The Cadets shortly arrived outside at the location they magically knew to be construction sight 1.A, the imminent location of the first in a series of low walls that would eventually constitute the entry point of the obstacle course. Upon their arrival they each felt a rush of release through their bodies. It no longer felt as if their bodies were out of their control. As if they were no longer being compelled by the stone or the Officer's orders to obey! Excitedly Cadet Carter attempted to run away but quickly realized he was still planted firmly to the same spot.
"What's going on?" He asked. "I fell like I'm free to move but I'm stuck!"
Cadet Stevens understood what he meant, but instead of leaving he tried to approach the pile of lumber and materials they were supposed to use to construct the wall and found he was able to do so without undue effort beyond the exaggerated weight of the knee high boots.
"I think we've been given an extra bit of freedom for this task, but we're still confined to obey our orders." Cadet Stevens observed.
Cadet Carter followed Cadet Sevens' example and begrudgingly picked up the instruction booklet for the low wall construction project.
"You're right" he said. "I guess we better get to work."
They started following the instructions as directed. Leveling the ground using a board as a guide and digging three deep and narrow holes for the vertical support beams. The task required the use of a post hole digger; a miserable piece of hardware to use if ever there was one. They both worked on neighboring holes, forcefully slamming the diggers into the ground and squeezing the poles together as they simultaneously lifted the captured soil out of the ground. It was tiresome wasteful work. More dirt seemed to fall from the digger's grasp than what actually made it to the surface of the hole. And as the hole got deeper and deeper it became harder and harder to pull the digger up without losing its entire payload. Cadet Carter's brother had worked installing fences so he was aware of the mechanical augers they traditional use for the task. He longed for such an efficient tool, but ultimately had to admit he did NOT want to lose the privilege of the post hole digger...
Even with Cadet Stevens most deliberate and careful efforts, it was impossible to keep his shoes clean. They had become filthy almost from the start. If it wasn't for the height of the boots he'd have soiled his pants as well. At least they were saving him a bit of cleaning effort. His pants were sill looking pretty good.
The sweat was another issue entirely. The Cadets felt as though they were drenched. The uniforms clung to their skin despite their repeated attempts to pull the fabric away from their flesh, it was as though the uniform was magnetized to their bodies, an irritating humid cocoon that wouldn't give them a moments peace.
Cadet Stevens tried multiple times to make low key adjustments to his neck tie. Repeatedly puffing out his neck in an attempt to loosen his bound up collar, but no matter how hard he tried it wouldn't loosen. He had even attempted to pull at the tie with his hand but it made no difference at all. It was completely stuck in place, stuck tight. It took all his will power to push through and ignore the endlessly nagging discomforts he was faced with and tend to his task. He needed Sir to be proud of the work he was doing. He couldn't allow the suffocating uniform to distract him from his task.
All the while Cadet Carter set his mind to trying to concoct some excuse for searching the house. Every so often Cadet Carter would test his expanded freedoms, always finding his newly lengthened leash was still far too short to be of any practical use. Eventually the Cadets were ready to set the posts in the ground.... Cadet Carter looked through their cache of tools and got an idea.
"How do we level the posts?" Cadet Carter asked "I don't see a level anywhere."
"The instructions don't say to level the posts, I think it's ok to level them by eye, the portion that sticks out of the ground is pretty short so it shouldn't be an issue." Cadet Stevens replied.
"Is there, maybe, a level in your house? One of us could go inside and bring it out." Cadet Carter inquired hopefully.
"Not that I know of." Cadet Stevens responded "And even if there were that goes against orders."
Though dejected, Cadet Carter continued to try to pursue this possibility.
"Our orders were to complete the wall according to the instructions. The instructions don't provide an option for leveling the wall... Sir mentioned there would be construction problems we would have to overcome and that all the thinking hadn't been done for us. I think leveling the wall would show, uh, proactiveness..." Cadet Carter explained, trying to sound persuasive.
Cadet Carter could feel that the argument had fallen a little flat. He could definitely see it on Cadet Sevens' hesitant face... He wasn't going to go for it. And if he couldn't convince his platoon mate, he surely wasn't going to convince whatever force was keeping them on task.
"What about military precision?" Cadet Carter continued. "You said Sir would appreciate and recognize a precisely constructed wall. He'd notice the extra effort and craftmanship... Right? You want Sir to be proud of us, of you?..." That last part drove the argument right home. Cadet Carter knew what was important to Cadet Stevens, and he was sure as hell going to exploit it if he could.
