I'm freeee! Finals are over! In fact, the last week of finals got switched to online instead of in-person because the weather was terrible with freezing rain and nearly constant snow. It's not fun driving on ice but I had to go back to my dorm (I live about forty minutes away from my college) to grab some things and check out for the semester. I slid a bit once on the interstate and everyone was going about 45 (the speed limit is 80 mph), but I managed and I'm here posting another chapter! :) My younger brother missed three days of school this last week and I'm still sore from shoveling snow. Nevertheless, the terrible weather and no more classes until January allowed me to finally work on this story. So, in honor of Kim Seokjin of BTS joining the military, here is Suzie's introduction to the army.
Chapter Nine: Camp Barkeley
The outline of Camp Barkeley emerged into view after a few days of traveling. Rows of buildings stretched across the barren landscape. Fences surrounded the camp although the nearest city lay miles away. A mountain looming in the distance behind the camp seemed small compared to the seventy-thousand-acre camp. On the ride over here, Suzie overheard a few men talking about the camp, claiming that at least forty thousand people lived and worked at Camp Barkeley. That gave Suzie some comfort; she could blend in more easily with more people around.
Looking through the window of the bus, Suzie watched as a hundred men marched in formation around the camp. Other groups of about the same size dotted the expansive yard, each group performing various exercises. After seeing the enormous size of Camp Barkeley for herself, Suzie started to believe that the camp did house forty thousand people. Camp Barkeley certainly had the space to do so. From her spot on the bus, Suzie could not see the other side of the camp. Numerous buildings blocked the view and the end of the camp faded into the distance.
From what she had overheard from the men talking on the bus, Camp Barkeley boasted a population twice the size of Albiene, the nearest town about ten miles away. Part of the camp, the Medical Replacement Training Center, worked for the federal Medical Department. That section took up a third of the camp while the rest focused on infantry and supply troops, which Suzie enlisted for. It even had a nearby airfield to train Air Corps cadets. If those men on the bus were correct, Camp Barkeley topped the list of the largest army bases in Texas.
Despite the buzzing of thousands of people moving about, out here, Suzie felt exposed. The open land stretched on for miles with hardly anything bigger than a cactus dotting the landscape. Even trees, nature's skyscrapers, were few and far between. Not even the farmland at Henry and Ida's place could replicate the vastness of Texas. Used to living in a tight space surrounded by tall buildings, constant noise, and people everywhere, the change overwhelmed Suzie. Is there such a thing as a fear of open spaces?
At least the thousands of people here alleviated the feeling of being alone. She missed Brooklyn, even that one newspaper boy who always heckled passersby on the corner a few blocks from her church and the honking horns. Right now, the holiday season would send Brooklyn into a frenzy. The familiar sounds of Christmas would send Suzie to sleep. People and young couples would travel to the city to experience the wonders New York offers. Together, families would prepare for Christmas, decorate their homes, cook delicious meals, watch the snow fluttering down, and ice skate at the park. Suzie could spend hours staring out the living room window, making up backstories for passersby while snuggling up in a warm blanket.
The heat did not make it feel like Christmas. The temperature increased the entire trip over, to the point that Suzie ended up swapping her jacket and long-sleeve shirt for a cooler option halfway through the trip to Texas. In hindsight, she should have packed more variety of clothing. She had never been this far south and the warm weather jarred her. It felt unnatural not having snow during Christmas. Where were the snowmen and the Christmas trees? Did people here drink hot chocolate to warm up? Did they know that snowball fights existed and how to pack ice inside a snowball to make it hurt? She doubted anyone here had ever slipped on ice, like the time she broke her wrist in fifth grade falling down the icy stairs after school. Being used to having snow around this time of year, the hundreds of shirtless men exercising on the brown ground beneath the bright sun shocked her. Only the stupid or drunk would wander around New York with few layers during winter.
