Chapter 23 – Forest Tasks

• The five of us stand in a small clearing of forest in a semicircle around our Lieutenant who repeats the instructions we were given his morning. I look around as he talks, only half-listening because I already know what our job is. I’ve got a good memory, after all.
• I look up at the sky above the trees, thinking that it took longer than I thought to get everything ready and get us here. It’s already well past noon, which doesn’t give us a ton of time before night falls.Our task is pretty simple, though. All we have to do as a group is light a fire, boil water so that it’s potable, produce some kind of sustenance for ourselves – fish or edible plants – and demonstrate that we can do basic first aid if anyone gets hurt in the process. Once that’s done, we’ll be given a compass and a map with our location marked and we’ll be required to traverse the ten miles back to the barracks. Anyone who doesn’t complete the group tasks, or fails to make it back tomorrow by dinner, receives a failing mark.
• I shrug, thinking it will be pretty simple, as the Lieutenant hands Alan our small packet of supplies, which contains the first-aid kit, flint, a machete, and a small spool of wire with some fish hooks. We’re strictly forbidden from using anything in our packs to aid us – they’re only supposed to carry extra clothing and blankets in case we need to sleep out here before the jobs get done.