Kilo-61 (Damned of the 2/19th Book 19)- Ongoing

The Edge of the Valley of Death

2 Miles SW of Blackbriar Ridge 'Training' Facility
North Dakota
United States of America
18 Feb, 2002
1500 Hours

The gravel crunched as I pulled over to the side of the road just shy of the crest of the hill. The trees were laden with snow and the snow that covered the road in a few inches of white powder was smooth and blameless.

Nobody had been up here.

I threw the Gypsy Wagon into park and hit the ebrake before I got out, pulling on my jacket as I did so. The warmth of the HMMWV's cab was snatched away by the wind before I could even pull it on, but it was normal cold, not like I'd experienced so many other places.

...flares guttering in the Alaskan night as we watched for the lights of the evac chopper...

The air was crisp, cold, and felt good, but I still dug my smokes out of my pocket. The doors slammed behind me as I stood there for a long second, staring at the crest of the hill.

"How long has it been since you were here?" Kincaid asked.

"First time or last time?" I asked him. My hands shook as I lit my Camel.

"Both?" he asked me. Heather stepped up next to me, snuggling under my left arm. My right had been sore from sleeping in the back of the vehicle while Kincaid drove. Kincaid clicked his lighter twice after lighting a cigarette for Donaldson, who was setting a sat-map on the hood and weighing it down with shit he pulled out of his pockets.

"First time I was here was in 1983, last time was in 1996, after the Sergeant Major died, after..." I let the sentence trail off.

"Yeah," Kincaid said. Thee snaps.

"Anyone as nervous as I am?" Donaldson asked, coming over to stand with us. He looked back down the road. "Shit, how far behind us are they?"

"Fuck 'em," Kincaid growled.

"Yeah, I am, Dee," Heather said softly. She shivered. "I went through here in like 86, after Chernobyl," She shivered again and I pulled her tighter to me, knowing it wasn't the cold, "I went through Special Weapons Medical School and the Field Surgery course here."

"This place has a bad rep even now," Kincaid said quietly. "The most anyone said about it was it was full of psychopaths and war criminals."

Snow shushed off a branch and the lizard opened up one red eye for a moment before he went back to sleep.

I dug my meds out of my jacket pocket and dry swallowed a booster set while we all stood there silently. Kincaid handed me an Orange Crush and I drained half of it in one go in a vain attempt to quench my dry mouth.

"Heard some bad things about this place in my research," Donaldson said softly. "Shit that was done to boots to make Special Weapons soldiers."

"Yeah," Heather said softly.

...you can stop the interrogation at any time by giving the trainers the code phrases we had you memorize. There is no pass or fail here, only your endurance...

...Stillwater. Anthony. Private. US Army. Two-seven-six. Five-Two. Three-one-six-nine.

...you can make this stop, private, simply give us the answer we want...

...Stillwater. Anthony. Private. US Army. Two-seven-six. Five-Two. Three-one-six-nine...

...what is the range of a Tomahawk missile with a 240 kiloton six-pack MiRV warhead at sea level...

I shook off the memory and shivered. Heather hugged me and Donaldson reached out and put his hand on my left shoulder, squeezing gently.

"They ever break you?" He asked softly. More snow shushed, deeper in the woods.