บท 9: Conlin vs Daniels

On the other side of the forest, McLaney and Smith had managed to get away from the guards and were slowly circling the forest. It took them five minutes to do so, but it seems that something happened, because it had been ten minutes, but there was no announcement that they had passed this course. There was of course a communication system set up so they could let recruits know when the ten minutes were up, but nothing was said.

Suddenly the communications came on and from old broadcast speakers they couldn't see, they heard the drill sergeant's voice, "Welcome to hell boys! Normally it'd be a ten minute survival situation, but since recruits Conlin and Daniels get along with each other so well, I've decided to add a rule! The course doesn't end until either Daniels or Conlin is eliminated, of course, the guards will still be patrolling, so if they catch you and take all of your team's flags away, this also results in a fail!" Drill Sergeant Lloyd's cruel laughter could be heard across the course. "You think the Germans will go easy on you? We may not be in the war yet, but make no mistake, we will be. By then you'll have much bigger things on your plate to worry about rather than this child's game you're all playing."

"I'm not gonna go easy on any of you, oh and by the way, you have ten minutes. After ten minutes both teams fail. Good luck recruits, god speed." Drill Sergeant Lloyd disconnected the mic, the recruits were on their own and with their competitive spirit it turned into a real ten minute survival game. Conlin and Daniels looked at each other for a split second before Conlin took off running. He was no match for Daniels right now, that man could snap his arm like a twig, the only way he'd be able to beat him is by outwitting him.

"Think Conlin, think!" Thomas racked his brains, there really wasn't any way to hide around here and he couldn't climb the poles. He could try hiding in the, wait, that wouldn't work. If Joshua wasn't captured by Daniels by now then he could try to gather the rest of his teammates. That might work if they come at him by all sides, he couldn't possibly take everyone on. He also isn't smart enough to just go after him, he has his pride. Excellent, now that he's formed a plan, Thomas can carry it out.

Somewhere in the forest of poles and sad, after having heard the announcement and run away from the guards, McLaney and Smith were crouched down behind a couple of rather thick and large trees. They were also trying to come up with their own battle plan, but they were thinking along radically different lines than Thomas.

"So we can hide, but you heard the announcement McLaney! Neither team wins unless either Conlin or Daniels goes down!" Smith was just as lost as McLaney.

"I know Smith, I know! Just shut up and let me think for a moment." McLaney was exasperated and slightly annoyed by Smith's less than stellar explanations that even a little kid would notice. "We could always regroup with the others, Conlin and McSnickers should be together still right?"

"There's no guarantee to that, for all we know Conlin could have left him to Daniels," Smith pointed out. "What we need is a radical solution, something that no one would ever think of or dare to do."

"You're right Smith, but aside from knocking out a couple of guards and taking their flags, we really don't have much." McLaney was lamenting about the lack of options when Smith's face brightened up. "That' it! We'll knock a couple of guards and steal their flags, maybe their shirts too, no one would really notice, I mean they dress in PT underneath those uniforms anyways!"

"I don't know Smith, we could get in a lot of trouble for it."

"Come on McLaney, this is a survival course! We've only got about eight minutes left, this is our best course of option, we can deal with the consequences later!" It was at this moment that a couple of guards came out from behind a couple of trees about forty yards off. They hadn't spotted the two squad mates yet, they were still cautiously poking around.

"It's do or fail McLaney, we're going after those walking disguises!" Smith declared as he started moving stealthily across the forest.

"Shit!, We needed a better plan!" Muttered McLaney under his breath, but he still followed Smith anyways. No sense in letting him attempt this alone.

Across the forest about ninety or so yards off, Thomas was still running, although much slower now. He was quickly reaching his stamina limit, he quickly flitted behind one of the wooden poles that made up the "trees" of this sandy "forest". He stood behind it trying to gain back what little stamina was left, five minutes left until this charade ends in a mutual loss, Thomas thought. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he just about jumped out of his boots when he saw the guard uniforms, then he recognized the faces.

"Smith, McLaney, is that you?" Thomas whispered, he was a little confused.

Yeah, Thomas it's us, listen we've got a plan, it's a little risky, but it's a sure fire way to get Daniels' flag!" Smith was excited as he detailed out his plan. It truly was a risk taker and assumed many things. They must normally be breaking around a dozen or so camp rules by doing this, but hey, whatever it takes. As long as they caught Daniels it truly didn't matter how. As the good drill sergeant said, the Germans won't show mercy, so why should they?

Three minutes left to go and Daniels had finally caught up to them, he looked like a mess. Just as he passed a couple of poles, two guards came out from behind him. He turned and then took off running like a hare from a fox! He never noticed that their armbands weren't yellow, but blue! As Daniels took off running, time kept plummeting, down to the last minute when suddenly from the side came Thomas, tackling Daniels to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs. They wrestled for a few seconds before Thomas was able to put Daniels in an arm bar and he forcefully ripped off his flag from his arm. He did it! He secured victory from the jaws of uncertainty!

The intercoms blared to life as Drill Sergeant Lloyd's voice echoed out among the forest, "Congratulations Squad Conlin, you've taken Daniels flag successfully resulting in course completion for your entire squad, and you didn't lose a man to boot. Impressive, as for you Daniels, not only did you sacrifice a few of your squad you didn't even complete your objective! A waste of men and resources, you're demoted and no longer squad leader." He paused a minute, then continued, "I'm sure you've already figured out the layout of The Playground Conlin, take your squad over to the next obstacle. Daniels, you and the rest of your squad mates will remain here to repeat the course. Oh and Smith and McLaney, take those damn uniforms off and hand them into the nearest MP. Lloyd out,"

Thomas and his squad were ecstatic, they secured victory without a single loss which for Thomas was a first in both his lives! Most of the rest of the obstacles were going to be damned easy to do, with the exception of the fort at the end. They could worry about that later though, for now, they'll just take it easy and head for the next obstacle, the adult sized mini fort.