The crowd cheered as the graduating platoons hollered and tossed their caps into the air as the Commanders announced, “Dismissed!”
Now, all the graduates had to do was get their orders for their next assignment. Nervously waiting to see which destination they were to spend the rest of their military careers, conversations flowed as everyone told one another where they were to head the next day.
“Char, where are you off to now?” Alex asked. He had been Charlie’s best friend since childhood.
“I am heading to Mississippi for Special Operations Forces training.” She replied, “What about you?”
“Same; what unit did you end up with? I managed Delta Company.”
“I am reporting to Major Thorn of Alpha Company,” Charlie said.
“Alpha Company? How in the hell did you manage that? They only let in true bad asses in Alpha.”
Charlie explained, “Well, new regulations state there is to be at least one woman to train in each unit. They want to see if women can really cut it in the SOF. I know this training is going to be worse than it was when they allowed women to be SEALs.”
Alex interrupted, “Like twenty times worse than all the Beret, Ranger, and SEAL training put together. Look, we have known each other forever, right? I care about you a great deal; we’re family. I just want you to be careful out there, okay? I won’t be training close to you on that base; just watch your six.”
“Okay.” She said, giving him a slight smile. Then they began to plan for their long journey to the SOF training facility. Charlie and Alex sat together for the entire, grueling way to Mississippi, on the train.
After arriving at the station, instructors began separating everyone into their companies for the bus ride to the training base. Hidden away in the bayous, just along the Gulf of Mexico, the base was as far south as a person can go without falling into the water. The weather was hot and muggy, which was normal for mid-June.
Charlie had lived in almost every part of the country and traveled abroad; she now felt that this would be nothing as she had ever experienced. Her twentieth birthday passed her by while in officer training; she now felt that she was taking a giant leap into the unknown and beginning a whole new life.
Walking down a long corridor were two uniformed men, almost similar in stature, same height and age. One was very muscular with brown hair, blue eyes, and a bristly chin. His muscles made his uniform appear a size too small. Opposite of his counterpart, this one was clean-shaven, with golden blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Talking with one another, passing other trainers and officers as they headed toward the room where they were to meet their recruits.
“What I don’t understand is why they are going to allow women to join the teams again?” Dietrich asked.
“I have no idea, De. I just wish they would have assigned this one to another unit. I don’t want to have to coddle some female who’ll just start to cry every time things get too rough.” Jim responded, “She’ll just be a distraction to the real soldiers of this team. This is our first unit, all ours. We give the orders now. I won’t have some tenderfoot juvie from the D, fucking this up for us.”
“Bud, you know I feel the same way as you. Perhaps she’ll surprise us both.” De fell silent as Jim shot a glare at that comment. The two of them continued to talk as they walked farther down the corridor towards the orientation room door.
Forty-six nervous soldiers waited in the Alpha orientation room. Charlie could hear the guys snickering and cracking jokes to each other at her expense. Knowing that she was the only female, she kept to herself, not making any eye contact with anyone who happened to be looking her way. She thought that it was up to her whether this program was going to make or break her. Suddenly, the entire room went dead quiet.
“Attention!” A harsh, deep voice barked.
In unison, they all sprang to their feet. Charlie’s eyes widened in amazement when she glanced towards the door as the two men entered. Her heart began to pound, heavy and fast as she stared at the most handsome man she had ever seen.
He was tall and built, so built that each of his muscles could almost be seen through his neatly pressed uniform. His stance was militarily proper as his blue eyes scanned each recruit he passed before strategically placing himself at the desk in the center of the room. Charlie watched intently as he removed his cap, revealing his golden-blonde hair.
When Jim turned to address his unit, he caught a glimpse of the pale-faced, green-eyed, flaming red-haired woman, who had been watching him like a hawk. Her beauty left him dumbfounded by a sudden rush of emotion he had never allowed himself to experience before now. The excitement and what seemed to be fear had formed a huge knot in his throat as he spoke, “At ease. Welcome, recruits.”
As everyone sat back into their seats, he looked over the new troops again. Thinking there was going to be a lot of work ahead to whip them all into shape, even more so when he made eye contact with her. That fiery hair braided back, exposing those dark green eyes that were glaring at him with intense admiration.
He attempted to shake off the new emotions when he began his presentation, “I am Major James Thorn. For the next fourteen weeks and the remainder of your service, for those of you who make this program. I will be your Commanding Officer. This is my second in command, Lieutenant Dietrich Van Doriff, and Captains Gleason and Harris will be assisting us with your training. We will break you into squads, each with a leader. One of you may get lucky enough to become team leader and my third in the chain of command. I see we have a few who actually have made Lieutenant.” He then walked to where Charlie was sitting, looking deep into her eyes. He barked, “Who do you think you are?”
