12 Seconds (#1 in Military series)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

 

Crawling into her bed later that evening, every muscle in Julia’s body complained.

Muscles Julia didn’t even know she had screamed in protest.

As she rolled onto her bunk, Julia found it difficult to believe that the army employed the same mattresses as the Ritz Hotel and yet her body seemed testament to the fact.

It felt as if she was lying on a cloud.

A small moan escaped her lips, the bed too heavenly that Julia never bothered to change out of her uniform.

“Not a bad first day,” Ray groaned below her but he didn’t sound as half exhausted as she was.

Wincing, Julia peered over the edge down at her friend, “Are you kidding? I’ve never run so much in my life!”

Julia was struck by how much she had repeated that phrase in the past, mostly when her mother had forced her to do track at school, every race then had seemed double the one before. 

“Some of those men only have one leg,” Ray chuckled as he waved an arm towards the rest of the barracks where the other men were beginning to wind down, “And they beat you by nearly a mile.”

Julia narrowed her eyes at him, knowing full well he could not see her, “Well, I’m sorry I do not meet your standards, Tiersias,”  

Ray frowned at her name for him providing Julia with a little bit of smugness on her part. Working in the library hadn’t been completely a waste of time.

Julia enjoyed reading especially the mythologies and Tiersias was a man who lost his sight after he revealed the secrets of the Gods to the people. Other’s claim it was because he spied on Athena bathing. Either way, Julia found it fitting for a blind man.

“It just takes a while to get back into the swing of it,” Ray sighed as he plumped up the pillow beneath his head, “Half of these men never stopped training. You just forgot to.”

“I hope that’s true,” Julia sighed as she laid back.

She knew this was going to be tough but she was slowly coming to realise that she may not be able to do it; maybe she did not have what it takes to be a marine after all.

Julia did not know how she felt about that because she had been a marine, and they said there was no such thing as an ex-marine.

If it was true, then Julia did know one thing. Her mother would be happy.

* * * One week later * * *

In a few moments of privacy, Julia exited the shower and began to dry herself off.

As she ran the towel over her abdomen and down her legs, Julia noticed something.

Standing up straight, Julia stepped in front of the floor length mirror and gazed at herself.

Not in vain and not because she hadn’t been able to see herself in a mirror in a week, Julia almost forgot what she looked like.

No, Julia looked at herself in the mirror because she was changing.

Her thighs were toned, her abdomen, whilst flat before, was now more defined whilst her arms grew stronger.

She had barely been there a week and yet the exercise routine in hand with the regular meals was making her body change. It felt like she was a weight loss boot camp and yet she knew it was anything but.

Quickly drying herself off, a small growth of confidence sprouting in the back of her mind, Julia dressed in the sand-coloured camouflage trousers, thick boots and khaki coloured shirt.

Julia loved the colour of khaki.

“You ready?” Ray asked as he heard her approach, rising from where he was sat on his bed.

Julia looked around at the empty barracks, “Have you been waiting for me?”

“The others went on ahead,” Ray told her, “I thought I’d keep you company.”

“Thanks,” Julia muttered and yet she found herself waving her hand in front of Ray’s face, double checking that he truly was blind.

“Besides, if I tried to catch up on my own I’d probably walk off the end of a cliff- What are you doing?” Ray snapped when he felt a small whoosh of air against his face.

“Nothing.” Julia replied too quickly, “I’m ready, shall we go?”

Leaving her jacket behind, it was nice evening and the temperature never truly dropped below fifteen Celsius.

As they strolled through the barracks, Julia felt like a part of something bigger.

It was the same as every other time she walked through the base, she felt proud of what she was doing.

Thinking of how her mother would have been too happy for her to fail and return home had helped give Julia that last little motivational push she needed.

Plus, if she did not give it a try then Julia would only hate herself later on.

Ray’s fingers were clasped around her elbow as she led them down the path towards the mess hall, when Julia noticed the familiar face of Amy Hawley.

Standing at five foot six, she was a few inches smaller than Julia, but her attitude made up for the difference.

Jet black hair slicked back into a small bun, she kept her back straight and her prejudices strong.

Julia thought of steering her and Ray away but Amy would see it and Julia was stubborn.

Keeping them on the path, Julia tried to keep walking past but Amy would not let an opportunity to belittle them slip her by.

A young recruit with no tour yet under her belt, rank meant nothing to her, especially when Julia’s rank had been frozen with her accident.

Amy saw her as nothing more than another recruit and Julia wasn’t the type to pull on rank on anyone, especially when she felt she had not earned it. Jules had earnt the rank, not Julia.

“Well, what do you know,” Amy stepped into Julia’s path, halting them from progressing, “The blind leading the blind!”

Amy’s small posse of military-raised and small-minded were not far behind her.

Julia took a deep breath, trying to remain calm and yet it was Ray who was the one to snap back at them.

“As opposed to idiots leading idiots?” Ray grinned whilst his eyes flickered constantly, unsure of where to look.

Amy’s smile was lost as she narrowed her eyes at Ray, “I would be very careful what you say-”

“-Why?” Ray tilted his head in wonder, “Because you’ll tell your ‘daddy’?”

Julia bit her tongue to keep from laughing.

“You and your little band don’t scare me,” Ray scoffed, “I’ve looked into the eyes of worse than you.”

The mood grew sombre as Julia wondered if that was how he lost his eyesight, had he been captured whilst on tour?

“Now,” Ray brushed off the incident like it was nothing more than bumping someone accidently in the street, “If you don’t mind, we’re late.”

Ray tightened his grip on Julia’s arm, reminding her that she was the one leading him and they needed to make a dramatic exit.

Oh right, Julia quickly panicked as she stepped around Amy and they were walking once more.

“You know she’s not going to forget that, don’t you?” Julia glanced over her shoulder to see Amy and her group watching them leave.

“Hang ‘em,” Ray waved it off, “We’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

That was true, Julia thought, they were halfway through their training. Soon they would be on a plane and flying into a warzone.