"You're right" Cadet Stevens replied, immediately resolving to put his full effort into finding a level, but immediately recalling one big problem. "There is no level in the house."
"Ok..." Cadet Carter began to continue his scheming. "Can we make one?.... Maybe out of a tube of water and a bubble... or something?"
"No, that's no good." Cadet Stevens explained and silently considered alternative options... "I've got it! We can use a protractor!"
"How would we do that?" Cadet Carter inquired.
"Easy, all you do is align the thing you want to level with the flat edge of the protractor, and tie a weight to the center of the flat edge. When the string is pointing straight down through the 90 degrees marker, the object is level" Cadet Stevens explained. "And there's a protractor in Sir's office!"
"That's perfect! How did you think of that?" Cadet Carter asked, knowing it really wasn't the kind of thing his friend would be able to come up with. He was never particularly smart.
"Whenever I stay with my mom in St.Luis we like to go to the Gateway Arch together. It's something special we share together..." He explained with a sudden longing and restrained sadness... "They have a setup just like that to show the tipping of the structure in the wind. I've seen it dozens of times!"
"Then it's a plan. If we're going to do this it has to be in proper military fashion. We need to divide and conquer." Cadet Carter announced, hoping the statement would persuade the forces of obedience to allow their plan to proceed. "I'll go get the protractor and you find some fine string. Then we'll each try to find a small weight and when we have all the items we'll return to the construction site. Agreed?"
"Agreed!" Cadet Stevens replied excitedly.
"Now is the moment of truth." Cadet Carter mused to himself. "If we're ever going to be able to try something like this its going to be now"
They both took a deep breath and turned toward the house... They moved together not knowing how far they would make it before being forced back to their task. To Cadet Carter's delight they kept going and going. They actually made it inside!
"I'm headed to the office!" Cadet Carter exclaimed, rushing toward his goal, praying he would find the stone.
"I think floss will work well as the string, I'll make a quick check of the bathroom." Cadet Stevens said.
Cadet Carter burst into the office, his eyes darted around quickly visually taking in every item in the room... Where was the stone? His eyes landed and stuck firmly upon a small, clear, plastic, half-moon shaped object which drew him in like a magnet. He picked it up unconsciously and shouted "I've got the protractor!"
"I've got the floss!" Came Cadet Stevens reply.
"Now for the weight..." Cadet Carter remembered... "We need a small weight... like maybe a stone." he smiled at the thought resolving to continue his search.
Peering at the book shelf he saw it. It was actually there! Sitting unassumingly among the old encyclopedias and true crime novels. He just had to take a few steps and it would be his!
"Got the weight!" Cadet Stevens shouted from down stairs
Cadet Carter was immediately pulled out of the room. His body would not allow him to stay any longer. His task was complete and he needed to return to the construction site with the protractor as had been previously been arranged. His hopes deflated in an instant. He had come so close and it was so difficult to orchestrate! He'd have to try again... At least now he knew the Officer didn't take the stone to work. He knew where to find it. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before they were free.
As Cadet Carter joined his platoon mate at the construction site, he handed the protractor over to his eagerly awaiting pal. Unhappily identifying the weight Cadet Stevens had found; a simple metal spoon. Swallowing the defeat, Cadet Carter recounted what he had found in the office; their minds whirled with the possibilities...
They both continued their work making very good use of the improvised level. The Officer was bound to take notice of their elite craftmanship. The wall came together quickly once the posts were secured in the ground. The cadets felt they had more than earned their supper and as 19:00 arrived, they knew their task was complete. Taking in one last view of the structure with a deep sense of pride and achievement, they retreated to the house, carefully clearing off the loose dirt from their shoes as best they could. They instinctively knew the mess hall was not allowed to become dirty. They also washed their hands and faces and though they felt it should be reasonable to remove their jackets for a meal. They found them impossible to unbutton and their belts remained fastened tightly.
The cadets Filled their canteens and drank up as much water as they could stomach. They 'd each lost a lot of water to sweat. The MREs mentioned in the schedule were stacked on a fold-out table in the mess hall with a note attached letting the Cadets know they could eat as many as they wanted. They were growing boys and the MREs were full of valuable nutrition. The Cadets saw this as a bit of bright news, however, after enduring their first taste of the food, the Cadets were reluctant to consume any more than necessary and happily ended their dining time at 19:25 sharp.
