Children's Draft

Chapter 7 (Part One)

(Daniel's PoV)

    I dug my elbows further into the dirt. This is so gross, I thought as I aimed my gun. We didn't even have a target. We were just supposed to shoot. Live fire training was mainly about making sure we knew how to use our guns. Still, lying in the dirt was not ideal.

    Will bit his lip as he fired. "I don't want to accidentally shoot someone."

    "There's a reason we're all on the same side," I pointed out, firing my own weapon.

    Trevor shot his after me and laughed. "I don't know, considering some of the guys in our platoon, I'm sure someone will find a way to mess that up." He glanced at Clayton, who popped his head up.

    "What?" he asked. "I'm not even doing anything. I'm perfectly fine lying down. I think I'll go to sleep."

    Here? I wondered. Before he could set his head down, I asked, "Clayton, how are you supposed to sleep with all these gunshots going off?"

    "I think a more important question would be how am I supposed to sleep if you keep nagging me?" he retorted.

    I looked over to Logan to see his response to all of this, but I noticed he wasn't really moving. Come to think of it, he hadn't said much of anything all morning.

    "You all right?"

    "Just sad," he replied monotone. "I turn sixteen in two days and I'll be here. I won't be able to spend my birthday with Alisha."

    "I'm sorry," I told him. I didn't turn sixteen until December, but I had a bad feeling that I wouldn't be home for my birthday either.

    "I mean, I'll probably get a letter from her, but it's just not the same," he explained. "Does Joy ever write to you?"

    "Sometimes," I replied. "Not as often as Alisha writes to you though. She's pretty busy with her," I muscled down the word, "boyfriend."

    Logan made a face. My friends here didn't like Bradley. As much as I wanted to despise him, I just couldn't if he made Joy that happy.

    "I can't believe he did it,' I heard Trevor exclaim.

    We turned to see Clayton fast asleep on the Live Fire Training Field.

    Trevor rolled his eyes. "Only he would use an M16 as a pillow."

(Gavin's PoV)

    "Oh Gavin," Trixie sighed, tossing her wavy blonde hair behind her shoulders. "I missed you so much. I don't know how I lived without you." She batted her eyelashes several times before throwing her arms around me and puckering her lips.

    "Get up!"

    My eyes shot open to see myself locking lips with my pillow. I quickly threw it to the edge of my bed, hoping no one saw. I folded my arms as I began to sit upright.

    "I'm tired," Tristan groaned, rubbing his eyes. "It seems earlier than usual."

    "It is earlier," Michael said, pointing to the clock.

    "Why do we need to be up at three?" Trevor asked.

    "You're about to go through the night infiltration course," Sgt. Blake explained. "Which is something you do at night."

    The idea of a night infiltration course didn't sound all that appealing to me, and judging by the expressions of the other guys, I believed they agreed with me.

    "Now stop asking questions and get dressed," he ordered.

    After getting ready, we walked to a different part of the forest, though none of us could tell where we were. Night vision goggles were thought of as an unnecessary expense, so we ended up running into each other a lot.