The men on the bus started to move and file into a line at the inside of the gate. Keeping her eyes fixed on the ground below her instead of the sweaty, shirtless men, Suzie gathered her meager belongings from her seat and stood up. Her joints protested at the sudden movement as she made her way out of the bus and past the camp's front gate. She hadn't traveled for more than a few hours since Riley's funeral several years ago, but her family stopped for breaks along the way. This time, the only breaks allowed during the trip to Texas were to switch trains twice and onto the bus she currently left.
The line shuffled along as the soldiers made their way into the camp. A constant stream of buses arrived during the process, each creating different lines. Several men issued orders, directing people toward certain areas. When Suzie reached the front of the line, she gave her fake name, received her serial number, and joined a group of about a hundred men standing near one of the buildings. One man in a sergeant's uniform called for their attention and positioned them into a rough half-circle.
"Welcome to Camp Barkeley. I am Second Lieutenant Thomas Stone," their sergeant announced with a thick southern twang. He had graying hair poking out underneath his hat with the promise of wrinkles soon to appear on his tan skin. A deep scowl formed on his aging face as he glared at the new recruits. He stood ramrod straight with his hands clasped behind his back while he paced in front of the group. "Along with First Lieutenant Gregory Hassen, I'm in charge of the lot of you, so if you have any questions, let me know. Today is going to be a little chaotic as we get everything checked and organized. Don't worry, you'll fall into a routine soon enough. First off, we're going to give you new clothes. Any equipment that you lose or damage will be taken out of your paycheck. Follow me."
Sergeant Stone led the way to a building near the middle of the camp and directed the group into a line. In that line, Suzie traded in her civilian clothes for army-issued uniforms, a tool kit, a first aid kit, and a few other toiletries and equipment. She hoped that Bucky wouldn't miss the few shirts she borrowed from him and likely would never get back. He could always buy new ones, anyway.
The line shuffled along, each man following orders in a slow drawl as the day wore on. Anxiety crept on the back of Suzie's neck every time she had to provide her name. However, she managed to make it through receiving her standard-issue equipment and uniforms.
Back in another line near one of the few trees in the fenced-in camp, she copied the other men sitting in various chairs spread around the dirt yard. A young, dark-haired woman came up to her and smiled at her.
"Ready for your haircut?" the woman asked, clippers raised in her hands, a little too eager for Suzie's liking.
According to the woman, the haircut that Becca gave Suzie did not meet the army standards. Sitting on the stool, sweating in the heat of the Texan sun, Suzie watched more hair fall from her head. Without a curtain of hair absorbing the heat against her neck, the short haircut cooled her off. Yet, Suzie wished that she could have at least kept it the length that Becca had trimmed. Even though she did not try to make her hair fancy like the other women her age, she enjoyed looping it around her fingers during school and watching it swish in the wind. Whenever a breeze picked up at home, she would try to angle her head so that her hair would blow behind her, like in a scene from Gone With the Wind.
When the young woman with the scissors announced that Suzie could leave, Suzie's heart sank even lower. It had taken a few minutes to trim her hair to the army's preferred length, but for Suzie, it felt like hours. Rubbing the top of her head in loathing, she cursed the woman with the clippers.
Sullen, Suzie trudged over to the group again. Several men were running their hands over the tops of their heads, feeling their new haircuts. Without her hair to hide behind, the worry of exposure in this wide-open land gnawed at Suzie. Glaring in silent envy at the women cutting the soldier's hair, Suzie wished that they would experience the worst frizz and tangles ever known to woman-kind.
Trudging along, Suzie followed Sergeant Stone's orders to head to the medical wing for more exams. By some miracle, she passed the medical exams without any problems. The long day must have exhausted the nurses because no one noticed Suzie's physical differences nor asked Suzie to drop her pants for the dreaded exam that Bucky had complained about during his enlistment process.
