Chapter 1 - The Shove
Staff Sergeant Ryan Mercer shoved my shoulder hard enough to kick dust around my boots, and the soldiers watching behind him laughed before they realized I had not moved the way he wanted me to. I slid half a step, caught my balance low, and looked straight into his smug face.
The obstacle course stretched behind him under the harsh afternoon sun: ropes, wooden poles, climbing rigs, dry dirt, and enough watching eyes to make humiliation feel official. I was exhausted. My arms burned from the climb. My palms stung inside my black gloves. Sweat ran down the back of my neck beneath my tight bun.
Mercer pointed toward the ropes. “Course too hard for you, Cross?”
I looked past him at the rigged obstacle.
The main climbing rope hung wrong. Too slick. Too loose at the base. The upper knot had been shifted just enough to punish anyone who trusted the setup. Earlier, when I reached the top, the line slipped under my weight and dumped me hard into the dirt while the formation laughed.
Now I understood why.
My breathing slowed.
“You sabotaged it,” I said.
Mercer stepped closer, grinning like the whole training yard belonged to him. “No. I exposed you.”
Then he reached for my arm again.
That was his mistake.
I trapped his wrist, stepped inside his center line, turned with his force, swept his leg, and put him flat on his back in the dirt before the laughter had time to die properly.
One soldier whispered, “That’s not basic training.”
I released Mercer slowly and stood over him.
May you like
“Next time,” I said, “don’t rig the course.”
The training yard went silent.
