Challenge #3: Prompt #2 - Ghosts
Title: Basic Training
Prompt: Ghosts
Word Count: 1035
Rating: PG-13
Original/Fandom: Glee
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/Underage): character death
Summary: Tragedy seems to follow Puck everywhere.
I joined the army to get away from the ghosts.
I know that really doesn't make much sense, considering the whole war thing, but I figured I'd do my six weeks of basic training and convince the higher ups to station me stateside. I figured it shouldn't be too hard. Wasn't most of the government just knowing the right people to talk to at the right time? I knew if there's anything I'm good at, it's talking my way out of bullshit I don't want to deal with.
Still, I didn't want to take my chances with the bureaucracy. As I walked through the base on my first day, I had never seen anywhere more alive. It was refreshing and I knew I was in it for the long haul. Guys were already exercising in the quad, sergeants were already showing off their refined skills. I decided to work my ass off in basic. While a lot of the other trainees slacked off and did the bare minimum, I always made sure to go the extra mile, sometimes even asking for extra work. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of competition. These were the same guys who beat up each other while playing football in the park and hockey down on the pond. I knew I wasn’t really up against anyone besides myself. I had to push my body to the limit to do my best. I had thought I was in pretty good shape, but I quickly realized it was nothing when I faced the grueling training we underwent in basic.
And the exercise wasn’t my only obstacle. Some of the guys were real pain in the asses. There was this one guy called Chad Rainier, who thought he was in charge, even though he was just a Private in basic like us. He was a really tough guy, solid and hard-headed to a fault. I thought I knew his type, those locker room jocks who knew how to talk the talk and walk the walk, but there was nothing behind their tough exteriors. I kept an eye on him and made sure to stay far away from him and his gang. I was so done with those losers, especially after my time in high school.
I found my own group of friends, mostly guys who stayed below the radar, doing what they had to get by. We barely talked about our lives, and that was fine with me, but they all let enough slip to know that they really had no choice but join the army. It was a sad world out there, not that I needed to be reminded of that, but they had really seen the worst that life had to offer. Me, I barely talked about anything, especially not the real reason I was doing this. Every day, I was reminded of him. Finn would have been able to stand up to the jerks, and put his whole heart into the army training. My friends respected my silence and we got along good enough.
There was one guy in my gang named Josh Hill, the kind of innocent kid that you weren’t sure why they joined the army to begin with. A real Captain America type, if you know what I mean. Real skinny and weak, but everyone knew he would give anything to be a real hero. He definitely knew how to fight and defend himself though. I’m sure he got beat up enough in high school.
One day about half way through basic training, we were doing a gun exercise. Our guns weren’t supposed to be loaded. We were drilling maneuvers, but a lot of guys were feeling arrogant that they’d already mastered the basic movements. Chad and his gang kept showing off, even though the Staff Sergeant kept glaring at them. Chad did a basic move, but he must have put extra force into it and somehow he lost control. Much to everyone’s surprise, the gun fired.
After we all gasped, we were relieved because we thought it must have just been a wild shot. After a moment, I looked around and I saw Josh crouched over, holding his chest. I could see the blood dripping through his fingers. I shook my head and shouted for help, it couldn’t be true. A group of soldiers crowded around him, but the Sergeant called us off. Josh was gasping for air, which turned out to be the worst thing he could have done. With each breath, he was inhaling blood, essentially drowning himself. It seemed like a lifetime, but it must have only been a few minutes before he keeled over. He was dead long before help arrived.
I had to take a long step back from the scene. I felt like I was in another world as I watched the medics take away his body. This was the last place I’d ever expected to see something like this. I was having trouble breathing myself.
It was all too much. Josh was too good for something like this to happen to him. Something was nagging at me. This was my fault somehow. My mind shot back to the day Finn died. Josh and Finn were two of the most kind-hearted people I knew; I had always thought that nothing could ever happen to them. Maybe I should have known that things were working out too well because tragedy seemed to follow me everywhere.
I was shaking, even though I knew I couldn’t help Josh anymore than I could have helped Finn. I told myself this was different, even though both situations were just crazy things that shouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t believe I was a witness to such a senseless death again so soon. Their deaths would haunt me forever.
I turned around and started walking away. I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to just give up, but I couldn’t be here anymore.
Somehow I made it through the rest of basic training, my every moment haunted by their memories. I was relieved when I found out my deployment would be to a bitter wasteland. Maybe I could finally leave the ghosts behind.
