CHAPTER ONE: WELCOME TO THE MILITARY

The Bus tilted to a halt around the junction , as soon to be military trainees began to wonder what was happening.

“Come on , we get any mechanic inside here, make the person come join me for outside here fast fast” The driver in military camouflage starred at everyone as soon as he got out of his seat.

Three hands went up quickly , signifying their interest as the driver picked two of the three and quickly disembarked from the bus.

“Na wetin person no go see” Dayo said as he rebalanced himself again once he had dropped his hands down, somehow everyone could communicate what he meant by those words.

“hahaha guy no worry jhare, we go still hit kano sharp sharp , shey dem den come down na , dem go set the bus in order before you can say MILITARY” Abdul remarked who was just a seat from dayo’s own.

“Oya , make we just dey introduce ourself for here , we all na brothers we don be by military force ,my own name na Ejiro Martins alias Viper” Ejiro said , the tall slightly built in frame had theis wide smile on his face as he introduced himself to the other forty three applicants.

“You my guy , your mama forget to name you name?” Ejiro said as he tapped Olamide who was caught off guard from his sleep at the moment.
“Eh, sorry I didn’t get that?” Olamide asked as he starred confusingly , having woken up.

“Sorry I didn’t get that , abeg na which of that be your surname ?” K2 who had introduced himself as Kelvin Obi asked sending a few who caught the joke rolling with laughter.

“Make all of una come down fast , we go push the bus small make we take start am!” One of the two who had joined the driver came on board to report the situation.
“What, do we have to push the bus?” Olamide asked Ejiro who ad already gotten up in high spirit as much as the others.

“No my guy , we need to romance am to bed, my guy come and serve your country jhore” Ejiro said again as he laughed his way down the bus with others , Olamide sat their for a second or two before joining the others outside , he wondered why everyone was so eager to participate but then again they were all boys , young men who perhaps wanted to show a little of what they could do, Olamide rolled up his sleeves and his military trousers too.

“Oga , no be war you want go find oh so take am easy , this one you dey raise everything go up , you sure say you no wan put the bus for shoulders?”
Again another remake from K2 sent a few laughing who stood by ,ready to begin the push as soon as they were commanded.

“Oya make una push!” came the order as they began the push , they yelled and jeered at each other who they felt wasn’t doing his best ,one of the few trainees at the end of this jokes and remarks was Olamide who was sweating more abnormally than the others.

“oh boy , this guy don turn swimming pool now now oh , who get bucket here?” Kelechi asked another slim loud mouthed trainee that was also good with making jokes.

They cheered as soon as the bus kicked in , each celebrating the other in the best way they could before alighting into the bus again , to continue their journey.

Three hours clocked quickly as the bus was in a lighter mood , those who sang were joined by others and those who told their stories ,personal experiences and obvious reasons for joining the army thrilled the others before the driver once more announced their arrival at the army training camp, the location was deep in the heart of the state of kano with little or nothing surrounding it , a long stretch of bad roads and bushes surrounded the army training camp , though a bit late , the trainees seemed excited as they disembarked with their bags down where a soldier who introduced himself as Sergeant Nwosu told them to wait for further instructions outside the military camp.

It took less than five minutes before three other military personals joined the sergeant after which the sergeant gave a command to the trainees to stand in lines of five.

“Good evening soldiers in training , my name is Captain Timothy Obikwe by my side here with me is sergeant Boris and by my left is Sergeant Azeez and he over there is Sergeant Nwosu now before I continue …..” he paused for a bit as he paced to and fro the space before him as the sergeants and the trainees watched.

“..before I continue , I want you all to turn your backs and look at the transport by which you came here …” he paused as the trainees did as he said.

“this bus will be conveying a lot of you who will make the transition from a trainee to a solider at the end of the first three weeks of your training so if you know that you have a wife at home , a family that probably swore to disown you when you decided to form hard man and come here , this is your opportunity to return back with your bags , all expense paid trip to the very bus stop where you were picked” The captain made no jokes about this , his face communicated more of his words than his voice as the trainees began to murmur a bit.

“alright , I can see we made our decisions before coming down here , that’s good , that’s very good “ he nodded his head for a moment before he continued.

“I would like to welcome you all to the Domengi Boot Camp for military trainees , where boys are made into men and men are made into soldiers , you will be seeing this face of mine only at the end of the first three weeks of your training to congratulate those who have succeeded and passed and to congratulate those too who have wasted our time and resources in trying to make soldiers out of babies, now I will hand over to the sergeant Nwosu and Sergeant Azeez to continue form here” He said finally before he and sergeant boris walked away.

