Post by Commissioner Warrior™ on Oct 6, 2010 23:11:06 GMT -5
Training began promptly the next morning at 4 A.M. Twenty-one soldiers were late, therefore we only have one hundred and fifty-eight left alive. Seven other soldiers also arrived precisely at 4 A.M., not early, but exactly on time. I made it clear that if you're on-time, you're late, and if you're five minutes early, you're on-time. If you're late because you were right on time, or were actually late, you die. With those seven, we are down to one hundred and fifty-one soldiers. What some seemed unable to handle, is lack of an alarm. I allowed no alarms, for a true soldier will have to train their body to wake when needed. Following that morning issue, we immediately got down to business with training.
First, we divided our remaining soldiers up into a group of the men, one of the women, and one of the children. We did so both to assess the numbers, and to make some things clear to them. A quick count, and we then knew our odd distribution. Seventy-two men remained, twenty-four women, and fifty-five children. The most interesting thing though was actually the distribution of the children. Not only did we have many more children than I had expected, thirty-two of them, more than half, were girls. While my daughter is leading things along with me, I did not expect as many girls to be tough enough to handle this. Regardless of who we have though, play time is over. There are no dollies or hot wheels here. Only blood, sweat, and dead bodies. For tears result in death.
“Everyone drop to the ground into a pushup position.” Kendra boomed out this command and everyone did just so. “Stay in the 'up' position. Now, those of you who are right handed, please raise your right hand. Those of you who are left handed, raise your left hand. If you're both, pick one.” A few people readjusted their weight distribution as they all did as told. Some struggled a bit, but most didn't have much issue as they were only staying in that position. “Good, now start doing pushups. If you lower the arm you have raised, you know the consequences.” Everyone around then proceeded down as I commanded “Down.” They lowered, and expected to be going back up soon. A few even went back up out of instinct. They panicked after realizing their mistake, and Kendra was only seconds later with the swift breaking of their necks. Fifty-five down, one hundred thirty-nine to go.
“Up.” They raised, a few struggling but powering through. I waited several seconds before booming out “Down.” This proceeded for several hours. Not minutes, not an hour, but several hours. Our first day of training was simple, pushups. All day long. Unfortunately, their definition of a 'day' isn't the same as ours. On top of that, it seemed that doing pushups from just after four in the morning, to just prior to midnight, was difficult for many of them. They stayed strong, they truly did. We lost a few here and there, but several went out around the third hour. The rest stayed strong, until another chunk was lost during the seventh hour. The eleventh hour lost us quite a few more, and then again during the seventeenth hour. By the time we were done, rounding out the twentieth hour, the herd had been thinned significantly. One hundred thirty-seven down, fifty-seven to go.
The sixty-three who survived the first day were clearly exhausted beyond reason, but they persevered like no others did. As much as they wanted and needed rest, it was a luxury we simply could not afford. With most of them getting to sleep just past midnight, and waking early to be out and ready at 4 A.M., the average was just over three hours of sleep. Even with this minimal amount, they cherished it. This tiniest of sleep times was still heaven compared to what I would be putting them through, and what they had already gone through. Yet they awoke, and upon morning Kendra and I had sixty-two on-time and ready to work soldiers. One was absent. Kendra bolted to the quarters for a moment, and they died in their sleep.
With our remaining soldiers, rather than immediately getting to work I instead tested simply their ability to stand their ground. For an hour and a half, we simply stood there without movement. I gave no commands, and they did not budge. Well, most did not. About twenty minutes in, a few soldiers asked why they were just standing there. One hundred forty down, fifty-four to go. “Into a seated position. Do not sit on the ground, position yourself as if you were sitting in a chair, using only your balance and muscle strength to keep you in place.” A few of them appeared surprised, but they did not react or do anything. They did just as asked. They all did. Into position they went, and for hours they stayed. Amazingly, only three of them gave out in the six hours I left them there. One hundred forty-three down, fifty-one to go.
