Soldiers in Heat: Training Session by Joanna A. Haze Page B

the top bunk.
    “ This is bullshit. He can’t do
that.”
    “ He did.” She pulled off her
boots.
    “ There has to be something that
can be done.”
    “ Captain Brown told me how to
fight it. There’s a hearing process.”
    “ Those can take weeks.”
    “ There’s one in a three
days.”
    “ But you’ll miss more than
forty-eight hours of class. If you’re put back in, that will put
you in the class behind us.”
    “ I know, but it’s the only shot I
got.” She held back tears.
    “ It will work. Stay strong,
darling.”
    She got off the phone and crawled under her
covers, already prepared for morning, when the lights would flick
on and the girl screamed to wake them up.
     
     

Chapter
Eighteen
     
    Two days without Kimberly and Jonathan no
longer wanted to be in Delta Company himself. Seeing her going into
the chow hall with HHC hurt him to the core. She looked defeated
and withdrawn. Her spark was gone. Kimberly no longer looked at him
and smiled. He wanted to hug her and tell her it would be okay but
couldn’t.
    Now he was in the field and couldn’t talk to
her. They were sleeping in makeshift tents with no power. Even his
backup power source would only get him so far. He sent her a text
in the morning and she’d yet to respond. While going through scored
Land Navigation Course, he’d checked his phone several times, to no
avail.
    He and his entire platoon passed, but it did
little to lighten his mood. The dynamics had changed. She was no
longer around to make them all smile. Instead of making jokes with
each other, they sat around with solemn faces. They all missed her
good nature and enthusiasm.
    “ I know there’s no way she was
messing with Harvey. She didn’t care too much for him. Her husband
is an idiot,” Craig said as they waited for their turn to practice
clearing the building.
    Jonathan nodded.
    “ He’s been trying to force her
home since we’ve started class. He’d do anything to see her fail,”
she continued.
    “ I hope he doesn’t succeed.
There’s a hearing coming up,” he said.
    The other squad came out of the back of the
building.
    “ Looks like it’s my turn.” Craig
left him with his squad and took off with hers to the start of the
course for clearing the building.
    A half hour later, it was his squad’s
turn.
    “ Let’s lock and load,” the Student
Squad Leader said.
    Jonathan took the point, and everyone followed
behind him. Rice kicked open the door, and Jonathan moved in with
the rest of the squad close behind, in the ready position. In a
sweeping motion, he went to the left, shifting his line of sight
and weapon up and down, clearing his section.
    “ Dead, dead, dead. You’re all dead
candidates,” Staff Sergeant Isome shouted.
    They were taken out by the cadre, one by one.
Jonathan took a shot from the right. There was no one providing
cover from the door. With Kimberly gone, all the practicing they
did went out the window. Without changing the formation to
compensate for a missing person, it left gaps in their coverage.
They had walked right into an ambush.
    “ Regroup and try it again,”
Captain Brown said. “I know Woodson isn’t here, but you need to
come up with something to cover her sector of fire.”
    “ Roger that,” the Student Squad
Leader said. As they walked off, he spoke to the squad. “Look,
guys, I’m not trying to fail this. We’re down two people, one out
of both A and B Team. The Diamond Formation is not going to work.
We need to switch to the Wedge.”
    Jonathan half listened as the Student Squad
Leader drew the plan in the dirt. He checked his cell.
    Good luck today. I miss you guys.
Tell Z to stay out the fatal funnel.
    Even when Kimberly was down, she found a way
to pick them up.
    “ I have a suggestion,” Jonathan
said, putting his phone away. “How about if Zimmerman stays out and
provides coverage from the window as we enter. This way, it takes
out the cadre in the first room and stops Zimmerman from getting
taken