Just Another Messy Ending

The first few activities were a strain on my muscles, pushing my body to it’s limits as I struggled to keep up with the pace set by my team members.

They were all experienced at this, knew what they were doing, I was just a clueless kid in an unfamiliar environment. Well, technically speaking, I wasn’t a kid, I was eighteen, but I may as well had been; I felt like a child compared to them.

I noticed how the others seemed more tense and serious now we were actually training than they were before hand; each of them was working in a serious manner, obviously trying their hardest to be the quickest and strongest of the group.

If we’re all in a team, then why does everyone seem so competitive?

I decided I’d put it down to plain old working hard and tried to keep up with the group as they raced around an obstacle course, ducking under bars and jumping over things. Luckily, I’d only embarrassed myself once so far (I tripped over the first obstacle we were meant to jump, thankfully, - because I can’t run as fast as the others - I was at the back of the group and the only person to witness it was Party Poison. When I saw him trying to suppress a laugh, I found myself having to resist the urge to stick my middle finger up at him. Usually, I would have done it automatically but I realised when I’d raised my arm halfway that he’s my boss now and that’s completely inappropriate).

When we were about to start our sixth lap of the circuit, a sharp whistle rang out and I turned my head to see Party – who’d been at the side lines the whole time – with his fingers in his mouth to produce the noise.

Gathering back in, we all stood shoulder to shoulder in a neat line in front of Party; really, I was just following everyone else since I had no idea what I was meant to do and no one else had taken the time to explain it to me yet.

Maybe that was about to change though.

Party set the rest of the team off on what he referred to as ‘Drill Three’ but asked me to stay behind while the rest of the group headed away from us.

Curious had grabbed a hold of me so I turned to face Party again after briefly watching the others leave and question him about Drill Three.

“What is it?” I questioned, interested at the sort of things I’d be doing in this place.

“Drill Three? Just some basic raid exercises, don’t worry about that now. Right now, you need to focus on the tasks I’m going to be giving you. Since everyone else is obviously more advanced in training than you, I need to teach you some basics before you can start practicing with them, understand?” Party had started walking whilst he was talking, leaving me to trail behind slightly slower as I took in what he was saying, making sure I didn’t miss a single word in case it was important. Party seemed like the kind of guy who would probably quiz me on something he said later to make sure I was listening and I didn’t want to slip up anywhere.

“Yes. So, where do we start?” I probably seemed full of questions to him but that was because, quite frankly, I was. This was so new to me, it was natural for me to be inquisitive.

“Follow me down here and I’ll tell you when we’re there” I answered simply, leading me to a small grey building I hadn’t noticed on the way in because it was hidden behind the main building.

Expecting to be entering the door to the small building, I was surprised when Party suddenly stopped and bent over. Studying his actions, I saw him start rubbing at the ground, momentarily confused before I saw a handle become visible from under the sand and dust. He turned the metal hoop and pulled it upwards, taking a wooden board with it and revealing a set of stairs leading down below the grey building.

“Down you go” Party said cheerfully, gesturing to the steps with a smile.

“Okay, if we’re going down here though, what’s in the grey building above?” Yes, more questions, deal with it…

“Infirmary, not important right now” he answered off-handily, following behind me as I started my descent down the stairs.

When we reached the bottom, I saw that the room was not that big, about six by five metres and contained only a wooden chair.

Confused, I turned around to ask Party yet another question when I saw him holding a rope.

“Right, first thing’s first, I’m going to tie you up”.