Heaven in Hell

RUNNING?

2200 HOURS

AGENT PRESCOTT

There are multiple books and insurmountable amount of videos of the 'Hell Week' available online. Those books and videos, though quite correct, do very little justice to the amount of pain and suffering that one week rains on you to wear the coveted tridents of US Navy SEAL.

If you ever went through one of those, you would share my sentiment when I say that I had sworn to never go through another hell week in my entire life when I completed the one at US Navy SEAL training course. In fact, it is said that most SEALs do not go through anything worse than that in their entire life. But I'm not 'most SEALs'.

And there is nothing you can do when you are cursed. Or rather caught running. Nobody ever gets punished for running a little extra, unless the person who catches you running is Chief Darhk and the runner is me. I still remember that night in great detail.

It was a week into my training and my teeth hadn't stopped chattering since they started. I was used to some cold. Rather, I could suck it up. But there is nothing like being wet and sandy every moment of every day to make you realise just how unforgiving the cold is. After being dismissed for the day and unable to sleep due to uncontrollable shivering, I sneaked past the fire guard and decided to take a run to produce enough heat to be able to get some relief.

What I did not think was that the amount of trouble I could land up in if I was found roaming past light outs was way higher than being unable to sleep. My brain did not work that far to think things through.

I had managed to run through the grinder, past the compound and back thrice without being caught before Chief Darhk sneaked up on me. Having met the man only once, I decided to greet him with our signature style and then continued running. The goon squad comprising of those who come last in every activity done during the day are punished during the after-hours. I figured I would just say that I was tasked to running if somebody asked.

It was only when he pointed out my attire and lack of supervisor that I realised just how fucking idiotic I was. The instructors take a perverse satisfaction in ensuring that you are cold, wet and sandy every second of every day and watch your misery with verbal berating and mind games designed to make you re-think your decision to join the course. They would never let you wear full clothes, especially if you are a member of goon squad and punishing without supervision would cost them their careers.

I was covered, head to toe, in warmest things I could find and I had no Harry Potter skills to magically produce an Instructor. That is how I got selected to be the 'Chief's recruit' during the entirety of my course. A designation usually reserved for the worst and fastest dropping recruit was assigned to me and to make matters worse, Chief had a bet to win. He had been watching me make the runs since I first set foot on the grinder and for his entertainment, he had decided to start a bet with the Instructors of the course. Usually, his recruit never makes it to the end. Chief ensures that the recruit quits by ringing the bell. However, this time, he decided to bet that his recruit would not only make it to the end, but also be at least in the top 2% of the class in all evaluations, if not the first.

It was only at the start of the hell week that I found out about the bet. I still have no clues about the stakes, but whatever it was, it motivated every Instructor to come at me with a vengeance. Being 'Chief's recruit' meant that Chief Darhk had every liberty, short of starving me, to have his way with me.

The actual training starts after the Hell Week. Before that, they break your body a million times. If you can suck that up, only then you get a chance to learn. Needless to say, my Hell Week was a memory I wouldn't forget even if I had Alzheimer.