The course began to angle a bit as a climbing wall forming a forty-five degree angle in the shape of an upside down V was on display in front of them. Upon the completion of the angled climb, there was a fifteen-foot salmon ladder that led up to the final obstacle, a thirty-foot rope wall that had the button that would stop the clock at the top of it. The challenge of the obstacle course excited Xavier. Captain Walsh could sense that everyone was overwhelmed.
“Try not to worry. Most people do not make it past the hanging doors.”
“What is the best time ever clocked?” Oscar asked.
Captain Walsh laughed. “Seven minutes and fourteen and seven tenths of a second. However, our current record stands at seven minutes and fifteen seconds.”
Xavier was staring at Captain Walsh, trying to get a read on him. He wasn’t sure if he was motivating them or trying to get inside their heads, but Xavier took it as a challenge and was ready to set the new record.
Captain Walsh continued with the instructions as they exited the facility.
“The palm scanner also monitors when you enter in this course and will keep a running clock on you. You are only permitted in here for one hour a day for three days before the challenge commences, for a total of three hours of practice inside the gauntlet, and no more than three people are allowed in here at one time. Your time to beat is eight minutes and thirty seconds. If no one is able to meet this goal, the final rankings will be decided by who gets the farthest the fastest. You all have a lot of work to do. I suggest you start training.”
As Captain Walsh departed, the twenty recruits stood in silence, staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to do next. Xavier lifted his head and looked all around him. This was a physical challenge like he had never seen before, and he knew his body would have to perform all the feats, but this was more mental than anything. If he let Captain Walsh’s words psych him out, he would never break the record. Oscar snuck off, leaving Charlie and the rest of his crew behind. It was official: This was the last challenge, and it was going to be everybody on their own.
“I am headed to the weight room. Who is with me?” Charlie asked.
Every one followed Charlie except for David and Xavier. David looked up from the ground to Xavier.
“You are the ninja here…should we follow them?”
Xavier laughed. “All the strength in the world isn’t going to matter if we’re out of breath by time we get to the water.”
“So what should we do?” David asked.
“We’re gonna need to do some heavy cardio. All of these obstacles are body weight challenges. That means we need low weight and high stamina. I saw a track on the way down, let’s start there.”
“But do we not need more strength, as well?”
Xavier chuckled. “Trust me. We got this.”
They raced to the track. Upon arrival they saw that the track was significantly longer than the average track. One lap was equal to one mile.
“Five laps! Let’s go!” David groaned. “Laziness isn’t gonna get you there! Catch up!” Xavier yelled out to him.
David ran after him. Xavier was so quick, he almost lapped him. David began to waver after a few laps, and Xavier hung back to push him. Once they completed the five laps, David stepped off the track and was leaning on his knees. His face was red and he was gasping for air.
“Get up! Get your head up! That was the warm up.”
Xavier demonstrated a burpee for David. Once he got the technique down, Xavier instructed him to do them for three minutes.
“I don’t care how many you do, but you better not quit on me!”
David struggled but managed to push through. The two of them rushed up to grab a quick breakfast. They returned carrying multiple gallons of water between them. For the next several hours, Xavier taught David every leg drill, jumping drill, and stamina drill he could think of. After a while, David fell to his knees.
“I can’t, Xavier! I can’t” David shouted.
“Get up! You can! And you will! Let’s do this!”
After David got up, he struggled to regain his breath and threw up.
“You feel better?” Xavier asked. David gave a weak nod, struggling to look up. “Good. Now get up and do it again.”
After three rotations, they both plopped on the ground in the middle of the track. Xavier looked him in the eye. “You’re doing great. We’re gonna get through this.”
They sat in silence. Xavier looked over to David with passion in his eyes.
“How bad do you want this? You told me no one thought you would get this far. You said that you were going to prove everyone wrong. Are you going to get this close and quit on yourself?” Xavier popped up, hiding that his muscles were screaming, and stuck his hand out. “I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. So suck it up, and let’s prove everyone wrong.”
David nodded weakly as he stuck his hand out to pull himself up. They did two more rotations before breaking for dinner. After dinner, they completed three more rotations and then finished up the day stretching. Their bodies ached in every crevice and corner and they were saturated in sweat. Each step had an air of accomplishment; they were proud of themselves. Between the two of them, they had consumed five gallons of water, and this was just day one—twenty more to go.
They started at four in the morning the next day. Their drills and workouts focused on arm strength and grip with each rotation ending in a five mile run. In two days they had ran over one hundred miles. The human body wasn’t meant for this, but their minds kept them focused on the goal. They were unwavering in their resolve. The two of them were going to be the top two contenders for their squad. Several times throughout the day they wanted to quit, but Xavier kept pushing that the important thing was that they finished; no matter how tired or fatigued they were, they had to finish all of their rotations. They had consumed and lost six gallons of water that day.
