather do it the man way, Holly".
Shrugging, Holly said;
"alright, suit yourself".
Zerbe took a running start and did manage to grab onto the wall this time. He pulled himself up and reached the top. Sitting across from Holly, he smirked;
"see…the man way".
Holly shook her head;
"why are you like this?"
"Like what?"
"A prick". She put it simply, "what the fuck did I do?"
Zerbe's stare hardened;
"your country…started this damn war. And now we're all 'gonna die because of it".
"I haven't been inside my country for four years, mate". She whispered, "and even if I lived there, it's not the people's fault – it's who rules the damn country's fault".
"Well, I can't blame them, can I?!" Zerbe snapped.
"You're getting pissed at me for no reason, Eugene". She said, "no reason at all…whatever shit you're going through, it's not exactly my fault, is it? I've only known you for two days!"
"WILL YOU BOTH STOP BITCHING AND GET THE FUCK OFF MY WALL!" Slusher roared from the ground.
Holly and Zerbe glared at each other, before both replying;
"yes, Sargent!"
While on the way down, it turned into a bit of a race.
However, Zerbe missed his footing and fell off the wall. Falling from ten feet, he crashed onto the ground below him. It wasn't grass but it wasn't a totally hard landing. Still, the man wasn't moving. Eyes widening, Holly quickly scaled down the rest of the wall and rushed over to him. Zerbe's eyes were open, he was staring up at the sky, in a small state of shock.
"It's okay, you're okay". Holly murmured, "don't move, okay?"
Holly grabbed each side of his neck, making sure he kept still;
"don't move your head, just keep still and relax".
He was gasping as if the wind had been knocked out from him.
"Eugene, you'll breathe normally shortly". She assured him, "but just try and stay calm, okay?"
Holly's voice changed as if someone had flicked a switch.
She sounded soothing but firm. The type of confidence Zerbe needed in that moment. Eyes moving towards her, he blinked twice.
"Twice for yes?" She asked.
He blinked twice again.
"Good job, mate". Holly said softly, "okay, let's go over some questions…does your head hurt?"
He blinked twice.
"Okay – your neck?"
Again, he blinked twice.
Holly nodded;
"right, we're going to keep as still as possible, Eugene. You're not going to move, and I'll make sure you'll be okay – deal?"
Zerbe blinked twice.
Slusher came charging towards the pair of them;
"what the hell's going on!?" He demanded, "what's wrong with Private Zerbe?!"
Holly looked at the Sargent;
"he took a fall, Sargent". She replied, "his necks sore".
Slusher sighed;
"that damn wall – alright, I'll radio in for help. You stay with him, Private Duffy".
"Yes, Sargent".
Rubbing her lips together, Holly looked back at Zerbe;
"you may have hurt your spine". She warned him, "they'll do some tests. But if we keep still, we'll save your spine. Do you understand?"
Looking slightly worried, Zerbe blinked twice.
Holly gave him a soft smile;
"don't worry, mate…I've handled this before. I was a vet's assistant. Of course, it's a lot harder doing this with a dog or a cat".
Zerbe's eyes softened slightly.
Holly smiled;
"they can't speak English, can they?"
Zerbe felt his lips twitch.
Her smile widened;
"I once had a dog shit all over my hand, Eugene. I had to take his temperature and he shat all over me and the table. Took at least three days for that smell to bugger off".
Zerbe snorted;
"shit's attracted to shit". He said, keeping as still as possible.
Holly chuckled;
"you're an arsehole…even when you're injured".
A few medics came on scene to safely escort Zerbe back to the station for further treatment. Holly hoped the man would be okay. Once Zerbe left, Slusher had Holly complete the course. She was way behind and saw the rest of the men waiting at the end.
Their Sargent ordered everyone back towards camp, where they then went over drills for the next hour. Drills were boring but intense at the same time. Slusher would bark out a command and the men were expected to follow out that order, all at the same time. It was almost like a dance. A very stiff and strange dance. But it kept each man focused. If they didn't pay attention, then they'd miss Slusher's command and mess the entire thing up.