Her muscles began to tremble with fear as she quickly and calmly bolted up from her seat. Snapping to attention, she said loudly, “Sir, Lieutenant Charlene Shore, sir!”
Now, she was really uncomfortable. She was the only female in the unit and outranked everyone. She could sense the guys glaring at her as though she was some kind of pest that they had to get rid of as soon as possible.
She tried to relax, but that changed when the Major got into her face and said, “Well, Missy, do you think you can make it here?”
“Sir, I sure as hell can, sir!” She boldly responded.
“Bold, how did you manage such a high rank, so fresh out of Boot?”
“Sir,” she replied, “I graduated from the D, sir!”
“Huh. West Point Detention, you say?” He began, “So it was either join up or spend the rest of your sentence in a women’s prison, right? What did you do to get sent there?”
"None of your fucking business, sir." Charlie refused to answer the question. She sat back down, almost in relief when he finally backed off, as she remained silent.
The Major glared at a few who had begun to whisper the reasons as to why she had been sent to the D. After they realized they were being watched, they snapped to.
He returned to the front and announced, “Congratulations! Shore is the team leader for this unit. After our run in the morning, I’ll make announcements to the squad leaders.”
Following orientation and a brief meal, everyone reported to their barracks. There, they were ordered to stow their gear, then shower. An inspection would occur before lights out; their day would start very early.
Once the last blanket corner was tucked into place, everyone stood around, staring blankly at one another. Not being one to put up with too much crap, Charlie grabbed her shower gear and entered the shower room as ordered. Embarrassment was not her main concern at this point; if they couldn’t handle the fact that she was there to stay, then she was not going to let it get the best of her.
She could sense the forty-five pairs of eyes on her when her naked body stepped under the surging hot water. Their jaws agape as the water caressed down her bare, pale skin and into the drain at her feet. Suddenly they were gone. She turned the water off, hastily attempted to dry off, grabbing her things after wrapping a towel around her body; she stepped cautiously back into the sleeping area. There, she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard that bark echo through her head.
“What do you panty waists think you are doing? I distinctly remember ordering all of you to hit the showers, then to bed. It seems that only one of you can do that!”
“Well, sir, we felt it best that she go first.” Sargent Jackson stated.
Even louder, the Major barked, “You are a team! That means from now on you will do everything together. As a team! Including showering! Do you understand?”
Upon finishing his statement, he turned to see Charlie stepping out of the doorway. Wrapped in the towel, her hair dripping down her back, his muscles tightened at the sight. She jumped to attention when he approached. Gazing at each other for a moment before he hollered, “Move your asses!”
He returned to Charlie as everyone moved quickly past them, heading for the showers. The Major then walked in a circle around her, as though he was looking over a prized horse to be raced. Stopping just to the side, he softly said into her ear, “You know, for being a woman. You sure have some pretty big balls. See you bright and early.”
With a smug expression on her face, she loudly replied, “Yes, sir!”
The Lieutenant gave her an approving look for being so bold as to not let her gender be an issue. Thinking she would put everyone in their place by being the only female to make it through the entire training and beyond.
At a quarter to 0400, Charlie awoke to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks near the base’s training beach. Jumping out of her rack, she quickly freshened up and dressed in her PT uniform after making her bunk. She had barely finished tying her shoelaces when Thorn and the other trainers made a loud entrance with a barrage of blank machine-gun fire.
They then began to bellow, “Good morning, ladies! Everybody get out of those racks. I want everyone PT-ready five minutes ago, for a little twenty-five-mile run. Let’s build up those ‘Best of the best’ appetites!”
Thorn then noticed Charlie was one step ahead of him. He strutted up to her and said, “Well, well, I see you beat me to the punch.” He gave her a quick up-close inspection. As he reached her neck, he felt something foreign to him, making him shudder before he continued to say, “We are awfully fucking sure of ourselves, aren’t we?”
“Yes, Sir. I sure as fucking hell am, sir!” She replied for all to hear.
After their first run of the day, they were allowed ten minutes to eat. Charlie managed to grab anything that was going to keep her going for the remainder of the day and would taste slightly better than dog food. Not concentrating on whether she was chewing every morsel before swallowing. The main priority was to remain a step or four in front of the Major and his trainers.
“Come on, little girls, you now have fifteen minutes to shower, then muster back in front of Bravo barracks in full combat gear. Move it!” Thorn barked as Charlie and the others forced down partially chewed chunks of food with gulps of water to wash it all down. Straining not to choke, she swallowed the last bite as she ran full bore to the barracks to get ready for what was next.
