Marching Day

“So, young blood, you decided to join the service? I can see you’re as bright eyed as a flower taking root. When have you picked up your first gun, and don’t use the typical shit of - it was during my first round on the firing grounds. It’s quite easy to take the voices out of your head when shooting an inanimate object.” Seth Andrews, the toughest, qualified S.O.B to ever take the field. 

"I have to see if you've got blood in those veins."

"In my veins, sir?"

"Can you fight hand-to-hand, man-to-man?"

He had been serving in the military for all of his young life. He had the look of someone that ran through wires, that had deep hissing scars. Hissing like venom upon his skin, searing deep into his cheekbones. After those many battles he spent grinding his teeth down, the web of skin reset as if a spider did its best to knit the mess back together. No one could look at him without wincing. People threw around rumors, did he get them during active service or when he broke away to do work of his own. Bryce Green, recruit and reserve, could hardly tell. Is he alive or dead?

Seth waits. Those coarse lips cursing. 

Bryce finally responds, “Well, you see, sir, I haven’t moved onto actual hand-to-hand fighting.”

“Sweet fields of bullets and grenades. What the hell did you just say to me, boy?”

Bryce, uncertain, decides to repeat it, “I haven’t moved onto the next stage.”

“You actually know how to throw a punch, boy, or do you have to put that head of yours in another book?”

“I do, sir.”

“You do? I will be the judge of that.” Seth draws so close, that his nametag is illegible. “What’s your name?”

“Bryce Green, sir.”

“Suitable name for you, Bryce. I’m still waiting.” Seth looks down at him.

“Waiting for what, sir?”

“For you to punch me.” Seth barks. “Are you feeling uneasy, Green, feeling your knees shake and your vision cloud? Punch me like a motherfucking man. You don’t like me spitting on your face, do ya? Don’t like me breathing down your neck? You wouldn’t want me sending letters to your sweet old grandma?”

Bryce can feel his knuckles tighten at his side. 

“Go for it, Green. Take a shot because this - is the only one you’re going to get.”

He looks around at his fellow soldiers, all of them looking ahead.

“Then I’m going to make it count.” Bryce lunges at the man, trying to add a new mark to his jaw.

Seth practically leaps with joy, an excitable, sour dog finally stretching its muscles and moving its bones. It doesn’t last long before several shouts erupt from the officers moving up and down the line. “What are you doing, Andrews?”

“Teaching. Now, get back to your lot.”

“You are crazy, old man.” Bryce says.

“Trying to provoke me, sonny? I hope you’re in for the long haul, I want to see you bend, not break.” They both start throwing punches and kicks, not stopping until the two are drenched in sweat. The physical trials were only just getting started, Seth had a thing for making it a personal experience. “You feel that adrenaline pumping? Focus on it, don’t worry about the miles you have to carry your pack.”

“You better not let me outpace you, son. Be a man and keep on giving, you got people that listen to ya, you can talk but you also have to walk.” Seth continues barking as the recruits begin their race, he believed in old methods and solutions to modern day problems. They ran through old battlefields, simulations of the real thing. With the deep bunkers and trenches, the mountainous climb, diving into muddy water beneath and around wire to dodge the gunfire. 

Martin, a fellow commander, looks down at the mess, “Are you sure you’re not pressing them too hard?”

Seth considers this for a moment. “No. I’d be pushing them harder if I could.”

“You do realize times have changed, right?”

“In order to raise good men, you have to make them hard men. Giving them sympathy will only weaken them, keeping them reprieve will take their strength. They’ll taste fear and learn to live with it.” Seth raises his hand, “It’s time to see if Green has got the makings of a leader, you got your men ready for a fight?”

“Causing injuries is not what this training is about.” Martin snaps.

“Injuries here or injuries out there. Don’t see the difference.” Seth coldly states. “We let them decide.”

As Bryce continues with the mud and cold biting deep into his bones. He notices guns with wooden bayonets. “What have we ended up in?”

“A war game.” Duncan lands beside him. “You’ve done this a couple times on the board, haven’t you?”

“I didn’t think we’d be getting to this stage right away. That we’d have time to consider the logistics and distances, not land immediately in conflict.”

“Well, if that’s how you feel, try taking your complaints up with Andrews, maybe he’ll listen.”

“I’m not an idiot, Duncan.”

“Then stop acting like one, we have an enemy that’s going to be breathing down our necks, and I don’t want to be stuck on cleaning duty.”

Bryce takes up the stage, yelling and screaming with fury at his fellow men. “We have another test on our hands, boys. We have an enemy that is approaching our position fast. I need the best eyes out of you to take the front.”

“Seems you found a spark in that unit, Andrews.”

“You have to be willing to put them to the test.”

“They’re is plenty of places to hunker down. Stand with these under your feet.” Bryce commands. “Never lapse in concentration.”

It didn’t take long for him to understand the situation. In total, he had less men, the ones that struggled in the fitness exams. These men were a lost cause, even so, they had cards they could play, at the end of the day he would make use of what they had.

Duncan can hear the jeers and insults of the trainees on the other side. “They’re getting active.”

“That old man gave me a lesson. Don’t play into their game. How about we start turning it around?” Bryce peaks over their trench.

Bryce examines their trench, the spare guns and rounds that they could use against the enemy. Those weeks of basic training always took men to the extreme, testing their intelligence and their ability to apply to any given scenario. Thus, they went through history, discovering tactics that not only saved lives but turned the tide of battle. In those books, he found his answer.

“Brace the weapons against the edge of the trench.” Bryce goes back to the wires, twisting it furiously until his hands start to bleed. “Put a weight on the trigger, place the spare helmets up here, this trench curls around on the left and right side with an incline.”

The men set to work with his idea. Duncan grins. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Don’t start talking yet. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

“Well, considering this field, that forest left ages ago.” Duncan states drily.

Seth and Martin look at the results.

“I have to say, you made a good choice, Seth.”

“I’ve always admired men with a brain. Bryce has the potential to really make something of himself. I mean to make his life hell so he never ends up in it not knowing what to do.”

Martin chuckles. “We’ll have to see if Himmerick catches on to his plan.”

Seth agrees. “Oh, he will. It’s who acts quicker.”

The soldiers under the command of Himmerick seized their charge.

Duncan turns to his friend. “Okay, they’ve stopped their advance.”

“Good. We will move onto stage two. Everyone, move off to the sides of the trenches.”

It was a simple plan, to hide in wait for the enemy to overcommit once they heard the guns running empty. They forwards, with Himmerick in front, a pistol in hand. After the rounds had done their work, they could hear their footsteps drawing nearer to their position.

Bryce holds up his hand. “Wait. Wait. Now.”

They leapt out with weapons ready, flanking the enemy forces as they realized it was a ploy.

Duncan, the sharpest eye of the crew. Immediately focused his fire on the central command.

There is plenty of shouting and war-cries, grunts of exertion and adrenaline as the men fight like dogs of war. Tearing, clawing and biting under the blazing sun. Despite their tactics, they were more or less even, and the tide was beginning to turn. Finally, the siren rang and the contest came to an end.

Seth walks up with a beaming smile. “You all have done a great job. Time to close in.”

Bryce looks up, wondering what on earth the old man has planned for them next.