“Back to a standing position.” They grinned and let out a silent sigh of relief, rising back up and obviously feeling the pain of things. “I have another exercise for y'all, but the problem is that I only have equipment enough for fifty of you. I did not expect so many to remain. So we will instead do a quick contest to thin us just a bit. The contest is Simon Says.” Their reaction was one of confusion. One even saved me some time by saying 'Seriously' and allowing Kendra to take him out on the spot. I nodded to my daughter, and she began. “Simon Says do two-hundred and forty-one one-handed three finger pushups.” Their eyes got wide, but they went down and started going. A few were muttering numbers to themselves, keeping track as best they could.
Rather than doing as before, and dictating their pace, this exercise was to be done entirely on their own. The reason being, it was just as much about the pushups as the amount. Kendra and I kept close eye on them, keeping constant count of their numbers and noticing whenever one fumbled. Truthfully, I was a bit surprised we could keep up with them that easily, but I suppose it's one of those unexpected advantages of being mutants. On they went, a few of them speeding ahead and doing all they could to get done quickly so that they could rest. This was a fatal flaw, for the four who did this lost count and ended up doing too many. Kendra made them aware of their mistakes. On the other hand, seven of them went quite slow and ended up tiring out early and dropping dead. The rest kept a solid pace though, finishing out the pushups and getting back to their feet as Kendra told them to. One hundred fifty-four down, forty to go.
“Good, you have each done well. Follow me.” I turned, as Kendra and I led them to a different part of the base which had been saved for just this occasion. A large area between two of the original walls had been remodeled with one interesting add-on. A solid steel pipe, roughly ten feet in the air, and support beams going into the ground and various spots to keep it stable. They admired and surveyed it, taking a moment to try and understand what the point was. I then informed them. “Your next task is simple. You will all line up along this pole, there is room enough for you each to have your own spot to grab on to. You will then have to jump and grab onto the pole, lifting yourself up and hanging from your legs. Once in that position, you will do the basic motion of a sit-up, tightening your mid-section to keep you perpendicular with your legs. Kendra will aid by demonstrating.”
She hopped up onto the pipe with ease, positioning her body just as I had said and making it clear to everyone what was desired. They each got into position without too much hassle, but as time ticked away it quickly became clear that we would have our final set today. They lasted valiantly, but four hours in they started dropping like flies. One after another, they relaxed into death. Failure was their end. Finally, upon the twelfth hour, just around midnight as the night before, I ordered them down. All four of them. A larger man in his early 30s, a skinny but toned woman in her early 20s, a bulky sixteen year old boy, and a powerful eight year old girl. One hundred ninety-six down. None left to go.
First, we divided our remaining soldiers up into a group of the men, one of the women, and one of the children. We did so both to assess the numbers, and to make some things clear to them. A quick count, and we then knew our odd distribution. Seventy-two men remained, twenty-four women, and fifty-five children. The most interesting thing though was actually the distribution of the children. Not only did we have many more children than I had expected, thirty-two of them, more than half, were girls. While my daughter is leading things along with me, I did not expect as many girls to be tough enough to handle this. Regardless of who we have though, play time is over. There are no dollies or hot wheels here. Only blood, sweat, and dead bodies. For tears result in death.
“Everyone drop to the ground into a pushup position.” Kendra boomed out this command and everyone did just so. “Stay in the 'up' position. Now, those of you who are right handed, please raise your right hand. Those of you who are left handed, raise your left hand. If you're both, pick one.” A few people readjusted their weight distribution as they all did as told. Some struggled a bit, but most didn't have much issue as they were only staying in that position. “Good, now start doing pushups. If you lower the arm you have raised, you know the consequences.” Everyone around then proceeded down as I commanded “Down.” They lowered, and expected to be going back up soon. A few even went back up out of instinct. They panicked after realizing their mistake, and Kendra was only seconds later with the swift breaking of their necks. Fifty-five down, one hundred thirty-nine to go.
“Up.” They raised, a few struggling but powering through. I waited several seconds before booming out “Down.” This proceeded for several hours. Not minutes, not an hour, but several hours. Our first day of training was simple, pushups. All day long. Unfortunately, their definition of a 'day' isn't the same as ours. On top of that, it seemed that doing pushups from just after four in the morning, to just prior to midnight, was difficult for many of them. They stayed strong, they truly did. We lost a few here and there, but several went out around the third hour. The rest stayed strong, until another chunk was lost during the seventh hour. The eleventh hour lost us quite a few more, and then again during the seventeenth hour. By the time we were done, rounding out the twentieth hour, the herd had been thinned significantly. One hundred thirty-seven down, fifty-seven to go.
