“Good morning Jack, it is now 6 a.m.” said Linda, the cool female voice in Jack’s alarm clock.

  “*Yawn* Thanks, Linda.” Said Jack as he stretched his hands.

  Jack opened the closet, took his towel, toothbrush, and toothpaste, and went downstairs to the ground-floor washroom. Other cadets were getting up and following him downstairs. Jack brushed his teeth and bathed before heading to the dining area at around 6:55 a.m. A team of cooks was preparing the hot morning breakfast, which included omelets, bacon, an assortment of fruits, and milk. Jack made his way to an open seat with his breakfast in hand. He found a table with three people and one open seat.

  “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” asked Jack.

  “No. Feel free to join in.” said one of the cadets.

  “Nice to meet ya. My name’s Kyle. Kyle Johnson.” said the cadet opposite Jack’s end. His face radiated a jovial aura with his curly hair and bright blue eyes.

  “Nice to meet you too. I’m Jack Foster.” Said Jack as he reached out his hand to shake Kyle’s.

  “Hey! Matthew Sullenberger here.” Said the cadet on Jack’s right as he shook his hand. He sported an army cut and had mildly tanned skin.

  “And I’m Clarence McCallister. Nice to meet you, Jack. You’re the guy who came second in the physical test” asked the cadet on Jack’s left as he too shook his hand. He had a more muscular physique than the other two and had mousy brown hair.

  “Yeah. It’s nice to meet you all and I hope to get along with you moving forward.” Said Jack with a smile.

  “Wow! That sounds a bit too formal. Take it easy, dude! It's not as though we are your superiors or anything.” Said Kyle.

  “No. It’s not about being formal. I really do look forward to getting along and being friends with you guys. That’s all.” Said Jack.

  “Yeah! Same here, Jack.” Said Matthew and Clarence.

  “So..Are you guys originally from here or…..were you..Uh—you know? Um, forced away from your homes by the monsters?” asked Jack.

  “Oh me and Kyle are from around Missouri. Matthew is from Florida. Right?” asked Clarence.

  “Yeah. Miami. I do miss it. What I wouldn't give to be able to enjoy that sunny seaside again. Beaches, the feel of a cool breeze on your face. It's simply refreshing.” Said Kyle as he reminisced as he drank his milk.

  “That does sound beautiful. It’s almost been forever since we even saw the sun or the sky.” Said Jack while chewing his bacon.

  “What about you Jack? Where are you from?” asked Clarence.

  “I’m from this city. So is my entire family, for about 4 generations now.” Said Jack.

  “Wow! So this is your ancestral home. Nice.” Said Kyle as he ate his omelet.

  “Got any siblings Jack?” asked Kyle.

  “Yeah. A little sister. She’s a year younger than me.” Said Jack as he finished his meal.

  “Nice. So, is your sister is studying in a different school or the one you attended?” asked Matthew.

  “She’s...Oh crap! it’s almost 8. We gotta hustle for the morning class.” Said Jack as he looked at his watch.

  “Fierce underworld cockroach king! You’re right!!” said Kyle as the group got up from the table.

  “Wha..? Who’s ‘Fierce underworld cockroach king’?” asked Matthew in a perplexed tone.

  “Take the first letters from each word and put it together. You’ll get what I mean.” Said Kyle as the group ran toward the plate deposit area.

  “pfft! Hahahahahahahaha! Wow! Ahahaha! Where the hell did you pick that up?” said Jack as he and the others realized the joke.

  “I think it was from some movie? I can’t really remember which one.” Said Kyle as the group ran down the hallway laughing.

  Jack and his group entered their designated seminar hall as others started pouring in as well. Jack spotted Amelia with Elena and a silver-haired girl walking in and waved at them. Amelia and Elena waved back at him as they took their seats in the front row on the right side of the hall. Jack and his group took the front-most seats in the middle row of the hall. Other candidates occupied the rest of the 2 seats in the front row.

  “What’s your deal with those two girls man? Childhood friends? Highschool Classmates? Or is there something else going on with them?” whispered Kyle in a teasing sort of manner.