“we were duly informed of the little trouble you had while on your way but never mind that because there are still four more buses who are yet to arrive this camp so , now lets get down to business , if you have any contraband of any sort , drugs , weapons including the juju some of your parents or family members may have prepared for you on your way , I hope you an see that spot over there ..” he paused for a moment as he pointed his hand over to a spot where a few articles laid.

“take your bags down and empty them over there , we will conduct a search as required and God help you if I see any of the mentioned “ The Sergeant replied.

Both men had begun to search through the bags of each trainee, clearing them equally.

“Sarge, come and see oh…..” Sergeant Azeez said as he burst into laughter ; everyone immediately turned to his direction.

“..sarge, this one brought soup and dried meat form his village to the boot camp” the sergeant continued as he produced a transparent bowl tightly sealed and a nylon which contained a chunk of dried meat.
“what is your name trainee?” Sergeant Nwosu asked as he walked up to where the two stood.

“sir,my name is Olamide Adewale Junior” Olamide said a bit shaky and confused.

“Sarge, the boy brought correct grass cutter oh” Sergeant Azeez said again as he confirmed the content of the nylon .
“why do you have a plate of soup and dried meat in your bag, do you plan to poison….”

“..hah sir, no not at…..”
The sound of the knock took everyone by surprise prompting someone from the lines to yell something in his dialect as olamide felt his head was about to open or fall off.

“you do not interrupt a direct or indirect senior ,that’s strictly against principles and rules in the army, is that understood?” Sergeant Nwosu said angrily .

“Sir?” Olamide said as his head vibrated and expanded , he winced his eyes as a tear or two escaped ,even more was the numb feeling his head had developed almost immediately as well as the fact his ears seems to have been affected by the powerful knock his head had received.

“go to the ground and give me thirty !” Sergeant Nwosu said angrily again as he turned to leave, olamide went to the ground not because he was capable of even achieving a decent fifteen counts of press ups on a good day but rather for fear of inviting another powerful knock on his head which he feared may affect his brain.

He went to the ground quickly as tears flowed down his face , a bit disturbed by the reality that waited him once they got inside rather than the unfortunate choices he had made that led him straight to the military, he hoped his adrenaline for a moment would help him get over the pain and the fatigue and help him achieve the thirty count even more was the fact that other boys probably round his age were also watching , he had already received an unjust knock h, he feared the ridicule a bit more.

All of them had been cleared before the sergeant turned his attention once more to Olamide who seemed to be taking his time to serve out his punishment.

“what number are you on now?” the sergeant asked.

“sir,I thought you were….” Olamide halted his words , the pain still reeling to and fro his head was scary enough , he feared his inability to tell the correct number or lie about the fact he hadn’t been counting was more daunting now.

“…sir, I though you were counting…..” Olamide said slowly and painfully as a few trainees laughed their eyes out.

“hahaha so you thought I was counting …” the sergeant shook his head for a minute .

“..i don’t think you are going to last in here son, anyways the following weeks can either make you or break you or kill you its really not my business , now you are going to start all over a again from the count of 1….” The sergeant paused as another bus halted right in front of them.

“ …hmmm well you are lucky today, I am in no mood for such display of foolishness , sergeant Azeez will lead you all in, to get your forms signed officially, its getting late already so try and get as much sleep as you can , trainees without fail are to be up by exactly 4:30 on the dot , you wake 4:31 or 4:30 and a half you will dealt with by your training officer , is that understood?”

The sergeant said again as the trainees responded positively much too thrilled and excited to begin their journey as military trainees.

“Sergeant Azeez, take the soup and the bush meat to the senior quarters for the boys , am sure they will be happy to eat something other than madam nuri’s usual as for the bush meat you know where that one goes to, anyways welcome to the military boys!. The sergeant said finally in high spirit as he walked past them straight to the new comers.

“everyone in a single file behind me now!” Sergeant azeez sent the trainees scrambling to their feet as they quickly formed a single long line and began their long trek into the boot camp.

CHAPTER TWO: GOOD MORNING BOYS!

“Everybody get up !”
The voice was followed by a loud bang ; perhaps the voice wasn’t as scary as been chased down by the devil in anyone’s worst nightmare but the loud bang served its purpose , a few landing awkwardly from the double deck whilst some few ended up without clothes on.

