RANGERS CHAPTER 2

The cold rain, pelting down, was unrelenting. Each drop was somehow colder than the last and only added to the dampness of Morgan’s clothes. Looking around there was a man sitting on a crate next to him. He had sunken features as if he hadn’t got enough sleep. His hair was a dark brown, soaked by water, and a drenched coat accompanied him. His hands clasped a small necklace with a cross attached to the end.

Morgan shifted his view to the right where a small, frail, woman was. She sat with her back against a shipping container. The rain seemed to make her dark skin glisten. She wore a sleeveless shirt and a vest over the top of it. Both were a faded and dirty white. She had thick, black, boots on with her camo pants tucked into them.

The last person stood out in the middle of the rain. He had a broad figure and muscles to back it up. His head was shaved at the sides with a middle segment of blonde hair, curled at the front.

Morgan didn’t recognise any of these people, so he assumed they were from other worker factions. The man standing out in the rain turned around. He had a broad jawline covered by a five o’clock shadow and bronze eyes that looked right through Morgan. As he approached Morgan there was a boom in his voice when he spoke.

“Hey there! The names Derrick”

Morgan felt a cold drop of water run down the middle of his face as he greeted Derrick with a shiver. Morgan moved a hand from his side and gripped Derrick’s. His hand was solid and rough like stone and almost crushed Morgan’s when his grip tightened and shook. Morgan meekly told Derrick his name. Derrick released Morgan’s hand and extended it to the woman on Morgan’s right. She looked at his hand, then at Derrick before standing up. Even when stood at half his height, she was twice as imposing as him. She brushed his hand off and walked away. Derrick looked back at Morgan with a raised eyebrow to which Morgan shrugged. Derrick moved onto the last person, the tired looking man.

Derrick extended his hand to him and the man gripped it with both hands. The cross necklace now glimmering in the rain, drooping below their hands. The tired man spoke and introduced himself as Matteo with a gentle voice. The two spoke momentarily before Matteo went back to silence. Matteo spoke very softly the whole time.

Derrick paced around after that. The rain formed puddles on the ships deck and water streamed down the sides of the ship back into the ocean. A bolt of lightning crackled and fractured the sky before hitting the ocean. The light it produced lit up the whole afternoon sky. The rain began to pick up, somehow worse than before. Morgan’s hands covered his arms and he began to rub, attempting to keep warm.

After a short while the Ranger leader turned up, he wore his Ranger gear instead of the casual clothes and ordered everyone to line up. Obediently, Morgan did as he said and stood behind Derrick. The Ranger leader approached the first in line, Matteo, and asked his age. Matteo responded to the man in a quiet voice. Ranger leader told him to repeat himself and Matteo once more spoke softly. The Ranger leader let out a loud sigh. He then had Matteo move aside and went onto the next person.

Ranger leader approached the woman and asked the same thing. She locked her eyes onto his and responded, nineteen, with a strong voice. He nodded his head and moved her aside then onto Derrick who was a little taller than the Ranger leader. He repeated his question. Derrick responded with twenty-four in his booming voice. The Ranger leader nodded and moved down the line to Morgan. Upon seeing him the Ranger leader wore a perplexed expression Morgan pushed his chest up and stood in silence while he awaited the question. But it never came. Ranger leader shot daggers at Morgan before turning and heading back to the front of the line, speaking as he walked.

“the reason I asked your age, first and foremost, is to make sure it is legal to train you, as a Ranger, by the laws of the ship”

He paused for a moment, walking ahead, then he continued.

“The second reason is to ensure that my team can communicate loudly and clearly. Communication is vital in any situation you end up in. Say ‘yes sir’ if you understand”

The small team all responded with ‘yes sir’, although out of unison. Ranger leader rolled his eyes slightly and escorted everyone below deck. They had walked from one end of the ship to the other, passing by dead silent workers. Inside what used to be the ship’s cargo bay, was now a training and housing area for the Rangers. Five cargo crates that were refurbished into rooms sat against the far-left wall, each with a number painted on them. Half a crate was open and inside the pilot sat at a machine that appeared to make bullets. A bucket almost overflowing with bullets sat on his right and various casings and shells, along with gunpowder sat to his left. He looked up from his job and stopped half way to come out and welcome the recruits.

The other Rangers gathered around the group of recruits and ran their eyes up and down them, sizing them up. After their assessment the Ranger leader called them over and everyone lined up. Morgan stood with a straight back and a solid stare of attention. The Ranger leader stood in front of the group, his solid body like a statue with moving eyes. He cleared his throat and spoke.

“congratulations on making it this far, recruits. But don’t think this means you are a Ranger by any means. We have various tests that you will undergo. They will measure your usefulness to us. These tests will determine your place amongst us. If you are unsuccessful in these trials however, you will earn a place as a high-ranking officer on this ship”

The Ranger leader moved aside and allowed his soldiers to introduce themselves. The first was the large woman with red hair. She stood forward and with her hands behind her back, spoke.

“My name is Lieutenant Kathleen Ross. You may refer to me as either Lieutenant Ross, or simply Lieutenant. I am a CQB expert meaning I go through the door first and eliminate anything that’s in our way”

Lieutenant Ross stepped back into the line of Rangers and the man in green stood forward. His voice was soft. Morgan barely heard it.

“My name is Corporal Vic Corvac. I am the sniper and recon”

Corporal Corvac stood back in line. Next the pilot stood forward.

