by Dirk Patton
Her objective was to reach a point twenty miles to the south that represented the safety of American held territory, but she had to reach her goal while an enemy force of six Green Berets tracked her. She was tasked with avoiding capture, but if that were to happen, she was to resist interrogation, safeguard the information she carried in her head and be ready for any opportunity to escape.
Within minutes of departing the helo, Anna was soaked to the skin and shivering from the frigid wind. Ignoring the discomfort, she had taken a bearing with the compass and set off through the dark forest. The six operators who were the red force spent the night in a warm, dry barracks, allowing her a head start of a few miles. They entered the training area at the crack of dawn and within twenty minutes had picked up her trail.
The team leader carried a small camera and documented where Anna had stopped to drink from a running stream, and another location where she’d dug up some roots for a Spartan meal. Mid-morning, the men paused and looked at each other with slightly embarrassed grins. Their target had used one of the tricks that had been taught to her. She’d drawn them away from her direction of travel, transitioning to a narrow creek where she wouldn’t leave a trail.
It took them another hour to pick up her tracks again, and this time they were serious. Up until then it had been a pleasant stroll through the woods for men who had to go through this training on a regular basis. Moving fast and quiet, they recognized another attempt to mislead them. Ignoring the obvious trail, they pushed on and sighted her for the first time within a mile of her objective.
Anna had resisted being captured. She had dropped the knife, not willing to risk an accidental injury to her fellow soldiers, but despite aimed weapons and shouted commands, she had refused to submit. Always a runner, she’d led them on a chase, forcing the issue and making them take her down. Even then, she’d gotten in a few shots of her own before being cuffed on the side of the head hard enough to see stars.
They had restrained her, hooded her and taken her to a dark, windowless shack. She was denied food and sleep, and only given one cup of water a day. She wasn’t released for breaks, forced to urinate and defecate in her pants. When the men weren’t torturing her, demanding she tell them what she knew, a massive boom box blasted out heavy metal music, the same song, over and over. She was slapped repeatedly and water boarded several times. This lasted for three days.
On the morning of the fourth, a man dressed in civilian clothes had walked into the cabin and shut off the music. He had a large tumbler of water in his hand and gently held it to Anna’s lips as she drank greedily. When she was finished, he had smiled at her and apologized for how she had been treated and promised he would make sure she was cleaned and cared for. In disbelief, she watched as two of her captors entered and quickly cut her bonds.
Nearly crying in relief, she was unable to stand and had to be helped through the front door. Squinting after three days of darkness, she didn’t see what was waiting at first. Didn’t understand what was happening when strong hands ripped at her clothing until she was completely nude. She screamed in agony when a high-pressure hose began spraying her with water that was barely above freezing.
This continued for an eternity, then she was roughly hauled into the cabin and forced back into the chair. She was still naked and rough hands quickly secured her in a manner that she couldn’t even close her thighs to hide her genitals. Her head was bowed, icy water dripping onto her legs from the wild hair that hid her face.
“Tell me what I want to know,” the man had purred in her ear as he caressed her bare shoulder. “If you do, I will give you warm clothes. There will be food and more water. And sleep. You only need to say one word, and this all ends.”
He trailed his hand down her arm, then lightly ran a finger up her bare leg, starting at her knee and ending at a point on her inner thigh that made her buck and try to bite him. Laughing, he stepped away and slapped her face before grabbing her throat in a vice like grip.
“You will tell me what I want to know,” he said in a voice that defied the violence. “Why not make it easy on yourself? The only question is; what’s going to happen to you before you cooperate? I’ll leave you to think about that for a few hours.”
Before he stepped away, he grabbed an exposed breast and squeezed, releasing it with a sharp flick across her nipple.
“Maybe I’ll bring a couple of friends with me,” he said, a leer on his face as he ran his hand across her exposed hip. “They enjoy pretty little things like you!”
He turned away, laughing. A moment later the music started again, the screaming voice of the lead singer piercing into her head like a drill.
She was left alone for the rest of the day, unable to rest with the constant assault on her ears. The cabin was unheated and shivers racked her body so intently that the chair wobbled. When she felt that movement, her head snapped up. The chair wasn’t bolted down!
Anna struggled against it, trying to throw her weight to the sides to tip it over. Days of hardly any water and no food or sleep had severely weakened her, but she was determined. Unable to think or care about anything other than breaking free of the hell she found herself in.
She had to pause to catch her breath several times, but finally succeeded in tilting the chair to the point of no return. Crashing to the floor, she groaned in pain and lay there for several minutes, panting. Unconcerned with noise as there was no way anyone outside could hear her over the boom box, she began jerking against the rough ropes securing her wrists. After what felt like hours, the chair arm came free.
Energized by success, Anna fumbled against the knot holding her other arm. Fingernails ripped and bled as she tore at the bond, but it finally succumbed to her efforts and she barely suppressed a cry of triumph. Quickly, she freed her ankles and stood on shaking legs. Taking a step towards the door, she paused and looked back at the chair before bending and picking up the broken arm.