The tall fair lanky officer in military uniform stood at the door motionless, a pistol in hand and a whip that stretched down to the ground in the other , as the trainees struggled to put themselves in order.

“Now I don’t care if you have no clothes on , I want you all to get into two lines and move out , we have have half a kilometer of jogging to begin with , at any time you feel like fainting or dying , there is a lot of space so feel free to do so, now I will call out your names failure to respond is a whip to your head , is that understood?” The officer said as the trainees responded.

“ Sir!” someone said with his hands up from behind automatically garnering the eyes of the other trainees .

“what is it?” the officer asked quite frankly.

“someone is still sleeping here sir!” Kelechi announced.

“Oh really I see, well let me go and specially wake him up” the officer said as he walked to the furthermost parts of the military hostel somehow the sound of a whip striking the flesh of a trainee sent everyone shocked and frightened as did the scream that followed.

“why does the sound of everything feel like thunder here?” K2 said out of panic.

“My guy this is the military , before man pikin carry gun dey shoot upandan ,dey kill men like chickens you suppose no say man pikin don see fire for e training oh , this one na practical e be for us” Ejiro concluded as Olamide run out to join the line , with just his boxers on and a long fleshy whip line on his back.

The military officer walked back to the front to continue with his assessment , as soon as everyone’s present had been accounted for , they moved out ; both the nearly nude ones and the fully clothed ones , olamide followed just behind ejiro , his back felt like falling off within any instant , he had been so tired he had slept off even when the sergeant had told them what to expect , they joined another set of trainees which made a few of them laugh ; apparently one or two were butt naked , somehow he felt better about himself knowing he wasn’t just the only victim or faulty one at best.


Two hours straight saw the trainees battling fatigues as whips, kicks ,slaps descended constantly on any who trailed behind or showed signs of tiredness from both officers who led the trainees on the jogging exercises, one of the trainees had succumbed to the extreme stress and passed out along the way.

“leave him there , when he wakes he will join us,the rest of you move out now!” the order came with a whip on an unfortunate trainee who had decided to rest on the ground.

At the end of the three hours and a half , they came right back to their hostel panting heavily and drenched in huge amount of sweats , a few went to the ground as they gasped for air.

“We will be meeting in the next one hour at the training field where I pointed out , I expect everyone to be there and on time, failure to comply will be treated and dealt with accordingly, is that understood?” the officer said once more before he walked away.

“just look at him , not even one sweat!” kelechi said quite disturbed as he watched the officer walk away.

“dey there be looking at him , failure to be at the training ground will be dealt with accordingly , to the naked trainees abeg make una go find clothes wear , to those way no fit feel there legs like myself make una sit down where una dey , check if una never paralyze finish “ Ejiro said as he sat on the ground outside there cleaning the sweat his body had amassed during the exercise.

“which kind jogging be this na , I be think say na heaven way dey trek go?” K2 replied as he squeezed his clothe to help the sweat escape out quickly.

“dey there , nna morning routine be this so , start to dey practice for your dreams , na like this e go be for us till thy kingdom come thank God say u no join Johnny way faint for bush so” Ejiro added again as he starred at olamide who sat at a corner close by.

“guy, sorry oh hope say the whip of this morning no damage your spinal cord oh “ Ejiro asked somehow he felt pity for him .

“ I was really tired from yesterday that was why I didnt get up on time , it wont happen again” Olamide said dully as he wiped his face.

“Eh na so e be , no worry eh all of us go just dey anything way dey happen ,na all of us you still dey with eh , all of us na brothers here we go be so no dulling again you here?” Ejiro said again with a smile on his face as he stood up and gave a lifting hand up to olamide.

“thank you very much” Olamide said as he stood to his feet .

“person never take the down space for myself , you fit arrange am so that you go just dey with us for front here where we just dey” Ejiro added again as they both walked in.

An hour later they arrived at the training field , where another officer stood with the lanky officer they had now suspected to be their training officer.

“let me formally introduce myself properly , I am corporal Muhammad Idriss and I will be your supervising officer and joint training officer , I will like to formally welcome you all with me here is my direct senior ,Sergeant Reno” the lanky officer said .

The trainees sat on the ground as they took their seats in the bamboo constructed benches as they took them through the various ranks and army personals and means by which they could be identified.

“you over their , what is the immediate ranking officer after the Master Warrant Officer?” Sergeant Reno said pointing to Ejiro who was caught off guard by the question, his reluctance to answer the question proved he hadn’t be paying attention.