  “Nah. One of them is a friend. The other one is my sister.” Said Jack.

  “Huuh!!!!??? Your wha? Which one?” whispered a bewildered Matthew.

  “The one with the reddish-brown hair.” Said Jack.

  “Why the heck didn’t you say anything?” asked Clarence.

  “I was about to, before I noticed the time and we had to hustle. Said Jack.

  “Anyway, How old is she?” asked Kyle.

  “She’s 17.” Said Jack.

  “And your parents gave her consent to join the army? Man! My mom wouldn’t allow me to join the army until I was 18. Even then, she was really against it.” Said Clarence in a jealous tone.

  “Our parents died 8 years ago. She got consent from our godfather.” Said Jack.

  “Oh.” Said Clarence, realizing he may have said something insensitive.

  There was a few seconds of silence before it was broken.

  “I’m sorry, man.” Said Kyle as he placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, me too. Me too.” Said Jack.

  Just then, a loud female voice sounded at the back of the hall.

  “All Right!! This isn’t a nursery and you guys ain’t 5-year-olds, so quit your yapping!”

  The class fell silent as everyone turned to face the door, where a middle-aged woman dressed in full army combat uniform stood. She wore a serious expression with faint smile lines. Her blonde hair was neatly tied into an army braid, and her body posture, combined with her solemn expression, gave an aura of authority.

  “Good! That’s more like it. We’re not gonna waste too much time getting chummy and straight away get into the lecture. Welcome to the ‘tactical strategies’ class. I’m second lieutenant Martha Rakes and you’ll have this class every 2 hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This will be just a small introduction to all the combat Manouvers and strategies you can employ to outwit the dumb animals or to overpower stupidly strong ones. It’ll also save your butts from time to time. So, pay attention. No need for notes. I’ll make sure to drill these things into your head. Now, who knows how to play chess here?!” asked Lieutenant Rakes as she walked up to the front of the hall.

  Several Hands shot up in the air along the first few rows of the hall. Lieutenant Rakes scanned the crowd before stopping at a person behind Jack.

  “You! Second from left, second row. What’s the primary objective in chess?” asked Lieutenant Rakes. It was William who stood up.

  “It’s to checkmate the king of the opponent.” Said William.

  “Too plain an answer. You! From the first row!” said Lieutenant Rakes as she pointed to Jack.

  “It involves the player using his pieces to gain control of the board before gradually moving the opponent's king into a checkmate position.” Said Jack.

  “That’s a much better answer. What’s your name cadet?” asked Lieutenant Rakes.

  “Jackson Foster, Ma’am.” Said Jack

  “Well, I’ll be….You wouldn’t happen to be James and Mary’s son, would you?” asked Lieutenant Rakes with a warm smile on her face.

  “Uh, Yes ma’am.” Said Jack.

  “Hah! Never thought I’d be teaching ‘The Furies’ brat. But we’ll reminisce later. Sit down both of you.” Said, Lieutenant Rakes.

  Jack sat down, lowered his desk onto his seat, and rested his arms on it as he listened to the lecture. But the attention of the hall was drawn to Jack as the other cadets whispered about his connection to the top-class soldiers who were in the wall of fame and excellence with more than 20 missions under their belt.

  “Quiet down! Unless you want to miss out on important points and get yourselves blown to heaven!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Rakes. The hall immediately fell into silence.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The lecture finished at 10:30. As Jack was about to leave the hall a voice came from behind.

  “Cadet Jack! May we have a word?” asked Lieutenant Rakes.

  “Yes Ma’am!” said Jack as he walked toward her.

  “I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised to see you here as a cadet, Jack. It seems you’ve been doing well. I never really got to speak to the kids of the heroes who saved my bacon more times than I could count. How’s your sister doing?” asked Lieutenant Rakes with a smile on her face.

  “She’s doing well ma’am. She’s a cadet too. In fact, she was just attending your class all this time.” Said Jack with a wide smile.

