Emerson Blackwood and Skye Kazansky had dreamed of becoming pilots for as long as they could remember.
Through an extensive amount of training at the Naval Academy and flight school, the two best friends had easily become some of the best Naval Avia...
To say that the Naval Academy was tough, would be an understatement.
Almost half of the recruits were expected to leave before the graduation from basic training.
It wasn't as if the ranking officers made it any easier on the recruits. They used whatever means and tactics that they could to try and break them - whether it was fair or unfair. They wanted to expose the weaknesses of the recruits and use it against them but Emerson, Skye and Bradley only saw this tactic as making them better and stronger.
By the end of their first day, three recruits from the trio's group had already quit.
However, it soon came to the time for the trio to be separated as they approached the barracks that afternoon.
"This is where you'll be living for the next ten weeks." Chief Petty Officer Clarke announced. "Girls barracks and showers to the left, and boys to the right. There will be no boys sneaking into the girls barracks and vice versa; there will be an officer present in these hallways 24 hours a day to make sure no funny business happens here. Breakfast is at 05:00 hours, lunch at 12:00 and dinner at 17:00 hours. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" The recruits responded swiftly.
The ranking officer gave a nod of his head. "Dismissed." He said.
The girls turned to Bradley and gave him a smile before they parted ways heading to their respective barracks.
Emerson and Skye walked down the hallway and came to a stop in front of a door where the names read 'Blackwood, Drew and Kazansky.'
The girls opened the door to their room, only to find a 5'3" blonde already inside and unpacking her bag.
"Hi." The blonde smiled as she looked up at the two best friends. "I'm Sydney Drew."
"Emerson Blackwood." The brunette responded with a smile as she and Skye made their way further into the room.
"Skye Kazansky." Skye introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you."
The girls began unpacking their bags, folding their clothes neatly into the cupboards along with their gear before Emerson taped a picture of her mother, a picture of her, Skye and Bradley, and a picture of herself, Skye, Bradley, her godparents and cousins - TJ and Nicole - on the inside of her door.
The three girls chatted amongst themselves, getting to know Sydney as they would be sharing a room with her until basic training is over all while they prepared themselves for the day ahead.
"Lets go! Fall in line, recruits!" Chief Petty Officer Clarke's voice soon echoed loudly down the hallways of the barracks which gained everyone's attention, which ensued in the recruits quickly scrambling out of the building where they had fallen in line and stood at attention - freshly changed into their uniforms.
"Line up can be done in under 3 minutes, kiddies!" The ranking officer exclaimed as he eyed the recruits. "I expect it to be better. But for now.. Drop and give me fifty push-ups! Let's go!"
The recruits immediately dropped to the ground and began their push-ups. About twenty push-ups in out of their fifty, the same man from the trio's group that had answered their ranking officer so casually, had slowly begun to buckle.
Chief Petty Officer Clarke noticed the recruit's struggle and shook his head as he peered down at him. "You look like you need some work on that upper body strength there, Monteiro." He stated and placed his foot on the recruit's back, making him push himself harder. "You'll thank me some day, Cupcake."
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Soon enough, the recruits were taken to the pool where they were met with the sight of the Dilbert Dunker - a device used as an attempt to simulate an actual water crash landing in which the aircraft somersaults and sinks, and from which the pilot must free himself/herself in the most expedient manner.
The cage-like contraption - designed to look like a cockpit with its instrument panels - rolled down a track at a 45 degree angle and reached the speed of 25 miles per hour when it hit the water and overturned, only to come to a rest underwater in an inverted position.
The first recruit to experience the 'simulation' was Sydney.
Emerson and Skye gave her a smile and gave her a supportive pat on the back before she was led off towards the dunker as she put on her helmet.
"Alright, Drew, when you hit the water, you might get the wind knocked out of you on impact." Chief Petty Officer Clarke warned. "Whatever you do, do not panic. You've got less than a minute before the cage is fully submerged and becomes inverted."
With a firm nod from Sydney, ultimately giving the ranking officer the all clear that she was ready, the recruits watched as the dunk was pulled back up to the top of the conveyer belt.
It was about a minute of silence when all of a sudden, the dunker had rushed down the belt and hit the pool of water, where - as Clarke had stated - it had soon become inverted.
"The key is to watch the bubbles." The ranking officer explained to the group as they watched the exercise. "When that cage flips, you are going to become disorientated and you're not going to know where your bearings are.. Like Drew is down there. The bubbles will determine which way is up."
"Holy shit." Bradley mumbled under his breath from beside Emerson and Skye, his dark brown gaze focused on the exercise taking place in the pool in front of him.
"And time." Chief Petty Officer Clarke stated and nodded towards an officer that was on stand-by at the edge of the pool in a swimsuit. "Go down for her."
The officer on stand-by immediately jumped off the edge and swam down towards the cage to retrieve Sydney.
"This is an example of what happens if you panic." The ranking officer said as he faced the recruits. "You can die down there, kiddies, and this is only a swimming pool - let alone a training exercise. Out at sea, you won't have a diver to save you."
As soon as Clarke had uttered those words, the diving officer and Sydney had surfaced - the blonde inhaling deeply to give her burning lungs some much needed oxygen.
"Yes, sir." Sydney responded after taking a moment to recover. "I'm okay."
"Fall back in line, recruit. You only have two more chances to make it or your career with the Navy will come to an end." The ranking officer stated as he took the helmet from Sydney, who fell back in line. "Blackwood, you're next."
Skye turned to her best friend with a supportive smile as Bradley gently patted her back only for Emerson to smile at them in response.
Taking the helmet from the ranking officer, the brunette quickly strapped it on before a backpack was placed on her back - much like the one she would have when she finally got into the Navy.
She climbed into the dunker and was strapped in. As the cage was pulled up, she closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly as she prepared herself for the exercise in the little time she had before the plunge.
As soon as the dunker came to a halt at the top, it was then when she had finally opened her eyes and not a second later, found herself being shot down the steep incline towards the water.
In a swirl of bubbles, the cage had inverted.
Remaining calm, she waited for the cage to come to a pause in its turn where her brown gaze shot towards the direction of the bubbles. She quickly unclipped and unfastened herself, before pulling her body out of the dunker and swam towards the surface.
Surfacing, the brunette's gaze fell towards her ranking officer, who merely nodded his head in confirmation.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she climbed out of the pool and were met with the proud faces of her best friends as she handed the helmet over to Skye, who was the next recruit in line.
As soon as Skye had made impact and submerged underwater inside the dunker, Bradley turned towards Chief Petty Officer Clarke with his hand raised.
"Yes, Bradshaw?" The ranking officer said, acknowledging him.
"Does the dunker hit with the same impact as it would with an actual plane?" Bradley question.