Back outside cleaning the construction site. They made sure that all the excess dirt they had extracted for the three posts was evenly distributed across the ground and waste materials and saw dust were collected and stowed in one of the empty boxes on top of the otherwise bare lumber pallet. The lights from the house flooded the work area and would kept the Cadet's construction area fully illuminated until it was time to go back indoors.
"We'll need to return the, protractor of course. We're meant to put away all our tools." Cadet Carter reminded Cadet Stevens
"Sure, lets do that on the way back inside." Cadet Stevens responded. "And the spoon as well of course. The floss we can throw away."
Having thoroughly cleaned the area they carried their little spoon and protractor back to the house together. Cadet Carter didn't allow himself to become too excited about the prospect of returning the protractor. He knew he'd never be allowed to stay in the office any longer than necessary and, ultimately, he was not. Once he placed the protractor in it's precise original position on the desk, he was compelled to leave the room.
At that very moment the entire days work was complete. And the Cadets were once again whipped up into a mechanical fugue that forced them to robotically return to their barracks and remove their clothes for cleaning. The great relief Cadet Carter felt at finally having his bound legs and sweaty feet free of those wrenched boots was slightly tarnished by his predicament of being stuck practically naked in front of his platoon mate. He found himself in nothing but his green boxer briefs moving about this bunk being forced to shine those ungodly large boots. He prayed he could just get finish cleaning his dress uniform and cover up with some pajamas...
Unfortunately the task of cleaning the clothes took much longer than either cadet could have dreamed. They had to completely unlace the shoes and shine ever square inch of them to a brilliant luster. A seemingly impossible task for the exhausted arms, but they could not refuse to expend the effort... The process of relaceing each of the eyelets was tedious and cumbersome work in its own right. Luckily their fingers moved with a mind of their own and the Cadets merely had to endure the process, not actively accomplish it. The pants themselves were much filthier than it had seemed when the boots where on. Once the boots were removed the deep contrast made clear that the uncovered portions of the slacks had absorbed a lot of dust and it took the Cadets ages to brush the dust out with their supplied horse hair brushes.
Finally the Cadets had done all they could and the uniforms were clean looking, if not entirely free of sweat and stink.
20:45 had arrived and the cadets were again granted control of their own bodies. Cadet Carter was greatly relived at that. He had worked harder today than he could ever remember working and was completely exhausted. Now that he could finally control himself he hunched over and tried to hide his nakedness as best he could. He hated being so exposed and he didn't intend to continue standing around uncovered if he didn't have to. He looked through his locker for something to wear to bed but could find nothing. His PT clothes were the most appealing option but they were sweaty and gross. He looked over to Cadet Stevens to see what he would do and saw that he had grabbed a clean pair of boxer briefs before heading to the shower.
"Cadet Stevens?"
"Yes Cadet Carter?"
"What do we wear to bed?"
"We're supposed to sleep in our skivvies" Cadet Stevens replied exhaustedly.
"Unbelievable" Cadet Carter thought. "I can't catch a break around here."
The two prepared for bed. Cadet Carter even reluctantly followed protocol by sleeping in nothing but his boxer briefs. He didn't want to do so by any means. He was so overcome by the humiliation and by the reality of this entire predicament in general that he was on the brink of tears, but he really didn't want to betray any of that by wearing his PT uniform to bed so he he had to resign to his discomfort, once again. After all, he'd already been fully exposed and he'd be exposed again tomorrow and again and again.....
He had to get out of here!
After turning off the main room lights the two Cadets collapsed into their beds. Each enjoying a bit of weak illumination from a small reading light mounted on the wall next to their cots. Their bodies ached EVERYWHERE, the pain penetrated deep into every muscle in their bodies.
"Quite a workout today" Cadet Carter observed
"Sure was." Cadet Stevens agreed, smiling up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "I think we made a lot of progress today. I think Sir is going to be very proud of our efforts. I'm kind of excited to do it again tomorrow, in a way." He sat up adding "As we get stronger we'll be even better Cadets, don't you think?"
Cadet Carter flashed a worried look at his platoon mate. "Yeah, sure..." he offered.... turning back in his bed, deciding he wasn't going to enjoy much more "socializing" today.
The cots were, no surprise, not particularly soft against the Cadets' bare skin. It was wildly scratchy and irritating. Even the pants weren't so course, and Cadet Carter began to second guess his reluctant nightwear compliance... He'd feel much better wearing the comparatively soft PT tank top...
Just then the Cadets both felt a strong compulsion to shout:
"LIGHTS OUT!"
and at once, together, extinguished their reading lights.
It was 21:00, and they fell fast asleep.
""