She now had a heavy, eighteen-inch club gripped tightly in her hand. Unlike earlier, when she’d been concerned about hurting someone with the knife, she was ready to break bones and crush skulls to escape.
Stopping at the door, she pressed her eye to one of the many small gaps in the dilapidated building that allowed the cold wind to whistle through. She caught her breath when she saw the broad back of a man standing on the rough porch. He was wearing a set of noise cancelling headphones to shield himself from the blaring music. Forcing herself to be patient, she changed angles until she’d scanned the entire clearing to the cabin’s front. As far as she could tell, there was only the one man.
Taking a deep breath, she grasped the knob and pulled the door open. Despite the hearing protection, the man must have noticed the change in volume and started to turn. With a scream of rage, Anna lunged forward with the club raised over her head. His eyes went wide as he raised his hands to defend against her attack, but she had expected that. Instead of striking with the weapon, she took one step and rammed her knee into his crotch with every ounce of energy she still had.
The man folded immediately and dropped to the ground, Anna losing her balance and falling on top of him. Despite the pain, he grasped for her. Now, she swung the club, connecting solidly with the side of his head. He went still, Anna laying on him, panting from the exertion.
Fighting against dizziness and fatigue, she rolled to the side and, with shaking hands, removed his heavy field jacket after working a slung rifle over his head. Trembling, she thrust her arms into the sleeves and fumbled with the zipper. Standing, the coat fell nearly to her knees and she gained strength from the psychological comfort of having her nudity covered. Pulling the rifle sling over her head, she stepped off the porch and hurried as fast as she could into the forest.
The sun was shining brightly and she adjusted her course until she was moving to the south. She had no idea how far her captors had taken her, or in which direction. She was simply focused on getting to safety, and she knew which direction that was.
Within minutes she came across another small stream and despite the urgency to get as far from the cabin as possible, she dropped to the ground and drank. Thirst momentarily abated, she continued, stumbling frequently. The ground was rough with exposed rocks, tree roots, fallen branches and pine cones. She regularly stepped on them, but didn’t notice. Her feet were so cold they had lost all feeling.
More than an hour later, the sound of movement in the forest brought her to a stop. Heart pounding, she stood there listening. It was definitely several men, somewhere to her front. Did that mean she was safe? If her captors were pursuing her, they’d be coming from behind. Right?
She caught her breath and brought the rifle up when three soldiers stepped into the path a few yards away. They stopped in surprise when they saw her, the man closest holding his hands up and staring at the rifle.
“Ma’am, you’ve made it! You’re safe!” he called.
“I’m safe?” Anna asked, the words unsure.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, then turned his head and shouted. “Hey, LT! Got her! She’s alive!”
Anna let the rifle’s muzzle slowly drift towards the ground and the soldier turned back to her and smiled.
“Sure am glad we found you,” he said, taking a step forward. “Big storm on the way. You wouldn’t make it dressed like that.”
“I’m safe?” Anna asked again, unable to believe it was over.
“You’re safe,” the soldier said. “The LT will be here in a sec and we’ll get you back to HQ.”
“I’m safe,” Anna mumbled, releasing the rifle to hang from its sling.
“Just one thing, ma’am. What’s the word so I can let you pass through the line?”
“Abernathy,” Anna said with an exhausted smile.
There was a rustle of bushes from behind and Anna turned to see the man who had grabbed her breast. He was smiling at her. Her mouth fell open when she realized she’d been tricked, then she grabbed the rifle and charged the man, screaming incoherently.
Anna had been taken to a private barracks where she was examined by a doctor. She had showered under scalding water, eaten a hot meal and fallen into a warm, dry bed. Despite not having slept for four days, she couldn’t rest. She had failed, and that was something completely foreign to her.
After an hour of tossing in the covers, she got up, dressed and went in search of the lead instructor. She found him in his office, drinking a cup of coffee and watching a video of one of the other trainees. The man was naked, strapped to a chair as she had been and crying uncontrollably.
“He just broke,” the instructor said.
“I know how he feels,” Anna said. The man looked at her without saying anything. She was quiet for several long seconds. “How soon can I do it again?”
“Again?” he asked in surprise. “Good God, why?”
“Because I failed!”
Anna nearly lost it when he laughed. Seeing her expression, he pulled out a chair for her and leaned back in his.
“Everyone fails,” he said once she was seated. “That’s the point. This isn’t about winning or losing, it’s about knowing what you can or can’t do if you’re ever in the same situation in the real world.”
“Then what’s the point?” Anna cried, fatigue driving her emotions. “If there’s no winning, what’s the point of training?”
The man sighed and stared at her for a long stretch.
“Ever known anyone that was in Special Ops? Or ever try it yourself?”
Anna shook her head.
“Okay, then I’m guessing you’ve at least heard the stories about how brutal the selection process is. How much we break them down and what we put them through. Am I right?”
“I’ve heard,” Anna said. “Who hasn’t?”
“Well, why do you think we do that?”
“To pick the ones that win!” Anna said, glaring as the man began shaking his head.
“Yes, but not the way you think. Winning isn’t about being the first across the finish line, or the smartest or strongest, or best shot. Yes, that all gets factored in, but a big part of it is to see who has the determination to win. The mental strength to keep going when the body is begging to stop.
