Part 9 (1/2)
”So what does she bring to the table?”
”First of all, malleability. Every community has to have worker bees, and that's what Kristi wants. To be part of something where her labor is valued. She'll be an exceptional worker bee, but that's all she'll ever be. And that's enough for her.”
”How do you know that? She didn't come up to you and say, 'Dude, give me all the s.h.i.+t jobs and I'll be happy as a clam.'” Maddy couldn't understand the lack of ambition in that.
”I've known Kristi a long time. Just think about it and it all makes sense.”
”Okay. What about Diane? What's her story?”
”Diane? Diane's my girlfriend. I don't want to be entirely self-sufficient.”
Maddy didn't like the big grin on his face. She generally found men to be quite pathetic when it came to s.e.x. She went downstairs to bed.
Sergeant Drecker handed off part of the group to a corporal. They were led away to start their scouting exercises while Maddy, Kristi, Tommy, and Diane stayed behind for weapons training. They marched behind Drecker as he took them to a large rifle range.
Drecker addressed them. ”This morning we're going to train you on how to safely handle and clean your weapon. You will not be allowed to shoot it until you've mastered these skills.”
Kristi was next to her again. While Drecker started handing out rifles, she leaned over to whisper, ”How cool is this?”
Maddy saw the gleam in Kristi's eye. ”Very cool?”
”d.a.m.n right.”
Maddy thought about what David told her about Kristi. She was glad Kristi was excited and she was glad they were going through training together. Other than that, she felt like she'd been dropped into an alien nation.
”You two,” Drecker barked, pointing at Maddy and Kristi. ”Step forward.”
Kristi did as she was told. Maddy followed a moment later.
”First rule of camp is that you do not speak while in formation or in the presence of a superior unless you are spoken to first. Do you understand?”
”Yes, sir,” Kristi said.
Drecker stared at Maddy.
”Yes, sir.”
”Drop and give me ten.”
”Ten what?” Maddy said. She heard Diane stifle a laugh behind her.
”Ten push-ups,” Drecker said. ”Didn't they teach you how to do a push-up in your fancy schools?”
Kristi had already dropped to the ground and was grinding out her first push-up. Maddy was wondering how Decker knew she went to ”fancy schools.”
”Wait a second,” she said. ”Shouldn't we be told the rules before we're punished for breaking them?”
Drecker moved to within an inch of Maddy's face. She stepped back and he followed her.
”That just earned you another ten, private. Now drop.”
Maddy looked behind her. Tommy looked back at her nervously while the others avoided her eyes. She sighed and got down on the ground, doing her twenty push-ups in the time it took Kristi to finish her ten. Kristi lay face down, her body heaving as she caught her breath.
”Now get back in line so we can get some work done.”
Maddy had read as much as she could about the militias. She knew they operated under a military chain of command. But who had made her a private? She was just here to learn to shoot, which she wanted to do. She wasn't here to join a militia. The last chain of command she ever wanted to be part of was the one she'd just fled: father/mother/Maddy.
Once everyone had a rifle, they got on their knees and learned how to disa.s.semble and load them. Their first cartridges were blanks. Two hours later, Maddy was shooting with real bullets, blasting the heads off of targets that looked like someone's version of an Arab terrorist. She tried to ignore the implications of that as she shot round after round. When she paused to reload, she looked over at Kristi. They beamed at each other and b.u.mped fists.
The afternoon was packed with instruction on how to operate covertly in the woods. Since it was hunting season in Michigan, they were issued bright orange hats and vests.
”You'll be in full uniform for tonight's maneuvers,” Drecker said.
Maddy and Kristin were teamed up to learn about stealth movement and sensory awareness in the woods, which Maddy took to mean walking quietly with her headphones off. When Drecker started talking about identifying b.o.o.by traps, she paid more attention. They were operating under a different definition of survival training. This wasn't about building animal traps and picking berries. It was all about outsmarting people who were trying to kill them. They learned to build an Apache limp wire trip set. Maddy had a quick fantasy of her father being strung up by one as he walked in from the garage after another night out carousing. Other than that, she couldn't imagine a scenario where she'd need one.
During a break mid-afternoon, Maddy sat with Kristi and Tommy at the edge of the field. Diane had run off to find David, who'd disappeared during target practice. Tommy looked confused, as if he'd signed up for calculus and found himself in a pottery cla.s.s. He seemed much more naive than Maddy about what the training camp would be like. At least she knew these soldiers were preparing for one or more unlikely scenarios: the end of the world as we know it, government breakdown and anarchy, a terrorist attack.
”I don't really need to know how to set traps for humans,” Maddy said.
Kristi was sitting against a tree, her rifle across her lap. ”Oh, h.e.l.l yes, you do. What if we're invaded?”
”Invaded?” Tommy said. ”Why would anyone invade us?”
”Exactly. One of the reasons we're going there is to be out of everyone's way. We don't bother them and they don't bother us,” Maddy said.
”You two are living in a dream world,” Kristi said. ”There's always someone who wants what's not theirs. We have to know how to protect ourselves.”
”It doesn't hurt to be ready, I suppose,” Maddy said ”And the training's a blast. I can't wait for maneuvers tonight.”
Kristi was smiling again. ”Right? We are going to kick some a.s.s.”
Tommy was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, his head bent over his lap.
”Hey, Tommy boy. Are you going to puke or something?” Kristi prodded him with her rifle.
He raised his head and smiled grimly. ”I hate this.”
Drecker called them back into action before they could say anything to Tommy, and Maddy soon forgot it.
That night, under a full moon, Maddy edged toward a clearing in the woods. Ahead of her was another of the course instructors, a sergeant named Cooper. Behind her were Kristi, Tommy, and the other members of their squad. Cooper signaled for them to drop. Maddy had never spent so much time on the ground as she had that day. She was aching from carrying a heavy pack, and the last reserve of her energy had evaporated some time ago. It was nearly midnight and she'd been up since five that morning.
Cooper started a series of rapid hand gestures. He kept pointing at her with two fingers and then pointing to their right, very fast, over and over so it didn't make sense to her. Kristi urged her up by the arm and led her off toward the right, looking at Cooper for more direction. He waved them further on, until they were out of sight of the others. They turned toward the clearing, which was lit up by the moon like a softball field during a night game.
”What are we supposed to do?” Maddy whispered.
”h.e.l.l if I know,” Kristi said. She looked as weary as Maddy felt. They weren't having much fun anymore.