The sterile white lights bled through Daimona’s eyelids. Her whole body groaned in protest as she sat up in the infirmary. Her ears struggled to catch up to the raucous filling the room, as members from both squads screamed at one another from opposing gurneys.

  “You flea-ridden mutt--” Irina spat, teeth bared.

  Leka crossed her arms and barked over the fuming blond. “--Take your loss like a real soldier, Smirnov.”

  “Bash cheated!” Kell moaned, pressing an ice pack to the right side of his bruised jaw. “You can’t call that a win!”

  “Th-the Sergeants m-m-might disagree with you there,” Bash murmured, raising her hand shakily.

  “Shut it, Lotsvatinus,” Will seethed. “That was an underhanded tactic.”

  “Oh, you’re up,” Norok said. He nudged Daimona’s legs over, settling himself down at the foot of her bed.

  “What… Ugh,” Daimona groaned. “What happened?”

  “Will says you botched the whole thing,” Norok mocked in a singsong voice. “I guess when you knocked out Bash, she couldn’t keep her monsters in check, so they went on a rampage and demolished the whole forest. Pultz had to ice ‘em all over.”

  “It was more work than I wanted to do,” Pultz sighed, walking through the doorway right on cue. He rolled his head from side to side, cracking his neck loudly. The room went silent with his arrival. Pultz, seemingly indifferent, yawned and slouched his way down into a chair. “Think I pulled a muscle carrying you sad sacks out of the flood.”

  “And we are all so grateful for your service,” Irina replied bitterly.

  “Have you and Sergeant Judith come to a decision?” Will asked impatiently.

  Pultz shrugged, his eyes lolling up to the ceiling. “Not much of a decision to come to. It’s pretty obvious Squad 57 scored here.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Lotsvatinus was unconscious,” Will hissed. “She lost control and endangered not just us, but the lives of her own squad. What kind of bootcamp would reward that irresponsible behavior?”

  “W-w-what kind of bootcamp would reward insubordination?” Bash countered. Will turned towards her with a lethal glare.

  “My private made a mistake,” he replied coldly. “What’s your excuse, Captain?”

  “Enough, Saint,” Pultz warned with a low growl. “Sit down.”

  Will obeyed, keeping his head low. Daimona opened her mouth to say something, but Kell quickly caught her eye. He shook his head, mouth drawn in a firm line. Daimona took the pale sheet of her gurney into two tight fistfuls as Pultz continued.

  “Squad 57 wins on account of wielding their opponent’s flag and keeping their own,” he said firmly.

  “That is a lie,” Irina argued. “I have protected our flag, they do not have it.”

  She reached into her coat, rustling violently through each of the interior pockets with a frustrated expression. Her face paled as she turned up empty. From the other side of the room, Frode hummed, performatively pulling out the missing flag from thin air with a proud sneer.

  “Looking for this?”

  Irina lunged forward, her kindjal materializing in an instant. But Pultz raised a hand and caught her mid-swing in a wall of ice.

  “Squad 57, you are to report to Sergeant Cowell for details regarding your next operation,” Pultz said, then with a chuckle, he added, “I’ve heard it’s nice in the Herald Kingdom this time of year.”

  Will’s cheeks flushed an angry shade of red. Kell offered him an apologetic look.

  “What’s gonna happen to us?” Daimona asked.

  “You’ll be assigned at Base Alpha,” Pultz said with a smirk. “I hear they’re in need of some new janitorial staff.”

  After Pultz led their rival squad out of the room, releasing Irina from his icy grasp, Daimona sat with the rest of her companions in a tense silence.

  “At least it’s not where we were stationed last year,” Kell managed timidly.

  “We were not assigned on toilet duty last year,” Irina muttered, stabbing her gurney with her kindjal and ripping the sheets up violently. “They think we are no better than servant.”

  “I don’t know why you guys are so upset,” Daimona sighed. “I mean, there’s always next time, right Will?”

  But Will didn’t even look at her. Instead, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rattle the medical cabinets.

  “Give him some time, Daimona,” Kell said gently, but even sympathy in his tone did nothing to soothe the nauseating dread brewing inside her.