  “What the!!!?? Really!!?? Damn! I didn’t even see her. I assume she got her consent to join from the Sec Def?” asked Lieutenant Rakes.

  “Yes, Ma’am. Would you like to talk to her?” asked Jack.

  “Nah. You both need to get to the next lecture. I’ll find time to talk to ya both later. You’re dismissed.” Said Lieutenant Rakes.

  “Yes, Ma’am!” said Jack as he stood in attention and saluted. As he left the hall, he heard the lieutenant's voice again.

  “Good luck, Kiddo.” Said Lieutenant Rakes.

  “Thanks, Ma’am.” Said Jack as he left for the next class.

  Jack caught up with Kyle, Matthew, and Clarence as they walked along with Amelia’s group.

  “Hey! There he is. The Man of the Hour.” Said Kyle.

  “Dude! What other surprises are you even hiding? Like, seriously! Your parents are ‘the Furies’. ‘THE FURIES’. They’re practically the ideal soldier everyone here is dreaming to be, Man!” said Matthew.

  “Well, it did come as a shock to me as well. I mean, I knew your last name was Foster but damn! I didn’t think it was the same ‘Foster’ as ‘The Furies’. You’re kicking up a storm here Jack! Literally!” said Elena.

  “And it was more surprising when she said that she’s your sister!” said the silver-haired girl.

  “Gosh! This is all a little embarrassing. I knew Mom and Dad were the best in the business. But I didn’t think they’d be this famous.” Said Amelia in a giddy voice.

  “This army division is for freeing humanity and their best soldiers are never forgotten. It was bound to happen. Just hold your head high and walk with pride, you two.” Said Elena.

  “Yeah, man! You should be proud of your Parents you know.” Said Kyle.

  “Can’t help but be the center of attention could you, Foster?” said a cold cruel voice from behind them.

  William, along with Gordon, walked up to the group and stood in front of Jack, William’s eyes glaring down on Jack.

  “Just because you’re the son of ‘The Furies’, doesn’t make you a hotshot. You’re nothing compared to me. And I’ll prove that by the end of this month.” Said William.

  “Hey! What’s the big idea, buddy?!” asked Amelia angrily.

  “Yeah. Leave him alone.” Said Matthew.

  “No, guys! He’s right. Being their son doesn’t make me a better soldier. And I accept your challenge, William. I’ll work hard to be better than my parents.” Said Jack with a straight face as he held out his hand to William.

  William slapped Jack’s hand away and walked toward the next class.

  “What a jerk!” exclaimed Amelia.

  “That was very unprofessional and unsportsmanlike behavior.” Said the silver-haired girl.

  “Yo, Jack. What’s your beef with this guy?” asked Kyle.

  “He’s been like that ever since I came first in the physical test. I really don’t get what he wants from me anyway.” Said Jack in a puzzled tone.

  “You should just ignore him if you ask me.” Said clarence.

  “Yeah.” Said the silver-haired girl. Amelia and Elena agreed as well.

  “Thanks, guys. We gotta get to the next class.” Said Jack.

  “Right!” said Kyle as the group began to walk-run to the shooting arena.

  “Oh! Right! I never introduced myself. My name is Sarah Wood.” said the silver-haired girl.

  Everyone greeted Srah as they walked. Soon the group reached the shooting arena.

  “Whew. We made it.” Said Kyle as he noticed that the instructor had not yet shown up.

  “Ya still haven’t made it to your seat cadets!!” said a high energetic voice from behind that startled the group so badly that they almost jumped.

  Behind them stood a tall, muscular man in his fifties, with stubby facial, bushy brows, and a grumpy look on his face.

  “Come on slowpokes, take your seats!” said the instructor.

  The group immediately rushed in and took their seats next to each other.

  “Now then, I know I don’t need to explain too much about what you’re learning in this course I hope. Unless you’re too dumb to understand what the word ‘marksmanship’ means. Is there anybody like that here?” asked the instructor fiercely. Only silence greeted him back.

