A Soldier in Love by A. Petrov Page A

from her brow.

 
    “So, what we training
for?” she asked.

 
    He shook his head. “Wish
I knew.”

 
    She took another sip of
water.

 
    He looked down at his
watch. “I think it’s time take nourishment.”

 
    Michelle took off her
helmet and gloves and followed him to the dining hall. They walked the rest of
the way in silence. She figured he was tired of her asking pesky questions he
didn’t have the answers for.

 
    “Kate,” Michelle called
out down the hall to her friend. She nodded to Bryce as he went ahead of her
down to the cafeteria.

 
    Kate turned around and
smiled and waited for Michelle to catch up with her.

 
    “I didn’t even run
today and you still have to wait on me,” Michelle grinned and patted her friend
affectionately on the shoulder.

 
    Kate let out a pretend
sigh. “I know!”

 
    “Did you have to run
today?” Michelle asked in a lower voice.

 
    Kate shook her head.
“No, you should be happy you didn’t have to run today either.”

 
    “I am more worried than
happy,” Michelle frowned.

 
    Kate’s face mimicked
her worried expression as she bit her lip out of nervous habit.

 
    They remained quiet as
they entered the cafeteria. They took their bottled protein shake and oatmeal
and sat down on the floor as per usual. There were still no tables. There was
no chance of getting any either; there was nothing to make them from on Redex
and there weren’t any supplies left to make any either.

 
    Michelle wondered if
the Earth Army truly meant for them to come here or not. They seemed incredibly
unprepared to house soldiers. She tried to push the thoughts of the Exploration
Team 700 dying out of her head.

 
    We’ll be fine, everything is fine, Michelle told herself.

 
    “You think we’ll ever
get any decent food?” Kate asked interrupting her worries.

 
    Michelle grinned.
“Better than nothing, I suppose.”

 
    “Once when we were
running, I saw some melons growing, in the vegetated area,” Kate began.

 
    Michelle shook her
head. “Don’t eat those.”

 
    “What? I won’t… but why
not?” Kate said giving Michelle a confused look.

 
    “I… I just know. Please
don’t eat them. They are poisonous to us, OK?” Michelle replied unsure whether
to tell Kate about the IS or not. Aaron was already one person too many who
knew about it.

 
    Kate covered the opening
of the bottle of her protein drink with her thumb and attempted to give it a
small shake in hopes to make it less lumpy.

 
    “They’ve been giving us
less lately,” Kate said pulling her thumb from the bottle.

 
    Michelle nodded. It was
true they had been cutting back on rations.

 
    “Maybe it’s because
they’re finally making us stop running all together,” Michelle offered.

 
    Kate shook her head. “I
don’t know…”

 
    Michelle smiled as best
she could. “Look everyone here is in great shape. Look at their skin, their hair,
and their nails. These things,” Michelle paused to pick up her protein drink,
“have a ton of vitamins and minerals. We’ll be fine on less.”

 
    “Then why do I feel
hungry every night?” Kate moaned.

 
    Michelle couldn’t deny
that she felt the same hunger each night herself. Some nights she couldn’t
sleep because her stomach ached from so much hunger. She looked around the room
and it seemed that most everyone looked as though they went to bed hungry every
night. Despite the baggy uniforms she could tell everyone was lean. Some were
beginning to look gaunt they were so thin.

 
    She mustered up another
smile for her friend. “We are fine. It is enough.”

 
    She hoped her words
were true. If not, she wasn’t sure how much more everyone could take.

Chapter Nine

 
    “Today, we are all going
out to the range,” The Commander yelled.

 
    Michelle wondered if he
ever got tired of yelling. She watched as his face became redder as he became
louder.

 
    “Run,” he shouted.