Sunday week 2 of obstacle course.
A cool ocean breeze blew in off the water and mixed with the fragrance of lilac someplace from the north. Allen walked the perimeter of the camp right after sunrise. It was peaceful and serene like Sundays should be. Sea birds were squawking, and songbirds were singing. It was going to be another glorious day. He was beginning to like Sunday, which was the only day of his weekend. They were laid back. It gave his muscles a chance to recoup. His hands were feeling much better as well. He flexed the stiffness from them a couple times before removing his gloves and examining his palms as the surf pounded against the beach. He took several deep breaths of the clean goodness of the air. It was therapeutic. Then the lilac had vanished and the smell of decay, or rancid fish oil on the breeze that he recognized when the winds had changed and blew in from the south. He shook his head in disappointment.
He pulled off his gloves to inspect his palms. “Healing up nicely.” Allen said without even knowing it. The sound of a scuffle brought his attention toward some of his friends. He went over and watched at first, but it was a free-for-all, so he pulled his swords and waded in. Allen fought several at a time, and he was always triumphant when he did. He seemed to be the only one that was good at this type of free for all fighting. He used the confusion to his advantage. He tried to mentor Cindy at every chance, but he hadn’t been speaking to her lately. She did seem to be improving rapidly. He liked to think it was due to his tutelage.
“Hello Debbie.” Alen greeted her without looking toward her.
He had caught a hint of her perfume as she was sneaking up behind him, then he turned around.
“How did you know I was there?” Debbie asked.
“Eyes.” Allen said. “I have eyes in the back of my head. That’s why I’m so wonderful.”
“Well, you are indeed wonderful.” Debbie admitted.
Allen decided to switch tactics. He would be nice and see how good of an actor he really was. “So, what can I do for you Miss Debbie?” he asked.
“Walk with me.” She spoke. He offered his elbow to escort her. She took it with both hands, and they headed toward the beach and looked at the waves. The guards at the gate gave Debbie a look and she mouthed something to them, and they allowed the couple to pass to the outside of the gate. They circumvented the perimeter and when they got to the sand of the beach, they peeled off their shoes to walk barefoot in the sand. The sun hadn’t had a chance to warm it yet, and it was chill to the touch. When they were nearing the water Allen became very apprehensive. He glanced back and saw Danny keeping track of them as they walked on the wet sand before getting their feet in the water. It was colder than Allen thought it would be. It must be because of the season he thought. The air got so hot during the day that he assumed the water would be like a bathtub. He liked the way the wave action would scour the sand from under his feet as it hurried back to the sea. They talked about the show, and how Allen would be more popular on the show if he would dress the part more. Allen thought he already was in uniform a lot. He absently noticed Danny following them on to the beach. He didn’t take off his shoes though. Allen gave him both barrels and said bang. Then he blew the imaginary smoke off his finger tips and holstered them in imaginary holsters. Debby laughed.
“Can we shoot your muskets?” She asked. She seemed suddenly inspired by his actions.
“Blunderbusses.” He corrected her. “Sure. Let’s go get them.”
When he got to his gang box, he replaced the false wooden guns that he carried with his real ones. The replica and the .410 shotgun break action. They fit alright, but not nicely. They decided to take them to the shooting range for the cannons. There was a small entourage with them by the time they arrived. Sara was even there. She was good at being in the shadows Allen noticed. She seemed to be there when you needed something, but not constantly in your face.
It was a blast shooting the guns. Allen even offered to let Sara and Danny try, but Danny refused. Allen found the smell of the burnt powder to be intoxicating.
When the morning church services had concluded, everybody got together in their best pirate gear. They gathered their swords and everything and got on to the buses. They went to town to an out of the way movie theater. They were greeted by a couple hundred people when they reached the theater. Many aspired to be on the show, but most just showed up to see what the show was all about. It was a prearranged “meet the cast” night at the theater where people from all walks of life mingled. There were about 20 dressed as pirates. Probably hoping for a cameo. Everybody in the cast thought it was super neat, and fun to meet the fans. They had their pictures taken with some of the crowd in front of fake boat sets with swords drawn. Afterward they got set up with some popcorn and drinks in time to watch a movie.
