Barbed Lives ☑️

28. Weak Nerve

"Another M.E.?!"
Blundell exclaimed.

"Didn't we go for one just yesterday?"
Nelson asked dramatically rolling his eyes.

"Last Friday. That was one week ago."
I replied chuckling.

"One week? It's one week already?! How's that possible?"
Blundell was overreacting now.

"It's possible when you get drunk every night for six days straight and end up sane on the day we're supposed to go for the next Map Exercise."
I tried to keep my voice humourless.

My answer made Neil and Kelly crack while they check each bag for the third time.

"I think that's enough. You guys have counted everything thrice! You're freaking me out now."
Marks told Kelly.

"Last time we missed one compass. Just one. And we walked hungry and thirsry for six hours extra. I'm sure you don't want to go through it again, right Marks?"
Neil replied angrily on Kelly's behalf.

It's funny how things have turned out.
We can call each other by just our names whenever we want, and nobody minds.
Look at Neil scolding his senior using just his name.

Well Marks deserved it anyways. He was jiggling with the compass right before we left for our ME and forgot to keep it back.
Result - Charles was so angry that he refused to help us get back to our location making us realise the importance of that small thing. We had to walk eight miles extra with more than ten kgs on each of our backs with all food and water exhausted because we couldn't decide the correct direction. After getting back, Neil and Kelly were appointed to ensure that all items as per list are present in each of our bags before we leave for the next ME. No wonder they were doing their best to escape Charles's wrath should anything go missing again.

Marks was the villain that night and paid for our drinks for the whole week as a punishment.

"Alright Neil, Sorry. Go check it again. But I'll wait outside till you finish."
He replied with his hands raised in surrender.

I chuckled and Neil passed that glare to me.
I shook my shoulders in a 'I didn't do anything' motion.

Both of them went back to their work and I gave the papers in my hand a last read.
It was the task we were supposed to do tonight. Like a mini mission - just to reach the location, mark our arrival and come back to point zero.

Yeah sounds easy.
Except that we need a full eight hour sleep and three meals combined after coming back.
It's an exhausting exercise - requiring both brain and body.
With each passing minute and step, the direction to our destination changes. It doesn't take away just our time, but energy as well. The lectures are too boring to survive awake till the end and learn the art while sitting on our asses. That's why this weekly hands-on training to learn the art of following map on ground.

Did I ever mention that Charles is a bitch?
Because if I didn't, here's the reason why - he is the fucking brain behind us going for this ME every week for six sessions atleast.
And bastard chooses the most cloudy, stormy and humid locations to make it worse for us.

I get his point- we should be perfect and confident instead of walking around like zombies in the park. But there's a limit to getting on the nerves of fucking eight humans all at once!

Deep breaths, Dwight.

"Alright. I think I cracked this one."
I announce and everyone sobered up hurdling around me.

"We can't go by the pole star this time. It's a cloudy sky. We just stick with the north of our compasses and use degress that I communicate over our walkie talkies. We go out in the same teams as we went last time. I'll keep explaining the coding while we walk so that none of us lose focus and feel tired. Everyone fine with it?"