“What in Jesus H… is this gaggle…? I want every one of you dirtbags in the front leaning rest! Move dammit!” he bellowed.
Jacob stood confused as the group collapsed in on itself. Everyone wanting to create as much separation as possible from the man in front of them, they squeezed together, the huddle getting tighter.
“Well? What the hell are you waiting for?”
Sergeants stepped from the shadows and grabbed the recruits by their shoulders, forcing them to the ground. “He means pushup positions! Now get your filthy civilian bodies on the ground,” one yelled.
Jacob scrambled for room and dropped to all fours while the others—moving just as quickly—dropped in all around him. Sergeants moved among the group, all yelling at the same time, making it impossible to understand individual commands. When they stopped, Jacob could already feel his arms begin to shake from holding the position.
The leathered man strolled between the rows, not making any attempts to avoid stepping on them. “Now… I understand this is your first day and you all don’t know Joseph from Mary, that you are weak and pathetic, so I’m gonna take it easy on you today. I’m going to give you five seconds to get your nasty bone bags into a formation. I want to see four equal rows of earth sacks. Do you understand, recruits?”
The group held silent; only the sounds of panicked breathing emanated from the scared men.
“I said do you understand?”
A low mumbling of “yeah” fell from the group.
“What! Who said that?” The man stepped toward one of them, placing a boot on the recruit’s back and pressing his body into the gravel as he continued shouting. “‘Yeah’? Let me make one thing perfectly clear, recruits; I am not your buddy. You will address me as Drill Sergeant! Do you understand?
“Yes, Drill Sergeant,” the recruits said in unison.
“Better. Now show me a formation!”
The recruits jumped to their feet and tried to scramble into four rows. Jacob was trying to press between two men. Another group was just behind, and everyone crowded together again in fear.
“Three… two… one… Everybody back down!” the drill sergeant said.
They stopped where they were and dropped back into the pushup position. “Now this has got to be the stupidest bunch of privates I have ever dealt with. Maybe all the good men are dead. You must be the remaining cowards that ran for the hills at the first sign of danger. Oh, I so hope I am mistaken. Now give me a formation before you piss me off,” the drill sergeant said. “Move!”
This time when the recruits leapt to their feet, the sergeants again stepped in and forcibly arranged them into evenly spaced rows. Jacob tried to remain in the back but was quickly ushered into the center of the first row. He found himself standing face-to-face with the leathered drill sergeant. Jacob averted his eyes and tried to look beyond the man. Focusing on a far off light pole, he tried to become invisible.
When the sergeants had them formed up, they stepped back off to the side and the drill sergeant paced around the group, walking up and down the rows, yelling at them individually. “Stand up straight, recruit. You look like two hundred pounds of chewed bubble gum. Untuck your shirt, hero. Where’s your headgear, private?” He stopped directly in front of Jacob and stood so close he could smell the drill sergeants nasty breath. “You ever show up for my formation with that stubble on your chin again, I’ll shave it for you with a rock! Do you understand, recruit?” he growled.
“Yes, Drill Sergeant!” Jacob shouted back.
The older man grunted and shook his head before stepping back to the head of the formation and turned so that he could face the group.
“Let me introduce myself. My name is Master Sergeant Masterson. You will know me as Drill Sergeant. These men around you are my cadre; you will know them as Drill Sergeant. Are we tracking?”
“Yes, Drill Sergeant.”
“Now, I don’t think you all understand what’s going on here; the seriousness of the situation you all are in. Less than two hundred miles south of here, there are soldiers worth far more than you maggots. These skilled warriors are fighting and dying while you rest your disgusting bodies in my cozy bunkhouse. I used to be out there myself, holding that line between The Darkness and our people. I was plenty happy doing just that, but it seems we are running out of soldiers and somebody higher up thought it a good idea to have me shape you soft, worthless civilians into fighting men in two weeks.
“Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why, that’s impossible! To turn a soft piece of lard civilian into a fierce fighting man in two weeks? Now normally, I would agree with you, and normally we have sixteen weeks to convert a turd into a trained killer. But like I said, unfortunately, I have only two weeks. The good news is we get to skip the bullshit. All you need to learn to fight The Darkness is to shoot, move, and communicate. I will teach you how to kill and how to die like a soldier; you can learn the rest when you report to the suck. Now… are we still tracking?”
“Yes, Drill Sergeant!”
“Good. Now, I noticed not a single one of you dirtbags made your bed. We don’t have maid service here, and your momma ain’t gonna stop by to pick up after you. When I say fall out, you will have five minutes to get your bodies inside and