After drills, they had one hour's free time before lunch.
Slusher picked two men for KP duty, to make everyone lunch.
Trent, Winters and Holly took their hour free time to explore the camp. And while walking the strip, they eventually asked;
"what happened?"
"Eugene fell off the wall". She replied, "almost broke his back".
"Jesus". Winters whispered, "is he 'gonna be alright?"
"I think so". Holly said quietly, "he seemed fine".
"That's good". Trent said, "think he'll still be an ass towards you?"
She shrugged, with a tiny snort;
"I don't care, Trent". Holly mumbled, "he's only human".
Smiling small, Trent then said;
"I lied".
"What? Eugene's not human?" Winters joked lightly.
Holly snorted;
"if he's not human, then he's some sort of reptile".
Trent huffed softly;
"no, it's not about Eugene".
He sounded slightly off, which raised an eyebrow from Winters;
"what is it, bud?"
Sighing, Trent confessed to them;
"I was seventeen when I married Dorothy".
"Seventeen?" Holly questioned quietly, "that's young, mate".
"Yeah, a little". Trent mumbled softly, "but…heck, I loved her so much, you know? My parents didn't like the idea, don't think Dorothy's did either but…here we are, still in love".
Winters smiled small;
"why the secret, Trent? Nothing wrong with that".
Trent frowned;
"we…we ain't got kids". He said quietly, "we've been married for six years and we ain't got kids".
"What's wrong with that?" Holly asked him, "Trent, you don't have to have-"
"oh, we want kids". Trent cut her off quietly, "but for some reason…God doesn't want us to have any kids, you get it?"
Winters frowned;
"I'm sorry, Trent".
"Yeah, that's shit, Trent". Holly added.
Trent sighed heavily;
"Dorothy gets so cut up about it…she doesn't think she deserves kids, 'cause it ain't happening for us".
"You're still young". Winters pointed out, "it'll happen one day".
Clearing her throat, Holly said;
"we get a lot of people coming into the clinic asking about puppies and kittens". She said, "I used to tell people which dogs were pregnant and what cats had given birth – you know?"
Trent and Winters nodded slowly, not knowing where this was going.
"Until one day, Mr Stevenson told me to stop doing that". Holly said, "he had around six dogs he had taken off the streets and he kept them in his house. He was complaining about the dogs stinking up his house and asked me to offer them a home to the next customer who asked for a puppy".
Trent frowned a little;
"did you get the dogs a home?"
Holly shrugged;
"just one". She said softly, "this little brown dog. He had these bright blue eyes. A man came in and wanted to buy a puppy for his wife for Christmas. I told him about the dogs Mr Stevenson rescued and he promised to take care of the dog. And he did. Mr Stevenson made sure to check up on him after a few days".
"What about the rest of the dogs?"
Holly sighed;
"they were taken to a pound". She mumbled, "probably put down if no one claimed or wanted them after a certain amount of time".
Trent's frown deepened;
"that's…that's terrible".
Winters gave her a knowing look;
"what's your point, Holly?"
Sighing quietly, Holly looked at Trent;
"if you and Dorothy have a lot of love to give, then give it to someone who needs some love in their life. Don't waste it".
Trent's eyebrows twitched;
"what? You want me to get a dog?"
"No". Holly said, with a tiny amused smile. "I was meaning a kid, Trent. Like, a kid who doesn't have a family and needs one".
Processing what she just suggested, Trent then huffed;
"it's…it's a nice idea, Holly". He could agree with her on that, "but it wouldn't be the same for Dorothy. She wants to carry our child".
Winters smiled;
"the thought was there".
Holly gave Trent's arm a squeeze;
"I hope it works out for you and Dorothy, mate".
"Thanks, guys". Trent thanked them both, "it feels good to get that off my chest".
Holly snorted;
"not many skeletons in your closet, Trent".
Winters grinned;
"you should see the state of Holly's closest, Trent. Filled with toenails".
Holly let out a laugh, while Trent looked slightly confused and disturbed;
"what?!"