The Soldier Who Gave Him Acceptance #4 The Soldier Series

Chapter Three - The Journey ~To Base

Chapter Three – The Journey To Base

As the six-vehicle convoy of black SUV’s bumped along the difficult jungle terrain, the green leaves and surrounding trees became denser the further they travelled. The chatter of the contestants quietened down, replaced with wide eyes, the atmosphere changing from excitement to nervous anticipation, the deeper they drove into the thick undergrowth. One of the girls let out a small squeal as the SUV hit a pothole, making it wobble slightly.

Haley had to resist rolling her eyes. If they were screaming now, they would have no chance when they arrived at the base and began the gruelling exercises. Some of the guys were totally unprepared for what was to come, it was not really their fault, they were civys who had the misconception that the process was somehow staged for effect, a common conspiracy theory that was often flooding the social media platforms.

Suddenly, the convoy stopped, and they were dragged out of the cars, shouting echoed around the trees, as Haley resisted the small smile that teetered on her lips.

“Here we go!” Bauldy shouted.

“LINE UP HERE. NOW, MOVE!” Tank bellowed at the contestants.

They all formed a line, as Kermit and Woof placed bergen’s packed with their equipment in front of each contestant, an armband tied to the handle at the top.

“STRIP DOWN TO YOUR UNDERWERE AND PUT THE KIT PROVIDED ON, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES WITH PRODUCTION, DO IT NOW!” Tanks voice echoed around the trees.

Haley stripped down quickly to her black sports bra and black boy short pants, then quickly put on the jungle DPM’s, and laced up the black combat boots provided making sure the ties on her trousers were tight to stop creepy crawlies from climbing up her legs.

Woof had to resist the laughter that was bubbling up inside him, as he watched the contestants strip, one of the girls had a bra with his face printed on one cup, the others was Kermit, her knickers also had the picture of Tank with his two sparkly balls, from the charity Christmas calendar the guys had done to raise funds for the oncology ward Izzy had been a patient at on the front. The back had the picture of Cigs with a pumpkin covering his own man hood. His face remained a stoic mask, his eyes cold and penetrating, no outward sign of the internal laughter he was experiencing.

Tank schooled his face, he hated that f*****g photo, and here it was on some woman’s knickers, he knew the guys would have his life when they got back to base, but at least he was not on her arse like Cigs.

“EACH OF YOU HAVE A NUMBER ASSIGNED TO YOU, PUT ON THE ARMBAND. IF YOU WANT TO VOULENTARILY WITHDRAW, THEN YOU HAND IN THAT ARMBAND TO ONE OF YOUR INSTRUCTORS, WHO YOU WILL REFER TO AS STAFF. THIS IS A GAME SHOW, BUT IT IS NOT A f*****g GAME!” Tank said pacing back and forth in front of the contestants.

“FOLLOW THE COMMANDS AND INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE STAFF AT ALL TIMES, IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. THIS PLACE IS NOT HOSPITAPLE, MANY CREATURES WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO BITE YOU, AND SOME OF THEM WILL KILL YOU IF THEY DO. ANYBODY WANT TO HAND ME THEIR f*****g ARMBAND NOW?” Tank asked, whilst glaring at each contestant as if he were boring a hole inside their heads with his emotionless eyes.

Nobody gave back their armbands, as Tank glared at each of them, making almost all of them nervous.

“YOU WILL MAKE YOUR WAY TO BASE THROUGH THESE TREES, IT IS ONLY 3 KILIC’S FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTORS. NOW MOVE!” Tank shouted.

Each contestant placed their armband on, Haley looked at her number, they had given her 13. She inwardly chuckled, it was her favourite number, from a time long ago, when she would always pick it. Superstition had played its part, not that she believed the number was unlucky for her, but for the poor fuckers who came across the thirteenth soldier. She then picked up the heavy bergen that contained her kit for the remainder of the show placing it on her back, and ensuring the straps were tightened correctly. Kermit led from the front as they walked through the dense undergrowth.

Large plants stood in their way, as they flipped back and forth, whipping at their arms, legs and even faces.

The contestants made slow progress, hampered by the thick undergrowth and punishing heat. Beads of sweat already began to form on their faces, their backs began to show dark sweat patches on the green t-shirt they had been given to wear. The jungle opened up a little, the ground beneath became bogged down with thick mud, as they tramped through it, one of the guys behind Haley began to complain.

“f*****g hell, the muck has gone up the boots, and I bet they want them polished by tomorrow” he huffed.

“HALT” Woof bellowed out, and the contestants instantly stopped in their tracks.

Woof moved alongside number 15 who had complained.

