This is probably the shortest time I've ever had between updates. But then again, I'm doing nothing but watching YouTube, playing Minecraft, and writing all day long. It's also not like I have anywhere to go. The weather has been bad all week still. With the wind chill, it's around -40ish degrees (Fahrenheit) and the snow makes it hard to see when driving. Thankfully, it'll calm down by Christmas.

Chapter Ten: Let's Get Down to Business

A bugle trumpeted in the air at precisely six o'clock am, or zero-six hundred hours in military time, signaling for the recruits to awaken. Lieutenant Thomas Stone, who slept in the bed across the little aisle from Suzie that separated the two sides of the barracks, already stood dressed in his uniform. He maneuvered amongst the beds, shaking anyone who did not immediately rise from their slumber.

"Rise and shine, recruits! You have thirty minutes to get dressed and ready for today. We have a lot to learn and time is precious. Get moving!" Lieutenant Stone shouted, his eyes blazing with excitement in the first rays of sunlight shining through the windows.

Groaning in protest, Suzie rolled out of bed and dug through her footlocker sitting at the foot of her bed. Picking out a plain white, short-sleeved shirt and olive green pants, she hid in the corner between her bed and the two adjoining walls to change.

Slipping on the white shirt above her army-issued sleepwear shirt, she pulled off the bottom shirt without exposing her torso. The pants provided more of a challenge. After glancing around to make sure nobody faced her direction she sat on the ground. Laying her pajama shirt over her lap, she slipped the pants on while the shirt covered her.

Most of the soldiers completed their business in the bathroom by the time Suzie finished changing. Lacing up her new boots while sitting on her bed, Suzie waited until only she and two men remained in the barracks.

Those two men stood by their beds to change, so Suzie headed for the bathroom, took care of business, and washed up in a hurry. Burning with the fear of someone catching her, she joined the rest of her unit outside the mess hall. There, they ate pancakes, sausage, and eggs. The meal tasted ten times better than the meatloaf and cardboard bread from last night's supper.

The pancakes reminded her of home, with the flakey and buttery taste. Ma always scrambled the eggs and the sausages were crispy which Suzie liked. A pang of sadness pulled at Suzie's heart, closing up her throat while tears stung her eyes. Keeping her head down, Suzie choked through the rest of her breakfast and by Lieutenant Stone's command, regrouped inside the barracks.

Each soldier stood at the foot of their bed, waiting for Stone to give the orders. Pacing down the narrow aisle between the beds, Stone kept his hands clasped behind his back. Once he reached the bathroom door, he made a smooth army turn and frowned at the expectant faces of the recruits.

"Recruits, this building is your new home. Every day you are to wake up at oh-six hundred hours and go to sleep at twenty-one fifteen hours. In the meantime, we train," Stone announced. "That means you are to keep this place tidy and spotless. Keep yourselves clean to avoid getting sick. There will be a rotating duty where two people clean the bathrooms weekly. I will write up the schedule and post it on the bathroom door by the end of today."

Stone started pacing the aisle again, shouting as he marched. "The first step to cleanliness is to keep this aisle clear of any obstructions. The next is to make your bed every morning. Your mothers aren't here to make your bed or clean your clothes—you have to learn how to do that yourself. Today's first lesson is how to make your bed according to the army's standards. I will demonstrate first and expect everyone to learn how to do it in under three minutes by the end of this week."

Stopping in front of one of the men in the middle of the room, Stone stared at the soldier. "What is your name, recruit?"

Startled, the man choked out his name: "Miguel Vazquez, sir."

Stone tsked and gestured for Miguel to move aside. "I'll be using your bed as a demonstration. Recruits, I will only do this once, so pay attention."

Yanking the sheets off of Vazquez's bed, Stone showed how to fold the sheets and blankets to the desired fitting. After he finished, Stone removed the sheets for Vazquez to try and ordered everyone to repeat what he showed.

Finally having something to do to keep her anxiety at bay, Suzie focused on folding the bedding. Years of Ma fussing over the tiniest details while folding laundry left Suzie ingrained with a knack for folding the edges of sheets to a crisp. In fact, she completed her task before the rest of the men in her unit. Standing at the end of her bed, she waited as Stone inspected the bedding. He made one critique which Suzie fixed right away, leaving her to stand in silence while the others finished.

