Chapter 1 - The Trench
Private Ethan Walker slid forward through the mud just as the barbed wire trembled inches above his helmet. Cold water splashed across his face, filled his mouth with grit, and nearly swallowed the training rifle pressed against his chest.
Above the trench, Gunnery Sergeant Cole Maddox’s voice cut through the gray morning.
“Keep moving, Marine!”
Ethan tried.
His elbows sank deep into the mud. His boots scraped uselessly against the slick dirt wall behind him. The trench was narrow enough to make breathing feel like a mistake, and the wire above him sagged so low that one wrong lift of his shoulders would catch his pack and pin him there.
He had been awake since before sunrise. His legs burned. His lungs felt scraped raw. Every recruit behind him was waiting for him to clear the lane, and every second he stayed stuck made the mud feel heavier.
Then the wire dropped.
It scraped across his backpack with a sharp metallic rasp.
Ethan froze.
For half a second, the entire world became mud, breath, and fear.
Maddox leaned over the trench, rain dripping from the brim of his cover.
“This is where quitters stop.”
Ethan looked up through the wire. His eyes were red, muddy, and burning.
“Not today.”
He twisted his body lower, pulled the rifle tight, dragged one knee beneath him, and forced himself under the sagging wire. Mud splashed around his shoulders as he clawed forward inch by inch.
At the end of the trench, his hand found wet gravel.
He pulled himself out and rolled onto his side, still clutching the rifle.
Maddox looked down at him.
May you like
For the first time all morning, his expression changed.
“On your feet, Marine.”
