I jolted awake and shot out of bed. I was late. Could I still make it? I had to—they were counting on me. I scrambled into my clothes and rushed for the door, yanking it open—only to run straight into the Lieutenant.

She raised an eyebrow, pressing the barrel of the tranquilizer against my chest and forcing me back until I stood just short of her usual morning post.

I had failed. My kids were going to starve again today. I seethed internally, but the Lieutenant was smiling at me so fondly, it took the fight right out of me.

"Up early again, I see. Where were you going? The bathroom is in here," she said, gesturing with the tranquilizer toward the only other door in the room.

I sighed. "Oh. I was hungry, of course. Just going to get a snack," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

She wrinkled her nose. "From the dumpsters, I reckon? Boris, I know you grew up rough, but you don't have to do that anymore. We feed you enough. I promise you will not starve, even if you only eat at breakfast and dinner." She poked my stomach. "As you can see, you've only been here four days, and I can already see slight improvements."

I was vaguely annoyed but actually flattered that she had taken time to care enough about my weight. Still insulted, though. "Are you calling me fat?" I said, feigning offense.

"A little bit of meat on your bones would do you some good. Now, the rest of you! Wake up!" she shouted, banging on the bed like normal. "Oh, and Boris. Get on your face and give me a hundred pushups when you line up outside. It'll be three hundred if you don't shave."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked out.

“What the fuck for?" I yelled after her. Even as I spoke, I was already making my bed—perfect, fit for a king. I checked my hiding spot, making sure the money I'd gotten from that stupid girl was still there. Then, begrudgingly, I shaved—like I was told to.

By the time the rest finished, I was panting as I lined up with the others. The Lieutenant dismissed us, and we headed for breakfast.

We sat down, and I was seated across from Tom. I thought it was a good time to smooth things over. "Sorry about lecturing you yesterday, Tommy. I'm just jealous of that ability of yours. It would solve all my problems, so hearing you want mine just hurt me a bit. Friends?" I said, holding out my hand, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

"I just woke up," he sighed but reached out and shook my hand. "Yeah, okay. Friends."

"Well, if we're friends, can I ask for another breakfast?" I asked eagerly.

He smiled, raising his eyebrows playfully, as did the others around us. "That's why you wanted to be friends?" Marnus said, grinning at me a few seats away. I was so proud—it was the loudest he'd ever spoken since I got here.

"Of course not!" I said halfheartedly, feigning offense for the second time that morning. "However, I will not deny that it is a nice benefit," I added, grinning at them while shrugging my shoulders. Laughter echoed around the table.

I laughed with the others, but inside, I was rotting. I’d failed. Two nights—just two—and I couldn’t even stay awake to take care of my kids. What kind of man was I? Fucking pathetic. The thoughts gnawed at me, but I forced myself to push them down and get through the day. There was always tonight.

After breakfast, we went to the exercise training in our neat little lines. The Lieutenant came in and said, "I am impressed. You actually remembered to stand in your lines. I'm so impressed you get to do twenty sets of what you did yesterday!"

We just groaned in response. I didn't, though. I just stared at Lapdog and his little friends, all sitting around playing cards. They were here today, like the Colonel wasn't coming after them. I tried to ignore them as I joined the others, running around the warehouse.

This time, I practically ran laps around the rest of the B rankers, feeling quite proud of myself as I ran ahead of the others. Most of them still smoked me with the other exercises, but I didn't fall behind as much anymore, which was nice.

Poor Marnus was dead last again, struggling to keep up on our third set. I lapped everyone, then slowed just enough to run beside him. "Marnus. We're going to run to the back of the pack. You can do this, just keep up with me."

He just kept panting as we ran toward the back of the pack. He was slow with it, but finally, he sped up a little. Then Kate was running with us, giving Marnus a thumbs up while running alongside him. I saw the way he perked up a little, lifting his eyes ahead and running at pace with us the rest of the way.

Finally, we completed the sets, all of us dying on the floor, panting at the ceiling. Marnus had kept up with us in the runs, and while he'd still come last, it wasn't nearly as bad as that first day. I uh, stole his position for last in the other exercises though. But that's not really important. Don't look at me like that.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Lieutenant hadn't moved an inch, still standing in the same position as when we had started.

“All of you! That was record time—only two hours today!" she said, clapping slowly. "Unfortunately, I'm only allowed to give you six hours of individual training. That leaves two extra hours of free time. So, you'll be doing all twenty sets again. And if you don't finish in the next two hours, I'll have no choice but to cancel training altogether and make you do this all day. Now, get to it!”

I could practically hear the sadistic delight in her voice.

I was still confused as to how she could be so calm with those other bastards in the room with us, but I guess she just decided to ignore them.

