Heaven in Hell

PREREQUISITES

Roshesh's POV:

My heart beats fast thinking of all the reasons Chief can shoot this down. His silence must mean that we are screwed. More so, Dad is screwed if Chief thinks he didn't do his work right.

I'm very close to just begging for an answer when Chief speaks, "You will have my go ahead if Arjun and Siddharth clear the Ruffle test. By then, you will come up with an exfil plan. In and out in 10 minutes. 15 max. Only you and Roshesh will be included."

What the hell is a Ruffle test? Looking at Dad, I think it will be one walk in hell. I seriously love Chief for getting me in. If Dad had his way, he would never let his kids take part in any mission.

"Understood, Chief"

"First though, all four of you will first go through a SERE training."

Oh fuck! Shit shit shitty shit fucking shit. This can't be happening.

"Chief, I agree that it is necessary. But given the nature of training, it will be .."

"That is not up for discussion, Prescott. If I'm sending you in, you better know that I won't have you go unprepared." The look on Chief's face makes it clear that no matter what we say, either there will be a training or there will be no mission.

I can see Dad sigh by the slight slump in his shoulders when he agrees to the terms laid out. We are gone now.

"Then what are you waiting for here? Have breakfast and report to the session. SERE starts tomorrow and ends Saturday for you four. Kyra and Ashwin will be responsible for running the place till then" Chief says looking at us. May Lord save our souls and then save some of our strength to last in that mission.

SERE means Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE). In this, you learn how to evade capture, survive behind enemy lines and live during your capture. Normally, we learn everything in theory and then practice it until it is muscle memory. But this training is never taught. This is just done. In UI, we went through one which lasted a week and I was so happy it was over. I never thought I would survive it, let alone have to go again. Fuck man! That shit hurt and there was nothing nice or merciful about it. Heck, I don't know if there was any lesson there.

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Woken up by a bucket of water on my head, Chief throws some of Arjun's clothes at me and kicks me out of the house waiting in line with Siddharth. Poor guy looks equally pissed and terrified at having to go through SERE again. This time, I have too small clothes with shoes my feet won't fully go in while he looks to be in Dad's clothes - too big for his lean-ass. Arjun, however, is going to have a life altering experience. He is not so advanced in the training to handle SERE. Lucky idiot has no idea what that even means so he slept peacefully through the night. And he is going to be thrown in with no other option but to pull through. He is going to make it or break down, but it will be a life alternating experience.

When all four of us are standing outside drenched with inappropriate clothing and no gear, Chief loads our asses in the jeep with blindfolds, earmuff and tied limbs while Kyra and Ashwin haul 4 gear bags at our feet. I feel them crushing my toes.

Chief drives us towards rough terrain and each bump throws me in different directions hitting something or the other. Remembering the road is long forgotten and the need to ensure that I don't bump into Dad once more takes priority after his hissed warning. How he has been able to sit tight in this is beyond me!

After some time, the jeep stops and I'm grabbed roughly and thrown to the side of the road with a bag on my face and one objective "Evade capture and try to make it back to the training ground"

When I can work on my binds, I free my legs and hands. With no idea if I have some food and water, where I am or who exactly is working on capturing us, I make a quick work on finding thick bushes to hide behind and check what is in the gear bags.

After having rechecked, I let my heart sink and accept that this is going to go fanfuckingtasticly disastrous. There is no food or water. No blankets or extra clothes. All it has are few weight discs, a knife and a helmet.

Cutting my too small shoes's front, I tie them on my feet and get to the task of figuring out the direction in which I must move. Chief has made it a difficult task considering a morning start. I have less than an hour to decide my direction and find a path that will provide me shelter from my capture squad. Or, a hiding spot in case I can't move.

After letting loose a string of fucking curses, I start sprinting like a horse with donkey's weight. There are oaks, fir, birch, willow and maple trees in this place and only my ass would be surrounded by birches. Their skinny ass trunks are useless for hiding or climbing unless you want to end up bleeding.

The damn weight plates are banging against each other and making a ton of noise while my shoes are leaving my toes vulnerable for all kinds of insects and thorns. There is however no time to stop. I know I got dropped first which means I would have to slow down and stop making noise very soon. I have only managed to cross the birches yet. I have to grow through some damn firs before I can see whether I can find where I am. And I hate firs. There are Christmas trees with a leg. Their thorny ass selves shed everywhere and my open toe would be bleeding by the time I run across them. That is if I managed to dodge all of them. They are huge and would have been a good hiding cover if I wanted to lay on a bed of thorns and spiky pines.

I keep my sense highly alert despite my run. I can't afford to get caught right away. That would mean being tortured until this exercise ends. And I lose my shit if I even think about the horrors of being tortured by Chief.

When I feel my heart beat in my ears, I slow down and pray that I haven't been in running in the opposite direction.

When I see a maple tree ahead, I nearly cry out in frustation. Those are useless too. It can't hide well and they don't have the frigging sturdiness or height I need. Fuck me!

There is no time left for me to make noise so I remove my jacket and wrap one weight plate in it. Then, finding some fresh wet leaves and grass, I make a cushion between the plates to stop the clanking noise. It will add to the weight and take away my little protection from the cold but there is no more time to think now.