Prompt: Ghosts
Word Count: 1035
Rating: PG-13
Original/Fandom: Glee
Pairings (if any): none
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con/Underage): character death
Summary: Tragedy seems to follow Puck everywhere.
I joined the army to get away from the ghosts.
I know that really doesn't make much sense, considering the whole war thing, but I figured I'd do my six weeks of basic training and convince the higher ups to station me stateside. I figured it shouldn't be too hard. Wasn't most of the government just knowing the right people to talk to at the right time? I knew if there's anything I'm good at, it's talking my way out of bullshit I don't want to deal with.
Still, I didn't want to take my chances with the bureaucracy. As I walked through the base on my first day, I had never seen anywhere more alive. It was refreshing and I knew I was in it for the long haul. Guys were already exercising in the quad, sergeants were already showing off their refined skills. I decided to work my ass off in basic. While a lot of the other trainees slacked off and did the bare minimum, I always made sure to go the extra mile, sometimes even asking for extra work. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of competition. These were the same guys who beat up each other while playing football in the park and hockey down on the pond. I knew I wasn’t really up against anyone besides myself. I had to push my body to the limit to do my best. I had thought I was in pretty good shape, but I quickly realized it was nothing when I faced the grueling training we underwent in basic.
And the exercise wasn’t my only obstacle. Some of the guys were real pain in the asses. There was this one guy called Chad Rainier, who thought he was in charge, even though he was just a Private in basic like us. He was a really tough guy, solid and hard-headed to a fault. I thought I knew his type, those locker room jocks who knew how to talk the talk and walk the walk, but there was nothing behind their tough exteriors. I kept an eye on him and made sure to stay far away from him and his gang. I was so done with those losers, especially after my time in high school.
I found my own group of friends, mostly guys who stayed below the radar, doing what they had to get by. We barely talked about our lives, and that was fine with me, but they all let enough slip to know that they really had no choice but join the army. It was a sad world out there, not that I needed to be reminded of that, but they had really seen the worst that life had to offer. Me, I barely talked about anything, especially not the real reason I was doing this. Every day, I was reminded of him. Finn would have been able to stand up to the jerks, and put his whole heart into the army training. My friends respected my silence and we got along good enough.
There was one guy in my gang named Josh Hill, the kind of innocent kid that you weren’t sure why they joined the army to begin with. A real Captain America type, if you know what I mean. Real skinny and weak, but everyone knew he would give anything to be a real hero. He definitely knew how to fight and defend himself though. I’m sure he got beat up enough in high school.
One day about half way through basic training, we were doing a gun exercise. Our guns weren’t supposed to be loaded. We were drilling maneuvers, but a lot of guys were feeling arrogant that they’d already mastered the basic movements. Chad and his gang kept showing off, even though the Staff Sergeant kept glaring at them. Chad did a basic move, but he must have put extra force into it and somehow he lost control. Much to everyone’s surprise, the gun fired.
After we all gasped, we were relieved because we thought it must have just been a wild shot. After a moment, I looked around and I saw Josh crouched over, holding his chest. I could see the blood dripping through his fingers. I shook my head and shouted for help, it couldn’t be true. A group of soldiers crowded around him, but the Sergeant called us off. Josh was gasping for air, which turned out to be the worst thing he could have done. With each breath, he was inhaling blood, essentially drowning himself. It seemed like a lifetime, but it must have only been a few minutes before he keeled over. He was dead long before help arrived.
I had to take a long step back from the scene. I felt like I was in another world as I watched the medics take away his body. This was the last place I’d ever expected to see something like this. I was having trouble breathing myself.
It was all too much. Josh was too good for something like this to happen to him. Something was nagging at me. This was my fault somehow. My mind shot back to the day Finn died. Josh and Finn were two of the most kind-hearted people I knew; I had always thought that nothing could ever happen to them. Maybe I should have known that things were working out too well because tragedy seemed to follow me everywhere.
I was shaking, even though I knew I couldn’t help Josh anymore than I could have helped Finn. I told myself this was different, even though both situations were just crazy things that shouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t believe I was a witness to such a senseless death again so soon. Their deaths would haunt me forever.
I turned around and started walking away. I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t want to just give up, but I couldn’t be here anymore.
Somehow I made it through the rest of basic training, my every moment haunted by their memories. I was relieved when I found out my deployment would be to a bitter wasteland. Maybe I could finally leave the ghosts behind.