Running in, she could see a few of the guys were already showering. Her nervous feeling diminished when she sucked in her gut and walked into the showers. All eyes turned, and their chatter was silenced as she made her way to an unused shower head next to the Corporal who was bunking next to her. When Charlie turned the water on, the mindless conversations continued as though she had been there the entire time. But that all soon changed when the Corporal, Jay Hancock, said to her, “Hey, Shore, so what do you think of things so far? I’m surprised they’re not taking it easy on you. You know, with you being a girl and all.”
Pissed off by his comment, she snapped at him, “Everything is just fine, Hancock. It’s just assholes with arrogant minds that try to make it harder than it truly is. Why should I be treated differently because I am a woman? I worked just as hard as the rest of you to get here, so back the hell off.”
“Hey, okay. Sorry, Ma’am, for causing any offense.” He shyly responded.
In full gear, they headed out, following behind Thorn. He announced, “People, I feel you all need a little more exercise. So, we are going out for a stroll along the beach. You will only be allowed the water that you are carrying in your canteens. You will not be allowed anything to eat until our return to the base. Apparently, we need to weed out the dead weight.”
They walked, ran, and jogged; each team carried a fully loaded raft above their heads. If Thorn felt it was getting too easy, he’d add rocks to their packs for some extra torture. This made holding the weight of the rafts they carried even more excruciating. Five hours later, they wearied their way back to the base. Now numbering twenty-nine, tired and aching from their long, abusive stroll through the surrounding area. They entered their quarters moaning, but that soon turned to groans when Lt. Van Doriff informed them in the morning there would be another lovely walk of fifty-five miles, in full combat gear with survival packs, before breakfast and target practice.
“Sweetie pies,” he ordered, “you all hit the showers, eat, then get some sleep. Your wake-up call will be when I feel you have had enough rest. Pleasant dreams.” He left as everyone scampered about to get what they could done, before it was too late to get any sleep.
Thirteen weeks of hell cruelly passed by them slowly. They were conditioned both physically and mentally, trained to work in unison as a team, with almost every weapon in existence. The ten remaining recruits were now preparing for the final test on the ‘Island’.
The ‘Island ’, as it was nicknamed, was a modified version of the old SERE training. This last exam was the equivalent of Ranger, SEAL, and Beret training styles all crammed into one. “Hell week would be nothing compared to the shit we are about to encounter.” Charlie overheard Jose talking to Brian. In her mind, she had to agree, but she knew she was ready for whatever Thorn was going to throw at her.
Standing in front of the Team, Thorn gazed at Charlie as she flashed him a cocky expression, silently telling him that she was ready for him to take his best shot at her. Shaking his head, he yelled, “People, you all have managed to come this far. Now, you will experience the ‘Island’. For the next three days, you will be graded on your usage of survival skills in a hostile situation. You will be tested to the very extent of your being, by having your physical and mental capabilities pushed to their breaking limits. Now, prepare to move out!”
After a thirty-minute chopper flight, they were dropped into a large swampy body of water, infested with leeches and Goddess only knows what else. They managed to swim to the beach without any creatures becoming attached to their flesh. They then began checking their equipment and accounting for their supplies. Charlie had just pulled the map from her pocket when the questions began to fly.
“Hey, Char, where in the hell did they dump us?” Lee asked.
“Yeah, where are we?” Andy also asked.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Buzzed like mosquitoes in her ears as she studied the map.
Charlie shook her head and said, “They dropped us on the opposite side of where they briefed the drop would be. We are now three times the distance to the strike site. I figure, if we split into three groups and head around those trees, we can find the village, just as long as we keep a north-easterly heading. Grant, your team, the left flank; Lee, yours to the right, and my team will take point. Let’s move out; the clock is ticking.”
Charlie took the lead as they walked through the dense morning fog until they came to a small clearing of trees at the edge of a small lake. In the distance, she could see what appeared to be the roof of a wooden structure. As the fog began to clear, more of the same structures crept into view. Breaking through the silence, “Squad leaders, we’ve reached the village. Two, keep your heading; try to get as many pictures as you can. Three, get as accurate an account as you can of any guards and possible prisoners. We need as much Intel we can obtain. Do you copy?”
In unison, they both answered, “Copy.”
All three teams held their positions for another hour, gathering intelligence. Charlie glanced to her left when she noticed some movement in the water. Two shady figures were treading water towards Team Two. “Grant, do you copy?” She asked over the comms.
Grant responded, “Yeah, Charlie. What’s up?”
“You have two bogies in the water, about twenty feet to your right. You see ‘em?”
“No, I don’t. Oh, shit!” Then his transmission ended.
Charlie peered through her scope to get a better look at what was happening. She watched closely as all of Team Two and a couple of members of Team Three were ambushed and taken captive. That left Lee with one from his team and all of Charlie's. There was no choice but to launch a rescue to get their crew back.
“Shore? Shore, do you copy?” Lee said softly.
She replied, “Yeah. You guys alright?”
“I lost two. Where are you?” His tone was shaky.