By evening, Suzie stood in yet another line, carrying a tray, hoping that Bucky exaggerated the quality of the army's food. Life would not cut her a break. On top of losing her hair, the meal lacked any semblance of being edible. When Suzie sat down on a bench as far away from people as possible, the first bite almost made her choke. Eugh, Bucky did not lie about the awful food. The supposed hunk of burnt meatloaf on her tray took a while to cut into and the bread roll tasted like cardboard. Even the dessert, a small cookie, about chipped her front teeth. Despite the terrible taste, Suzie had not eaten since breakfast so she dug into the food and managed to finish it all before heading to the barracks.
Sergeant Stone showed the group around the camp after everyone passed their medical exams and received their equipment. Each barrack their own bathroom area connected to the dozens of beds shoved into a space that seemed too small to house the many men in Suzie's unit. To make matters worse, the toilets did not have dividing walls. Aside from the door separating the bathroom from the sleeping area, the bathroom had wide open space and no sense of privacy. A set of five barracks shared a shower area that required walking outside to reach and, once again, did not have any dividing walls.
At school, she hated changing in the locker room with the other girls in her class for P.E. or other activities. Public bathrooms grossed her out, and she always preferred to wait until she had the bathroom to herself before doing her business. Being shy when it came to using the bathroom, she did not understand why the girls in her class would go to the bathroom in groups. Why would anyone like to listen to that? Even at home, Suzie did not like changing in front of Becca, despite having shared a room with her since Becca turned two.
Worry seeped out the last of Suzie's energy as she made her way to the barracks after the terrible supper. It would take practice and patience, but she could eventually figure out how to choose her bathroom and shower times between the men using it. No more long, warm showers tending to her hair, not that she had much hair left anymore. Like it or not, she would have to endure smelling like Bucky after one of his boxing matches for at least until she figured out the shower times. It's not like some of the men in her unit already smelled like a gym; she could use it to blend in better. Few women would allow themselves to let their hygiene routine reduce to practically nothing, but few women were stupid enough to join the army under a dead man's name.
Even so, Suzie found a washcloth in her new army-issued bag and headed toward the bathroom. Out of pure luck, she had the area to herself, but she kept an eye on the door. She did not know what she would do if someone came in, so she sent up a silent prayer and kept glancing between the mirror and the door. After running the washcloth under the sink's faucet, she wiped herself off as quickly as possible. Her prayer must have worked because she managed to also change into her army-issued sleepwear seconds before a man walked into the bathroom and headed straight for one of the toilets. Starting to panic, Suzie kept her eyes averted, tuned out the noise, and hurried back to her bed before the man could sit down.
Despite her quick washing, Suzie still felt unclean. Not wanting to soil her bedsheets, she sat on top of her blanket and let out a deep sigh. She had managed to secure a bed against the wall near the entrance of the barracks and furthest away from the bathroom. From here, she could not see into the bathroom nor smell the stench floating into the air every time someone opened the bathroom door.
Kicking off her shoes, she collapsed onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling while the men in her unit filed into the barracks. Sergeant Stone said that their unit would become close, either through forced interaction in the bathrooms and showers or through the drills that they would begin tomorrow. They would also receive their gun and more equipment tomorrow, something that Suzie had zero experience with.
Lost in her thoughts, she repeated Uncle Henry's tips over in her head, hoping that they would work. Exhaustion finally took over halfway through repeating it a third time, and Suzie fell asleep, nervous and excited about her future at Camp Barkeley.
A few years ago, my family visited my cousins in Texas for Christmas. As someone who's used to seeing three feet of snow from December to February and having temperatures below zero, let me tell you, it was weird being in Texas for Christmas. There was no snow and the temperature was in the sixties all week. That's shorts weather, not winter weather. My cousins were talking about the last major ice freeze that shut down the power in Texas a year ago. They canceled school for something that's common during winter where I live. It was crazy. I don't know what winter is like in New York, but I understand Suzie's confusion about the weather.
I spent way too long researching basic training camps and trying to make everything match up with both the MCU and history's timeline. If anything is wrong or if you have any information that would help me understand what happened during basic training, feel free to let me know. I do not have any military experience nor I am well-educated in WW2 history. I'll try my best, but sometimes Google just doesn't give me what I want to know.