The Hunters

Chapter Forty-Eight

 I chugged my second cup of coffee as I jogged to the meeting place, ten minutes early. The Jegertroppen had already gathered, as well as Ghost and König. "Good morning. How'd you boys sleep?"

"Fuck you," Ghost grumbled, but I heard the smirk in his voice.

"Maybe later. Let's focus on training for the time being."

He snickered and König nervously approached me, wrapping his long fingers around my elbow. "Kalberg, I'm truly sorry," he apologized softly, his gaze lowered to the concrete below us.

"For what?" I asked, taking his free hand with a reassuring squeeze.

"Just...everything," he whispered, his sorrowful tone breaking my heart.

I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around his thick torso as I told him, "Let's start over. Keep the past in the past. I'm not upset with either of you. I already got my revenge for you two scoundrels going behind my back by not telling you the truth. Plus, I enjoyed what you two did to my behind."

Ghost snickered again, his gaze a promise of future bad intentions. "Start over," König agreed with a jerky nod. "Can we...maybe do things as a group again?"

My brow rose as I stepped back to observe both of them. "Oh? You two think you can get along again?"

Ghost nodded firmly, telling me, "We quite enjoyed it. If you're good with it, we'd like to make it a regular thing until the mission begins."

"Oh. Guess I'll need to get a wheelchair, cause you two made it rather difficult to walk. Worth it."

The others joined while I lined up the loaded sacks, preparing for the morning jog. Russ wasn't with them and I checked my watch, realizing that he was going to be late. Annoyed at his continued tardiness, I addressed the group, "Good morning, almost everyone. Today, we will be jogging ten kilometers within two hours. Each of you will carry a sack; they are arranged from twenty-two kilograms to fifty kilograms."

Haugen's eyes widened as she shifted to glare at the sacks, her attention narrowing on me when I winked at her. I continued regardless of her wordless reaction, further explaining, "This is not only to test your endurance, but how you work together as a team. It is at your discretion who carries which sack, with the knowledge that along the way, your fellow soldiers might go down due to environmental factors. Any questions?"

Haugen's hand raised with lightning speed. "If someone goes down, how exactly are we supposed to transport them the rest of the way?"

I smirked behind my mask, my exhales warming my nose in the cold. "That is for you all to figure out as a group. We are headed to the desert; expect me to throw situations related to that. I also advise caution given the heavy snowfall."

The surroundings were coated in mounting snow, the air a thick white fog. Andersen nervously raised her hand and I shifted my attention to her. "You said we have to do all this in two hours? Ten kilometers is...awfully long, without the sacks."

I nodded firmly, answering, "We very well might have a similar distance during this mission. As a team, we must be prepared to tackle the challenge."

"Fuck my life, I hate running," Haugen grumbled, glaring when I winked at her again.

"Any other questions?" When no one asked, I responded, "Excellent. Now, discuss the sack distribution while your remaining soldier decides to grace us with his presence."

I'd noticed Russ slinking out of the doors, taking his time on the snow-coated concrete. His eyes were diverted to the ground ahead of him, ignoring us as he stiffly joined the line of soldiers. "Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty," I greeted him. "Hope your prince gave you a nice kiss, 'cause we've got work to do."

"I had a...personal problem to attend to," he grumbled, his eyes avoiding mine.

Gaz chuckled, gesturing in a jerk-off motion in front of him. "Yeah, real personal. Saw you all hot and bothered in the line for breakfast."

Russ shifted to glare daggers into Gaz's eyes while the others snickered. "Oh? Glad to hear you're so excited for training," I responded humorously, and Ghost pressed his fist against his mask as he struggled to not laugh. "Let's get started."