"Our S&C team at the Bluecats has us work these," Brutus said. "I'll be fine."
"Good… because I'm the one who has the company record," Linda informed him with a smirk. "Planks are easier when you only weigh a buck thirty six."
"We'll see," Brutus replied, his eyes fixed on the floor.
Linda did the same, hearing the cheers from the rest of the company as time continued, but she kept going until she heard a grunt on the other side and saw Brutus waver. Her stomach gave up and she dropped to the court at the same time as Brutus, to the cheers of the company.
"Six minutes, nine seconds!" Captain King declared, and Linda thumped a fist on the ground.
"Six-nine?" Brutus asked, earning laughs as the meaning came through. "That was totally unintentional."
Linda was helped to her feet, and as the company stretched to get ready for the run, she stretched her arms over her head.
"You okay?" Orkin asked her. "You probably fucked your run."
"I know, but I'll pass." She groaned as another cramp threatened. "Just a diagnostic for me today anyway."
"Yeah well, congrats," Orkin told her, glancing over at Brutus who was carefully rolling his ankles back and forth. "You're the first person to actually make him work. Even Push-up Waller only beat him because of non-counted reps. Now we'll see if someone else can push him in the run. No offense."
Linda, who did well in the run but was far from the fastest member of the company, shook her head.
"None taken. I'll be happy if I break eighteen minutes today. God the APFT was faster."
"We were less tired then," Orkin reminded her. "Okay, see you on the line."
The only event to be held outdoors in winter, the two-mile run was an event of the old test. Then, she had to run the two miles in roughly sixteen and a half minutes to get ninety points, but today was looking like a failure.
She could be a full minute slower on the ACFT and still get ninety points, but as the whistle blew and they took off, she knew that wasn't going to be the case today. She'd used too much of her stomach and leg power keeping herself locked in the plank, and as the company rounded the first gentle bend of the flat road course, her watch told her that eighteen minutes would be a struggle even.
Amazingly though, she saw a repeated flash of blue bobbing in and out of the group running ahead of her, and as they rounded the second turn that marked the one-mile point, she pulled even with Brutus, who was puffing and grunting with every step.
"Second half, second half," he chanted to himself, almost not seeing Linda as she pulled up next to him.
"What?"
"You okay?" she asked, and he grunted.
"Brutus, this isn't a real test for you, you can?—"
"I can make it," he grunted, pouring on the effort and picking up his pace. He pulled ahead of her by nearly fifty yards, but as they came to the last turn and the finish line, they were dead even again, Linda even slowing up a bit to finish at eighteen minutes, thirty seconds. It was far from her best time, but still passing.
Actually, Brutus had passed as well, but was near the back of the company. Only a few others had been slower.
"Okay Cranked, good job." Major Kirk looked around as everyone did their cool down stretches. "Everyone passed, but I expected that. Get showered up, get changed for work, and I'll see you all at the motorpool for everyone's favorite day of the week, Motorpool Monday. Dismissed!"
The company broke up, and Linda pulled Brutus aside.
"Brutus, what happened?" she asked. "You're limping."
"Forget it," Brutus said, clearly in pain.
His face was nearly bedsheet white, with sweat still trickling down his temples and slicking down the hair at the back of his neck. With every step, his nose twitched as he tried not to show his injury, yet he refused to utter a single syllable of complaint.
"Seriously, I'll be fine."
She wanted to argue with him, but let it go. The man's pride obviously was bigger than his common sense, and whatever was wrong with him he wasn't going to talk about right now.
She had to get back and shower up anyway. Still, as she hopped in the shower and soaped up quickly, she couldn't stop thinking about Brutus and the way he'd run. He clearly finished the run in absolute agony, and she reminded herself to check up on him. Maybe Lieutenant Parker might know something about it?