In time, everyone passed Stone's inspection, although he did comment about how long it took. Once he finished explaining the rest of the barrack rules about cleanliness, he led the unit outside. From there, they joined Lieutenant Gregory Hassen's group in one of the open yards near the barracks.

"Today we will learn how to properly stand at attention and march as a unit. There are several commands but I expect y'all to learn them by heart at the end of the day. Every drill, every order, every time you step out to train, you will hear these commands. Without a proper understanding of these commands, you will struggle, so learn these quickly and precisely," Stone announced once he adjusted every to stand in a block formation.

"For the command "attention," you are to stand upright, chin up, shoulders back, chest out, and stomach in. Keep your elbows slightly bent and your heels touching each other while your toes point out at forty-five degrees. You are not to move or talk during this. Do not even look anywhere but forward unless otherwise commanded," Stone explained and then gave a physical demonstration when Lieutenant Hassen gave the command.

"Attention!" Hassen shouted once Stone finished his presentation. The men snapped to attention, albeit, not as rigid or quick as Stone. Keeping her eyes pointed forward, Suzie followed suit, worrying about her posture. Out of her peripheral vision, she watched Hassen and Stone make their way through the soldiers, correcting anyone who did not meet their expectations.

When Stone passed in front of her, Suzie stared off into the distance, trying to ignore Stone's judgemental stare. He frowned as he checked Suzie's posture.

"What is your name, soldier?" Stone asked.

Moving her gaze from the middle distance to meet his eyes, Suzie's eyes widened, fearing that she had somehow blown her cover.

"You can talk, soldier. I gave you a command," Stone repeated.

"Barnes, sir," Suzie replied in the most realistic man-like voice she could manage. "R-Riley Barnes."

"Where are you from, Riley Barnes?" Stone asked. He moved closer to the point Suzie could feel his breath on her cheek.

"Brooklyn," Suzie said, wondering the purpose of the conversation. When Stone raised an eyebrow, she added "sir."

"Enjoying the heat, Barnes?" Stone continued.

"Not really, sir," Suzie admitted. Underneath the cotton shirt, she was sweating, something that never happened during the winter. A stain probably already formed in the armpits of the sleeves.

A corner of Stone's mouth twitched up in the first display of amusement. "Your posture is great. Keep up the good work and you'll fit right in."

Once Stone moved on to the next person, Suzie let out a sigh of relief. If she kept up the good work as Stone said, she could float through basic training without any concern about anyone knowing her true identity. She just had to follow orders and stay out of trouble. As long as she stayed focused on being like everyone else—not too special and not too problematic—she could blend in during drills and training. Showering and using the bathroom would take more work, but she knew with practice and time, she would be fine.

Lieutenant Stone and Hassen spent the rest of the morning issuing commands and teaching the soldiers the basics of marching. The nonstop marching and commands wore down the men. By the time lunch came around, Suzie's legs threatened to give out from under her. Standing on aching legs, Suzie waited in line for a lunch of pork and beans and collapsed onto the dirt ground the second she found an open seat.

After scarfing down the meal, the soldiers regrouped to spend the rest of the afternoon marching. Before supper, the unit received their guns and other battle equipment, which Stone explained that they would learn more about next week. He gave strict orders not to do anything reckless with the equipment. Firing one without permission could result in a dishonorable discharge from the army.

Drenched in sweat and aching all over, Suzie wolfed down her supper of chicken and mashed potatoes. For three and a half hours after supper, Stone and Hassen went through more rules and expectations. Then, precisely at eight o'clock, or twenty hours in military time, training ended and they were left to their own devices for an hour until lights out.

Figuring that she needed a shower, Suzie tried to devise a plan to shower without anyone noticing her physical differences. She could not use the nurses' showers, because everyone assumed she was a man. The consequences of a man entering the women's showering area could result in a discharge or severe punishment. The private showers belonged to higher-ranking officers and that would also result in punishment. The only option was to suck it up and use the open showers that the other men in her unit shared.

Waiting until eight-forty-five, when she assumed that most men finished showering, Suzie gathered her towel and change of clothes and headed for the showers.