“ejiro na commando?” k2 tugged him as he got up to answer the answer.

“no that’s wrong , the answer is second lieutenant” Olamide said as quietly as he could , somehow he hoped ejiro wouldn’t be made a scape goat .

“I asked you a question !” the sergeant fired again.

“sir, the answer is eh Second Lieutenant sir!” Ejiro said a bit scarred but he had soon relaxed himself as soon as the sergeant nodded his head.

“k2 na your papa be commando” Ejiro cursed as he sat back with a smile on his face , they were still taking their classes when another set of trainees came with their officers.

“this are your immediate seniors though they are trainees as well but , they will be advancing to the last quarter of their training , some of them you will see every now and then along with a few officers to help you train better I expect the outer most respect and obedience to them as they are your seniors and are here to help and monitor your growth here , is that understood?” Corporal Idriss said as ejiro and the others nodded again.

“okay I will be handling over to Sergeant Reno for the physical aspects of your training and evaluation, your seniors will be here to assist him ” Corporal Idriss said as he and the other two officers took their leave.
“Congo are they ready ?” the sergeant asked one of the senior trainees who answered positively.

“very good ,every one get up and follow me” the sergeant said as he and the senior trainees marched out , the trainees followed quite confused as they wondered what was waiting for them, they soon walked a few miles again to another part of the training ground where huge bags of old cements which had now become solid as stone laid ,stacked up to ten bags.

“ now I am going to score you all base on how many bags you can carry over to that point where the white line is drawn” the sergeant said as he pointed to a spot right in front of the stacked bags , endurance is key to your survival outside there , your ability to take this bags across that line as fast as you can and as much as you can is what I am interested , if you cant continue you raise your hands up and the next person will follow but bear it in mind failure to at least get three bags over the line is a failure “ the sergeant said again.

“oya , make una form line fast fast, first to go make he ready “ Congo said as the trainees form a single line.

“All the bricklayers make una arrange for front , cement don come “ kelechi announced as he took his space behind olamide who was still wondering how he was going to get even one of the solid bags of cement across the line.

A few of the senior trainees watched in anticipation of laughter .
“if somebody go shit e spirit here “ someone said amongst the seniors as the first trainee approached the bags of solid cement .

It became a real eye sore immediately as the trainee failure to grasp the bag ended badly for him , as his feet paid the amount price which the bag had landed notwithstanding the trainee had showed his desire to move on ,securing two bags past the lines before he could not contain the pain any longer.

“if you are coming here , make sure your grip is firm as a rock itself “ the sergeant said not impressed one bit as the trainee leaped back , Ejiro came forward quickly taking off his khaki , somehow he had gotten the first bag wrapped around his hands with his chest also giving support , he moved the first , then the second and his third and had proceeded to go for a forth much to his fellow trainee’s cheer and praise , his method was quite efficient again as he secured his forth bag over the line before he bowed out ; apparently he had ran out of energy and was already exhausted to try it for a fifth time.

A few others used ejiro’trick , some failing to get even one or sometimes the three bags over the line , as the senior colleagues laughed and jeered at them.

“Next!” the sergeant shouted as Olamide walked to the heap of the cement s, he took his shirt off and attempted his first which was unsuccessful ,
he made his second attempt mustering all his strength he could gather ,once he could wrap his hands around his first he began to walk as slowly as he could towards the line , he was sweating profusely which was making his grip more difficult to sustain thankfully he had gotten his bag over the line and then he made for his second , using whatever that was left of him he got hold of the bag but unfortunately this came with the loss of his balance as he tried to positon the bag on his chest , his lack of strength saw him landing on the ground with the bag landing on his chest .

Olamide’s pleas for assistance as the solid bag of cement landed on his chest was quickly responded to by Ejiro and k2 who came to his help , once he was up he had the decisions to make , raise his hand and fail his first test or continue even with the pains he was now feeling in his chest cavity.

He made his way for the second bag again , took a deep breath and got hold of it , his chest seemed to be lit on fire with pains but for that moment he ignored , his second attempt came as a success as he breathed dangerously while he slowly and painfully made way for his third , again he had the third but this time he managed to set the solid bag of cement on his shoulder and once more made the walk over to the line , he was finding it harder with each step to breath properly somehow his chest seemed to be taking on the weight of the cement ,he could hear a few cheer for him as soon as he got his first feet across the line just as he went to the ground unconscious; he had passed out.