“Aww, what is the matter, you are afraid of a little mud, and hard work.” Woof shouted, his voice not as loud as Tank’s eardrum shattering bellow, but it was still loud.

“Guess what, number 15, thanks to your complaint, now everyone is going to go face down into the mud. NOW!” Woofs voice commanded.

A groan rumbled through the contestant’s and they all laid on their fronts in the mud.

“Now, you can all crawl the rest of the way, say thank you number 15!” Woof shouted.

Only a few contestants uttered their thanks, so Woof shouted again.

“HE CANNOT f*****g HEAR YOU. SAY THANK YOU NUMBER 15!” Woof’s voice bellowed out nearly as loud as Tanks that time. They had already pre-arranged the contestants would crawl for the last half a klic, and number 15 had given him the perfect excuse to divide and conquer. He was determined to get the most armbands this series, beating his brother Kermit, who normally got the most.

“Thank you, number 15,” Haley shouted, along with the rest of the contestants.

“Now MOVE” Kermit shouted from the front.

Haley crawled through the mud, as it splashed onto her face, the weight of the bergen felt even heavier, her back aching, but this was nothing, it was just the beginning of the torturous exercises her brothers in arms would inflict on the contestants.

“You’re not low enough” Woof shouted at number fifteen, pushing his body further into the mud.

“f*****g jail bate prick.” Number 15 cursed at Woof.

“YOU REALLY WANT TO GO THERE!” Woof bellowed, then placed the head of number 15 in the mud completely covering his face.

“YOU DON’T WANT TO BE HERE, THEN GIVE ME YOUR f*****g ARMBAND!” Woof shouted in his ear, the jibe had not bothered him, but this fucker would be the first to go, he decided.

Haley continued the punishing mud crawl through the jungle. As she listened to Woof beasting number 15, she chuckled inside her mind, the guy had made a huge error of judgement, mouthing off to her brother, and she knew all to well, that Woof would be gunning for his armband now.

“Come on 13 f*****g move!” Cigs shouted in her ear.

Haley picked up the pace, she could do this s**t all day, but had to blend in with the others, so had deliberately kept in the middle of the group. A flash of humour in her brother’s eyes, told her, that her old colleague and best friend was enjoying this, probably a little too much.

The three kilometre tramp though the trees and undergrowth had taken them over two hours, but finally, after a lot of shouting from the staff, all of the contestants arrived at the clearing.

“FORM A LINE” Cigs shouted to them all.

The contestants began standing up, muscles aching from the crawl, backs feeling like they might break from the weight of the bergen, they formed a line exhausted and covered in mud.

Tank began to prowl before them, like a lion waiting to pounce on it’s pray.

“SOME OF YOU ARE HERE THINKING THIS PROCESS IS NOT REAL, LET ME TELL YOU IT IS REAL. SOME OF YOU THINK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS NO PROBLEM, BUT LET ME TELL YOU, EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU WILL FEEL LIKE GIVING UP. TO BECOME A SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER, IT IS MIND OVER MATTER. THIS PROCESS IS VERY REAL, AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU WILL STRUGGLE AT SOME POINT. THIS IS THE BEGINNING, IT GETS WORSE. NOW WHO WANTS TO PASS ME THEIR ARMBAND?” Tank shouted.

Instantly the girl who had worn the underwear with the faces of the instructors on it, stepped forward and handed her armband to Kermit.

“Thank you, number 3” Kermit took it without protest, as Stan walked out and took her bergan, ready to lead her to the black SUV which would take her back to the hotel.

Haley blinked rapidly the only indication she had seen Stan, he looked drop dead gorgeous, dressed head to toe in black, she could not believe her eyes. He was here, working as back up. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest, her stomach doing flips, as she desperately tried to keep her eyes front and centre.

Stand looked down the contestants, and saw her, Haley, his Haley was stood, covered in mud, looking sexy as sin, in her DPM’s. She was the mole, and he had to supress the smile that wanted to appear. He looked at Kermit, who stood emotionless, but gave a small wink to Stan as he passed him with the female contestant who looked scared to death.

Helping her to the SUV, Stan waited for more contestants to hand in their armband, but none of the others did, so he waited in the shadows, watching Haley, as Tank bellowed his orders.

Kermit walked over to him, a grin on his face.

“So, you can thank us all later,” Kermit laughed.

“You bunch of bastards why didn’t you tell me it was her?” Stan chuckled.

“Because your face is a f*****g picture bro, you have hearts coming out of your eyes.” Woof added joining them on the side of the makeshift parade square, which was indicated by thick logs.

Stan watched on, she was here, not in the desert but here, and he could not approach her, because she was the mole, but his heart beat ten to the dozen, as his manhood stood saluting his gorgeous ‘friend with benefits’.