The Ghost and the Shadow

Chapter 51 - Obstacles

Ghost and I walk through the crowded halls, heading for the gym. I'm grateful for the other people around us, which makes the silence between us slightly less awkward.

I could've tried to come up with a more compelling lie or handled our discussion better, but it feels like a rug was pulled out from under me and I can't think clearly. I'm overwhelmed and my entire body is tensed up. It feels like I could scream.

What if something goes wrong, or they uncover the truth before we can take over? What will happen to my brother? Will they let him go? That's the last thing Shepherd will pay attention to from his prison cell. I could ask Ghost to look for him...but will he? What if he's too mad at me?

The thoughts race through my head and my heart beats in my ears.

Graves is positive that everything will be fine, but I disagree. We're taking Alejandro's base and dismissing 1-4-1. They'll both take it extremely personal. No matter which way this swings, shit will hit the fan, I just know it. I feel it in my bones.

I guess I deserve all of this for just signing off on the trade, without even checking first. I had too much trust in Graves. He's always been morally grey, but this entire situation has revealed an even darker side of him. The side that will stand by and allow a friend's family to be threatened without lifting a finger to stop it.

I've always thought of myself as being morally grey too, but I know that if someone were to threaten my friend, I would do everything in my power to protect him. He on the other hand, just stood there, watching, and doing nothing. He didn't even try to intervene. It wouldn't surprise me if he was the one who suggested the threat in the first place.

When we reach the gym, the other three team members are already waiting. We're such a small group with the others gone and our training options are limited at the moment.

Ghost walks past the team members and tilts his head showing us to follow him.

Outside, we come to a stop in front of the obstacle courses where Alejandro and Rudy seem to be waiting with their recruits. I recognise the recruits from when I assisted in their training.

Ghost goes to stand next to Alejandro and we join the small group of recruits.

"Afternoon everyone," Alejandro starts, "Today, we'll be doing joint training between Los Vaqueros, special forces and PMC's. You'll be divided into 5 teams of two and the teams will consist of one recruit and one other. The teams will be drawn at random. Each team will compete with the others on the obstacle courses and whoever wins – gets a day off."

The recruits seem happy to hear about the prospects of a day off – I've seen Alejandro train them first hand and know his training is gruelling.

I don't know what the point of this exercise is...why are we training with recruits? Do they think we're bored or does Alejandro want to test the recruit's skills against ours?

I wish there was a way I can get out of this. The last thing I want to do right now is struggle over a wall and crawl through mud with a recruit.

"Each of you will draw a recruit's name," Ghost says as he steps forward and holds out a bag of folded slips of paper. He walks down the line, holding the bag open to each of the team members, who reach in, pulling a name.

I'm last in line and when he stops in front of me, I reach into the bag and grab a paper. His eyes flicker up to meet mine, and my pulse quickens. I swiftly pull the paper out and look down at it, not wanting to make eye contact with him for too long.

My eyes scan the name and I'm relieved to see who I'm teaming up with. From what I've seen during previous training, the recruit I pulled is shy and keeps to himself, that'll make this exercise easier. I'm not keen on chit-chat with anyone right now.