Morning is almost here and I have to go to the training grounds for my punishment. I wouldn't dare disrespect captain Heroic Poopstain for a second time by being late. Unfortunately I have the worst sense of direction known to man and I’ll end up 20 yards from the sun if I try and find the training grounds myself. I'll have swallow my pride which is like taking a bullet to the nuts, and ask Agent to help me.
I go over to his bunk bed to wake him up
"Agent I need your help," I said quietly so I don't wake the others.
Agent's eyes open and it takes him a few seconds to process what is happening. While he is mentally waking up, I’m thinking about the horrors that is going to come out of his mouth. I’m expecting to get yelled at or get the "why are you asking me?" Question. I would much rather get yelled at, then telling him that I don't want the others to know that I can’t really find shit unless it is right in front of me.
Agent looks around at the other guys to see if their sleeping and then answered, "what do you need Breaker?"
He actually didn't seem mad at all which caught me off guard.
"Can you help me find the training grounds?" I asked
"Sure man I just gotta find the map.”
Agent gets out of bed and opens his backpack to search for his map. I can't believe he is actually going to help me without scolding me or giving me attitude.
He pulls out the map and begins to read it.
"The training ground looks like it's about a seven-minute walk North of here, are you ready to leave?" he asked.
"Yup," I responded.
We start walking to the training grounds and I'm noticing my body feeling heavy. The couple days without sleep is really taking a tole on my body and I really hope my punishment isn't anything overly physical. Luckily my brain is wide awake which helps me hide my physical tiredness from the others. I can go several days without sleep and not show any physical signs of fatigue, but I might drop out of nowhere. Hopefully today isn't the day that happens.
We arrive at the training grounds and captain Heroic Poopstain and a man that despite probably being in his forties, looks handsome; that I haven't seen before are standing waiting for me.
"I am General Sexy, and I'm here to make sure Heroic Poopstain does a good job in making an example of you," announces General Sexy.
"Are you ready for your punishment private?" asked Captain Poopstain.
"Yes sir," I replied.
"Ok, do u see the red steel ball at the top of this 30-foot pole?" Said captain Poopstain pointing at a pole that is about 30 feet high and as wide as a street light. There is a red steel ball the size of a dodge ball on top of it and it appears to have no purpose other than for maybe this situation? A random pole just for punishing seems odd but then again, what do I know.
"I do sir," I responded
"Your punishment is actually more of a test,” Said Captain Poopstain. “You have to get that red steel ball. The catch is you can not eat or drink until u get that ball, or 3 days’ pass. You see, the quicker you succeed the easier it will be. The longer you wait the weaker you get, so the harder it gets. You get to choose one of the following tools to help you, sledge hammer, jack hammer, pickaxe, shovel, fishing rod and chainsaw.”
"That’s harsh. He's just a kid, you know that only three people have ever beat this challenge," noted General Sexy.
"Age has nothing to do with this. So, what will be your choice of tool private breaker?" asked Captain Poopstain.
I look at the pole and see several markings near the bottom. This tells me that others have tried to break down the pole and failed. I assume it's too solid for me to break. So I think about what tool would be best. A sledge hammer wouldn't help anything, a chainsaw would break the moment I touch the pole, a jack hammer would be too difficult to grip on a round object, a pickaxe wouldn't help much either, what the fuck would a fishing rod do for me in this case? So I made my choice.
"I'll take the shovel," I said.
"So be it,” replied Captain Poopstain.
He hands me the shovel and both he and the General walk away.
"Breaker I’ll go get the others, you better start working on that," said Agent.
"Alright, maybe that ball will be in my hand when you get back," I said.
Agent runs back to the barracks to get the others. I wonder if he will tell them I asked him for help or keep his mouth shut. Whether he does or not I can't do anything about it. So I may as well focus on this fucking pole.
I know that getting that ball will require thinking outside of the box which I'm good at. I have an idea but if I beat this too early, they will think it was too easy punish me in another way. So I’ll just lay down and watch the blue sky until I feel like getting up.
Before I can even fully lay down Agent is already back with the others.
"Breaker have you done anything since I've left?” asked Agent.
"Nope," I responded.
"Your wasting time! Remember you can't eat or drink anything until you get the ball! And you didn't get to eat today!" Agent yelled.
"I got this!" I yelled back at Agent.
"Bull shit you haven't even tried anything yet!” Agent yelled.
I hold the shovel firmly in my hand and chuck it at the ball. It hits the ball and bounces off without budging the ball, like I expected.
"There, I tried something. Now leave me alone," I said not wanting to yell anymore.
I look at Agent and can see he is pissed off and ready to start screaming at me.
"Agent don't bother saying anything," said JJ. "lets just let Breaker be and go train. Breaker we will check up on you tonight. Good luck man."
