Exhausted, Shockwave collapsed onto his bunk. Today Beach Head had run him and the other recruits through the obstacle course.
"More like Beach Head's personal version of Omaha Beach..." Shockwave thought to himself as he collapsed onto his bunk, the bed creaking from the impact. It wasn't that he hated the course, far from it, it had been the best workout he'd had in months. It was his partner for the course.
Each of the recruits had been pair up for the course and he'd gotten Hit & Run. Again. Shockwave had been around his share of smart asses, but Hit & Run was the worst. The man never shut up, always had a comment, retort, or asinine thing to say. It was a wonder Beach Head hadn't killed him yet. It was Hit & Run's smart mouth that had gotten both of them stuck with graveyard shift guard duty for a week. Beach Head must have figured that if the partner got into trouble as well, it would help the recruits to stay in line. It didn't. The next day, during roll call, Hit & Run decided to dig himself into a deeper hole. Literally.
"Hardball!" Beach Head shouted.
"Present!"
Blizzard!"
"Present!
"Hit & Run!"
"I'm here, mommy." Everyone froze, not sure if Hit & Run had actually said what they thought he said.
"What tha hell did you just call me?!?" Beach Head was less than a micron from H&R's face.
"Is Mama more acceptable?"
That comment resulted in Hit & Run and his partner for the day, Muskrat, having to dig a ten-foot deep hole in the 102-degree Utah sun. Then Beach Head made them fill it in.
By now, Shockwave had been pair with all the other recruits. He only spoke with two of them: Budo and Repeater. And even those conversations consisted of one-word sentences back and forth. Budo was just a silent as Shockwave, never spoke to anyone unless spoken to, knew what he was doing, and, except for the samurai armor, was relatively normal. Repeater, he was a different story. The man was huge, had to be to carry the gun that he did. He'd been in the Army since 'Nam and it was apparent he'd seen the darkest days of the war and wasn't about to share them. Hit & Run had dubbed Repeater "Frankenstein" and continued to ask Budo when the next Kurwisawa film was coming out. Oddly enough, one morning Hit & Run woke up in the middle of desert tied to a cactus. Of course, no one had any idea who did it and if they did, they weren't talking.
Friday night they'd all gone into the closest town with a few of the other Joes to relax, have some drinks, and shoot pool. Shockwave wasn't even sure why he'd gone; he'd stop drinking over a year before. While the others played darts and billiards, Shockwave sat at the bar nursing a soda.
"Man, does that Shockwave guys ever open up?" Hit & Run asked at the billiards table.
"Not that I've seen." Hardball answered. "The man's a statue."
"Hell, he was the only one who didn't laugh at Hit & Run when Beach Head made him do the 10 miles run in his jockey shorts. Even Repeater cracked a smile on that one." Muskrat added, getting the finger from Hit & Run.
"Ease up on him, guys." Jinx said as she and Cover Girl started a round of billiards at the next table.
"Yeah, he's kinda cute." Cover Girl chimed in, drawing a laugh from Hit & Run.
"If he's so cute, go talk to him." He challenged.
"I will." She snapped back as she walked over to Shockwave and sat next to him. "Hello."
Shockwave looked over at the former model. "Hey."
"You want to play pool with me and Jinx?"
"Not really." He said as he turned back to his Dr. Pepper. She was a little put off by that, so she decided to try her secret weapon. She unbuttoned her shirt, revealing the extremely low-cut tank top underneath and her abundant cleavage. Leaning towards him, her breasts looking like they would pop out if she bent over any further, she tried again.
"Are you sure you won't come and play? I could make it worth you while." She asked coyly.
"I'm sure." He replied without looking at her. Her eyes went wide and she sat back. No one had ever resisted her like that before. She stood and stuck out her tongue, then stormed back to the billiards table as Hit & Run and Muskrat burst out laughing.
"Man's a statue like I said," Hardball said. Repeater and Budo entered shortly after that with Blizzard in tow. Shockwave nodded to them and joined them at the table.
"We miss anything good?" Budo asked.
"Not really."
"That asshole do anything yet?" Blizzard asked. The arctic trooper was probably the toughest guy Shockwave had ever met, and it was obvious he didn't like Hit & Run.
"He's only had one beer." Shockwave replied.
"Did I hear someone mention me?" Hit & Run asked as he stood behind Blizzard and Budo, resting his hands on their shoulders.
"Get off of me, kid." Blizzard growled back.
"Easy, Frosty...someone piss on your snowman?"
Without missing a beat, Blizzard slid his chair back hard, the back of the chair slamming into Hit & Run's groin. Instinctively moving his hands to prevent further injury to his member, Hit & Run was unable to prevent himself from falling.
"Next time I cut it off." Blizzard growled as he stepped over the fallen man and over to the bar.
Later that night, outside of the three huts that comprised the Joe base, Shockwave was walking the perimeter on guard duty when he heard footsteps behind him. Without turning, he knew who it was.
"You threw Cover Girl for a loop out there tonight." Jinx said softly. He did not reply. Beach Head had brought Jinx into the gym during the past week to run hand-to-hand combat drills with the new recruits. She was surprisingly strong for her petite frame and had thrown most of the recruits around like rag dolls. Muskrat and Blizzard had both lasted a few minutes before she knocked them flat which wasn't surprising considering their backgrounds. She had expected Budo to last against her with his samurai training, which he did. But Repeater and Shockwave had both thrown her for a loop. She didn't expect a giant and a former cop to last as long as they had. Repeater had made it to the end of the 5 minutes standing. Shockwave had gone down after 4 minutes, which was what had shocked her.
"So where did you learn to fight?" she asked. By the time he'd gone down in the sparring, she'd started using some of the most advanced attacks she knew, and he's actually managed to block some of them before a roundhouse to the back of the head had felled him.
"Around."
"From anyone in particular?"
"The streets.' He replied. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude, he just wasn't looking to make and friends here. Friends die and...
"If you want to talk about what is bothering you, you can talk to me." She said softly. She turned around and he had walked away from her. "Of all the nerve..." she started as she stopped and saw Spirit standing beside her.
"He is a troubled man. He has faced great adversity, but his greatest is himself. If he does not face it, it will destroy him." The shaman told Jinx.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"There is great loss in his soul. If it is not dealt with, it will consume him." As Spirit spoke, Jinx looked back towards Shockwave, feeling compassion for the former cop. "Spirit, Is there any way I can help?"
"Yes. I will require your assistance if we are to help our brother."