Snyder ducked behind ferns and a vine as a bayonet blade came flying towards his head. He stabbed his attacker in the back. The attacker fell to the ground and Snyder delivered a final blow to the shoulder blade of the holographic opponent.
The opponent disappeared and so did the jungle, giving way to the black grid of a hologram chamber. Snyder removed his goggles and hung them up at his station.
He sighed, what he’d give to see this tech available on the open market, at affordable prices, before he was too old to really enjoy it . . . .
Sergeant Cutler said, “All right, men. Fall in!”
Once they had all lined up, Cutler asked, “Any questions on your first visit to the Bayonet assault course?”
Snyder raised his hand. “Sir, with all due respect, is this necessary? I checked the library, and the bayonet hasn’t led to a combat fatality since before the Empire.”
Cutler shouted, “One hundred and twenty push ups, Recruit!”
Snyder hit the ground and began counting off. Cutler got down in Snyder’s face and glared. “Soldier, do not question our training methods! You will learn to use the bayonet. Your life may depend on it some day.”
Snyder panted. Sure and maybe he also needed to learn fencing and how to throw a spear. “Right now, my life depends on passing the GED!”
Sergeant Cutler growled. “Your life depends on staying in the military three years. With a smart mouth like that, you won’t cut it. Soldier, you will pass the GED, I’m certain of it.”
Snyder sighed. That made one of them. Despite Cutler asking GED questions while he took Snyder on nightly jogs, and at the afternoon GED classes, there was no way a guy who got straight D’s in his second year of the ninth grade would pass without more study. Give me about twenty years, and I’ll have it licked.
Continued here.
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