Cadet Carter's mind was in a daze. He was only vaguely aware of the morning briefing being conducted in front of him. He couldn't understand what had gone wrong with his plan. He wasn't even tired last night. There's no way he should have fallen asleep. The world seemed to warp around him as a feeling of deep dread penetrated his being. If he hadn't been forcefully secured at attention he would have fainted.
"Cadet Steven's, Report on yesterday's activities." The Officer instructed
"Yes Sir." Cadet Steven's replied firmly, taking a step forward out of line without losing his military posture "During the course of construction it became clear the platoon required temporary leadership. I assumed command and proceeded to escort Cadet Stone to the Sargent for reconditioning. We settled our differences and returned to perform our duties as a team. Cadet Carter is to be commended for his stalwart performance in our absence. We couldn't have mended this platoon's dysfunction and completed our duties without his valiant efforts. Sargent has requested that Cadet Carter report to him no later than today for a free hair cut. We believe it would be a fitting reward for his dedication to this platoon. Sir!"
Cadet Stevens fell back in line while Cadet Carter braced himself mentally to receive sentencing.
"Very good Cadet Stevens..." The Officer said with a slight nod "Cadet Carter, are you deserving of your platoon's commendation?"
"We all worked hard Sir; I only did my part." Cadet Carter replied neutrally
"Did you now?" The Officer questioned probingly producing a soaked set of PT clothing from a bag he had kept concealed behind his back. He held the waterlogged items up to Cadet Carter's immobilized face long enough for him to recognize them before dropping them at his feet with a wet clump. "Tell me how 'doing your part' resulted in your PT clothing being placed outside the barracks window, Cadet."
Cadet Carter considered lying. Perhaps he could claim he had left them outside to freshen them up, but it was impossible. He had already been confronted by his platoon mates about the window and hadn't mentioned his PT clothes. They would know he was being dishonest.
"I placed them outside the window before showering so I could wear them when I attempted an escape wile the others slept."
Cadets Stevens and Stone tried to wrap their heads around this unbelievable revelation, but were unable to. They couldn't comprehend Cadet Carter's deviant mind, but they were not mad. They felt bad for him, and wanted to help him.
"I appreciate your honesty Cadet Carter. I also appreciate that you have earned the respect of your platoon. Seeing as you did not actually attempt to abandon your fellow officers, perhaps leniency is in order... But to discourage this sort of behavior in the future I have made certain changes to the security of this facility. You will find of course, that the window has been completely removed and will never be returned. Additionally the perimeter has been enhanced with two layers of impassable fencing and the main gate is now patrolled by a vigilant security force. No Cadet will leave this compound without my permission. It is time to accept that fact and put all your energy into embracing your new life here. As punishment for your actions, today's activities will be conducted in full dress uniform. I would rather have allowed more practical clothing today, both because of your immaculate construction work and also because today's activities will be dealing with proper emergency situations, but allowances for discipline must be made."
"Emergency situations, Sir?" Cadet Stone interjected with concern
"That is correct. Our home is in danger of flooding. A historic storm has been pouring 4 to 6 inches of precipitation per hour tonight and the marshy field is beginning to fill and encroach on the house. All construction tasks and planned events are hereby suspended until further notice. You will be filling sandbags and creating a barrier to hold back the flood waters from reaching our dwelling. This is not a training exercise men; it is a serious situation. All efforts are to be made to secure life and property. We will begin in 15 minutes, so prepare yourselves for the most strenuous day yet. Dismissed!"
The boys leapt from their spots to dress themselves on the double. Cadet Carter was feeling relieved, all activities had been suspended... That would give him the entire day to plan an alternative means of escape, if such a thing was even possible anymore...
"One more thing," The Officer turned to add before leaving the room "Even in our current situation I see no reason to dishonor the Sargent's request and generous offer. I will be personally escorting Cadet Carter to the Sargent at 13:00 hours."
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Cadet Carter was exhausted. They'd been working for hours and though his platoon mates were allowed free autonomous movement, Cadet Carter had not been released from the magical control all morning. He mechanically filled bag after bag with dirt from the dirt mound and carried it to be deposit onto the improvised barrier, incrementally increasing its height. Though the magical force compelled his actions, the effort that was being expended was his own, and he had never been compelled to work this hard before. His uniform was so waterlogged it had to weigh an extra 24 pounds. The noise from the rain falling onto his stupid plastic hat was driving him crazy. At this point the barrier had risen well beyond the growing water level, it didn't seem necessary to continue reinforcing and growing it anymore, but the Cadets were sticklers for preparedness and were intent on over-engineering the wall in spite of Cadet Carters desperate desire to stop.
"We could use these sandbags in the obstacle course too, you know?!" "Yeah, they're great for making heavy barriers." "We could even run the course with sandbags on our backs for an extra challenge!" "Hey, yeah! Oh, and if we started with equal sized piles of sandbags at the start and finish of the course, we could split into teams and have each team try to move bags from their pile to the other by carrying them forwards or backwards through the course. Then whichever team had the smallest pile at the end of the day would win." "We HAVE to do that!"
Cadet Carter had accepted the fact that there was no way of escaping anymore. Not on his own. The only thing he could think of was to contact someone from the outside. Perhaps he could get a note to the outside world somehow. He could write a message in the dust on the side of Sir's Jeep. Maybe someone would read it and rescue him. Maybe he could signal someone from the sky... Wait for a drone or a low fling plane. He could write something on the ground that wouldn't be noticed by the others... But none of that was going to save him today... He'd be a compliant, zombie, soldier boy by then for sure... His final minutes were ticking down. He didn't even have time to WRITE a message!
Suddenly a loud noise from behind the house broke the Cadets from their efforts. One of the piles of construction materials had been washed away by the bulging, over-swollen creek and other materials were in danger of being lost to the current as well. The Officer bolted out of the house and ordered the Cadets to head around back to secure the rest of the materials.
Cadet Carter found, to his relief, that he was able to move of his own volition under this new order. He supposed it was because the task required a bit of creative thinking. The Cadets assessed the situation and planned out their strategy. They identified the most vulnerable piles and started moving the materials from those piles to higher ground first, but it soon became apparent that they didn't have enough time to move things one by one. To keep ahead of the task, they'd need to move whole pallets; some of the pallets were already sitting partway into the creek. The boys assembled ropes and pulleys and even made use of the Officer's Jeep to tow the pallets from immanent peril. Cadet Carter was at least finding this effort to be mentally challenging... It had taken his mind off of his fate and thoughts of getting rescued, for the most part.
He was lashing a rope around the end of a large telephone pole sized log, his heavy boots sinking into the muddy bank of the creek behind him when the thought struck...
He froze...
He considered...
He reconsidered....
He thought again... It made sense...
It could work, but he had to do it now!
It was dangerous...
It was his only chance...
Cadet Carter let go of the rope in his hands and stood up, turning an expressionless thousand-mile gaze toward his platoon mates. They sensed something was wrong, but were given no time to react. Cadet Carter's body went slack as he allowed himself to crumple backwards, the swift flowing current of the engorged creek seemed to swallow him instantly as his body was swept away.