CHAPTER THREE : TRUE STORY



“So Mr. Olamide Adewale , it says you were cleared of a respiratory problem , An asthmatic condition ?” The Military Health officer said , a bit undecided of what actions to take next as he focused his gaze on Olamide.

“Yes sir ,I was cleared three years ago after which I have never experienced an accident ….”

“but you remember you passed out from your first official training ….”
“Sir , I was tired and exhausted from….”

“well that only means you are not cut out for the army and your reports say you risk a chance of ….”

“Sir, I haven’t had any accident since the past three years , the idea that I can have an accident related to the illness is something that’s almost farfetched , sir I can promise you that sir.”

“Listen, I cant officially dismiss you of and send you parking right away I wish I could because I don’t think you will survive here for real but your health status will be closely monitored from now on , if there is however a slight case of such health risk , I am afraid its good bye to the army for you , you may take your leave now”

Olamide walked out with the medical report in his hand as he made his way back to the hostel , he hadn’t thought much of what the military officer had said but rather what had the previous day while he was receiving treatment in the military bay.

He quickly arrived at the hostel to find out no one was around , he quickly changed into his military khaki and made his way to the training ground much too excited at the moment.
He arrived at the training to find his fellow trainees in defensive stance as Sergeant Reno stood right in front of them.

“Hey you , you are late , drop and give me thirty immediately !” Sergeant Reno barked angrily at Olamide who immediately went to the ground and began his punishment, he was however surprised as to how easy he had pulled through the press ups ,perhaps a bit more excited than he had thought.

“Come to the front , you will be my punching bag for the hand to hand combat practices for the day” The sergeant said as Congo and a few other senior trainees jeered and cheered the sergeant.

“Now you are going to try and attack me with your punches don’t worry I wont fight back “ The sergeant said he had a smirk on his face that somehow gave the fact that he was lying.

Olamide took a wide stare at his fellow colleagues who were cheering ,amongst them were ejiro , K2 and kelechi , he took a deep breath and made his hands into fists approaching the experienced sergeant .

“hah, sarge wan use this small boy eat better sand today” somehow among congo’s clique said as they watched with excitement.
Olamide’s first attempt saw him going to the ground as a left hook which perfectly countered his right hook, he felt his tooth move from their various position as he landed awkwardly on the ground.

“I f you intend to survive a hand to hand combat remember the first thing is to protect yourself , guard your face or you will end up searching for your missing teeth and possibly an eye or a nose in some cases like your friend here” The sergeant said as he pointed down to Olamide who was trying to find his feet as best as he could.

“get up , we just started training don’t tell me you are tired already , are you tired?” The sergeant asked as Olamide stood up finally , he spat some bloody to the ground as he tried to organize himself ,somehow his chest seem to hurt again , he rubbed his chest gently.

“Honestly this guy e be like say them follow am come military as e dey be so he nor go survive at all” Kelechi reported to ejiro .

“Shey na you and he people plan am , oga keep your mouth quiet if you no get better thing to talk jhore” Ejiro replied angrily as he watched on , a bit sympathetic about olamide’s condition.

Again olamide went to the ground ,crunching his stomach tightly as the sergeant landed another courter strike .

“so this time our trainee has his guard up but can anyone tell me from what you were thought in class today ,what did he do wrong this time?” The sergeant said as he paced to and fro before Olamide.
“he forgot to maintain his defensive stance” someone from the crowd replied.

“very good and even more he forgot to pay attention to his opponent in battle” the sergeant said again.

Olamide managed to get up again as his chest began to hurt more severely , his body began to shake uncontrollably as tears rushed down his cheek .

The sergeant leaped in a dancing manner as he took a look closely tat olamide who was trying to clear to balance himself once more.
“Soldier man wey cry na baby man , soldier man wey weak na baby boy, soldier man wey no stand na amputee” he sang as the senior trainees cheered and jeered the sergeant much to the dissatisfaction of olamide’s pairs.

“jesus “ Congo roared with more laughter as he noticed the warm fluid running down olamide’s trousers .

“sarge , he don urinate for body oh” another said again as they roared with laughter.

“soldier man wey urinate for body na ……”

Everyone held their breath as Olamide landed a right hook to the cheeks of the sergeant as they both went to the ground ; the sergeant had lost sight of his opponent which allowed olamidie to land one successful punch at him.

The sergeant took a nefarious stare at Olamide as their eyes met shortly before he smiled dully.

