The Russian (Federal Hellions Book 2)

by Gray Gardner

  “Did you go back into the water or not?” O’Malley asked, holding out her arms. “Jennings said you made a run for it.”

  “Nah, I only made it about knee deep before he caught me and brought me to my senses.”

  “No way!” Manes said, crossing her arms. “No way you got back into that water with sharks everywhere!”

  “I didn’t, I only went in a few feet,” she said, peeling off her wet t-shirt and camo cargo pants.

  “But you still went in after he told you not to,” O’Malley smiled. “Oh man, you have balls, Baylor. Huge, huge balls.”

  “I didn’t even see any sharks,” Burton snickered, heading towards the showers. She wasn’t sure how to react to this. In her entire stay on the base no one had ever spoken to her this much.

  “I wasn’t referring to the sharks,” O’Malley called, as the showers turned on and steam began to hover.

  “Oh yeah?” Burton called, lathering soap and shampoo behind neck high mint green tiled dividers.

  “No, she was talking about Captain Crunch,” Nolan loudly said, brushing her teeth in one of the steamy mirrors off to the side.

  Burton quickly rinsed off and turned off the water, wrapping the rough white towel around her and marching into the bunk room.

  “Captain what?”

  “Captain Connor, our captain, is the one we heard stories about in basic. The one who went crazy a couple of years ago and is the biggest hard ass this side of the Mississippi,” O’Malley said, widening her eyes as she sat on her bunk.

  “The one who got twenty-five privates kicked out for not following orders,” Nolan added, leaning forward on her bunk.

  “Holy shit,” Burton said, mouth dropping open. “The one who almost got court martialed for beating up everyone in his unit when he was a Green Beret?”

  “That’s the one,” Manes said, shrugging her shoulders. “You better get back on his good side tomorrow.”

  Burton slipped on a clean brown t-shirt and camo pants and sat back on her trunk, staring at the ground. How could she have been so careless? So stupid? He was the most notorious officer on the base. And now he had her number. She’d given him attitude and had talked back. She dropped her head into her hands as Jennings sat on her trunk across from her.

  “Baylor?” she timidly asked.

  She looked up and found Jennings staring guiltily at her hands.

  “Baylor, I just… you… you didn’t have to do what you did today.”

  “I wanted to.”

  “I know,” Jennings interrupted, cracking a partial smile. “And I wanted to thank you. You’re probably the only private, and definitely the only woman, to ever go up against Connor. And you didn’t have to, so thanks.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You’d do the same for me, right?” Burton smiled, knowing that every girl in that room would sooner die than ever give her a helping hand.

  “I followed you and so will everyone else,” Jennings nodded with a knowing grin.

  Burton sighed heavily. Captain Connor had announced that she was in fact the unit leader and no one was happy about it. Not even her. She was a nobody. She wanted to remain anonymous. Why in the world would anyone ever listen to her? She just wanted to be part of the pack.

  “It was cool what you did for Jennings,” Nolan nodded, sitting back on her bed.

  “You’d do the same, and you would’ve won if we’d voted on unit leader,” Burton sighed. Nolan was one of those boisterous people who just had a natural draw to them.

  “Hey, I don’t want to deal with Captain Crunch,” she said, raising her hands. “You are much better prepared for that than I am. You can have it.”

  “How so?” Burton asked, as they heard the call outside for lights out.

  “You’re the best at everything,” Nolan said, as an officer opened the door and flipped off the lights in annoyance. “And he hates everyone.”

  “And?” Burton asked, waiting for this big revelation.

  “He likes you!” Nolan, O’Malley, and Jennings all said at once in the darkness, as if it was totally obvious.

  Strawberry Bonecruncher

  “Good morning,” Captain Connor said, walking back and forth in front of his unit as the crisp morning air cut through the buildings on the base and caused most of the girls to shiver in their t-shirts. “I know you’re cold, and I know you’re tired. It’s been a long couple of weeks, and you’ve done very well. Now that I’ve seen what you all can do physically, we have one warm-up activity to get your blood flowing, and then we are going to move on to our psychological training. This is an important part of your placement, so I want one hundred percent. So, back to warming up. Have any of you ever trained in martial arts or something similar?”