  “Good. I’m your instructor, Lieutenant Gary Houston, and I’ll be schooling you eggs in the art of marksmanship. I’ll be pointing out your mistakes and hammering the correct techniques to aim at your targets until you are a pro in it. So, get ready. First row! To the front!! Grab those guns and start shooting the targets!!” Said Lieutenant Houston as a bunch of targets popped up in front of them. Each had points on them, the highest being at the center of the target and zero at the borders

  The first row of cadets got up and proceeded forward toward the low-walled fence. Among them was William, who looked back at Jack and sneered haughtily. Each cadet loaded their guns and began shooting at the targets. William shot each target flawlessly at the center, returned to his seat, and shot a look that said ‘Let’s see you top that’.

  “Cadet William, you did a fine job annihilating those targets. The rest didn’t do so badly either except for Cadet Gordon. You had better get serious about your aim Boy. Otherwise, you’ll end up targeting your comrades amongst the chaos in the field. You need to aim your target with proper front and rear sight alignment and remember to keep your hands steady. I expect you to correct that by this week. Next Row!! To the front!!!” said Lieutenant Houston.

  Jack and his group got up and headed toward the fence. Jack picked up his gun, loaded it with the shots, and aimed at the targets. He waited a moment before pulling the trigger. He lowered his firearm, only to spot that he had completely missed the target. He aimed again and fired the second shot, but had hit the zero-point region of the target. He saw Amelia hit the center for the 4th time in a row and the rest having fairly accurate aims. Frustrated he fired again, and again, and again but kept missing the center. On his last shot, he missed his target again. Jack placed his gun down and returned to his seat, completely bummed out.

  “Excellent aim cadet Amelia, same to the rest of you. Cadet Jack, You hit the target, yes. But you need to be consistent with your aim. If you aren’t consistent with stationary targets, then forget about ever hitting mobile targets. You have one week to correct that mistake. Next row! Up front, Now!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Houston.

  Half an hour later, Jack was walking with his group down the hall for lunch

  “Hey, you’ll score some good shots next time. Don’t worry about it, man.” Said Matthew.

  “Yeah. It’s just the first day Jack. You’ll get used to it soon enough.” Consoled Elena.

  Just then, Jack felt someone push him hard from behind and found himself stopping short of a fall.

  “Well, well Foster. I did say I’ll prove myself better than you by the end of the month, but Damn. I didn’t expect to prove myself better than you on day one itself. Keep up the good work of blowing your aim, ‘Rooster’.” Said William with a nasty laugh as he walked on with Gordon.

  “Ughh!!!! One of these days that jerk is gonna get my fist to his face!!!!!!” exclaimed Amelia furiously.

  “What was the point of pushing him anyway? He could’ve just walked on.” Said Sarah.

  “Jerks like him always tend to act physically violent. I say we return the favor sometime soon.” Said Clarence as he pounded his right palm with his left fist.

  “Nah. It's cool you guys.” Said Jack as they walked on.

  “Why the heck don’t you stand up for yourself Jack? That guy is picking on you and you don’t even seem to care about self-respect.” Said Amelia.

  “Yeah. There should be a limit on keeping quiet. You need to stand up for yourself dude! Give him a little smack in the face if he goes too far.” said Kyle.

  “What’s the point of acting in anger? The only thing it’ll do is attract the attention of the instructors and get you reprimanded for losing your cool. If he wants to go physical, let him. The more you fall for his taunts, the more he’ll taunt you.” Said Jack calmly.

  The others found some sense in his words and calmed down, but not Amelia.

  “So what? You just keep quiet every time he disses you? Come on Jack. You can’t sit quietly! You gotta give an answer to his behavior!” exclaimed Amelia.

  “I’m glad you feel that way, Amelia. Cause I have a favor to ask of you.” Said Jack as everyone looked at him with a puzzled look.

  A week passed since the training began and the cadets were rigorously taught many basics about being part of the army. The cadets also had to spend about 1-2 hours daily exercising in their Gym to keep their physical condition in top shape. In addition, the cadets were told to regularly keep up with the theoretical lessons taught for the day. The result was a bunch of mentally and physically exhausted cadets that hit their sacks close to midnight almost every day. It was Wednesday the 26th, and Jack headed toward the shooting arena with his friends. They took their seats in the row behind William and began chatting away. Then William turned around and proceeded to taunt Jack.