Five other men occupied the showers. Their clothes were thrown haphazardly over racks in a small changing area separated from the showerheads. Finding a corner, Suzie wrapped her towel around herself, stripped off her clothes, gave herself a mini pep talk, and sucked up enough courage to head to the showers. With the towel still wrapped around her for coverage, she crossed her arms over her chest to hide her minimal cleavage.

None of the men paid attention to her. The shower area offered around twenty showerheads, ten on each side with five drains separating the area in half. The men stood spread out, three on one side and two on the other. Luckily, Suzie found an open corner. The showerhead showed signs of rust and some mold started growing in the corner of the adjoining wall, but Suzie did not mind.

With her front facing the wall, Suzie washed off without any soap (Stone said that they had to earn the privilege of soap) while keeping the towel between her and the men. The towel slipped once, but she caught it before it could expose anything more than her lower back. Despite the challenge, Suzie managed to finish showering and drying off without any comments from the men or accidentally revealing anything private.

Focusing on the floor instead of the now three men showering around her, Suzie hurried out of the showering area. The towel still provided some semblance of privacy while she changed into her sleepwear. Gathered her belongings, she walked back to the barracks feeling relieved and clean.

Finally relaxing on her bed, Suzie dug out a pad of stationery paper and started writing to Becca. Suzie had promised to write to Becca once she arrived at the camp, but the first day completely wore her out and left her with no time for herself.

Stretching her aching legs out across the bed, Suzie propped herself up against the headrest, rested the stationery on her lap, and started to write:

Dear Becca,

I'm at Camp Barkeley in Texas. I've never been this far south, but let me tell you, the heat sucks. There's no snow even though Christmas is in a few days. Texas is nothing like Brooklyn. Even though there are thousands of people here and cramped living spaces, everything is huge and barren. You should see the landscape; it's more open than the fields in Indiana.

I'm doing fine, it's just going to take a while to adjust to everything. I haven't made any friends yet but I'm not sure if I want to. Other than the lieutenants' names, I learned one other name of someone in my unit: Vazquez. I don't know if he's nice or not, but it's too soon to talk to anyone. He doesn't sleep anywhere close to me, so I doubt I'll learn much about him. One lieutenant sleeps across from me. He says that he's doing that for the first couple of weeks to keep an eye on everybody. There's a ginger on my left and a wall on the right. I'd prefer to talk to a wall instead of anybody here. The bathroom stinks and I hate it already. Lt. Stone said that we have to clean the bathrooms weekly on a rotating schedule. The men here are messier than Bucky and Travis and smell worse, too. I can't tell you much else, but Bucky did not lie about the food or the training. It's not as good as Ma's cooking but it's been a long day, so I am willing to eat anything. I'm sore all over but I'll get used to it eventually. Maybe I'll build up some muscles. Who knows?

Hope you are doing well. How's Indiana? Again, I apologize for leaving you like this, especially after what happened. But I need to be here—to avenge our brothers. Take care of yourself. Say hi to Uncle Henry and Aunt Ida.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Much Love,

R. Barnes

P.S. Build a snowman for me. I can't make anything here, it's all dirt.

Rewriting over the "R" in the closing to make sure it looked like an "R" instead of the "S" Suzie first wrote out of habit, she checked over the letter to make sure that she did not reveal anything about her true identity. Satisfied, she set the stationery back into her footlocker, stretched out on her bed, and fell asleep fifteen minutes before lights out.

Once again, I am not a military expert. Everything I know I learned from Google or from other sources (most of it from movies and whatnot). These next several chapters will cover Suzie's time at basic training (which is about 3 months) so I apologize in advance if it's not as interesting. I already have the ending of this story figured out (it'll take a while to get there) but the middle part always takes a while since I do not have it as planned out as the beginning and the ending. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. I know I'm not always as descriptive as I should be, either for buildings, people, or places. I have everything visualized in my head, but I forget sometimes that you can't read my mind. And yes, I did a lot of research about military showers (nothing explicit). Testimonies from people all say that they're too tired to care about anyone but themselves while showering.

Anyhoo, I hope you are staying warm and having fun. If you're traveling, stay safe. Eat as much as you want. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!