Chapter 2
Afterwards
The flight from home was hard for Will, leaving his family and all. When he arrived at the base, the drill sergeants were waiting for the unit already. They all marched from where the plane had landed to the preparation area. Will could already tell that this was going to be the longest three months of training.
* * * *
Will had guessed correctly before basic training started, it was long. In fact, it was one of the hardest things for Will’s unit to do. Thanks to the sports Will did, he thought it was easier than what he first thought.
The mail was the one thing about basic training that lightened Will’s mood, since he got letters from his mom and Arielle. They usually asked questions like, ‘How is basic training coming along?’ or ‘What’s going on in basic?’ But other than that, it was just the casual, ‘Hi, how are you? What’s new?’
There was one instance during lunch that Will was sitting and reading his letter from Arielle when his drill sergeant came by holding a letter in his hand.
“Is your full name William J. Knight, son?” he asked watching Will carefully up and down.
“Yes, sir, I thought that you already knew that, sir,” replied Will a bit confused at the query.
“This letter just arrived here,” the drill sergeant started, “It’s been scanned several times but it seems like a regular letter.”
“May I ask why you had to go and scan the letter?” Will queried.
“This letter here was sent on a ‘special delivery’ to you,” the drill sergeant said, handing Will the letter.
Will was puzzled at this moment. Will looked all around the letter to find out who sent it. All he found was a seal that had the letters KO. Will opened the letter and started reading:
Will,
I have received the news as to that you have joined the
frontlines. I have asked for you to move on to the Elites
now. I have received approval and your drill sergeants have
already been informed. I will be seeing you shortly now.
JK
The letter confused him. Who was this person that knew him so well that he wanted him to join the Elites? Who was he to tell Will what to do? The name confused Will. “K” kept ringing in and out of his ears. Will thought, Oh well, at least I know now that I have to expect more torture from here on out. He never bothered the subject after that, but rather kept the letter close at hand from then on.
During basic, Will made two friends that signed up for the same area of the army Will did. They were both equally as good as him in almost everything. Will did better than them in leadership though. He always seemed to lead the squad he was assigned to better than anyone else. One night, the trio was talking about what graduation was going to be like until they realized they never introduced themselves. The shortest of them started.
“Well, my name is Alex Johnson. I’m 18 going on 19 this year. My father is in the air force, but I don’t like flying, so instead, I came here to do something different. What about you?” indicating to the tallest of the three.
“I was named by my parents Jacob Davidson, but I prefer Jack. I came from Texas, just off of San Antonio, feeling like I need something to do with my life. So then, that leaves just you,” looking over at Will.
“I like being called Will, but I was named William Knight-”
“Whoa, as in the Knight Organization?” interrupted Jack.
“The what organization?”
“Knight Organization,” started Alex, “founded by John Knight himself, still in the flesh and blood. Why? Oh, let me guess, he randomly left you at a young age leaving only a clue to where he went and you’ve thought he’s dead this whole time and you haven’t heard of the organization because of your father until now.”
“No. My father wrote a note and left. Some street gang cornered him and killed him.”
Both Alex and Jack sat gaping at Will. All they just said was mostly true. That was the moment of realization for Will; could his father possibly be the same guy that Alex and Jack were talking about? Will started getting dizzy from this information.
“Hey, are you alright?” asked Alex.
“I just need some fresh air-”
“Alright!” came the drill sergeant, “Get up lazy boys! Your dream day has finally arrived! Dress yourselves! Let’s go, go, go! Knight, Johnson, and Davidson, stay here. I need to have a word with you.”
As soon as all of the men had dressed and marched out of the barracks, the first sergeant started. “You three signed up for a team that needs three slots filled. Sadly enough, you’re moving to advanced training, also known as, the Elite training. This will be the hardest month any private will ever experience. You’ll be assigned a new drill sergeant; he’ll crush you into tomato juice,” spitting at them as he said this, “harder than anyone ever will. For now, plan out an escape from graduation. We’ll be waiting for your return. Is that clear enough?”
The trio willingly replied, “Sir, yes, sir!”
They started marching along after the rest of the unit. The unit had Will as leader, marching next to the unit giving orders as to what to do. The unit marched between the barracks and around the back side of the field. The field was the width of two football fields and the length of one. On the far side of the field from where they were set to march, there were stands for the army wives and children to sit where speeches were being given.
As Will scanned the open region he noticed there was only one way for an exit, around the backside of the stands and to the woods. Will kept a mental note that a helicopter carrying the base commander landed somewhere in the direction that Will planned on going to.
The entire unit stood at attention, with Jack and Alex at the back, and Will at the front. The scorching sun made it hotter for the unit rather than the people in the stands. The sun made it hard to see the crowd, but from what Will could tell, there were around 500 people watching.
When the announcer signaled the unit to split, Will, Alex, and Jack would try in any way possible to get to specific set coordinates in 10 minute, but how would they get there that fast?
That’s when it struck him, this is the start of the elite training. All three had to think of a way to get to those coordinates without harming anyone or being stopped. Will immediately had a plan and signaled the others, barely moving. While doing this, he noticed a silhouette in the announcer’s box. He was alone and had his head turned in his direction.
The announcer told the crowd that they could go down to reunite with their newly formed soldiers. Will had to act fast if he was to get to the chopper on the other side of the field. Will started moving through the crowd of soldiers and crying families.
“Will?” an extremely familiar voice called.
Will slowly turned to see Arielle looking a little confused. “Hey…”, Will replied, “Wh-what are you doing here?”
“To see you, why else?” she replied, a little taken aback, “Where are you going?”
“I can only give you the short version to where and why. I was told to go somewhere else when they dismissed us. I have to go to the second part of my training, but after that I swear I’ll come back” Will said, holding Arielle’s shoulders at this point. Will looked her dead in the eyes, which were going red slowly, and said, “This time, it’s a promise, I will come back.”
Arielle hesitated and choked, “Okay, but I hope that you can keep this one like you have the others.”
“I will. I’m Will, promise-keeper to Arielle. I have to go now, I’ll see you soon.” He gave her a peck on the cheek and let her go.
Once Will had turned the corner, his companions had puzzled and confused looks about why he was gone for so long. Will went ahead and told them, “Arielle caught up with me,” before they could ask who Arielle was, Will walked past them and said, “Come on. We’re running out of time.”
Alex and Jack followed immediately without argument. The trio headed through the woods at the edge of the field. After a few scrapes and bruises, they came stumbling out into a clearing where the transport helicopter for the base commander sat.
Alex got into the pilot’s seat without hesitation. Jack sat copilot to set the coordinates for them to fly. Will sat in one of the passenger seats and watched the ground go by the whole way, wondering why he left Arielle hanging in the way he did.