The typical kind of previews played through for a while, and then there was the next commercial for the show. The entire theater erupted in cheers.
#2. Country wide commercial.
It started with footage of the 5-mile run for all 4 of the schools.
Then there was some artillery school classroom footage. Making black powder and the like.
Then shooting cannons.
A big old Spanish galleon at sea crashing through the waves.
Allen and Todd battling it out in the twilight dirt.
And then it ended with Allen defeated and kneeling. Panting in the dust cloud, backlit, and blood stringing from his mouth. You couldn’t quite make out that it was him, but the people that were there knew it for sure. Allen hadn’t realized the anguish of the moment until he saw it second hand. The taste of the blood returned and caused his throat to clench again, and he checked to see if he had bitten his lip, but it was his imagination playing tricks on him. Before he came back to the present Debbie had planted a kiss on his shoulder. He looked over at her, and in the dim light he saw that she had been crying. In his mind he could even smell the dust in the air. He looked up to see if it was dusty in front of the camera, but it wasn’t. The excitement in the theater turned suddenly somber as each person felt Allen’s pain. Everything slowed and was muffled in his ears. The only true sound was the blood pounding. His vision blurred and he swallowed and shook his head to clear it. The crowd cheering him roused him, and he became animated and smiled. He wanted to drink all this in.
After the movie there were even more people there. They took pictures, and signed autographs. Todd got most of the attention until Debbie pointed out that it was Allen in the last scene of the commercial. She must have told him a hundred times that he was a golden goose, or a cash cow, but in a way he felt betrayed. “There is no reality in reality television.” He absently reminded himself.
As they rode back to camp, they were all hyped up, and loving life.
“I’m sorry for being so rude.” Todd restated.
“It’s not a thing bruh.” Allen confirmed.
Todd gave him his hand to shake, and Allen obliged.
The flags were down when they got back to camp. Allen was grateful that they weren’t forgotten again. They were exhausted, and the entire team decided to forgo the meeting, and they went to bed. Although they were exhausted, it would be more than an hour before camp settled and people started to get some sleep.
Monday week 2 of obstacle course.
Allen was happy to see that there were fresh baked goods again. He grabbed a bagel and some coffee. The bagel was warm and soft, and he tore it in half before taking a bite and remembering that he was going to cut carbs. The smell of baked goods and doughnuts filled the room. It was comforting like a warm blanket. Allen had just sat down when Debbie came in with a bagel and sat across from him. He pretended to be interested in her, and they were talking and laughing as Cindy and Rachael came in. Cindy looked pissed off.
“She’s just jealous.” Debbie offered. It didn’t make him feel any better knowing that. It made him wonder what Debbie’s motives were. He hesitated to ask, and then decided not to. He had never been able to find a steady girl through his awkward school days and was even more uncomfortable when there were 2. This wasn’t something that he was even remotely prepared for.
On the obstacle course they swung across to the other boat, fought a foe across the gangplank, climbed the rat line to the crow’s nest, looked through a virtual reality scope, shouted orders to a cannoneer who shot at an imaginary target, climbed down and loaded the cannon, and fired at an imaginary target with the next person’s directions, and then fought the person who was at the cue in the obstacle course.
Cindy continued to practice with Allen even though they weren’t best buds anymore. She got more aggressive as she lost her cool, and she wound up getting hit a few times by Allen, and even a few times with her own swords when her attacks were blocked.
“Maybe you should ease back a notch or two.” Allen suggested sincerely, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. Something between anger and fury was percolating in her that wouldn’t be smoothed out until she had a chance to rest.
“Try to use your opponent’s energy against him.” He said, but she had a hard time listening. She was determined. More determined than Allen would have liked. He feared she would get hurt if she continued like this.
Debbie kept hanging around Allen. He had tried to dissuade her in every way he could think of, but she was persistent. It seemed like every other guy on the project wanted to have a relationship with her, but to his dismay, she only had eyes for him. He just wanted her to leave, and he could get on with his life.