“hahaha congratulations trainee “ the sergeant said as he got up quickly from the ground and helped olamide up.

“although you hit like girl but am impressed , I was paying attention to you anymore and you took your chance , very impressive whats your name ?” the sergeant asked .

“ola…olamide sir!” Olamide said as he tried to clean his face as best as he could.

“Olamide , oh wait you are the mama’s boy who brought a pot of soup and meat to the camp?” the sergeant said again as a few trainees began to laugh off the experience.

“very good, we are done for today, congo and the boys will continue from here on through the rest of the practice” the sergeant said as he dusted the sand off his body.

The sergeant took his leave as ejiro and the others trooped around olamide, he starred tat the crowd somehow he felt a bit happy of landing a punch at the sergeant than the state his currently.

The rest of the evening saw the military trainees out on the field with their sleeping bags ,the orders was to keep the trainees out on the field due to lack of space as a few military guests were to be expected , congo and some other senior trainees had joined them; they shared stories and their own personal experiences with the junior trainees as best as they could , songs were sang , arm wrestling and so on.

“No oh, that guy try oh , even we way dey talk sergeant use us do mopping that time oh ,the guy get mind” Congo said much impressed with olamide .

“but bros , see eh just look this my guy e nor just resemble military material at all ….” Ejiro’s words were clouded by an uproar from the crowd that gathered congo and his friends.

“No na truth eh, e just resemble one rich man pikin way honestly “ Ejiro said .

“Me , rich man pikin who tell you that one mr. information minister” Olamide said .

“but really guy , you just too fresh oh , military no fit you but military be like aids shall e nor dey show for face until you don enter then come out “ a friend of congo added which got some applause from the crowd.

“na truth oh but what of malike, watin you go call that one own?” Congo blasted as the junior trainees began to wonder who he was referring to.

“malike hmmm that oyibo rabbit , e own get family support na, the guy just fresh fat enter military school and he con still maintain the freshness come out , I respect the guy shall but this our guy here I no sure he go fit maintain e own sarge go train e and his fatness “ the friend continued as they listened to more stories , the night was colder than usual but they were in high spirit through the night till dawn.

CHAPTER TWO COMING UP TODAY

Guy come continue oo

CHAPTER FOUR: THE MUDDY EXPEREINCE

Everyone was up before the sergeant made his appearance , he seemed to be happy a bit as he flaunted his new horse whip .

“Today , we will be testing some battlefield terrains and how you can adapt in terms of mobility , your ability to reach your target within the desired time period will be closely monitored , your ability as a soldier to think and avoid obstacles along this path to your target will also be recorded , five bags filled with stones to mimic the idea of you carrying your back pack will be provided on the spot , each test will be five trainees on the go at once , if you are lack behind my horse whip will be here to assist you , now lest move out boys“

The sergeant said as he began to make his way out.

The boys hadn’t no time to brush or make something out of the morning before they started to walk in a single file behind the sergeant.

“barbwire?!” kelechi said slowly a bit mystified about what he was seeing as they approached their destination.

“the first is the barbwire course , the second is the muddy course which mimics conditions you will find in a mangrove terrain and the third is the wall climb , which will mimic mountainous regions , if you are falling behind I will ensure the horse whip reminds you that this is a battle scenario , you are not here to impress a woman , you are here to fight for your survival” the sergeant flogged the empty air moving backwards as the first five trainees took their positions, belly to the ground.
Olamide spat hard into the ground as he passed a stare to k2 who was trying to get himself prepared for the exercise .

They began to crawl under the barbwires as soon as the sergeant gave the order , the sound of horse whip descending upon any of the trainees lagging quickened the steps of others as they crawled their way under the barbwire.

Olamide quickened his steps as much as he could , crawling on all fours as he made his way , perhaps it was the sound of the horse whip that got him moving as fast as he could even when the barbwire ripped through his uniform and into his flesh, he could hear one or two people cheering him as he made his way past the barbwire, so far he was lucky not to have been whipped ,

he tugged and pushed when he felt the wires were holding him back ,he paused a bit taking a quick stare at k2 who was seemed to be having a hard time escaping a barbwire that had wrapped around his leg , the sergeant hadn’t been paying attention to him as he was taking his time melting hot lash on one other trainees who was far back behind , Olamide made a quick u-turn and getting his fore head scratched badly by a barbwire , not withstanding he arrived just in time to help k2 free up the barbwire but this again came at his detriment having the palms of his hand reaped open by the barbwire, once out they took their utility bags stuffed with stones and began the walk through the muddy , this was however a bit more difficult , olamide got the crowd laughing as his first attempt to move got him falling backwards deep into the mud but k2 had assisted him up again only to be welcomed with hot lash from the behind .

