Shadow (Jake Seresin)

Chapter 7

Ellie woke up the following morning alone in her bed. She was still in her sweats from the night before, but she was confused as to how she got there. She opened her phone to see a text from Hangman.

"You fell asleep not much after we had our conversation. I wasn't tired, so I went home after putting you in bed. There's a peanut butter and jelly in the fridge for you for breakfast. See you on base tomorrow;)"

Ellie  laughed and went downstairs. Sure enough, there was a peanut butter and jelly wrapped in Saran Wrap in her fridge. She got a text from Bob, asking for a ride to base because his car was not starting. She ate her sandwich, quickly changed, and headed over to Bob's.

"I'll come by later, and come fix it." She laughed.

"You're a lifesaver, thank you, Ellie." He laughed as he hopped in her car.

They got to base just in time to start training. She talked to Bob and Phoenix for a little bit, before going to her seat. Jake was waiting for Ellie in their seats.

"Did you eat your breakfast?" Jake asked as she sat down.

"The more you talk...the more you're gonna make this obvious, Jake." She laughed and looked at him.

"Fine fine fine." He smirked and faced forward.

"But yes I did, thank you. She smiled and rubbed his shoulder.

"Woah woah there, Harrison. The more you do that...the more you're gonna make it look obvious." He said, playfully mocking her.

She lightly slapped his arm. Maverick came in soon after with a serious look on his face.

"Time is your greatest adversary." He started.

He pulled up the course, and explain how the course is meant to be flown. When he said that the hard deck would be lowered to almost nothing with them completing the course in under three minutes.

"Holy hell." Ellie whispered to herself.

Everyone was taking their turn flying the imaginary course. Ellie went up with Fritz and Phoenix and Bob. They were starting off slow, but they were making decent time.

"Alright, Phoenix let's increase speed." She told her.

"Copy that, Shadow, increasing speed." She followed Ellie's orders. As Ellie rounded the corner, she almost came in contact with the mountain.

"Oh shit!" She yelled and abruptly turned, causing her to fly above the barrier.

"Dammit!" She yelled.

Once they landed, Maverick was waiting to ask the questions.

"Why are you dead?" He asked.

"I almost crashed into the mountain." She responded.

"And what did that cause you to do?" He asked her again.

"Abruptly turn and go above the barrier." She told him.

"Will their families except that response at the funeral?" He looked at her.

She stayed quiet. She knew that she could do better.

Another group went, then Phoenix and Bob went with Coyote next. They all ended up getting killed too.

"Is this even possible to fly?" She asked Jake.

"I'm confident I can fly it." He told her.

"I would love to see that." She looked at him, already annoyed with failing today.

They all came back, and Maverick asked the same questions. He really knew how to put a damper on your confidence. After their interrogation, Hangman, Fanboy, and Payback all went up next. Ellie could just tell how determined Jake was to make it to their target. They weren't kidding when they said the reason why he gets called Hangman is because be leaves his wingman. Payback and Fanboy ended up falling so behind that if the enemy had spotted them, they would have had no protection, and would have gotten killed. Once they both landed, Payback and Fanboy both looked very annoyed.