The Path to Freedom (Task Force 125)

by Pietsch, Lisa; Gerow, Tina

  Sarah nodded agreement and then began reading and signing the paperwork Mary placed in front of her. It amounted to a non-disclosure contract and an agreement stating the four rules of the camp:

  1. Sneaking meals would lead to immediate removal from the camp.

  2. Leaving camp without permission would lead to immediate removal from the camp.

  3. Failure to follow the prescribed schedule would lead to immediate removal from the camp.

  4. Failure to lose weight at each weekly weigh in would lead to immediate removal from the camp.

  Everyone at the camp wore combat boots, battle dress trousers and black T-shirts. Luckily for Sarah, she had quite a few of each since she used to wear them to work every day. She had expected to have little use for her uniforms after she left the Air Force, but then again, many of her expectations had been incorrect lately.

  Thank God there’s a uniform here. After eight years of wearing uniforms every day, I certainly wouldn’t want to have to run out and spend my severance pay on a new civilian wardrobe in size extra massive.

  The only thing that bothered Sarah about the uniform was the fact that the largest trousers she had were so tight she had to leave the top button undone. She managed to hide the open button with her elastic BDU belt, but having a button undone anywhere was an awkward feeling.

  She just wasn’t comfortable in her skin and hadn’t been for some time now. Squeezing into tight, ill-fitting clothes just seemed par for the course.

  “Okay, Stevens.” Mary stood. “Let’s get you to your quarters so you can get started.”

  Sarah stood, picked up her bag and followed Mary past the Suburban, a covered picnic area and a wide open space that could have been a parade ground.

  Mary explained as they walked briskly toward a group of small huts. “Campers do not have access to washing machines or dryers, so rinse your clothes in the shower after each training day. The desert air will have your clothes bone dry by morning.” The woman gestured to several rows of small huts. “The lodging situation here is pretty simple. Four rows of five small huts house four campers each.” She opened the front door to one of the windowless huts and walked in. Sunlight blasted into the room from the open door. “You’ve got two bunk beds on the left wall and two on the right. You may recognize the green, government-issue blankets.”

  Sarah nodded. “This looks like a mini basic training bay. Of course, in basic, we had fifty girls to a room.”

  “Yeah, it’s the same concept. There are four metal lockers there against the back wall. Pick one and unpack your gear. The latrine and shower are in the large building at the end of this row of huts, out the door and to your right. Your trainer will be in shortly to answer your questions and give you further instructions.”

  “Thank you, Mary.”

  Mary shook her head and smiled as she turned to go. “Don’t thank me. You’re about to work harder than you ever have in your life.”

  After all the draining, emotional crap in her life over the past two weeks, Sarah welcomed the challenge in Mary’s voice and took a deep breath of the hot desert air.

  I’m counting on it.

  Sarah looked around. The hut had no frills, no windows, and no bathroom. A single light bulb hung from the center of the ceiling. The walls were made up of bare, whitewashed boards on each end and the underside of the arched corrugated metal made up the ceiling and side walls.

  I drank too much Coke. I guess I’d better find that latrine.

  Sarah dropped her bag in the first locker on the left and then ran quickly to the large building at the end of the row. The community bathrooms were built in the same manner as the huts only about twice as large. Each one had a row of four toilet stalls on each side, facing two opposing rows of four sinks in the center. At the far end of the building was a gang shower that could accommodate eight.

  It certainly isn’t a four-star resort but, then again, it is free.

  When Sarah’s trainer arrived, he apologized for being late and led her to the chow hall for dinner, where she officially began camp.

  Breakfasts consisted of egg white omelets and grapefruit halves.

  Lunches and dinners were made up of grilled, skinless chicken breasts and steamed, mixed vegetables. Occasionally they’d throw in a fresh salad of spinach, celery and tomato. No gravies or sauces and not a condiment in sight.

  The only white foods served were chicken, pork and cauliflower.

  Starchy carbohydrates like rice, potatoes or bread were never served.