“Fire in the hole.” Mr. Remington said as he fired the Cohorn artillery for the first time. It shot a 17 pound ball at a target. It didn’t seem very useful for a Spanish galleon, but it was still fun to shoot. It took just a little math, but Allen had a sort of intuition for that sort of thing.
After class Allen showed the rest of the team how to shoot from a gimbal. It seemed to make sense to everybody, and it seemed like common sense to him. He was starting to like being a mentor. It made him feel important.
He went outside to clear his head, and he spied Todd and Rachael smoking by the obstacle course. He walked over to talk for a while.
“What’s with the pipe?” Allen asked when he noticed what Todd was doing. It seemed different than a normal pipe.
Todd looked at it as he took in another breath and slowly exhaled, nodding.
“It’s like the ones that the old pirates used to smoke.” he stated with a smirk on his face. Rachael just giggled and held on to his arm. It was kind of funny, and it made Allen smile.
“Well, aren’t you two cute?” Allen stated as a smile stretched across his face.
Todd and Rachael looked at themselves in pirate gear, and they simultaneously nodded as Rachael giggled. It wasn’t long until other smokers were out there with the same kind of pipes as Todd’s. Someone must have brought a bunch into camp while he wasn’t watching. Allen was immune to peer pressure, but there were others who weren’t smokers that were suddenly smoking with them in the makeshift smoking area. It was a welcome distraction.
“When somebody on the show falls down, we all get a black eye.” Allen said during the evening meeting. “We need to stay diligent and keep our friends diligent as well. We need to be our brother’s keeper.”
“I don’t get the feeling that everybody feels that way.” Shupe said. There were many in the group that had the same thoughts who nodded their agreement.
“True enough.” Allen agreed. “But in order to change the world we need to first change our own. The first step is to be mindful of our group and help take care of them before they get into any trouble. We need to be the better man. We need to be an example. The others will fall in line when they see how well we can do when we look out for one another.
Tuesday week 2 of obstacle course.
The morning air in the camp was crisp and chilled. There had been a slight sprinkling in the evening that left evidence in the small pools that had collected, and they were further filled by the continued drop in temperature depositing little balls of dew on everything that wasn’t heated.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Little Debbie snack cakes.” Allen said as he entered the chow hall and noticed the fresh pastries on the counter, and Debbie sitting at a table. She was absorbed in texting on her phone which seemed oddly out of place since the show had begun recording. He went over and poured a coffee but decided against a doughnut or bagel. He set the coffee down on the counter, pulled his swords and swung them around. Then he struck the wooden post next to Debbie, startling her. Surprisingly, neither sword glanced off. He was getting better controlling his thrusts. He sheathed them and put his right hand on the pommel of the short sword, went back to the counter, and took a sip of the hot coffee as Debbie stowed her phone and looked on.
“Aren’t you going to have a fritter or something?” she asked. She had a fake pouty look on her face, and she was even holding her bottom lip out like a shelf. Allen wanted to go put his finger on it and make a bird poop comment like his mom used to do when he was little, but he resisted.
“Naw.” Allen said. “I’m gonna get in to shape.”
Debbie stood up and came over toward him. He sipped the hot coffee and set it back down and put his hands on the pommels of his swords. He absently rocked them back and forth on his belt, and resisted the urge to put his hands back at his sides when he thought about the OCD. Debbie kept giving him questioning looks. He couldn’t decide whether they were disappointment, or pity, but either choice made him apprehensive. He hated pity so he decided to think of her as being disappointed in him. That didn’t seem much better. He opted out of the un-comfort zone and carried his coffee outside to wait for flag. The automatic closer for the door was beginning to fail, and it slammed when he let go of it. It startled him a little. It had glanced off of one of his swords when it shut abruptly, so he pulled it out and examined it. It seemed to be fine.