  “I hope you’re ready for another day of humiliation, Rooster. Cause today, we’re shooting moving targets.” Said William in a mocking tone.

  Amelia, sitting next to Jack, started to clench her fist and glared at William's back. But Jack placed his hand over her fist and shook his head.

  “All right! Settle down, ya bunch of Monkeys.” Exclaimed Lieutenant Houston as he entered the hall.

  “I don’t need to remind you of what you’re doing today as I had told it last week itself. So let’s get into it shall we?” said Lieutenant Houston as he activated the turrets which would fire the targets.

  “First Row!!! Up front!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Houston.

  As in the previous class, the cadets walked up to their stations and grabbed their guns.

  “On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3!!” Said Lieutenant Houston as the turrets started to fire the targets across the room. William shot 8 targets out of 10 and returned to his seat quite pleased with himself.

  “Nicely done everyone, William especially. Gordon! If you don’t get your fundamentals right soon, then I will have no choice but to suspend you from this class. Next Row!! Move up!!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Houston.

  Jack walked up to his station picked up his gun and took a deep breath, before getting ready.

  “On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Houston as the second wave of targets started flying across the room. Amelia missed 1 out of the 10 targets while the others had a fairly average score. Kyle managed to shoot down 7 targets and Sarah also shot down nine targets. But Jack was on a completely different ball game. He destroyed one target after the other and each of his aims was spectacular. So spectacular, that it left William dumbfounded as his jaw dropped.

  “Excellent work, Cadet Jack! You overcame your shortcomings in just a week’s time and your aim was just flawless. That performance really put a smile on my face. The rest of you did great too. Now then. Next row! Up front!” said Lieutenant Houston.

  Jack enthusiastically High-fived Amelia and his friends as he returned to his seat.

  “All right! Ya did it. Way to go man!” said Matthew.

  “Nice job, Jack! You killed it.” Said Elena.

  “Yo, look at William.” Said Kyle as the group took a glance at William’s open mouth.

  “Heh. Watch this.” Said Kyle. He walked up to William and closed his open mouth for him. At this, Amelia, Elena, and Sarah started giggling and Jack, Matthew, and Clarence couldn’t contain their laughter.

  “Hey now! Take your seats!!” exclaimed Lieutenant Houston.

  Throughout the session, William's head shook, and Jack's group was overjoyed with his rage. After Lieutenant Houston left at the end of the class, William stood up and turned to face Jack's group, his face livid with anger.

  “You think you’re really smart, huh Rooster? I’ll settle the score soon enough. And you’re gonna rue the day I do.” Said William, his voice shaking in anger.

  “Ok then, William. I look forward to the day I regret ever mocking you. Just don’t chicken out before that. Ok?” said Jack calmly.

  “OOH, SNAP!!” said Kyle. William grunted angrily and left the room with Gordon following close by.

  “Man!! That was sooooo satisfying to watch. hahaha!!” said Amelia as they walked to the canteen for lunch.

  “Yeah! You were right, Jack. Your calm responses to William’s taunts are really pissing him off. Now that’s real entertainment!” said Clarence.

  “It was worth training my butt off for the entire week. Thanks, Amy, and Sarah. Your tips helped me a lot. And it was a lot of fun to train with you all.” Said Jack.

  “Oh, it was totally worth it! The kicker was when Kyle closed William’s mouth for him.” Said Matthew as he laughed.

  “Well, that’s one week down. We got around four more to go. So let’s keep doing our best and have fun like this you guys.” Said Elena.

  “Yeah. Hey! How about we have a 50-meter freestyle swimming competition today? The loser has to bring lunch to the table for a week.” Said Kyle.

  “you’re on! Prepare to serve the group, Kyle!” said Jack confidently.

  “Ohhoho!! Not if I get the first place.” Replied Kyle as they laughed and walked on.