  In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, there were three liquid meals served every day. Several stainless steel dispenser tanks set up at each end of the chow line near the water dispenser tanks were simply marked Vanilla and Chocolate.

  Soft drinks and milk were never served.

  Although Sarah overheard many people complaining about the lack of more tasty and creative foods, she ate whatever they served and didn’t complain. She was simply relieved to not have to plan her own meals, much less pay for them while figuring out how to make rent. The fact that the camp’s program was free, including room and board, and Sarah could stay as long as she showed weight and or fat loss progress every week was good enough reason for her to keep her mouth shut and follow the rules.

  The real beauty of this camp was she stayed so busy she didn’t have to think about anything. She found it easy to lose herself in the constant activity.

  As she lay in her bunk at the end of the day, Sarah and the other women made up for the lack of diversions by chatting and getting to know each other.

  Melanie mumbled into her pillow, “I’m so wiped. If this is Phase I then what do they do to you in Phase II?”

  “Oh, be quiet, you big baby,” Dani chided. “I think I speak for all of us when I say your time might be better spent visualizing a faster running pace instead of whining.” Dani took no prisoners. Melanie had a good six inches more leg than Dani but Mel was just a turtle when it came to running.

  Mel rolled in her bunk and leaned over the edge to look down at Dani in the lower bed. “What do you mean by that?”

  Tracey chimed in. “She means you drag ass, slowpoke. I don’t mind that we all have to keep the same pace all the time, but you’re killing us with that slow jog of yours.”

  “Sarah, do you think I’m slow?”

  “Well, Mel, Dani is only five-foot-one and Tracey is five-five. If they were the ones setting the pace, I’d expect it to be a little on the slow side. But you’re five-seven. Couldn’t you stretch your stride a little?”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Melanie punched her pillow and rolled over in her bunk to face the wall.

  “Hey, loser.” Tracey kicked Sarah’s bunk from her bed below.

  Sarah smiled. “You kick me again and I’ll make you sleep up here.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tracey teased. “So, what do you think of our trainer, Steve?”

  “I think he’s a monster. He’s six feet tall, six feet wide and nothing but muscle. How does a human being have dimensions like that?”

  Dani answered before Tracey could comment. “Probably built ‘em in an Oregon logging camp, cutting down trees with six foot trunks!”

  Tracey ran her fingers through her blond hair. “And what’s with that shaved head?”

  “Receding hairline,” Dani answered.

  “Shaving the whole thing seems a little overboard in response to a receding hairline. But some chicks like that, eh, Sarah?” Tracey bumped Sarah’s mattress from below again.

  Sarah defended her preference for men who preferred not to hassle with a lot of hair. “Hey, I’m not saying every guy should be bald. But if a dude has nice eyes, a strong jaw line and a great body, who needs hair on top?”

  Melanie added one comment before finally falling silent for the night. “I’ll take any man, hair or no hair, at this point!”

  ~~~

  Sarah stretched and looked down from her bunk to the door of the hut. The sun was just coming up and creeping through
the crack under the door.

  Bam, bam, bam!

  Sarah jumped down off her bunk in a flash. Her heart racing. Steve’s pounding on the door at the crack of dawn always surprised her, whether she was asleep or awake.

  He followed the banging with the same phrase every day. “Wake up, girls! You have thirty minutes to dress, drag your butts to the chow hall for some protein and then assemble for your morning run.”

  “Jesus, Sarah.” Tracey rolled over to face her. “Do you always wake up ready to fight?”

  Sarah reached for her pants and slipped them on. “Pretty much.”

  “Steve sounds a little too energetic today,” Tracey mumbled into her pillow.

  Dani rolled out of bed and started dressing. “That’s how they make us eat a breakfast of grapefruit and egg whites. I’m so hungry after these runs I’d eat fried grasshoppers if I had to.”

  “You are disgusting,” Melanie deadpanned just before walking out the door.

  Sarah pulled her hair back into a tight pony tail. “That would be pretty nasty, especially when he takes us to the gym after breakfast and makes us lift until we puke. At least grapefruit and egg whites don’t look that bad when they come back up.”

  Tracey stood up from her bunk and slapped Sarah on the shoulder. “That’s our Sarah, always sunny side up.”

  “Oh!” Sarah rolled her head back. “That was too lame even for a loser like you.”

  This is all very Spartan but the company sure is fun.

