Abbie’s POV

Shit. How long had it been? How long had it been since Luke had called me back? I pushed Jonny off me and he landed with a thump beside me.

“What the hell?” He exclaimed.

“I need to do that track again! Luke called me ages ago!” I practically flew out of the tent, making sure my uniform was still looking pristine before I ran off. “I’ll be back in an hour!” I shouted back as I ran over to see everyone standing in a group watching me run. I’m in trouble.

“Abbie, we called you 15 minutes ago. We’ve been standing here wait for you!” The Officer folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at me.

“Sorry, Sir. I was trying to sort out the cramp I had.” I lied.

“Better now?” He hissed.

“Yes, Sir.” I looked down at the floor.

“You need to do this in 1 hour. Go.” He pressed the stopwatch and I shot off, feeling full of energy. I need to prove him wrong. You can tell how much he hates me; the way he speaks to me, the way he looks at me… I don’t know why but he obviously wants to see me struggle through this! I ran through the tyres, jumped over the walls, climbed the ropes, went across the rope steps, across the monkey bars, crawled under the net… I felt my energy draining as I ran this course. How long had it been since I had eaten? Last night? This isn’t going to end well. My breathing got heavier and heavier and I felt my throat closing up. I began to feel zoned out and was sweating profusely as I ran across the finish line. I doubled over, hands on my knees and breathed in and out heavily.

“That was an hour and ten minutes.” Another recruit said to the Officer as they checked their stopwatches to see the times matched.

“Go again, now. Ten minutes needs to be cut. You took a long time on the crawl. Go!” He shouted at me. I breathed in sharply as I began to run again. My entire body felt like jelly as I used what was left of my strength to pull myself over the walls. I knew this time was going to be double what I’d done before… I dropped off the largest wall and landed in the mud, crawling out of it slowly. My head is pounding, my sight blurry, my legs are like jelly and my lungs are burning from lack of oxygen. I climb up the ropes to reach the rope steps and take a step on the first one, my legs nearly give way and I cling on to the ropes. Come on Abbie… Just a few more steps… I feel like death as I move along the rope steps, my legs barely being able to hold me up any more. I take the final step onto the safe, stable surface and breathe a sigh of relief. Right, all I need to do is climb down this rope ladder, do the monkey bars, crawl under the net, climb another wall… Oh fuck it, I’m never going to do this. I can’t feel my body, I don’t even know if I can make it down this rope ladder. Positive thoughts, come on Abbie!

“I can’t do this!” I say to myself as I climb down the ropes, my hands red from rope burn. I step off the ladder and run towards the monkey bars, jumping into the first and grabbing hold of it with all the strength I had left, but white squares appear in my eyesight and I felt sick and dizzy and felt like the world is spinning around me.  Please say my landing wont hurt…

***

“Abbie? Abbie!” I could hear someone shouting my name. I stir, moving my head from side to side and a pain shoots up my back. I breathe in and out slowly, trying to steady my shaking hands. I slowly open my eyes, everything is blurry but I can work out Luke leaning over me, concern etched on his face. “Abbie! Thank God! Are you alright?” I blinked more and more until my sight seemed to be back to normal. I sat up slowly, Luke having his hand on my back to steady me and I rubbed the back of my neck.

“What happened?” I looked around to see everyone surrounding me.

“You passed out!” He said hysterically. “You fell off the monkey bars. You’re lucky you’re not paralyzed, you fell on your back!”

“Take her back to the camp, Luke. When you’ve recovered you’re running the course again.” The Officer said, sounding a little nicer than normal. I went to stand up but Luke shook his head, bent down and scooped me up into his arms, walking me back to the camp like that.

“Sorry I’m so heavy!” I smiled sympathetically.

“You’re not! Shut up!” He laughed. We walked into the camp where Jonny sat by the fire. He looked over as Luke and I appeared and his face went green with envy.

“What’s going on?” He asked harshly.

“Abbie passed out on the course. But of course, you care for the girls more than me.” Luke said sarcastically as he slowly and gently let me down by my tent so I just had to crawl in it. “You want me to stay with you?”

“I’ll stay with her.” Jonny snapped. “You go back to training.”

“I’m fine thanks. I passed the course in an hour.” Luke smirked.

“Well just go back anyway. I’m sure the Officer will need a skivvy.” Jonny hissed.

“Isn’t your job, recruit?” Luke teased. Jonny jumped up and walked over to him.

“I think you should go. Go look after Faye!” Jonny shooed him away.

“I will, cos I care. But you better watch yourself Jonny – out in the real world people need to watch out for each other or they’re gonna die.” There was a silence filled with tension as Luke walked back to the training ground. I lay down on my sleeping bag and sighed, trust these two to argue about anything and everything… Jonny crawled into my tent with me and lay beside me.

“You alright?” Jonny asked, stroking my face with his hand.

“Yeah, feeling a bit weird but I should be alright soon!” I smiled, turning to face him. “That Officer makes you work until you die! I ran the course in an hour and ten and he made me run it again straight afterwards! I’ve not eaten since yesterday, what does he expect?”

“Abbie, he’s like that. When I said ‘Welcome To Hell’ I meant it. I’ve done this once before and I was the same as you… People used to just throw up as they did the course cos they’d work so hard, people would faint, fall off things… it was horrible! I used to spend my nights practicing so I didn’t become one of them…” Jonny shook his head, his eyes filled with emotion as he replays the moments in his head.

“But you did it! And look where it got you! You managed to go out and fight for your country!” I smiled proudly. I kissed him on the lips softly. “I’m proud of you!”

“Well, you’ll manage that course babe. Just give it a few more goes. Normally it takes 5 before they hit 1 hour and 10, so you’re doing better than everyone else!” She smiled at me. “I’m proud of you already!” There was a pause. “Prouder than Luke.” I rolled my eyes.

“What is your issue with him anyway?” I asked, concerned. “I swear you two are going to fight soon!”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jonny looked confused at me. “You’re mine, right?” I nodded. “And I think he fancies you. So I’m being protective!” My jaw dropped. What? That’s not possible… Luke liking me? No! He definitely would like Faye more, she’s more his type isn’t she?

“I don’t think so, Jonny… I think you’re looking too far into it!” I laughed nervously.

“Well better to be safe than sorry… I don’t want anyone trying to steal my girl from me!” He looked at me with adoration in his eyes.

“Aww don’t worry baby, no-one will!” I smiled at him, pulling him in for a hug. I can’t believe after everything I’ve been through; never having a guy talk to me, I’m now sitting here with a beautiful man wrapped in my arms. I feel so lucky right now…

***

Officer’s POV

I’m fed up watching people fail at this course! I did it first time around when I did it. God why did the government want me to watch these idiots run around like kids in a playground!

“This is Base to Officer, Base to Officer, come in Officer” my radio went off. I walked out of earshot of the recruits.

“This is Officer, go ahead Base.” I replied.

“We have an urgent announcement, Officer. The other government have just declared war on us…” I knew who was speaking to me, I could tell by the worry in the man’s voice.

““Mr Wallace?” I replied quickly.

“Yeah. Sorry to interrupt, they’ve declared war early! You have one day and they’re going to need to be sent to war. They’ve got everything ready. They’re meeting us at Polet Hill, the fieldy area that spans 180 acres. That’s where the war will take place. A small one; 20 soldiers each. Whoever wins takes control of this country. Make sure we win or you’ll be sent out there!” Mr Wallace’s voice was now speaking forcefully.

“Yes Sir. I’ll make sure everyone is trained. I’ve got one more day right?” I look around, sighing in frustration.

“Today is your last day. Make it count.” The radio went dead.