The Soldier Who Taught Her to Love

Chapter Seven - The Hand of Friendship

Chapter Seven – The Hand of Friendship

All but collapsing on her bunk due to the pure physical exhaustion, Kyla rubbed her arms, in a bid to ease the tension and muscle ache that almost took her breath away. Other contestants arrived, some grumbling loudly about number 2 and his forgotten jumper.  

Number 2 entered the old barn, looking dejected, the realisation that he had royally messed up written all over his face, and Kyla felt a wave of pity for the man. some of the contestants grimaced at him, clearly not happy with the situation they had found themselves in.

 Number 14 all but marched over to him, his black dreadlocks tied back into a bun at the name of his neck, he was intimidating at around 6 foot tall, and beads of sweat glistened upon his dark skin on his forehead.

“Number 2, remember your f*****g kit next time” he all but shouted clearly very annoyed

Kyla watched as Number 2 attempted to apologise to the group, some told him not to worry about it, whilst others like number 14 viewed him with a look of distaste even hatred.

“We get to go through f*****g hell and all you have to do is f*****g stand and watch, that is not f*****g fair” number 14 continued with his self-justified rant to number 2.

Kyla watched on, feeling that they were being unjust, had these guys not researched this program? Did they not realise that if it had not been the jumper incident, they would have found something else to use as a reason for the sickener?  Kyla annoyance nipped at the corner of her mind that these contestants had turned against Steve, and she could not bare the injustice of it all, what was not fair was their attitude to his mistake.

As Steve slumped defeated on his bunk Kyla wanted to help him in some way, so turned and her voice barely above a whisper spoke to him.

“Steve, are you okay?” her voice full of compassion and concern.

Steve looked at her and gave a short nod, and she offered him a small smile.

“Do not blame yourself, everyone here will make a mistake at some point, and I am sure they would have found another reason to do that to us tonight even if you remembered your jumper” Kyla spoke on, wanting to alleviate some of the guilt Steve would feel.

Number 6 a girl with short dark hair that was spiked upwards, her arms covered in tattoo’s then shouted to no one in particular.

“Look, nobody is perfect, what happened, happened, and no doubt we will all f**k up, and have to go through this multiple times, if you are not prepared to accept this, then clearly you applied for the wrong show.  Plus you all ate your dinner, there was no other option for me, so I managed it on a few over cooked vegies, and I am not f*****g complaining, we should be banding together as a team not pulling each other apart”

Kyla instantly liked the girl, and watched as the complainers still grumbled but not as loudly as before. Kyla cursed her under confidence, she wished beyond anything that she might learn to have a voice just like number 6 had, to not be afraid to speak up, and internally made a promise to herself that she would learn to speak up next time she saw injustice.

Cigs looked at Kyal she was offering him an olive branch, and opening herself up in an act of friendship, he was pleased, she had shown that despite his earlier fears she did have the capacity to be a team player, and obviously had a strong sense of righting injustice. Cigs smiled inwardly feeling like he had chipped away at the wall that she had built around herself. But a pang of guilt hit him deep inside, if like he thought she found it difficult to trust people would him befriending her as the mole be more damaging, or would she move passed it not feeling the betrayal. That was something he did not know the answer to, but it was not his job to feel guilt, only to report back on the weaknesses of those who wanted to involve themselves in this process. His thoughts then moved to Number 6, she was strong, and unafraid to stand against the crowd, and he smiled inwardly nodding his approval, yes, he liked her, and felt that Number 6 would be a good person to help Number 11.

Jim sat with Tank and Woof, grinning at the armbands that hung on nails under his name in the back room they used as a private office. He takes a drink of his hot coffee relishing the small buzz it gives him. God, caffeine, it was his life saver, after removing the temptation of alcohol from his life, caffeine was his only addiction, something that could give him a little lift.  He opens up the packet of foil wrapped digestive biscuits, placing them in the centre of the table, before taking one and eating it.

“So, lad’s what do we think of them so far?” Tank asks.

Jim tries to gather his thoughts, as he inwardly appraises the contestants who are left, pictures of them adorn the side of the wall with their number underneath, and his eyes instantly find the image of number 11. God she is beautiful, he finds himself once again thinking, even in what amounts to a mug shot on the wall, he felt a stirring within himself his breath becoming heavy, and his groin stiffening.  f**k he needed to get this under control, or get laid, one or the other.

“I think we should get Cig’s in here for a debrief” Woof offers, and Jim agrees, he is best placed to know what they are like behind closed doors helping the team to find out who has what it takes to continue with the processes.

“Yeah, Kermit, you go get him” Tank orders,

Standing up scraping his chair so that the sound reverberates around the room, Jim grabs hold of the black hood and glasses, they use to bring the contestants into the interview room adjoining this one.

