The next morning they awoke hot and sticky in the tent. It was going to be a hot humid day and the sun was just peaking over the horizon. No sooner had the bugler finished morning revellie than the commander, the officers and the trainers were all going down the line and pulling men out of their tents. Will could hear them coming their way. He quickly grabbed Seline’s clothes and the two blankets. He stood up hunched over in the tent and wrapped the blankets around her. At the mouth of the tent he stuck her clothes in her hands and told her to head into the woods to get dressed and then come back quickly. Seline ran out of the tent and darted into the woods. Will had stuck her hat on her head, over her newly cut hair, as she ran out. She got into the woods and out of sight just in time the sounds of hooves and the groans and shouts of men could be heard just out of sight. Seline stopped and leaned on a tree and pulled on her pants as she listened. “Where is your brother boy?” The com
The commander was true to his word and was there waiting for them at the training field when they arrived. “I am glad to see that you are taking me seriously. Take your spots right there in the center of the front row. I want you where I can see you.” He turned and walked back to where there were an array of weapons displayed on a makeshift table. He selected what looked like a large stick with a spear on the end. He brought it forward with him and stood waiting at the front. When all the rest of the soldiers had arrived and taken their places, The commander stepped forward. “This is where it all starts. We do not have a lot of time here. I need every man here to listen and learn everything that we teach you as if your life depended on it, because it does. If you do not learn you will not know how to defend your self. You will not know how to use the tools that we will give. You will meet the enemy and they WILL kill you. I am not one to waste words and I am not one that wastes time.
The morning moved on like this with Seline finding out that she was good at almost everything that she tried. They used the rifles for every scenario that they practiced. Seline was surprised at how well she did but scared at the same time. It was one thing to do this in practice where no one will get hurt, she knew that she could not hurt someone else. By the time they went to lunch, she was exhausted. As she walked to find Will, many of the other men were coming up and patting her on the back or shaking her hand and introducing themselves. Will came up from behind her and grabbed her upper arm as she finished shaking hands with an older man named Ryan. Will dragged her off to a quiet spot by a tree, out of ear shot of most of the men. “Are you out of your mind! You are supposed to be keeping your head down and blending in so that no one will notice when you disappear. What the hell was that?” Will looked like he was about to pull his hair out. He ran his hands over his face. “You r
Will and Seline were led inside by a young but strong looking boy. “Are you two working here also then? I am Oliver. I am one of the stretcher bearers. They wanted strong young men for that job. I guess that is what you are here for.” He says as he turns to Will. “You must be here to assist the surgeon. I hope you have good hands, steady nerves, and an iron stomach. I saw some action with the small unit that we had before we came to the training camp to train all of you. It was gruesome, but a few of the men did make it.” The youth saunters on through what appears to be a grouping of several tents that are all connected together. they passed through a few areas with empty cots not set up and what looked like supply storage. There was also an area that looked like a make shift surgery. The last was a small area with men laying in the beds. Most were asleep, some were moaning, a few were looking at them as they walked through. At last he came to a set of tent flaps and raps on the tent
By the end of the day Seline was exhausted and did not think that she would ever be able to eat pork again. She also smelled awful as the meat had gone rancid and that was why Henry was allowed to use it to practice on. She needed a bath. She stunk terribly. She definitely did not want Will to see her this way. She would have to sneak down to the river to wash when everyone was at dinner. She got in the dinner line as fast as she could and brought her food back to the tent and placed it inside. She grabbed what she would need to wash up and headed off through the trees to the edge of the river. She really would like to wash her uniform, but she only had one so she would not be able to go naked while it was washed and dried. When she got to the river she found a secluded place that was surrounded by reeds. She figured that she would not be seen and she would be able to hide under the low hanging tree branches that had lots of leaves. After she had taken the uniform off near the edge o
Seline woke the next morning to Will shaking her awake agian. Apparently the officers were going to make it a habit to go down the rows of tents and roust everyone every morning. She quickly got her clothes down from the tent poles and put them on. It was just in the Knick of time. This time when the officers got to their tent they did not just wake them the ordered everyone to line up on the field without delay. The soldiers headed off sleepily in the direction of the training field. A few of the men who had tried to slip off to relieve themselves were quickly ushered back into line. It took no time at all for everyone to be lined up and waiting on the field. One man, who Seline had seen been herded back toward the field from the woods, decided to relieve himself right there, causing everyone around him to complain loudly and give him a wide berth. None of the officers said anything. They simply stood at the front and looked out over the men. The commander stood to one side with a fe
Seline skipped breakfast that day not having much of an appetite, and it seemed that the rest of the camp did not either as there were not many men in line when she passed. Will had been even more silent than he had the last few days and Seline knew that the scene that they had just witnessed was weighing heavily on his mind. He felt it had been his responsibility to get her out of here that first night, and he had failed in that. Now she was in even more danger and he had no way to safely get her out. The things that she was having to endure daily were things that he had wanted to protect her from. Seline let him brood with his thoughts and decided to talk to him that night. They walked together out onto the training field once again. Staying as far from the two hanging figures as they could. When everyone returned to the field training began. It was much like the training from the first day, but this time the reviewed what they had learned and then added how to properly use the bayo
Seline wanted to find a way to let Will know that she would have to stay in the medical tent that night. At dinner time, she took the opportunity to seek him out and let him know. Will was still being very silent. It was not like him and this bothered her. Had she done something wrong? When she asked him about this, his response was “Not here and not right now. We will talk later.” Will returned to what he was doing with Oliver. Seline had no appetite yet again, and did not eat dinner. She grabbed a few blankets from their tent and went back to the medical tent and set up her cot. After Henry went through rounds with her and told her what she needed to monitor and look for, he announced that he was going to bed and she was to take first watch. Seline did her rounds and then was bored sitting there alone since all the patients were asleep also, so she crept into the doctor’s office area hoping to find a book to read to pass the time. She looked through the papers on the top of his des