  ~~~

  Sarah climbed into her bunk and collapsed face down on her pillow. “Oh, what a day.”

  “A hundred and ten degrees in the shade and he makes us do calisthenics right before lunch,” Mel griped.

  Dani rubbed her shoulders. “How about that hike? Rucksacks filled with rocks.”

  Tracey flopped down onto her bunk. “You gotta hand it to the guy. He is creative. I definitely prefer the hikes when we fill the rucks with canteens. At least we can drink the weight and sweat it out.”

  “I definitely prefer obstacle course afternoons over those desert hikes.” Sarah rolled off her bunk and landed with both feet square on the floor. “No sense bitching about this anyway. We all seem to be losing weight and that’s what we’re here for. Let’s go dig in to some of that grilled chicken and steamed broccoli, huh?”

  ~~~

  Bam, bam, bam!

  Sarah rolled over in her bunk. “Oh my God, are you kidding me? Today is Sunday, isn’t it?”

  Steve’s voice answered from outside the door. “Wakey-wakey, campers. Time to see which of you are losers.”

  Sarah dressed quickly. Within a few minutes, all four women assembled in front of Steve, just outside the hut. They followed Steve as he walked toward the chow hall.

  “Oh, no,” Tracey protested. “I’m not eating before a weigh-in. Forget it, man.”

  “Take it easy, Ballantine.” Steve laughed. “The weigh-in room is on the East side of the chow hall.”

  When they walked into the large room, Sarah couldn’t help but be impressed with the efficiency. Other campers were already there, quietly lined up in straight rows in front of eight medical scales.

  Steve directed them to a scale without a line and called Mel to the scale first. After weighing her, he reached into his cargo pocket for a small notebook and pen and noted her weight. “You lost eight pounds, good work.”

  Mel dismounted the scale with a smile.

  Rising voices and a commotion two scales down drew Sarah’s attention. “Hey, Steve, what’s going on over there?”

  “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Steve walked over to the cadre member talking to a belligerent male camper. When he returned a few minutes later, he told the girls what had happened. “That camper was filmed by a security camera when he broke into the cadre kitchen last week. We would have let it slide if he’d still lost weight but he was up from last week. When his trainer told him to do the duffel bag drag and report to the command hut for transport out of here, he thought he could fight it.”

  “Damn. I’m too tired to work for food at the end of the day.” Sarah was being totally honest. “Now, if you had a bathtub hidden somewhere, well, that’s a different story. The first thing I want to do when I leave here is to take a long, hot, luxurious bubble bath. Aside from that, some sleep would be nice.”

  Steve shook his head. “Sorry, Stevens. No bath.”

  Dani and Tracey had both lost six pounds each. With dread in her heart Sarah closed her eyes and stepped on the scale next.

  “Looks like you’re down ten pounds, Stevens. Not bad for your first week.” Steve scribbled something in his notebook. “Okay, ladies. You’ve earned your breakfast. Meet me back at the hut in thirty minutes for a hike.”

  Days turned into weeks and all four women in Sarah’s squad continued to lose weight. One night, Sarah dragged her tired body up to her bunk and flopped onto her back after another exhausting training day in the sun. She stretched her sore arms over her head. When she dropped her arms, one hit something hard. “Okay, who threw a boot in my bunk?”

  Tracey punched her pillow. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Sarah sat up and patted the mattress as she searched for the boot. Nothing was there. When she lay down again, she realized it was her hip bone that her arm had fallen on. Glee bubbled up inside her. “Oh, my God! I just found my hip bones.” She touched them as though pinching herself in a dream.

  Hello, old friends. I haven’t seen you in years.

  “’Bout time.” Dani smiled as she hung up her wet pants to dry at the foot of her bed. “By the way, your ass isn’t taking up nearly as much real estate as it did when we first got here.”

  “Speaking of asses.” Mel sat up in her bunk. “Did you guys see those men watching us today?”

  The bunk bed frame moved as Tracey sat on the bunk below Sarah. “Yeah, the ones all dressed in black?”