On the third day, they swam laps around the pool the entire day, stretching and pushing their lungs to the limit. That was their routine the entire week; lower body, upper body, then pool. They had Sunday off, and spent most of the day resting and relaxing. They felt like they had been run over by a bus numerous times. With urging from David, the pair of them stretched, did some breathing exercises, and took a tour around town.
David was in his element when they were socializing. He was often the center of attention and was gifted in talking and connecting with people. He was able to make everyone laugh. Xavier, on the other hand, often kept to himself when surrounded by other people. He was in his element when they were being challenged or doing something physical. A part of him still felt like he had something to prove and was always thinking of ways to improve. The two formed a perfect balance.
They came to a local coffee shop where Emily, Abaigeal, and Lena were already relaxing. They called the two of them over. After David successfully broke the ice, the group began to exchange training stories and routines. The three girls couldn’t believe how hard they were working. Abaigeal asked if she could join them, and Xavier and David agreed that they could and invited the three of them to be a part of their training. After a few moments, Xavier sat back and listened, laughing to himself as David and Emily awkwardly flirted.
After an hour, the girls got up to leave, and Xavier tried to urge David to do the same. He was ready to go home. Commander Bertelli and Lieutenant Rubis walked in, and once they made eye contact with David, they asked if they could join them. Xavier closed his eyes, hoping David would say no, but he encouraged them to sit down. He couldn’t believe that David wasn’t done talking yet. Xavier’s eyes met Commander Bertelli’s. She had a smile that lit up the room, and he couldn’t help but smile back. David led the conversation. Commander Bertelli constantly tried to pull Xavier into it, but he only gave one word answers.
Another hour had passed when Xavier realized what time it was. He found the most polite way to interrupt the conversation.
“I’m sorry, but we have a b
ig day of training tomorrow. We must get going.”
Commander Bertelli checked her watch, surprised at how quickly the time had passed. She was disappointed but conceited. David led the farewells. As they walked back David recounted everything that had happened. Xavier rolled his eyes and tuned him out. His thoughts lingered on the obstacle course, where Oscar was, and how he was going to place. He thought to himself, realizing that his personal obstacle was Oscar. Once they arrived at their room, David seemed to have reached his word limit. Xavier was grateful.
They lay down and David began talking about how great Emily was. Xavier groaned. David laughed and looked over to him. “I think Commander Bertelli likes you, X.”
Xavier’s eyes popped wide open. He thought about it for a minute, but then decided he couldn’t afford a distraction like that. “We have training tomorrow. Go to bed.”
Chapter 22
November 29th 2062 4:00 a.m. (Day One-Hundred Twenty-Eight) Genesis Room, Crimson Manor, Berlin, Germany
Abaigeal met up with David and Xavier at the track, and they started with lower body. Abaigeal struggled but refused to give up. David had improved dramatically and he was pushing Abaigeal. The routines of the prior week continued. Emily and Lena joined the three of them on that Thursday. The remaining days in the week flew by. The following Monday, Xavier intensified the routines as much as he possibly could. He couldn’t believe how much he was able to push himself. He had never worked out this hard in his life, and he was able to help four others do the same.
Towards the end of the week, Charlie led his usual crew to the track. He seemed out of his element. He secretly began to copy Xavier’s lower body workouts. Oscar was still nowhere to be found. Xavier wondered what he was up to.
The first preview day arrived and only three people were allowed inside the obstacle course for one hour. Abaigeal went inside with Xavier and David.
“What do we do now?” David asked.
“Let’s just do a walkthrough, over and over again,” Xavier responded.
“But should we not run it?” Abaigeal inquired.
“Tomorrow, we’ll run it. For now, we should try to commit it to memory.”
They proceeded through the course four times in the hour they had. Every time they fell at the hanging doors. Xavier was fuming. He refused to let this lone obstacle prevent him from setting a new record.
As they exited the building, Ben, Charlie, and Oscar arrived, and David greeted them. Xavier and Oscar stared at each other quietly, recognizing that the one they were staring at would be the one person that could prevent them from coming in first. An intense moment passed as Oscar led his partners into the obstacle course.
Xavier led Abaigeal and David to a tall wall in the city. For the next two hours, they took turns skirting across it. They had two more hours of practice runs before the final test. The next day, the three of them ran the course at a quick pace, but they continued falling at the hanging doors. David could tell this obstacle had somehow got inside their heads, and he encouraged Xavier and Abaigeal to keep trying. On their final run through of the day, they successfully passed the hanging doors without falling into the water. Their spirits had been lifted. Upon finishing the rope wall, the three of them erupted in excitement and joined in a group hug.
