A Soldier in Love by A. Petrov Page B

    More running, surprise, surprise…

 
    Michelle began to run,
passing a few others in order to catch up with Kate. Whatever Kate lacked, she
made up for by being the best runner out of all of them. It surprised Michelle
a lot that Kate could out run her, she knew it was highly unlikely Kate had
received an additional injection like she had, but still, she couldn’t help to
wonder.

 
    How does she run so fast in this heat?

 
    Kate smiled to her as
they ran side by side.

 
    “Over the hill and
through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go,” Michelle turned her head to see
Aaron catching up behind them although he looked a bit winded.

 
    “Be careful or The
Commander will yell at you for talking,” Kate scolded as she slowed down to a
jog. Michelle followed her pace as some of the others began to pass them.

 
    “Maybe he’ll have a
yelling fit and have a seizure,” Michelle retorted dryly.

 
    Kate looked horrified
and Aaron laughed.

 
    “What? I’m fucking sick
of running. Its bullshit,” Michelle huffed.

 
    “Well, today were not
running,” Aaron chimed.

 
    “Then what do you call
what we’re doing now? Shit, I thought I got out of this to get the crap beat
out of me by Bryce every day,” Michelle retorted as she panted and sucked in
another gulp of air, “I’m sorry, I’m being testy aren’t I? I used to like to
run on Earth. I used to think it was fun, can you believe it?”

 
    Kate and Aaron both
grinned.

 
    “We’re almost there,”
Kate said warmly.

 
    Kate, always so nice, always trying to keep the
peace , Michelle thought to
herself.
     
    She looked to Aaron and
Kate and quietly thanked God for them. Although sometimes they made her feel
like an awkward third wheel they kept her sane. Michelle wasn’t sure what she
would do without them.

 
    “Aaron, where did you
say we are going?” Kate asked.

 
    “Guns and missile
training,” he replied.

 
    Finally, something useful to know instead of running, Michelle thought to herself.

 
    “How’d you find that
out … Oh, wait you’d have to kill me if you told me,”
Kate said.

 
    They arrived a few
minutes later at the makeshift shooting range. Michelle remembered she had shot
a gun before in basic training, but again, everything was fuzzy.   She looked down at firearm that was handed to
her. It was larger than any other gun she had ever held. It had a huge sight on
top along with a strap to allow her to carry it on her back.

 
    It’s a rifle… no wait, a bayonet, she realized as she saw the sharply pointed end.
She examined it further and noticed a third unknown part.

 
    “It’s got three modes
soldiers. It’s got one with regular bullets, a knife, and then it’s got a hazing
mode. The hazing mode will temporary disorient and blind most opponents. I say
most because we don’t know this enemy very well,” The Commander called out.

 
    Michelle took her place
as the soldiers lined up at their posts to practice on targets. She felt the
hot waves of heat radiating onto her as she loaded her firearm with ammunition.
She balanced her rifle in her arms and took her stance. She aligned her sight
with the target and shot. The others did too. She wished for ear plugs but
there were none. They were always unprepared it seemed. The others had all began
shooting. She did the same until she was out of ammo.

 
    It seemed like target
practice went on for hours. She reloaded and continued shooting. Her shoulders
were beginning to become stiff.   She
watched as the sun began to lower itself. It was getting close to evening. She
unloaded her gun and fastened it to her back.

 
    She took a drink of
water from her canteen and looked up to see Kate.

 
    Kate let out a
frustrated sigh. “I’m just not good at this sort of thing. I keep telling you
I’m not a good soldier.”

 
    “Hey you can be the
fastest runner but you can’t be the fastest runner and the best shot. That