We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 5: Five Long Days

At six AM sharp the door to Group B's billet burst open, jolting a few of the women awake. "Rise and shine!" an unfamiliar male voice bellowed, stirring the few who had managed to sleep through the previous ruckus. "Chow time, ladies! Get it while the getting's good because at six-thirty we've got maps and compasses and you won't get another shot at food until twelve-thirty."

Just as soon as the man had stormed into the billet, he was gone again. Margot could still hear the faint shouting, but her focus was mainly on her heartbeat, which was just starting to return to a normal pace after the abrupt awakening. 

"No matter how much sleep you get, six always comes way too early," Francine grumbled as she flipped the covers off of herself dramatically and swung her legs over the side of the bed. 

"I already want to quit." Marion began to get ready, not awake enough to realize that she was trying to stuff her left foot into her right boot. 

Despite the sleepy complaints and mindless groans, the women were in their jumpsuits and boots in a matter of minutes. Once they were all ready, they turned for the door. 

"Wait." A small voice stopped them in their tracks. Spinning to face the noise, the women stared back at Annie, who was still standing beside her footlocker. "We have to make the beds," she told the group when they shot her puzzling looks. 

"Right." Betty smiled as she headed back towards her assigned bed. "Thanks, Annie." 

With a small smile on her face, Annie got to work on her bed while the rest of the women did the same. A minute later the beds were made and the billet looked untouched, just like it had when they arrived the day before. 

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair, and after finishing their bowls of oatmeal just before six-thirty, Margot lead the way to the classroom where their first maps and compasses class was being held. 

With mostly open minds about the subject, the women sat down in their seats, willing to learn. Right when the clock struck six-thirty, a man walked through the door and situated himself at the front of the room. His dark hair was cut a little longer than a buzz cut and his face was cleanly shaven. Dressed from head to toe in uniform, just like Captain Miller had been, he radiated authority. 

"My name is Lieutenant Shaw and I will be your group leader for the next five days." The man began to introduce himself, his loud, attention-demanding voice throwing a blanket of silence over the room. Margot recognized the voice as the one that had woken them up that morning. "You will refer to me as Lieutenant Shaw or Lieutenant. My job is to make you the smartest, toughest, and fastest group of army women this country has ever seen. You will do what I say, when I say it, without any complaining. If you listen to me and my instructions, you might just make it through this training camp. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Lieutenant," the room answered in unison. 

"Good." Lieutenant Shaw nodded before turning to the wall of maps behind him. "First lesson of the first day: maps and compasses."

For an hour the women of Group B learned how to navigate with a map and compass. First, they learned how to read maps, then compasses, and finally they moved on to the basics of plotting a course using the two tools combined. 

Margot found the information to be a lot at once. After a few tries, she could work her way around a map. Using the compass was a little more difficult for her because she had never even held one before, but the hardest part was plotting courses. When her map reading was right, her compass was off, and vice versa. 

Annie, however, picked up the skill in no time. Drawing on her previous knowledge that she had obtained through high school geography classes, she was able to get back up to speed and pick up the new information like it was a walk in the park.