Exercise in James's mind was something other people did and he would understand them but never actually do it himself. That all changed with the project, every day was four hours after classes finished. James had been to a few gyms before and had had to do basic gym in year nine but this. This was something different. The drill Sergeant whose name was still a mystery at this point was a man made of what seemed to be pure hatred for anyone not as fit as he. The moment he and the nine others in his group entered the gym he began to yell. He yelled when he was angry, he yelled when he wanted you to do something and he erupted with an ungodly fury when someone complained.
"Common Tartoni what the hell'ya standing around for keep running maggot!" he roared from the sidelines. James huffed one last time and resumed the sprints. There were five groups of two on either side of the white polished metal gym, about fifty meters apart. Each partner had to run to t the middle, back again and to the other side then back to their side while the other partner rested. It'd been going on for ten minutes and there was no sign of it stopping. James had been trying to get into a rhythm for a while now; his focus was broken though when one of the girls on the far side tripped, there was a sharp screech as she cried out in pain
"Smith, get running or we start over you hear me!" he shouted, one of the girls on the far side of the gym winced as she tried to stand up only to fall over again. James wasn't sure if she was crying or if it was sweats pouring down her face. The sergeant motioned one of the guards, a woman by the looks of it to examine the girl. She knelt down and began slowly prodding the girl's leg, the girl screamed when the guard touched he ankle.
"Sir, badly sprained" she said. With help from the guard the girl was able to stagger out of the gym. The drama hadn't gone unnoticed and everyone had stopped.
"No Breaks keep moving!" shouted the sergeant. The gym was once again filled with the sound of panting and thundering footsteps. The girls partner stood hesitantly, not sure what to do
"What'ya standing around for? Keep moving!" the girl stood her ground
"I don't have anyone to train with" she said hesitantly
"I don't give two shits whether you have a partner or not!" the girl looked around pleadingly, the rest of the gym looked away as if they'd turn to stone if even the slightest glance was given. The sergeant marched to the center of the gym
"Alright stop" he said with less of a shout and more raised voice. "Because some of us are too stupid to work on our own we're going to be doing some burn out exercises" a grin on his face grew through his stone cold face.
1