“We are bedded down about nine yards from the first structure. We have a clear view of the entire village and all occupants. I can see you moving around; keep your heading, and you’ll be right in front of us.”
After they regrouped, plans were made on how they would go about recovering their teammates without getting themselves captured. “So, what do we do now?” Brian asked.
“We wait here and watch. When the time is right, then we’re going in after them.”
Two hours had passed with very little activity from the village. Charlie and the others lay on the saturated ground watching for any signs. They could see lights and smoke coming from the chimney of the largest structure. Nothing appeared to be happening. Lee pointed out, “Char, I count seven guards, including the Lieutenant and Thorn. All of our guys are being held in a large pen, just there off to the right of that small house. What do you think?”
“I think that we split up once we get in closer to the village. Lee and I will be on point; everyone keep a close eye out for any booby traps that may be set up for us to find. Thorn may just be twisted enough to do something to throw us off. Let’s get ‘em.”
They bypassed trap after trap until they were two yards from the southern fence. A thicket of brush provided the team with enough coverage, allowing them to remain undetected. Waiting for further instructions, Jose said, “It will be dark soon. We should wait until then and use it to our advantage. We can’t wait until morning; we only have one more day until we fail.”
“We are not going to fail. We will go in after it gets dark. I promise you that failure is not an option for any of us here or for those in there.” Charlie made a firm statement.
The team remained in their positions until the darkness of night masked their impending raid. Jose led one team and Charlie the other. Jose’s team was to secure the prisoners while Charlie looked for any strays. They were just about to move out when movement caught their attention.
They delayed their attack to see what was going on. Observing closely, they watched as Thorn, Van Doriff, and one other guard grabbed two men from the pen, dragging them off to the large structure, possibly for interrogation. Charlie turned to her team once everything calmed back down. “We go now. One thing: Thorn is mine.” She demanded.
The team cut out an opening in an unsecured part of the fence that surrounded the village. One by one, they cautiously entered, splitting up towards their respective directions to accomplish their mission.
“Char, this is Two; we are in position,” Jose said softly. “We are locked, loaded, and ready for your signal to engage.”
“Copy that.” She whispered. “Take em out now and rendezvous here; we can all storm in on Thorn together.”
“Yes, ma'am.” He replied with great enthusiasm.
Charlie waited patiently for the remainder of the group to join them. Gabe appeared at her side. Armed with a weapon he had apparently stolen from one of the guards. He and the others rescued captives were armed and ready for her orders. One of them turned to speak just before taking his position when Charlie stopped him and said for him to tell her when they’d passed and were back at their barracks.
They surrounded the building, listening closely for their cues to storm in and take control of the situation. The screams from the two prisoners echoed in their ears as they were being tortured.
Charlie peered through a crack in the door to get a better look inside. She watched as Thorn and two others used electro-shock to obtain information from their captives. The same questions were repeated about the position of Charlie’s team. Each time they refused to answer, they were given another jolt from the crude electrical device.
“We know there is still one more strike team out there. If you tell us where they are hiding, we’ll let you go.” Lt. Van Doriff claimed.
“I told you.” Grant Jackson cried in agony, “I don't know. We lost contact with the other team during the ambush.”
Rob Sanchez, tired and in pain, added, “How many times are you going to ask us the same goddamned question?”
Thorn positioned himself in front of the latest to be tortured. He began playing on Grant's agony. “Come on, Jackson. Do you really expect us to believe that pile of bullshit? I know she led you through the swamp. She was giving the orders. She should be here, not you. Just give us a fix on where you were supposed to meet up with the rest of your team.”
Their screams continued. Slowly, Charlie raised her rifle. Thorn repeated his question when she pushed open the door and shouted, “I’m right here, asshole!”
Thorn and his men frantically looked around the room as the team stormed in. Charlie moved forward, raising her weapon against him. He forced the weapon from her hands, knocking it down to the floor. They began to struggle, each taking swings. They punched so hard that the sound of bone on bone rang out, neither holding back for fear of hurting the other.
Her face was bleeding from his blows, as he was from hers. Taking advantage of his weakness to take another swing at her, she managed to knock him down near the weapon. Raising her rifle against her, he never saw her pull out her sidearm before she fired a blank shot right at his chest.
When the echoes silenced, everyone was stunned to see what had occurred. At the sight of Thorn on the floor, Charlie stood over him, smiling at her accomplishment. Picking his bloodied self up from the floor, Thorn congratulated the team on a job well done. He then approached Charlie, as the guys began to cheer.
Whispering into her ear, “I’m proud to see that you’ve managed to tame this wild bunch.”
When he pulled away, she felt his warm breath rustle across the fine hairs on the nape of her neck. The sensation made her body quiver. When their eyes met, she could see something was different in how he looked at her. She just did not know what.