Walking around the side of the outbuildings, Jim stops for a brief second, and takes a breath, he may only be entering that room for a few moments to shout for Cig’s but the fact he will no doubt see number 11 again plays on his mind, he both wants to see her and needs to avoid her in equal measure, damn why is this happening to him? Jim finds himself thinking for the umpteenth time today and getting himself in check. He shuts down his thoughts with a deep breath, years of training to place distractions into a box helping him, and with his wayward emotions under control he walks to the barn.

“NUMBER 2”

 Jim’s voice bellows around the barn, as he notices some of the contestants nearly jump out of their skin in shock. Their eyes wide, and fear that another sickener is awaiting them clear in their eyes. Jim chuckles inwardly, whilst keeping his face stoic, and unreadable.

Cigs jumps from his bed where he looks to be in conversation with the girl he wishes to avoid. Jim scans the length of her, taking in her brown hair that has a natural wave, it is lighter than he had perceived before but not by much, more like milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate, her long shapely legs stretched out on her bunk. Jim gives his head an internal shake before he finds himself stagnant and unable to move for watching her, turning on his heal and marches out of the building, disgusted with his lack of control where she is concerned, he must conquer this, and quickly.

Placing the hood on Cigs, and the black out glasses over his face, Jim manoeuvres him past the buildings and into the interview room. Guiding Cigs into a chair he sits him down then removes the glasses and pulls the hood from his head before taking a seat next to tank.

“Hey Bro, how’s it going?” Tank asks, his smile wide, as he passes some biscuits to Cigs.   

They all partake in a man hug and begin to laugh slightly together.

Jim sits back in his seat, and placing his hands behind his head, quietly listening to what Cigs has to say.

“Number 14 is not a team player, he likes to shout blame, and was the first to almost demand the warmer bunk, he is giving me some jip for the jumper, and he panicked in the water causing everyone to go under multiple times” Cigs laughs, unaffected by anything that had transpired.

Jim watched on listening intently, as Cigs evaluates each of the contestant, but wanting more to know his thoughts on number 11 and he finds himself impatient waiting for news on her.

“What about Number 11?” Jim eventually asks, unable to wait any longer to hear about the girl he found himself thinking and fantasising about most of the day.

“Yeah bro, she is determined, but closed off, she has not really interacted with anyone other than me and number 16.  She is definitely under confident around people, and at first, I thought she may not be a team player. She does not trust people, you can see it in her eyes. When I offered her some talc for her feet, it was like I was going to try and poison her in some way. But when I returned from the sickener she was the only contestant who went out of her way to offer reassurance and support, directly to me, so I feel once she learns to trust people, she will be an asset”

Jim listened intently, and wondered why she was so insecure, he wanted to find out more, so much more, but was his reasoning to do so to help with this process or because his body tingled and jerked in reaction to her every single time he laid eyes upon her? that was a question he did not know the answer to, and it irked him.

“Why do you think she is this closed off?” Tank asks

“Not sure bro, but I get the feeling she may have been bullied at some point, and I think it is to do with her eye’s. She rarely makes eye contact, and it is something more than just being submissive in nature, she also tries to cover them with her hair when she can.  But that is just my thoughts she has not said as such. I get the feeling she has never experienced true friendship and has a deep ingrained distrust of people and their motives.” Cigs continued.

Hearing that revelation Jim’s heart stopped inside his chest, and a pang of pain pierced his heart. He could relate to that beautiful girl.  Outside of his military world, back in civvy street where he is not Kermit, just plain old Jim Henderson, he too was lonely, found himself unable to trust anyone other than people who had served in the military, it is a sad life of self enforced solitude, and to hear this maybe this woman’s experience does not sit well with him, and he wants more than ever for her to experience some sort of friendship, to learn how to trust.

“Befriend her, along with others, but let’s see how she opens up then bring her in for interview in a couple of days if she is still here” Tank orders.

“Yeah, number 6 may be good for her, potentially team them up, see if they gel together”

Jim listens to Cig’s appraisal of the other remaining contestants, with less enthusiasm, when Woof asks about number 13

“I thought she would bug out after tea, but she is still here, do you think she will last?”

“I doubt it mate, with a little push in the morning, you will claim her armband mate” Cigs laughs.

Woof turned to Jim with a teasing grin on his face.

“No cheating, she is mine tomorrow” he grinned, and Jim nodded in response his lips upturned in a small smirk.

When everything was finished, and the packet of biscuits devoured, Jim escorted the hooded Cigs back to the barn, then removing the hood and glasses, jogs back round the buildings to the safety of the staff area, glad he did not come into contact with number 11. f**k he needed her to leave, yet wanted more so for her to stay, that woman was his kryptonite and it had been less than one f*****g day!