  No one gave any indication, so he sighed and continued. They were still scared of him. Intimidation had always worked with his male trainees, but his reputation had made this unit of girls—trainees—terrified of him.

  “That includes things like Tae Bo and Yoga and anything that requires balance. Has anyone ever trained in anything that requires balance at least?”

  Burton knew he had read through their files, and she was still trying her hardest to get on his good side so he wouldn’t crunch her, so she slowly raised her hand. She had already run twelve laps every day due to some form of disobedience, so her mission to get on his good side was wavering. Her unit’s one observation stuck in her mind, though. He liked her. Maybe she could turn things around for herself. Get on his good side and stay there.

  “Private Burton?” he called, walking over and pausing in front of her. For God’s sake, not her again.

  “Uh, yes sir. Gymnastics, ballet, yoga, and kick boxing,” she replied in a quiet voice, distracted by the good smell radiating off of his body.

  Nodding, he turned to the rest of the girls.

  “Anyone else?” he asked as he inwardly prayed. Why was it always her? She had made every single day of their training at least a hundred times more arduous. If he had to look at her bemused expression and listen to her insolent stammering another day, he might have to kiss her. Kill her. Damn it, he meant kill her. Crap, she was already in his head.

  No one budged, so the Captain took Burton’s arm and led her out onto the soccer field where they were going to do their warming up every day. Another unit chanted as they did jumping jacks across the field. They looked like they had it pretty easy. Nothing was ever easy for him.

  “Okay, then you’ll be the Guinea Pig, Private Burton,” he grinned, trying to sound enthusiastic. Her skin was cold but soft under his hand as he gripped her arm. He let go and clapped his hands together.

  “The what?” she asked, as he began to roll up his sleeves. Oh God. He was going to crunch her. Ever since she’d heard about him she’d been waiting. She knew this day was coming. Every time she even looked at him she just knew that he was going to destroy her. It had gotten to where she could hardly respond to anything he said or did. She glanced back at the other girls, who all looked on with wide eyes and stiff bodies. Obviously, they had the same impression.

  Today was her dying day.

  “Okay, here’s the first move, very basic in hand to hand combat. I’m going to come at you with a right and then a left, and I don’t want you to attack, I want you to evade. Understand?” he loudly began, walking around her. More like circling like a predator.

  “Oh, I’ll evade, Captain,” she replied, staring up at him and widening her stance. She didn’t want to be out of the game just yet and the thrill shooting through her body as he prepared to attack her indicated her excitement. Yes. She liked him, too.

  He explained some basic moves, gave his instructions, and repeatedly asked if Burton understood. She looked afraid for once, which caught him by surprise. She usually just looked indignant.

  But then again, no one was like Baylor Burton.

  “Oh my God, he’s going to pound on her,” O’Malley whispered to Jennings and anyone else who was listening on the sidelines. The
stories they’d heard had been clear. Connor wasn’t afraid of hospitalizing his trainees.

  Burton swallowed and found her voice. Whether from fear or excitement, she’d completely blanked on his instructions. It was easy to miss what he was saying when his dark eyes and intense focus was all on her.

  “Um, uh, c-can you repeat that?”

  “Ready, Burton?”

  She sucked in her breath. Good God, he was big. His muscles rippled in his exposed forearms. She actually heard herself squeak.

  “Okay, so we are face to face. We’ve both lost our weapons and are fighting for survival. Now I come at you in slow motion for now, right cross to your left cheek. What do you—”

  Burton stepped in with her left foot, wrapped her left arm around his right and lifted up so he couldn’t bend it, then jammed the palm of her right hand up his nose, causing his eyes to immediately water, and finished him off with a hard knee kick to the stomach. She stepped back as he crumbled to the grass, writhing in pain as she smiled down at him. She did it!

