CHAPTER FIVE
Jump
Dear Grandma,
I don’t understand what everyone wants from me.
I feel a little bit better after I yelled at Mr. Rogers though.
My roommates were really mad at the guys who had helped out with my “testing”.
It serves them right. My roommates are back,
-Renady
I finished the journal entry, and shut the book tight.
“I didn’t know you were here and didn’t want to be.” Evergreen said.
“We just thought you had a family relation that was high rank and got you in early because you begged him to.” Coppertone said.
“No he isn’t” I said shortly.
“What about your mom?” Snapshot asked. I just shook my head.
“We had no idea, we thought you were some spoiled kid who didn’t care about anyone or anything. We thought you just wanted to do what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it,” Redfern said.
“It’s alright. I get it, I would have thought the same thing. Why the CIA would want me I have no idea.” I said. “Hey you guys weren’t too harsh with Casper and all them right? I don’t believe that they wanted to do what they did. It was all E. Johnson.”
“No they explained everything.” Coppertone said. By the end of the night I felt better acquainted with the girls, and they seemed to like me better. Well, with the small exception of Coppertone. After we ate dinner we had some free time so we read and talked to pass the time.
Dear Aunt Lil,
The teaching thing is going great. I miss you.I really don’t have much to say we haven’t gotten started yet.
Love you tons and tons,
-Renady
“What is the teaching thing?” asked Evergreen looking over my shoulder.
“The cover they made,” I said.
“Oh,” she muttered.
“So what did the manila envelope have in it?” I asked.
“Oh right. We haven’t read it yet. Would you like to do the honors?” Evergreen offered, handing me the envelope. I took it from her and started to read it out loud. First thoughts that ran through my mind? Oh crap. Well, just a bit more colorful actually.
“Ladies, congratulations on successfully completing the task. Your next task will start tomorrow. You will go hiking in extreme conditions and work on navigating, and skydiving out of a plane. We suggest boots and extremely warm, sturdy, clothing. You will need a backpack with a sleeping bag attached. Tents will be provided. There is dried food, water, and the maps enclosed in this envelope. You will also need a compass, a flashlight, first aid kit and anything else you think necessary. You will leave at three in the morning. Set an alarm. Be packed and ready by two thirty am.
- Agent Rogers.” I finished with a sigh. This was not going to be pleasant and we all knew it.
“Pack tonight, you’ll need your energy,” Evergreen said.
“Jump.” Agent Rogers yelled.
“What?” I shrieked
“Jump now!” I pressed the pressure points in my palm to help me think clearer, then I jumped. The wind rushed through my hair it felt like I was falling, or flying, probably falling. It was like my insides were dropping out. Much to my surprise, I liked it. “Woohoo!” I screamed. In training for parachuting and sky diving it had been made extremely clear by the numerous encounters with the CIA sky diving trainer that if I didn’t hit all points either of two things would happen to me: I would die or I would get a whole load of crap from everybody for the rest of my training. I had to act now. I tugged and opened my parachute. It exploded out behind me. A burst of fabric and I was floating. The feeling was amazing. I took in my surroundings as I drifted to the ground. Then, not so pleasantly, the ground started approaching with rapid speed. I would have panicked normally-which lets just pretend I wasn’t on the verge of panicking at that moment-but I forced myself to think clearly. I crashed onto the ground, hitting all four points. I packed my parachute up. I didn’t know if I was paranoid when I got a feeling that I would need it even though I knew that it was just adding weight and probably would slow me down. Despite the time limit, I wanted to be prepared. I pulled the map and compass out of my backpack. Each of us dove at different points, and we would have to trek our way to the meeting place. Once I had all my things, I headed on my way. The map lead me to a swamp out of which a foul odor wafted. I couldn’t tell if it was made of mud or water. A brown and green ooze covered the surface. In that moment I knew very well that the only way was through it. Let’s just say I wasn’t amused. I lifted my back pack over my head and did the same with the map. I shuddered as I slipped one foot in then the other. I waded through the muck, the swamp rising so high it reached just below my nose. The smell was putrid and stiflingly potent, especially with my nose so close to it. At last, I collapsed, sputtering and exhausted onto the bank. A cold wind slashed at me, tearing bitterly at any exposed skin. I looked around. It was so weird how quiet things were I almost wished something would fill the deafening silence. As if on cue, a burst of noise echoed through the air. I hadn’t been prepared for this. Bullets sailed past me one swiping near my ear, the others spraying by my side. I threw myself to the ground rolling out of the way as more paint ball bullets shot toward me. I groped around in my back pack while doing this, and finally found what I needed. I pulled out my map again and compass. I followed the map as I crawled, ducking behind trees when sudden bursts of bullets would spray out until I was out of the fire zone. I sat down behind a tree and took a cloth out of my backpack, wiping my face so that I could see better. The sudden quiet was even louder than before, even louder than the gunfire. It was unnerving, scary, empty. I trudged on, fighting against the wind. Just when things couldn’t get any worse there was a crash of lightning and roar of thunder above my head. I didn’t know much about electricity, and electrocution and all that fabulousness but I did know enough to get the hell out of these trees. It was pouring rain now and water made the ground slick. I tripped and fell more than once. For the sake of my pride I won’t tell you how many times, but whether it was because of the rain or my natural born clumsiness I didn’t know. The thunder and lightning was deafening and I was tiring fast. I looked at my map. I still had many miles to go when suddenly something caught my eye. It looked like a faded line. I took out my magnifying glass. Yes the map had been changed what looked like a trail that lead to the same place had been changed to the much harder trail I was now following. What I was following now was a twenty nine mile hike used to be just eighteen, nearly halved. I switched to the shorter path like my gut told me. We had been given only eight hours to complete our task. This was going to save me a lot of time, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the others figured it out. I walked quickly knowing that even though there was a lot of weight on my back, the speed would help energize me and help end my misery.
Operation You've Got To Be Kidding Me Page 9
