A few hours had passed since he'd first set foot on the train. Durbe had had his nose buried in another book the whole time, taking his focus off of every little thing that surrounded him. Only when the train came to a complete stop did he bother to look up.

I guess I should get going, Durbe thought, placing his book back in his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He tied his rifle to his suitcase, then tied his backpack to his body and stood up. Only a few other people were on the train, which explained why it was so small. Each of them were soldiers, most likely being called in for the same reason he was.

The small amount of soldiers all walked off the train at once, smashing some of the others into one another or into the train as they did. Durbe, thankfully, was not among the ones that were slammed into things.

"Durbe! Yo, Durbe! What the hell are you doin' back here?"

Durbe whipped around, smiling when he saw Alit, Gilag and Shark rushing toward him.

"Nice to see ya!" Alit said, smacking the gray-haired on the shoulder and laughing. Shark rolled his eyes and walked a little closer, then yelped when the hyper one of the four grabbed and yanked them all into a tight hug.

"Alit! Can't breathe!" Shark choked.

"Oh, sorry," Alit said, letting go. Shark, Gilag and Durbe backed away a bit, choking and gasping for air as they did. The green-eyed soldier giggled and walked away, a cocky grin on his face.

Durbe finally finished his choking as he stood up. "Well, now that was not what I had been expecting when I first set foot back on these grounds," he said, brushing the dirt off his uniform.

"He's not usually that hyper," Gilag reminded his two complaining buddies.

"But he has been acting that way since he learned you were returning." Shark turned and smiled at Durbe. "By the way, how's that little sister of yours?"

Upon hearing this question, Durbe froze. The look that had been on Mahpari's face when she was sobbing flashed into his mind again as he stared into Shark's ocean-blue eyes.

"She's fine," he said at last. "Just devastated that I'm leaving again."

Shark chuckled. "Yeah, that's how Rio's acting right now. She's being all 'I'm a big girl and I don't need you,' but I know she doesn't mean that."

All three of them began to laugh, just as Alit returned. The green-eyed soldier chuckled, then rolled his eyes. "C'mon," he said, motioning for them to follow him with his hand. "We should get to the cabin as quickly as possible, before the horn sounds."

"Good idea," Durbe agreed, scooping his items up and nodding. He watched as Alit beamed, then yelped and began to run away. Shark and Gilag rolled their eyes before they followed the two ahead of them.

They all stormed into the cabin, with Alit being the one to pounce onto the top bunk on one of the beds. His hair became messy when he did, making him look like a hyper child. Durbe chuckled. Mahpari would've loved to see that.

"So, what do we do now?" Gilag asked, sliding into the bed under Alit.

"We sleep, considering the fact we have to get up before the crack of dawn tomorrow."

"Oh yeah. Sounds like a plan to me."

Durbe and Shark nodded in agreement. For once, those two were correct. With a sigh, Durbe set his stuff down, then climbed up the ladder that went to the top bunk. He knew Shark wouldn't care who got which bed, unlike Alit and Gilag. If Gilag were to be on the top, Alit would become worried it would collapse on him in his sleep, and no one would be able to hear his cries for help.

And none of them, not even Gilag, blamed him for having that fear.

"Wait, we should get something to eat too," Alit said, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed.

"I could go for some food," Shark replied. "What do you think, Durbe? Sleep or food?"

No verbal response was needed. All three turned to stare. Apparently, sleep was Durbe's option, for he was already fast into it on the bed. Shark sighed and hung his head. "Never mind, I'll go alone," he whispered, opening the door and stepping out, Alit fast to catch up to him. Gilag shrugged, then rolled over, falling asleep as well.

XxXxXxXx

For the past two years, Durbe had become accustomed to waking up later. Around eight or nine o'clock was good for him.

But when the horns sounded, it was five in the morning.

Alit made the mistake of sitting up too quickly. He smacked his head on the ceiling, groaning when Shark yanked him from his spot. Gilag rolled his eyes and raced outside, Durbe following right behind him. As soon as all four were outside, they were joined by the other soldiers.

All three hundred eleven of them.

Each one of them saluted at the exact same time, standing straight and tall when the general walked in front of them. For a while, nothing happened.

That changed as soon as the general's familiar yelling rang throughout the area.

"Alright everyone! This is nothing new! For you 'Lady's men' that just so smoothly smacked your weak little foreheads on the ceilings, congratulations! You've already failed your first test."

Alit felt himself blushing. Even in the darkness of the morning, Shark, Gilag and Durbe could all see the small tint of red on the green-eyed soldier's cheeks.

"However," the general continued as though noting had just happened, "I have good news. The time for you all to be here has been dulled down to only four months! Ironically, we killed more of the enemies soldiers than we originally thought when we dropped that nuclear bomb. So we will all be gone very soon!"

Nuclear bomb? Durbe thought. When the heck did that happen?

"It's not four months yet people! It's not even at a week yet! So go run fifteen laps to wake yourselves up, and when you get back, fifty push-ups! Move move move!"

None of them needed to be told twice. Durbe went sprinting away, Alit, Shark and Gilag tailing after him. Geez, fifteen laps around the whole base?

The general meant business today.