  “Was that good?” she grinned, glancing over at the other girls who were shaking their heads in horror. She turned back to Connor as he held his nose and leaned up on his elbow, his knees still in his chest.

  “Burton! We were just going through the steps! I said slow motion!” he roared, but a muffled roar since his hand was covering his mouth as he held his nose. He rolled onto his back and winced.

  “W-what?” she asked, stepping back.

  “Slow motion!” he hollered, groaning as he tried to stand up. “Damn it, Burton! That was good, really good. I did not see that coming.” And he hadn’t. She had totally taken him by surprise and he was totally impressed by it. Maybe there was something more to her than insolence and disobedience.

  Burton covered her mouth with her hands as he regained his composure and stood up. Did he say good? Jennings gave her a quick thumbs up as the Captain popped his neck and took a breath.

  “Okay did everyone see that? She hit all of my weak points and hardly broke a sweat. My instep,” he said, slapping his leg, then held his shoulder and continued. “My right arm, which is my main weapon now that I’ve lost my firearm, my nose, which makes my eyes water so that I can’t see what she’s about to do next, and the groin? A very weak area for a man.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes as he said the last point, because he knew once he said it, that’s where all forty of those girls would look.

  “Oh, God, I hit your groin?” Burton asked, covering her mouth and of course, looking at it. “I was aiming for your stomach but I guess you’re taller than the last trainer I practiced on.”

  “It’s okay,” he nodded, shaking his shoulders and popping his neck. “A knee to the groin can be as effective as a quick electric shock. It shoots pain throughout the body.”

  “Sorry,” she replied, looking up at him with apologetic eyes, then shutting them tightly as they veered back down to his groin. For God’s sake, stop looking at it!

  “Never be sorry for doing good work,” he stated, holding out his hands and gesturing so that he might call everyone’s attention away from his crotch. “Okay, now, this might be suicidal, but let’s see what happens when I attack out of her sight, from the back,” Connor loudly said, walking around behind the small girl. How much damage could she do from the rear? He quickly added, “Let’s keep it slow, Burton. Slow motion.”

  She stiffened as he circled her. Now he was going to really let her have it, she thought.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea. I don’t do well when I’m startled,” she rapidly babbled, trying to look back at him. He was so tall and just big.

  “Slow, Burton. Let’s just take it slow then,” he answered in a comforting way, stepping forward and wrapping both of his arms around her, lifting up. It was like picking up a sack of popcorn, she was so frail feeling. She smelled so good, though, and it felt so right wrapping her up in his arms. Holding her to his chest he opened his mouth to give further instructions to the unit.

  Frail feeling, maybe. Weak, however, she was not. She completely panicked as she felt his arms encircle her and lift her off of the ground. She pulled her legs up and jammed her right knee into his face, causing him to curse and stumble backwards, but not loosen his grip. So, she used her stomach muscles and kicked both of her legs over her head, smacking him in the face again as he fumbled around and finally loosened his hold on her. She flipped around and held his shoulders, arms squeezing tightly around his neck, veins in his tan skin now prominently protruding from his face. She only happened to glance down at her tan camo pants and notice the dark substance on them as they both toppled over to the grass. Immediately, she unwrapped her hands and leaned over his head so that she could see his face.

  “Oh my God, are you bleeding?” she asked, upside down over his head. “I-I’m sorry.”

  “Captain Connor?” Lieutenant Reyes yelled, running over with his clipboard.

  Connor grabbed her t-shirt and flipped her over his body to the ground. She landed on her back and hit with a thud, stunning her even more. He spun her over and pushed down on her back with his knee, twisting her right arm upwards.

  “Never apologize for doing good work and never get distracted by anything, Private,” he angrily said, still pushing one knee into her back. “Did you hear me?”

  “You were bleeding,” she mumbled, face digging into the grass as everyone watched in anticipation. Was he going to kill her? He would definitely maim her, maybe disfigure her cute little face or something of the sort. They all leaned forward in complete silence, the whites of their eyes visible from miles away.