Rachael volunteered to do the morning flag, and there were several people smoking the pirate pipes. Allen thought it disrespectful to the flag to be smoking during the ceremony but held his tongue. Maybe he would make a point of it at the daily meeting. He noticed Danny across the way, but he was being reverent toward the flag, so he made an almost imperceptible wink at the camera, and then looked back at the flag. Afterward he noticed that there were only a few people that weren’t wearing pirate gear all the time now. He hadn’t noticed the gradual change until this moment. He wondered if the people watching the show would pick up on it more quickly. Each week of the show would probably be reduced to an hour, and there were 4 different schools participating. He noticed Cindy looking at him, and he smiled at her. She lowered her eyes and turned away. He was crushed even though he had decided that he wasn’t going to have anything to do with women from now on. Not until the end of the show anyway.
When flag was done Rachael led the group with the Utes fight song. Allen found inspiration in the fight song and was pleased that the group was getting more camaraderie. They had to be a cohesive unit if they were going to win. The other schools might be miles ahead of them already. Probably not, but they may. Allen wanted the Utes to be the best team ever. Not just for this contest. He wanted a legacy. He began wondering about what it took to make a legacy. He remembered watching a football game with his dad and Grandpa one time way back. Gramps was disappointed that the team that was winning kept running up the score. He hated that. He thought they should gracefully accept the win and not totally trash the other team. He remembered thinking that his grandpa was right. Then his Dad was arguing that they should put as many points on the board as they could. He thought that they should not only win, but completely dominate. He wanted them to break down their spirits and give the secondary and tertiary team members ample practice and confidence. It seemed cruel to Allen, so he sided with Grandpa. When he thought about the pirate competition, he saw the wisdom in what his dad was arguing. They needed to completely dominate the competition. They needed to have a legacy. To crush the spirit of the competition. In a way he felt sorry for the other teams. Not in an empathetic way either. He decided that he was going to be brutal. He would still be a gentleman, but he would do everything in his power to decimate the 3 other teams utterly. By destroying their moral he could dominate them completely.
By the midmorning it had warmed up dramatically. The showers and dew from earlier were completing the misery by adding to the already high humidity levels of the area. Being on the southern coast of the States was miserable in the hot sun. It felt like sunscreen wouldn’t have a chance. The obstacle course training was identical to Monday, albeit in the opposite direction. Allen’s hands were doing better. They built callouses quickly, but his muscles seemed exhausted all the time. As the morning dragged on, he was glad that he’d sworn off the bagel and fritter in the mess hall. The biggest struggle was to remain hydrated.
The duels that people were getting in too were morphing into a type of ambush. The heightened awareness put everybody on their toes all the time. No one wanted to go through a doorway without having a weapon drawn. Allen found humor in it, and he had a smile on his face every time he went in to, or out of a building. It reminded him of the way the brothers would act when he was a child. He tried so hard to be like his brothers. He emulated them so much that his personality had changed. He was grateful that his oldest brother was who he was. If his oldest brother had been a mean, or evil person… “Who knows what I would be like?” Allen said accidentally.
Allen fought a few people just outside the mess hall when someone came out. He dispatched 3 of them in less than half a minute. The close quarters, and the fighting cross wise method that Todd told him about were very effective. He hadn’t sheathed his swords when he entered the building, but there was no one trying to fight him inside, so he put them away and put his hands on the pommels and went over to get a glass of water. Allen had become apprehensive about drinking cold water or having cold things in his mouth. His teeth had bothered him for as long as he could remember. It was too cold to drink quickly, so he set it down on a table and sat down facing the door. Although his senses were getting sharpened, he hadn’t noticed Debbie in the room until he was sitting down. She was texting someone on her phone. It made him mad to see her in here using devices that they were denied. Maybe not mad but agitated for sure. He wondered how bad it would be if he spurned her. Her Dad was a big man with the show. Probably the biggest man on the show. It would probably be bad to do anything that upset her. He wished she would just go away. He stood up and finished his glass of water, and then put it on the little pass-through place where dishes went, pulled his short sword, and exited the building with a smile on his face. No one was waiting for him on the other side so he stowed it and walked to where he could hear a commotion by the fence.