  Dani lay down on her bunk. “Very mysterious.”

  Mel was true to form. “Did you see the muscles on those guys? Oh my God! They were gorgeous. I’ll take an hour with one of them any day.”

  “Yeah, they were a good bit of eye candy.” Sarah punched her pillow and lay on her side so she could see Mel and Dani in their bunks. “What do you suppose they’re here for?”

  “I think they’re the food police. Checking up on who might not be losing as quickly as they should,” Dani speculated.

  “You would say that, Dani.” Mel peered over the edge of her bunk to see Dani. “You’re always thinking about your next meal. I don’t care who they are, they’re frigging hot.”

  Tracey’s voice came from the bunk below. “And you’d say that, Mel, since you’re always wondering when you’re going to eat your next man. I agree though, they are pretty hot. I think they’re just QC, you know, quality controllers to make sure the staff and campers are doing what they’re supposed to do. What do you think, Sarah?”

  Sarah leaned over the edge of her bunk to see Tracey. “I think Dani’s stomach is growling a little too loudly, Melanie is a slut with an oral fixation and you’re probably right, even though you are a loser.”

  Dani rolled over with a moan. “Sorry, guys. I can’t help it.”

  “Guilty as charged,” Melanie admitted with an ear to ear grin.

  Tracey smiled up at Sarah and made an “L” with her right thumb and forefinger pressed to her forehead. “You’re still a loser.”

  Sarah lay back on her pillow and stared at the ceiling. “Seriously, guys. They show up at any time of day and follow particular squads, like they’re watching certain people. By their glances and hand gestures, they seem to be discussing us, too. I don’t know who they are or what they’re up to, but I suspect it has something to do with why this ‘Boot Camp’ is free.” Sarah laced her fingers together behind her head and stretched her shoulders as she spoke. “People make millions running places like this. You can’t tell me that somebody, just out of the goodness of their heart, decided to start a
fat camp for ex-military personnel. That doesn’t happen. There’s a lot about this place we don’t know, but we’re so desperate for the service they provide, we don’t care.”

  “We are all such losers.” Tracey flopped over with a chuckle. “Now, shut up and go to sleep. You ugly bitches need some beauty rest. I’m tired of looking at the dark circles under your eyes.”

  Sarah smiled.

  One thing is for certain. Those men in black are all so damned buff I’m just happy to see them whenever and wherever they might turn up.

  Her body was starting to take shape, but her self-esteem and confidence weren’t exactly overblown at this point in her life. Some things required more time.

  Her thoughts turned to her friend, Laura, in England, who Sarah had always thought was so shallow and missing out on the joys of love. Laura would tell men she had no use for a long-term relationship and honestly meant it. Laura always had plenty of men to choose from, but she’d never commit to any of them. Men would follow her like dogs. Sarah now understood that Laura wasn’t being shallow at all and just enjoying the upside without the hassle of the downside of relationships.

  Yeah, Laura had it right all along! Laura was the one in control. Now I need to be the one in control. Control over my body and eating. Control over my mind and heart so I stop falling for, or settling for, all the wrong men. Yeah, control could be a better drug than carbohydrates.

  This became the last thought, her personal mantra of sorts, before she dropped off to sleep every night.

  ~~~

  Sarah adapted quickly to the schedule at camp and welcomed the simplicity of it. In just a couple months, her body fat dropped from over thirty-five percent to seventeen percent and her long limbs soon became lean and hard. She lost fifty pounds and found herself at a svelte one-seventy-five.

  Instead of braiding it after her shower one night, she left her hair down and let it dry naturally. The many weeks of healthy living had done wonderful things for her hair. The long, shiny, voluminous waves framing the newly thin features of her face and accentuating her deep green eyes surprised her. She had never seen this woman in the mirror before but she liked what she saw.