Xavier made them return to the wall within the city to ensure their success; he didn’t want them to get overconfident. The hanging doors was a mental obstacle, nothing more, and everything else seemed easier now.
On the final practice day, the three recruits tackled the gauntlet with a fresh confidence and ran the course flawlessly five times. They spent the latter part of the day resting, relaxing, and trying to get mentally prepared. Everything was hanging on this final run.
***
It was finally test day. Captain Stanley stepped up to address all twenty recruits for the last time.
“Congratulations, recruits! You made it! You have outperformed hundreds of other potential recruits to arrive at this point. You have trained like no one else on the planet for the last one hundred and forty days. You should be proud of yourselves regardless of the results. Alas, we only have two spots per squad open at this time. You have made your countries proud. Do your best and we will see you on the other side.”
Xavier looked towards the end of the building they were lined up at. He saw a screen by the exit where all the officers were huddled up. Upon entry, their names would be displayed along with which squad they were trying out for. There was a slot that displayed either where they finished or how long it took them to finish. The technology was incredible. The pressure was on. Everything depended on their performances today.
They lined up in alphabetical order, which meant Fina Abraham was the first one to go. The recruits were unable to see the results, and all they could do was wait. The nerves and anxiety of the other recruits was tangible, but Xavier and David seemed to be completely at peace. They knew they could complete the obstacle course; they had done so successfully on six occasions. They were ready.
Some time had passed and it was finally Xavier’s turn. After scanning in, he took his position at the starting line. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. An alarm sounded and he blasted through the starting line. Before he realized it, he was flying through the air halfway through the spider jump wall. In a smooth motion, he roared across the long jump. Upon landing he took a deep breath and dove into the water, mechanical in his method. He shredded through the water like a fish in its natural habitat. He blasted out of the water and landed on one knee. He did his best to dry his hands and then launched himself at the board bridge that had caused him so much trouble. In two breaths he landed on the platform that took him to the Tarzan ramped swing. As soon as he grabbed the rope he was letting it go. He took another quick breath and grabbed onto the inverted rock wall, scaling it like a spider.
With another breath, he escalated through the salmon ladder like he had been doing it his entire life. At the top, he leapt onto the rope wall in a single bound and ascended it with ease. He hit the buzzer, stopping the clock, and exhaled a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t find out his time until the final rankings, but he knew he did his best and was confident that he had a great run.
As he exited the building, the Captains seemed surprised and excited, and they were eager to shake his hand. He wasn’t sure what it meant, but upon reading Captain Stanley’s face, he figured it was a good thing.
Another hour had passed as David paced back and forth, feeling a flood of emotions. He would be nervous at times and then excited at times. He had finished the obstacle course, and that alone was something he was proud of.
The last person finally finished the course. A couple of minutes passed, and the recruits waited at attention as the Captains walked in. Captain Fischer stepped forward with a smile on her face.
“We present to you your final rankings.”
The large screen flashed the recruit’s names, displaying their time or where they fell. The board bridge claimed six recruits, and they finished in the bottom. The next three recruits all fell at the inverted rock wall. Goma’s name popped in at 11. Xavier could see tears welling up in her eyes. He wanted to see everyone that he had grown close with to finish in the top ten. Her time was 8:30.1.
The ten finalists to be inducted into the Crimson Force were, Carla, Lena, Emily, Fina, Maria, David, Charlie, Abaigeal, Xavier and Oscar. The word “Record” flashed next to Xavier and Oscar’s names. Xavier finished at 7:14.7, and Oscar finished at 7:14.6.
Xavier’s face grew red with frustration. As everyone began to filter out, Xavier fought to maintain his poise. Captain Stanley brushed past him and whispered to him.
“One of your friends is in need of encouragement. Suck it up.”
Xavier looked up and regained his composure. His team from survival training was encircled around Goma. Together they all tried to encourage her, but she was nonresponsive. Xavier approached her and she hugged him, pressing her head against his
chest. He was caught off guard and he had no idea why she found solace in him out of everyone. He looked all around the group, hoping someone would have something to say. Goma looked up into Xavier’s blue eyes and let go of him.
“Thank you for pushing me when you did. You gave me the confidence to get this far.”
Xavier took a step back. He grabbed her shoulders and looked back into her eyes. “You’re great. Don’t give up. Please stay in touch.”
Goma looked down at Xavier’s shoes. “I am sorry you did not finish in first place. I know that is what you wanted. I thought for sure you were going to.”
Xavier’s heart broke. He realized how prideful he was being to get so upset over something so small. “It’s okay.”
They all said their goodbyes as they stepped off the elevator. As they went their separate directions, Oscar pulled Goma to the side. She seemed encouraged after their conversation. The only thing left was the graduation banquet. The graduating recruits had a few hours to kill before the final feast.
Dawn of a New Era (Crimson Blue Book 1) Page 17