"Thanks man!" I replied.
"That pole looks like a penis." (snickered Andrew)
"Shut up meg!" I Shouted.
JJ leads the guys to wherever the Hell they're going. Now that there isn't anyone to bother me I'm going to try have a nap. I lay down beside the pole and close my eyes. It doesn't take long for me to pass out cold.
I open my eyes and see that the sun is already gone. Then I notice Captain Poopstain standing over me watching me fucking sleep.
"Can i help you captain?" I asked.
"Just so you know, private Breaker,” he said. “I only gave you this punishment because I know that you can do it. But you need to put an effort into it."
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked pretending like I wasn't listening.
"Doesn't matter, just beat this challenge," said the captain firmly as he walks away.
I wonder why the captain wants me to succeed so bad, and what makes him think I can. I'll find out soon enough so I won't worry about it.
I look up at the red steel ball and start thinking. I remember how throwing the shovel at the ball didn't move it at all. I'm guessing that the ball is attached to a rod that is in the pole preventing anything from knocking it down. The only way to remove the ball from the pole is pulling straight up. So I have to get to the top, but it's to high to climb.
I hear slow pace footsteps located behind me that takes my focus away from the pole. When I turn my head to see who is approaching me I don't see anyone. I look all around and all I see is darkness. I feel like I'm being watched and my instincts are on high alert. My mind is telling my it's just me being paranoid but my instinct tells me I'm not alone.
Then I hear different footsteps and see a shadow approaching me. I can't make out who it is. Once he got closer I realized it was JJ.
"No luck then?" asked JJ
"Nope," I responded.
"It's late man, the captain didn't mention anything about not sleeping. You should join us and sleep, you can start again in the morning,” suggested JJ.
"Did you come alone JJ?" I asked not forgetting about the previous footsteps.
"Yeah, why?"
"Just wondering.”
"Something is bothering you Breaker, what is it?"
"I'm fine man."
By the look on JJs face it's obvious that he knows that I'm lying. He doesn't call me out on it for some reason, but to make sure he doesn't I change the subject.
"Go sleep JJ, I got this."
"If you want man, I can chill out here with you for the night."
"I'm fine, trust me. I'll have the red ball in my hand by morning."
"I'll hold you to that Breaker."
JJ walks away and I listen closely to his foot steps. His steps are definitely not the same steps that I heard before. The other steps where from a smaller person judging by the amount of time between each step and the loudness of each step.
I look in the direction that JJ walked and there is no sign of him. Despite there being no sign of life, I still feel like I'm being watched.
I'm crazy and I need to get the stupid ball from the stupid pole in the stupid ground. So I have to forget about the tricks my mind is playing on me and focus.
I remember the idea I had from earlier and started working on it.
After a few hours, the sun peeks over the horizon. The guys, Captain Poopstain and General Sexy will be here any second now to see my progress. I’m sure they will be pleased.
The guys are now here and the look on their faces is priceless when they see the red ball in my hand. Then the Captain and General arrive and they both look impressed.
"Smart thinking private Breaker. Digging the pole completely out of the ground is very clever,” stated General Sexy. "He did the same thing you did Poopstain."
"He sure did," Said captain Poopstain with a smile the size of a planet.
"who were the other 2 people who passed this?" I asked.
"The guy who invented this test used the sledge hammer. He would hit the pole over and over again and the vibrations of the pole basically vibrated the rod attached to the ball so much it just vibrated right out and fell on him giving him a concussion. The other guy was a wise man named Bert, who used the fishing rod. No one knows how though," explained Captain Poopstain.
I wondered if it’s the same Bert I know. I'll have to ask him next time I see him.
"You have the ball private, therefore your punishment is over. Go and get some food and water,” declared General Sexy.
"Nah, I'm not really hungry," I responded.
"You are one odd kid," said the captain.
"I'm the odd one? MR. HEROIC POOPSTAIN!" I said regretfully emphasizing his name.
The captain just shakes his head at me.
"Congrats man," said JJ. "Now come train with us. We missed your light machine gunning yesterday."
"Yeah breaker... Agent was trying to steal your role," said Destroyer.
"Well I guess we will have to see who is the best for the job," said JJ. "There will be a competition at the firing range, however that has to wait seeing as how we have our first mission tomorrow."
"Wait, tomorrow?" I questioned and looked at Captain Poopstain. "You gave me 3 days to complete this and it's only been one night."
"I knew it wouldn't take you long to figure it out, you're a lot like I was," said the captain.
This just raises the question of why do people put so much trust in me for no reason. I have a question for the captain but I don't feel like asking it. so, all I say is, "brown people."
"Alright you browns, let's go get ready for our first mission," commanded JJ.
"Ooorah!" We all cheered simultaneously.