“this is not an exercise for team work , save yourself or save nobody!” the sergeant lashed angrily as the duo again began to try and free their legs to move around in the mud, again olamide went deep into the mud as k2 began to move forward perhaps fear of the sergeant whip had gotten him scarred now , olamide decided to crawl his way through the mud rather than walk past it , however a better option this came at the detriment of his uniform and his body, Once out he had no time to pull off his heavy bag even when he had been told , he was now behind k2 who was now on to his second wall , olamide grabbed the rope and began his first climb but the mud in his mud made it even more difficult but the thought of seeing the other three who were now fast approaching him thanks to the sergeant ‘s hot lashes , he grabbed on again and pulled himself steadying his leg on the cemented wall about ten feet high, he tugged and pulled as he made his way down again.

“olamide, drop the bag eh,mumu!”

He knew who had the voice , ejiro couldn’t have said anything moiré sensible and helpful to him than this , he dropped the bag and wiped a bit of the mud off his face to help clear his vision again he went up the second ,this time he could feel just his weight which was good enough for him , easily he pulled through the second and then finally the third, he landed awkwardly on the ground almost dislocating his ankle in the process but the pain was minimal compared to the bloody palm, muddy bath and torn flesh on his back , he heaved a sigh as he went to the ground to rest.

“bros thanks for helping me out earlier” K2 said as he joined him on the ground there with his bloody leg.

The evening was a bit hot as the trainees volunteered to sleep outside this time , Congo and his friends had somehow got their hands on some cigarettes and a bottle of gin which they shared with everyone .
“I don’t smoke “ Olamide said as Ejiro offered the half burnt cigarette.
“hahaha, so den no tell you say your best friend for army na gin and cigarette to help you dey strong on daily base?” Congo asked as he roared with laughter.

“No, I am sure they didn’t say anything like that…”
“bros just leave the guy alone , he never see anything when you dey field you go remember baba God , baba gin and then baba cigar , things dey jhare way u go see for field eh you go wan finish one carton of gin I dey tell you?” congo said.

“bros , you don here too many story oh for this side so” dayo joined as soon as he came back from easing himself.

“my brother , we don here things plenty , see this place self way we dey occupy na hot ground e first be for terrorists before but army con kidnap the place from them make I tell you!” A friend of congo added.
“wait , do you mean this was once a base for terrorists?” Olamide asked.

“yes oh , na strong hold e be that time I think na like some months ago self but las las army con strong pass their stronghold” Congo added.
“what if they retaliate , I mean this place is surrounded by thick bushes and all , we could be in danger you see” Olamide said.

“hahaha, we go use dem take do practical na, by the time I hammer one teeth with my elbow , he go confess in English language “ Congo boasted.

“relax guy , nothing dey happen we are soldiers here , watin dem go fit do soldier man except to kill am but I fit my life say nothing like that fit ever happen shall” Kelechi said with a smile .

Olamide wondered if the army was too hasty to convert a base for terrorists into a training camp but doubting the possibility of a comeback from the terrorists as that would in fact be suicidal in reality , he tucked himself in his sleeping bag , it was a long stressful and painful day for his body , sleeping earlier than he would have normally done was rather a better choice.

CHAPTER FIVE: A DAY FOR THE DOGS

“Karkarkarkar…………”

Olamide’s eyes went wide open automatically by now he knew what his ears heard, gun shots fired sporadically into the air.
He focused his eyes on a three vehicles just a few miles away , approaching from the bushes , his brain took no time to decipher what was happening.

“make una run oh , no be soldiers be this one oh” someone screamed as everyone tried to get to safety, someone had pressed down on olamide’s stomach as he ran towards the shrubs that surrounded them ,olamide turned towards the runner’s direction just quick enough to see him go down with three bullets , one to the back , one to his shoulder and the other opening his skull wide open.

The sight got him scampering for safety as he began to crawl as fast as he could , he could turn just enough to see a body or two who had been shot and killed , he could have swore he heard ejiro shout at something but he hadn’t no time no check, as he crawled his way into the low shrubs , one or two trainees ran past him just enough before again they went down lifeless , apparently if he was to survive he needed to keep crawling further into the higher and denser pat of the shrubs, he could hear some distant chattering behind him whilst the shooting continued and again one trainee darted past him right into the denser shrubs thankfully he hadn’t been shot at, taking no time to calculate he got up as fast as he could and leaped right into the bushes.