  “You want me to bleed, I’m the enemy!” he shouted. “And now I have you exactly where I want you! Can you move?”

  “I—”

  “Can you move?” he demanded, wishing she would just answer. He didn’t like having to demean her by pinning her to the ground like this, but he had a point to get across to the unit.

  “N-no,” she stuttered. Goodbye, world. Nice knowing you.

  “That’s right,” he said, looking back at the other girls as blood dribbled down his face and off of his chin. “So don’t ever let yourselves get into this position, trainees. I have total control now. I can do whatever I want. I can rob her of any weapons or documents that I might be seeking. I can kill her. I can violate her. So I don’t ever want to see any of you like this. I want you to always be on the offensive, and if you are on the defensive, you better change it up. Understand?”

  “Yes sir!” everyone shouted, eyes volleying back and forth between his bloody face and their fearless unit leader face down on the ground. This was better than Pay-per-View.

  “All right, pair up and begin practicing in slow motion, please! I’m going to get some stitches,” Connor groaned, standing up and releasing his prisoner. “Burton, get your unit moving.”

  Burton sighed in relief and lay her head down in the cool grass, collecting her thoughts and thanking God for not letting him kill her. Manes grabbed her arms and lifted her to her feet.

  “You crunched the Cruncher,” she said, staring her down. There was a short pause, then she nodded and held out a fist. Burton looked back and forth between her face and the fist before she finally bumped it. “Not bad, Scrappy.”

  Burton trained with her unit but was in total agony. She needed to check on the captain and apologize. When the call for lunch sounded she quickly broke off from the group, ignoring all of their protests and ran for the Infirmary in the medical building. Cautiously, she crept inside and listened for any sounds of anger. She really didn’t want to get crunched but she had to be brave.

  “Ow! Damn it, Doc!” It was his voice, back behind one of the medical white curtains. Angry as ever. Ready for a kill, surely.

  “You have got to hold still or this is going to leave a nasty scar.”

  Burton sighed and closed her eyes as she stepped back towards the door. It sounded pretty bad. Why hadn’t he just listened to her? She shook her
head and took another quiet step back. Unfortunately, she stepped on another patient’s bed pan, which sent her careening into the tall white partition, which of course sent her sliding head first into the Captain’s corner of the room. She lay sprawled out at their feet, legs flat out behind her and arms in front of her, so all she could do was just look up at Captain Crunch and hope that her facial expression didn’t show how horrified she was at the sight of his bloody face.

  “Captain,” she softly said, fumbling around with the curtain as she tried to stand.

  “You’re lucky it’s not broken,” Reyes sighed, looking up from his cell phone as he jotted something down on that ever-present clipboard.

  “It’s not broken? Oh, awesome,” she sighed, trying her best to smile. Just keep smiling. People used to say what a nice smile she had.

  “Yes, stitches are awesome, Private,” Connor mumbled, trying to hold still as the doctor pushed a needle in and out of the bridge of his nose.

  “Okay, well, I just… I really just came to say,” she mumbled, trying to back out of the room as the apology couldn’t seem to come out.

  “Hold it!” Captain Connor mumbled, trying not to frown at her. “Reyes, where are we on those psych evals?”

  “They’re ready and waiting for us in the psych wing of the medical center,” Reyes replied. “Should I gather the unit and take them, sir?”

  “Yes, Lieutenant. I think Burton here can help me get to the Mess Hall and then to the medical center.”

  “Yes sir,” Reyes said with a knowing grin, turning and hurrying out of the Infirmary office.

  Burton glanced at the closing door, then up at the Captain. Could she make it to the door before he could shove the doctor out of the way and grab her?

  “You can come here now,” he said, looking at her as the doctor began taping white gauze over the stitches.

  “Yes sir,” she replied, stumbling around her mess and clanking bed pans until she got the white partition back up in its place and walked over to him.