There was a small gathering of people at one of the fences. They looked like they were some sort of fan club or paparazzi. He wondered if they were trying to get some insight into the show, or if they were trying to get on to the show. Maybe they were looking for their 15 minutes or something. The next thing he knew, he was standing in the group and interacting with the guests when a box truck pulled up to the gate and stopped. The guards exited their booth and checked the drivers paperwork as Debbie exited the mess hall talking on her cell phone. She looked over to the gate, and fast walked over toward it. Allen and nearly all of the rest of the crew went to investigate. The truck was loaded with pirate uniforms and gear. She was all smiles as she distributed the goods to the people in the camp calling the names out that were on the packages. Everyone showed up in no time as if there had been an alarm or something.
“This must be what it’s like to be in the military on Christmas.” Allen said out loud but speaking to himself. There weren’t enough for everybody. Most of the pirate gear went to Todd’s team. Allen didn’t get any, but he had a few pieces already, so it didn’t bother him too bad. It was disheartening to not get something though. The people that missed out were visibly bummed out.
Among the pirate outfits there were several sets of padded gear that appeared to be used underneath the clothes like armor. Shupe was among the first to try it out. It seemed to give him a heightened confidence that he didn’t have otherwise. The problem seemed to be that the people that put it on would get hot. It would be good when on the boats, but not much for the style of practice that the Utes were used too. They quickly became unpopular, and no one was wearing it under their clothes by the time they headed to the artillery class.
There was a total of 3 types of cannons that were going to be used on the show. They were based on gun sizes used on ships from the beginning of the true battle ships used on the sea. At class they loaded and shot all 3 types of cannons while being timed. It would take a lot of practice to get good at. Mr. Remington explained that during civil war times the cannons could be fired and reloaded in about 30 seconds with a well-trained crew. Allen doubted that was a true number. Especially when he and his partners could do it in about 2 minutes. It was fun though, and the smell of burnt black powder was always pleasant. Probably because of the fond memories that Allen had from his past.
In Utah there were probably 3 types of Mexican food. There was the authentic type that people in Mexico would make, the Utah version of Tex-Mex food that used copious amounts of cheese, sour cream, and guacamole, and the ever-popular Taco Bell type.
The buffet style set up that they had for dinner included all 3 types albeit of limited quantities of each. Allen loaded his tray with the most carb free food that he saw available, and a large salad. There was some macaroni salad at the salad bar that tempted him more than the doughnut had this morning, but he was able to resist. It all smelled wonderful, and most of the crowd was already seated by the time he set his tray down across from Debbie and took his seat. She looked up with a broad smile across her face and placed her phone into her purse.
“What up?” Allen asked. He liked to say that even though his Mom hated it when he spoke that way. He’d momentarily forgotten that he was on camera though.
“Just eating.” Debbie answered. She began separating her bird size portions on her plate with her fork.
Allen knew she was fake, but she had a sort of sparkle in her eyes that mesmerized him. Her brown silky hair looked parlor fresh, and it lay across her shoulders that gave it the appearance that it was an expensive wig. Allen wondered how a hairdresser could stiffen each strand without causing the hair to clump. She wore a purple top with squinchy bands around the sleeves and neck that exposed her shoulders and neck quite attractively. The loose fit around the bosom accentuated her figure. Allens face reddened as she noticed him noticing. Her eyes glinted as his face reddened, and the smile on her face increased exponentially. He could understand how any man would get caught up in her company, but he still wondered what her motivations were concerning him.
“Eat here often?” Allen asked as he looked into her eyes. She giggled a fake little giggle, but she kept eating.
“Off and on.” She replied at last. “You?”
“When I get hungry.” Allen replied. “Or bored.” He added.
They finished the meal up while making small talk. Allen’s suspicions of her diminished as they sat. They would most likely always be there, but they were drastically reduced as the conversation drew on. His interest in her grew as he discovered more about her, but he would really prefer to make a better connection with Cindy. She was more of a warrior princess. Allen was careful not to look into any cameras as they ate, but he sure thought about them a lot.
“I’m certain that the cannons will fire differently when we are on the ocean.” Allen explained. “The biggest problem is trying to figure out what will be different while we are there. We can practice on the gimbals while we have them. I think they are going to be similar to the way they are on the ships so lets try to do our best while we do it.”