He heard some shot s fired but at that speed he was certain he wasn’t shot , once into the bushes , he met dayo and kelechi who were hiding behind trees as they tried to wrap their head over what was happening , olamide hid behind a few thicker shrubs as he watched the vehicles swerve past and headed for the main roads that led to the military camps.

“I think they are gone” Olamide said as he breathed heavily in between words.

“shhhh!” kelechi said as he pointed his hand at something approaching the shrubs , olamide quickly hid himself properly again as an armed man made his entrance into the shrubs and then began to fire rounds of ammunition around in hopes of flushing anyone who was hiding .
“hah!”

Dayo cried out as he went to the ground with his hand clutched tightly letting the armed man to stop and proceed to his direction , he walked past where olamide hid and headed straight for dayo but was jumped from behind by olamide letting both crash to the ground, olamide held tightly his hands as he tried to engage the firearm.

“you bastard!” the angry armed man shouted as he tried to use brute force to over power the young trainee , he was already on top of him just a little push ,he would have another dead trainee on the ground but kelechi leaped on top him from the behind this time pulling him away from olamide.

“karkarkar!”

Silence followed as kelechi tugged the lifeless body off him, he had just given olamide the opportunity to fire the bandit’s weapon at him.
Olamide sat there as he watched the armed bandits eyes roll up as he fell to the ground lifeless wasting no time he quickly turned his attention to two more figures who were now approaching the shrubs again, he wasted no time firing at both , killing one and injuring the second who fell to the ground .

“go,go,go , go kill the bastard” kelechi said as he ran towards dayo who was still on the ground , once olamide crawled out of the shrubs he made sure to look around before he got up , slowly approaching the injured bandit who was now struggling for his life ; the bullet had struck him in the throat , Olamide starred at him for a few seconds , somewhere in his mind he felt bad for the bandit , he was done for as he gasped for air consistently.
“karkar!”

Olamide fired finally , there was no need keeping a dead man alive, he quickly returned to the field only to see a lot of trainees dead on the ground and decided to return back to the shrubs immediately; shootings still filled the air and the fear of the armed men returning back was evidential.

“how is dayo?” Olamide asked he joined kelechi who was attending to dayo.

“na e hand don scatter oh!” kelechi pointed out showing off dayo’s scattered elbow ,which was as gory at best, Olamide pulled his khaki and wrapped it around dayo’s hand who was in obvious pains.
“we cant go out right now , we have to stay put in here till the shootings stop” Olamide said as they hid again whilst the shootings continued a little longer.

“you just killed three armed bandits , do you know that, how did you know how to shoot?” kelechi said in a low tone, olamide didn’t answer , he hid there trying to process all that had happened , the adrenaline was wearing off slowly even while gun shots rented the air, slowly he closed his eyes and hoped it was just a bad dream .

“this is the military, if you know you are out there ,come out right now with your hands in the air!”
Olamide opened his eyes finally , he swore he had heard something as he passed a stare to kelechi and dayo who were fully awake.
“shhh, it could be the armed men posing as military people, lets stay here” kelechi said again.

“this is the military ,if you know you are out there ,come out right now with your hands in the air , you are fully surrounded “ the voice came again.

Olamide listened before he decided to take a closer look, once out of his hideout he could make the army khaki uniformed men in the field , olamide had a big smile on his faceas he dropped the weapon down.
“it’s the army kelechi, we are safe” Olamide said once more , he helped dayo up before they began to head for the field once more.

“do you think the rest are still alive?” Kelechi asked as they made their way towards the military men.

“I don’t know but I hope they are” Olamide said as a tear dropped down his eyes , somewhere in his head he began to process the images of dead trainees who were killed in the field.

THE END.

Weldone op, following steadily

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WATCH OUT FOR PRISON BREAK SEASON 2 BLACK NATION

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I may likely conclude THE RECRUIT TODAY depending on how free my day gets, thanks for reading oh and by the way PRISON BREAK is still fresh and BANGING. please check it out

I don show with my pami and groundnut
Abeg bring am on

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REWROTE THE DOG DAYS COMPLETELY.

DOG DAYS : ARMY MATERIAL IS A SINGLE WITH NO FURTHER OR FUTURISTIC SEQUEL .


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