“But you’ve got to understand, it’s not just for us to identify the candidates we want. It’s for the men who are going through it to learn something about themselves. To realize that they can go much farther and endure much more than they ever thought possible, as long as they don’t let themselves quit. Get it?”
“No,” Anna grumbled. “I didn’t keep going.”
He peered at her and smiled.
“Did you learn how to find your way in the wilderness? How to find food and water? What to do to throw pursuers off your trail? And did you learn something about yourself? What you can do when you have to?”
“Maybe,” Anna said, not ready to concede the point.
“You’ll figure it out soon enough,” he said. “Once you’ve had some rest and time to think about it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You did better than most.”
Anna continued to sit there, staring at the instructor for nearly a minute, thinking about what he’d just said to her.
“The man I hit with the club. Is he okay?” she suddenly asked.
“Sore balls, a headache and a dozen stitches, but he’ll be fine. Think he learned a lesson, too. He underestimated you because you’re a woman and an officer. He won’t make that mistake again.”
“I shouldn’t have hurt him.”
“Yes, you should have! There’s a reason this training exists, and that’s to prepare you for what might happen. If it didn’t feel real enough to cause you to attack a fellow soldier to escape, there would be a flaw in the program that we’d need to address. But you did exactly what you should have.”
Mind slightly at ease, Anna stood slowly to leave. Exhaustion was winning the battle with her racing thoughts and she could already feel her eyes beginning to close.
“One more thing,” she said, pausing in the door and turning back. “Do you think it’s a good idea to have weapons in the training? What if I’d shot someone?”
The man smiled, opened his desk drawer and held up a thin piece of steel that was about five inches long. There was a large pile of identical ones in a plastic case.
“No weapons go into the training zone until I’ve personally removed the firing pin. Live ammo, in case you checked, but pull the trigger and nothing will happen. Even so... Years ago, before my time here, there was a Delta trooper taking a refresher. He got loose and nearly beat three of the cadre to death before the others could bring him down. From what I’ve heard, it would have been easier to stop a bull elephant.”
Anna stared at him in surprise. Like everyone else in the Army, she’d heard horror stories about SERE. It was like the boogie man. People who had survived it were proud, but no one wanted to go through it. Some of the tales were so ridiculous they had to be true, but many were so over the top they couldn’t be.
“What happened to him?” she asked.
“To him? Nothing. He did what he was supposed to do. Just like you did. But you can bet there were some new safety rules for the cadre put in place after that incident.”
Anna lay on the gurney in the bunker, thinking about the experience of the SERE course. It was one of those things in life that was so intense and dramatic that she remembered every single moment in graphic detail. That included the training on how to survive and find her way in the middle of nowhere. Now, all she had to do was to figure out how to escape.
8
Dinner was the first meal I’d truly enjoyed since I couldn’t remember when. I’d liked the ribs Admiral Packard had prepared, but it’s hard to relax when you’re dining with a table of senior officers. Not that I had anything to worry about, but if you’ve spent any amount of time in the military you keep your guard up any time you’re around a superior.
But tonight was just good food shared with friends. Even if it was in a hospital room,
we were safe and eating something that wasn’t freeze dried and coming out of a vinyl pouch. We’d chatted about everything as we ate, and I learned that the normally reserved Igor could be the life of the party once you got him going. I also learned a few new Army jokes from Gonzales. All in all, I had a great time and might even have laughed once or twice.
After dinner, Rachel and I were walking across the parking lot to where our driver waited when a Humvee pulled to a stop next to us with a squeal of brakes. It was Commander Sherman and I didn’t miss the long look he gave Rachel. Didn’t blame him, either. She was gorgeous in her new dress.
“Got some time?” he asked me.
Nodding, I kissed Rachel and told her I’d be home as soon as I could. I watched her, not looking away until she’d climbed into our assigned vehicle. Stepping into Sherman’s Hummer, I was surprised to see Master Chief Baldwin in the back.
“What’s up?” I asked when Sherman didn’t move the vehicle.
“Waiting for him,” he said, pointing.
I looked around to see Master Chief Gonzales jogging across the parking lot. He climbed into the back and Sherman accelerated away.
“Saying goodbye to some friends,” the Commander explained as he drove. “Thought you might want to be there.”
I didn’t ask any questions, just stayed silent as we drove to an isolated area of the base, passing through two security checkpoints. When we arrived at our destination, I looked around at several plain, large buildings and a dirt parking area full of personal vehicles. It reminded me of the well protected area where I’d lived and trained with Delta, and I suspected this was the SEAL’s equivalent.
One of the buildings was lit brightly and when I stepped out of the Humvee I could hear loud voices. I followed Sherman, entering a smoky room. Twenty SEALs stood around, drinking and telling war stories. At the front of the room were two highly polished caskets resting on saw horses. Behind each was a photo of a man in uniform, and I recognized Lieutenant Sam who had died when the Hoover Dam collapsed. I didn’t know the man in the other photo, but he looked enough like Sam to be a relative.