“Names Li, I’m the pilot. I’m the only way on and off this ship, I’ll be the one carting all of you around”

Li moved off from the line and went back to making bullets. The last to move forward and introduce himself was The Ranger leader.

“My name is Commander David Grant, I am the Ranger leader. Anything I say is law. You are all here today because we have a vacancy and the dickheads who run this ship want us back in action immediately”

Commander Grant crossed his arms and spoke again.

“So, who are you?”

The woman in the recruits stepped forward and spoke with a serious expression.

“my name is Jacinta Warren”

Commander Grant interjected.

“And why miss Warren are you here?”

Jacinta responded without a second thought.

“Because my father didn’t raise a bitch. I was made for this”

Commander Grant smirked a little then moved on to Derrick and repeated. Derrick responded with his name and when asked the reason for joining responded with, “because normal life is boring”. Commander Grant seemed less pleased by this answer but moved on to Matteo. The Ranger had problems hearing Matteo but given corporal Corvac’s introduction, Morgan didn’t see any problems with him being there.

Ranger leader moved to Morgan and gave a limp, “and you?”. Morgan steeled himself, lifting his head, and stared Grant right in the eye when giving his answer.

“My name is Morgan, and my reason is because I don’t belong on this ship, sir”

Commander Grant seemed a little satisfied with Morgan’s answer and moved away from the recruits. He walked toward Lieutenant Ross and placed his hand on her shoulder as he passed. He seemed to whisper something to her before walking off. Corporal Corvac moved to his previous activity of sharpening knives. The Lieutenant clapped her hands together then spoke.

“Alright, rookies, follow me”

A dimly lit hallway led through a wall of shipping containers along the halfway point of the room. On the other side was what the lieutenant referred to as “The Playground”. It contained various obstacle courses, shooting ranges and a small running track. Morgan always pictured the Rangers home base to be a luxurious suite but instead it was a little closer to home than he expected. The Lieutenant clapped her hands together and spoke with a loud voice that echoed through the large room.

“the first thing all you newbies are gonna do for me is three hundred push ups. No breaks. Get to it!”

Before Morgan could drop to the ground Jacinta was already on top of it with furious speed. Morgan soon followed with Matteo and Derrick after him.

It seemed like forever after Morgan started. He made sure never to get distracted and lose count as restarting would push him further than he had ever done before. He felt his muscles begin to burn and lock at the two fifty mark. Sure, he had tried to keep himself in shape by doing stuff like this, but this was three times more than he had done before.

Raising his head, he felt sweat drip down his face and off the tip of his nose. Right in front of him was the lieutenant doing the push ups with them. Her muscles almost seemed to burst out of her skin as she pushed herself, hard. Morgan stopped, momentarily, to check up on Jacinta. She was now doing stretches off to the side. Looking the opposite way, Derrick was counting down his last push ups and Matteo, who had finished with surprising speed. Derrick count down the last of his set before breathing a sigh of relief and sitting.

Morgan put his head down and finished the last fifty in his set while the lieutenant raced him to the end. she had won, pulling ahead within the last ten push ups. Once it was finished Morgan dropped to the floor and lay there catching his breath. He thought about what had just happened. This was the first test and he failed. Last to finish, even after a late start instructor. He refused to let that happen again.

Sitting up, he noticed the lieutenant, barely out of breath. She ordered everyone to get on their feet and in a line. Morgan shakily rose and lined up with the others. He was in pain but did his best to stand tall. The lieutenant looked over every one of them and after a short glance, spoke once more with a booming voice.

“ten-kilometre run. On the track now!”

Everyone moved to the track. It was a twenty-five-meter track, looped in an oval shape. They began running. Morgan forced himself to run, he was ahead of Jacinta and Derrick this time. Ahead of him was Matteo, who once again, baffled Morgan’s expectations. Morgan kept track of the numbers on the ground as he ran past them, doing the maths in his head.

From a young age, children on the boat had classrooms and teachers who taught them basic maths. The conditions for teaching were hard like everything else on the ship and teachers often dealt with a lot of children at once. Usually the children in the classrooms would be, well, children and only play and mess around. Morgan, however, was very interested in maths and was usually good in class despite the distractions. From what Morgan had learnt, a kilometre was a thousand meters.

“nine hundred and ninety… nine hundred and ninety-five… one thousand”

Morgan reached the end of the run. He panted and slapped his hands on his knees as he desperately took in air. A hand touched his shoulder and upon looking up was greeted by Matteo and his soft smile. Morgan smiled back and stood up straight.

The other two finished not long after, completely exhausted. Derrick came in last with Jacinta beating him by a small margin. The lieutenant observed the small group and took a sharp breath in. She spoke again but with a calmer voice this time.  

“The two tests you just took show me where each of you are at, physically and mentally. Determination is key, certainly. But you also need the endurance to push through. These trails are by no means over. They will push you further each day. If, at any point, you would like to leave, we do not discourage you to do so. We understand these tests are demanding and we understand that not everyone can do them. They are hard. They are designed to be hard”

The lieutenant sat down and let out a short breath.

“Anyone who wishes to leave is free to go at any point if it becomes too much for you”

Morgan shared glances with his teammates who returned their glances. No one moved an inch. Everyone wanted to stay. The lieutenant nodded her head gently then stood up, clapping her hands and shouting again.

“Alright recruits! Into the playground! You finish the whole course in three minutes, or you will be doing it again until you do!”