“Fine. They’ll like the chance to show off.” Wizard, who was probably just shy of thirty, had a winning smile and the sort of good looks that could grace a recruitment poster. “We’re going to do a round with each team getting two-hundred-pound dummies through the course, then we’re going to assign a person on each team to play wounded and do it again.”
“Why make one play injured?” Spencer asked. “Don’t you want them to all get the workout?”
“It’s not about the workout,” Wizard answered. “Being carried is its own challenge. They have to know how to safely transport the wounded and infirm over difficult terrain, but they also need to be prepared to work short-handed and also to be the one out of commission.”
“Because it will happen,” Bacon added grimly. “And you need to pay close attention because if things go sideways when we’re out there, it’ll be your ass we’re hauling back. Can’t have you making it harder on the team.”
“Hey. I can help. I’m not necessarily going to be a liability,” Spencer protested.
“Help can get you—and everyone with you—dead, if you’re not careful.” Bacon shook his head.
“Actually...” Wizard’s eyes narrowed as he considered Spencer. “They had you sign waivers, right?”
“Dozens of them,” Spencer confirmed.
“How’d you feel about helping us out instead of just watching?”
“Bring it on.” Like with the run, Spencer was eager to prove himself.
“Okay, hang on.” Wizard jogged away.
“You’re not going to like this.” Bacon’s laugh was more genuine than it had been earlier. “Still time to say no.”
“Not a chance.” Spencer smiled at him, still trying to wear him down. “Nothing beats hands-on experience. I love being in the thick of things.”
“Don’t we all,” Bacon said, bitterness tingeing his words. And finally, Spencer got it. Bacon wasn’t a tour-guide sort of guy. Spencer was keeping him from his real work.
“Is that what’s up with you? You’re pissed that you have to hang with me instead of being in the action? Would it help if I say I’m sorry? I know this is a shit assignment.”
“It’s not that bad.” Bacon sighed but his animosity seemed to dial back a fair chunk.
“Mr. Bryant? Can you come here?” Wizard waved him over. Spencer hurried to where Wizard was facing the recruits. “Boat team three, front and center,” he ordered, and a group of eight recruits stepped forward. “This is Mr. Bryant. He’s a journalist. And today, he’s the hostage you just rescued. He’s got a hurt leg.”
“I don’t—” Spencer started to protest but Wizard was already slapping some sort of splint on his lower leg, over his pants.
“He can’t bend his leg,” Wizard continued. “And your mission is to get him through the first three obstacles in under five minutes without him putting weight on that leg. I will be watching you very closely. One hair out of place on his head at the end, and I’ll be cycling you. You’re going to show us how it’s done.” Wizard managed to be both strict and encouraging in his delivery.
“Yes, Chief,” the team yelled in unison.
“Mr. Bryant, your job is to listen to Seaman Briggs. He’s the leader of this team, and he’s going to get you through the obstacles safely. Right, Briggs?”
“Yes, Chief.” A tall, gangly kid stepped forward.
“Team. Your time starts now. Go.”
All but ignoring Spencer, Briggs conferred with his team about strategy. “We’ll need to carry him.”
“I can probably walk to the wall,” Spencer offered. He didn’t want to look totally incapable of holding his own. The first obstacle was a huge wall, probably nine feet tall, with ropes and handholds. Challenging, but until Wizard had splinted him, he could have handled it pretty easily on his own.
“No, sir,” Briggs told him firmly. “We need to move. Tritt, Misk, Underhill. You’ve got Mr. Bryant to start. Watch the leg. Go. Go. Go.”
Then before Spencer really realized what was happening, three recruits picked him up like he was a ladder, and started running at a fast clip after Briggs and the rest of the group.
“That’s it,” Wizard called after them, apparently approving of Briggs’s plan.
Spencer quickly realized that struggle was only going to make things harder on all of them, and tried to relax as much as possible as they tossed him around. When they reached the wall, some recruits used the ropes and handholds on the wall while others positioned themselves on the ground and the top of the wall, and working as a team, they passed Spencer up the wall like he was a load of lumber. He had to admit, it was impressive how the team supported each other as well as him, making sure that no single recruit ever had his full weight, and that they all made it up and over.
It was more than a bit unnerving, and even though he had decades more experience keeping his cool than these kids, he had to force himself to not focus on how high up he was, how helpless, how dependent he was on these green recruits. And things only got harder when they reached a rope net. One wrong move and Spencer would plunge to the ground below, but all he could do was breathe and trust. Freaking out or arguing with Briggs was only going to prove to Bacon that he wasn’t cut out for this.