The sixty-three who survived the first day were clearly exhausted beyond reason, but they persevered like no others did. As much as they wanted and needed rest, it was a luxury we simply could not afford. With most of them getting to sleep just past midnight, and waking early to be out and ready at 4 A.M., the average was just over three hours of sleep. Even with this minimal amount, they cherished it. This tiniest of sleep times was still heaven compared to what I would be putting them through, and what they had already gone through. Yet they awoke, and upon morning Kendra and I had sixty-two on-time and ready to work soldiers. One was absent. Kendra bolted to the quarters for a moment, and they died in their sleep.
With our remaining soldiers, rather than immediately getting to work I instead tested simply their ability to stand their ground. For an hour and a half, we simply stood there without movement. I gave no commands, and they did not budge. Well, most did not. About twenty minutes in, a few soldiers asked why they were just standing there. One hundred forty down, fifty-four to go. “Into a seated position. Do not sit on the ground, position yourself as if you were sitting in a chair, using only your balance and muscle strength to keep you in place.” A few of them appeared surprised, but they did not react or do anything. They did just as asked. They all did. Into position they went, and for hours they stayed. Amazingly, only three of them gave out in the six hours I left them there. One hundred forty-three down, fifty-one to go.
“Back to a standing position.” They grinned and let out a silent sigh of relief, rising back up and obviously feeling the pain of things. “I have another exercise for y'all, but the problem is that I only have equipment enough for fifty of you. I did not expect so many to remain. So we will instead do a quick contest to thin us just a bit. The contest is Simon Says.” Their reaction was one of confusion. One even saved me some time by saying 'Seriously' and allowing Kendra to take him out on the spot. I nodded to my daughter, and she began. “Simon Says do two-hundred and forty-one one-handed three finger pushups.” Their eyes got wide, but they went down and started going. A few were muttering numbers to themselves, keeping track as best they could.
Rather than doing as before, and dictating their pace, this exercise was to be done entirely on their own. The reason being, it was just as much about the pushups as the amount. Kendra and I kept close eye on them, keeping constant count of their numbers and noticing whenever one fumbled. Truthfully, I was a bit surprised we could keep up with them that easily, but I suppose it's one of those unexpected advantages of being mutants. On they went, a few of them speeding ahead and doing all they could to get done quickly so that they could rest. This was a fatal flaw, for the four who did this lost count and ended up doing too many. Kendra made them aware of their mistakes. On the other hand, seven of them went quite slow and ended up tiring out early and dropping dead. The rest kept a solid pace though, finishing out the pushups and getting back to their feet as Kendra told them to. One hundred fifty-four down, forty to go.
“Good, you have each done well. Follow me.” I turned, as Kendra and I led them to a different part of the base which had been saved for just this occasion. A large area between two of the original walls had been remodeled with one interesting add-on. A solid steel pipe, roughly ten feet in the air, and support beams going into the ground and various spots to keep it stable. They admired and surveyed it, taking a moment to try and understand what the point was. I then informed them. “Your next task is simple. You will all line up along this pole, there is room enough for you each to have your own spot to grab on to. You will then have to jump and grab onto the pole, lifting yourself up and hanging from your legs. Once in that position, you will do the basic motion of a sit-up, tightening your mid-section to keep you perpendicular with your legs. Kendra will aid by demonstrating.”
She hopped up onto the pipe with ease, positioning her body just as I had said and making it clear to everyone what was desired. They each got into position without too much hassle, but as time ticked away it quickly became clear that we would have our final set today. They lasted valiantly, but four hours in they started dropping like flies. One after another, they relaxed into death. Failure was their end. Finally, upon the twelfth hour, just around midnight as the night before, I ordered them down. All four of them. A larger man in his early 30s, a skinny but toned woman in her early 20s, a bulky sixteen year old boy, and a powerful eight year old girl. One hundred ninety-six down. None left to go.