“Have you ever fired a cannon from a ship?” Maddux asked.
Allen gave him a sideways glance that stifled the murmurs in the group that his question stirred up. “I have never been on a ship, and I have never fired a gun while in a boat. But I have looked at the apparatus that operates the gimbal, and it looks like what I expect the deck of the ship to move like. For now, let’s assume that the people who designed it knew what they were doing. When we get a chance to shoot off the ship, we will have a better idea of where the shot will land.”
“How do we practice? Just shoot a bunch of cannonballs? There has to be a method to our madness, or we will just be practicing at reloading the guns.” Shupe suggested.
There was some murmuring of agreement as Allen composed his thoughts. He was never good at being a leader. He was taking construction management, though, and this was what he needed to practice.
“Did any of you ever play catch with your dad or brothers?” Allen asked as he raised his own hand encouraging others to participate in his explanation. He waited until the room committed themselves to the conversation one way or the other. “Well your brain has a tough time coordinating all of your muscles to do the complex act of throwing the ball. When you first tried it your forearm muscles may have hung on for a little longer than they should have, and you may have thrown the ball into the dirt right in front of you. You may have seen others throw a ball and tried to mimic them, but wound up throwing like a girl.” He stared down a response from Cindy that he knew he would be expecting with his comments. “You have all of the muscles in your legs, arms, hands, abdomen, back, and even your neck that all need a coordinated effort to do a passable job throwing a ball. It takes some practice to get to the point where you can do it successfully. Catching the ball is no different. All of your muscles and bones, your eyes and your brain, all working in a coordinated effort. After a while you get to the point where you can actually get the ball to go where you want it to go. Your brain will automatically compensate for distance, angle, speed, release, and even follow through. Your brain takes the variables and makes small adjustments to them to where you get better and better. What happens when your muscles start to get tired? What about when you have pain? Your brain automatically takes these things and incorporates them into an algorithm that allows you to still be competitive with practice.” Allen nodded his head and pursed his lips in order to assess his impact, and many in the crowd followed suit. “When we practice shooting the cannons we need to look toward our target after we shoot. Like a golfer that watches where the ball goes. Our brains will take in that information and make corrections automatically. The key to our success is going to be manifested by the amount of practice that we get in compared to our competition.”
“Well practice sucks.” Rachael said earnestly to some giggling in the crowd.
Todd showed the mixed crew some tactics of swordplay. He used Maddux as an opponent. He had been training with him steadily since Maddux asked him for some pointers. He was demonstrating how to use your opponent's block to direct your weapon into their body. It required upper body strength to use, but it was quite effective when done correctly.
“And when your opponent blocks a crossbody slash, it opens them up to an attack if you continue your momentum, and glance your blade off of your opponent's fingerguard.” he stated as he performed the move on Maddux with profound effect. He had trained Maddux how to combat this attack, but they were trying to help some of the pirates that knew little.
“Practice in slow motion. Each of us needs to know how to attack and defend. This will be what makes a difference if there is sword fighting on the ships.”
Allen never fell for this tactic, and he hadn’t even noticed Todd trying it until the demonstration. He would observe the other combatants while trying to analyze his own tactics that he must have learned from fighting his brothers. He saw similar difficulty when the tactic was used on Cindy, and her dual sword fighting style. It appeared to be less effective due to the opponent following the blade with the other weapon. Cindy was natural at defending against this tactic as well. When anybody but Todd tried it against her, she would get them in the upper torso, neck, or side of the head. Her weak hand would monopolize the advantage when the person with a single sword tried to follow through. She would also move toward her foe when every instinct told her to back away. She was better at deflecting with one hand and capitalizing on her opponent with her other hand. Even when she was sparring off with Todd, she turned his advantage against him when she thrust her boot into his chest when neither sword had a chance of rebounding for a strike. Her heel hit him in the sternum, and he had to take a break. This caught everybody off guard, but no one was more surprised by her actions than she was. She had been so completely consumed in the battle that her animal brain had taken over for an instant. She felt bad about it after the fact.