I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.
Cut down a tree?
I’d never done that before in my life.
Swim across a lake?
I loved the water.
Agility course?
I was unsure. I would have to survey the terrain.
I really didn’t want my ball cap, back in my room at the Military House, sent to the poor. But the odds today were a coin flip. I may end up having to steal my hat back from a destitute kid since I currently had no units for a train ride anywhere. If I failed, I would be stuck wherever the hell this train was taking us.
* * *
The train stopped, and the door opened automatically.
I shot from my seat in the middle of the train.
Only two others did the same.
The rest of the recruits watched in confusion.
But we had ‘arrived,’ the test now started.
I made it to the front of the train before the recruit in front of me turned and slammed his elbow right in the center of my chest. I stumbled back against a seat and grabbed at my shirt, my breath knocked out of me.
I choked, “You dumb motherfucker. A fight isn’t how you’re going to beat me today.”
He smirked and turned to the door.
I shoved my hands back, my palms landing on a headrest and a person’s head. I instantly knew it was Godric’s head I was touching by the coarse curls beneath my fingers—and I was standing where the instructors still sat. I shoved off, hoping I didn’t hurt him and jumped to the door.
I kicked Dumb Motherfucker right in his ass.
He flew out the door. “Shit!”
The bone in his right leg cracked when he landed on his side, his leg at an odd angle underneath him. He shouted in instant pain, his face shading to a remarkable tomato red.
I grinned and hurried down the stairs. “Have fun losing today.”
With my chest aching, I ran to a table where there were different types of equipment for chopping down a tree.
“Crap,” I muttered. My hands fluttered over all them, unsure of what to pick. I had never used any of these before.
Well, I had trained with an ax before.
But I didn’t think that was right.
The trees weren’t huge before us in the roped area.
The other man, who had jumped up as the train door had opened too, stopped next to me. He took only a second, his gaze scanning before he grabbed a handsaw. Then he was running to the shoreline of the lake, to the trees there. This area would have been beautiful just to visit.
“Okay. Handsaw then.”
I grabbed one of the five remaining handsaws on the table and a pair of the many safety gloves. Whoever was stuck with the metal nail files in the center of the table was screwed. I ran down the hill as all the other recruits were shoving each other to get out of the train. Dumb Motherfucker was still moaning on the ground and recruits had to jump over him, dust flying up in his damp face.