The thought hadn’t even left my head when one of Lapdog’s cronies piped up. ‘Oi. Sweet thing. Why are you wasting time with the useless runt? Why don’t you come hang out with some real men?’ He grinned at Kate.

Laughter rippled through their group. My blood ran hot. I was on my feet before I even realized it. I was going to cut his head off. Lust is a sin. And he would die for it.

Before I could even finish standing, I was already hitting the floor. Face-first. That power was really annoying.

I looked up just in time to see Lieutenant Zenzele snap a salute toward the lieutenants at the table. "My apologies, Lieutenant McGill! But I think she’s too old for you!"

The room exploded with laughter. Even Lapdog, grinning ear to ear, gave her a thumbs-up before turning back to his game. McGill’s ears burned red. He looked ready to snap back, but before he could get a word out, Lieutenant Zenzele spun on her heel and barked, “All of you! Do your sets! What are you standing around for?”

Just before we started, I turned to the bastard who had made the comment about Kate. I’d seen the way she looked away—disgust curling her lip. And I recognized that grin.

He was going to die.

And I’d savor every second of it.

But I saw Lieutenant Zenzele pleading with everything she had, her eyebrows turned up like she wanted me to just do her this one favor. I obliged, but I would have a long discussion with her about it.

And so, we completed another twenty sets of those basic exercises. Towards the end, I literally felt like a broken man, barely able to do the last sit-up. The rest seemed to be in similar states.

“You are so unlucky. Only two minutes to go, and then you would have had the great fortune of doing this the whole day. For now, all of you will be in your training room in the next thirty seconds, or so help me God, you will do this for the next week,” she said flatly, actually sounding disappointed.

We didn’t need to be told twice. Somehow, finding more energy, we all raced to our rooms in ten seconds flat. I just went back to the bag today, waiting for maybe ten minutes before the Lieutenant walked in.

"My apologies, Boris. I’ve neglected your training these past two days—distracted by those useless… by other matters." Lieutenant Zenzele caught herself, then shook her head. "Today, I’m making it up to you. I'll be focusing on you for a while, so pay attention" She stepped toward the center of the room and gestured for me to follow.

I didn’t move. Not yet.

"Lieutenant," I said, locking eyes with her. "I’ve come to… well, I almost like you. At least when you’re not torturing us. You seem like the only decent fink I’ve ever met. So tell me—how can you stand by in that warehouse? How can you just go on like nothing’s happening?"

She needed to understand—her answer mattered. If she dodged this, I’d know she was just like every other fink. Worse, even, since she just accepted the abuse

She hesitated, thinking for a moment before saying, "Thank you, Boris. I think I’ve almost come to like you, too. But… I have to. You have to. That’s just how it works."

She sighed, glancing toward the door as if making sure no one was listening. "Lieutenant Daniel is the son of an S-rank. He’s from before Alexander’s death. He’s untouchable. The fact that you’re still alive is a miracle—probably thanks to Colonel Walker."

My jaw clenched as I seethed, “That’s how it works. But I don’t have to do anything. If they say one word I don’t like, I’ll fucking hurt them. They’re supposed to help you look after us, aren’t they? But you do everything, while they sit on their asses playing cards. Doesn’t that piss you off? Don’t you want to do something about it?"

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she stepped forward, placed her hands on my shoulders, and made me meet her eyes.

"Boris, you have to." Her voice was barely a whisper. Her eyes seemed to drift to my feet, barely able to meet mine. "Even if you’re a difficult bastard, I don’t want you to die."

She met my eyes again. "Don’t give them a reason to make our lives harder. Please, I’m begging you. Just let me handle it."

She released my shoulders and turned away, taking a step before hesitating. Then, glancing at the door, she leaned in slightly. "Just between us? They’re fucking lazy bastards. They’re supposed to be helping, but they can’t even get off their asses."

And with that, she strode to the center of the room. I followed, surprisingly—almost—satisfied with her answer.

"We’re going to fix that one-two of yours. And maybe teach you some takedown defense," the Lieutenant said, rolling her shoulders.

"What the fuck is takedown defense?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as she stepped closer. A laugh slipped past her lips.

Before I could blink, her hand hit my chest, her foot swept behind mine, and suddenly, I was on my back, staring at the ceiling. The breath rushed out of my lungs, and I gasped, trying to sit up.

She crouched beside me, resting her elbows on her knees. "That, Boris, is you not knowing takedown defense."

She snapped her fingers. "Oh! That reminds me." Her grin widened. "Remember that first day when I walked in, and you made me think there was something wrong with my hair?"

She leaned in slightly, savoring the moment.

"Well. I remember."