Heartless Angels

Chapter 10 – Oakley

Chapter 10 – Oakley

We

e had been split into 13 groups of 20 wolves. Each group had two different trainers there to tell them what to do and to

score them. Those same two trainers would follow the group throughout all 13 stations. A touch on the arm meant that you were to leave immediately. It could happen at any time. There was one she-wolf in our group who was kicked out before we even walked to the first station. No explanation was given, you were just expected to leave.

Cassie and I were lucky in that we were in the same group. We were quite unlucky in that we were paired with Sophia as our trainer. The other trainer was a male named Ray. He was stoic as he watched all of us, though I felt his eyes on me quite often throughout the day.

Welp, he can look as much as he wants. I still have half of a matebond tying me to one male dou chebag. I don’t need another one looking for a quick roll in the hay

At each station, either Sophia or Ray walk us through what we are expected to do. They give a short tutorial on specific weapons for anyone who wasn’t familiar with the weapons and then set us to it. Honestly, though, if you weren’t familiar with the weapons, why were you here? Tryouts are for showing off your skills, not learning new ones. Luckily, my father and brothers had taught me how to use each of the weapons presented. Though I wasn’t the best with all of them, I was able to use them.

The first station that we run through is archery. Sophia explained to many of the wolves how to nock, aim, and loose an arrow. We lose seven wolves at this station alone. Most of them couldn’t nock the arrow appropriately and one arrow went so wild that it nearly hit the trainer of another group. Though I wasn’t able to hit a single bull’s eye on the target, three of the five arrows were in the red area and two were just inside the yellow. For someone who hadn’t shot a bow in a few months, I was proud of myself. I noticed an appraising gaze from both Ray and Sophia when they saw my target.

Cassie did get a bull’s eye, but she didn’t have as much consistency as I did. Of her other four arrows, two were in the red, one in the blue, and one in the dirt in front of the target. Still, the majority of her arrows were where they needed to be and she

advanced with me.

The next two stations were with guns, one pistol and the other long range. I hadn’t had as much experience with the long range rifles as I did with pistols, but I was still able to make all five of my bullets in the red marking area from 1,000 yards. I actually got two bull’s eyes with the pistol. Between these two stations, we only lost one wolf. Seems that everyone had a good amount of experience with guns.

The next station focused on knife throwing. Seemed as if the Elite Ten needed to be just as proficient with weapons that kept their enemies far away as they were with close fighting. For this station, we were given wooden mannequins and five knives. We stood 10 feet away and they wanted at least one of the five knives to land a killing blow. This was definitely Cassie’s station. Girl got four killing blows: one in the top of the head, one in the eye socket, one in the throat, and one in the heart. I managed to land one killing blow in the heart and four that would have given my target a really bad day. We didn’t lose any wolves at this station, though I’m convinced that some of those killing throws were just plain luck.

The fifth station was swords. Here, we were given blunt swords with rounded tips. We wouldn’t be cutting each other up. but it would hurt like hell to get hit with one of those swords. The goal of this station was to either disarm your opponent or land a killing blow. I was pitted against a nasty piece of work by the name of Lisa. Even though I disarmed her, she kept coming after me, throwing dirt in my face, tripping me, and attempting to use a rock to end the fight. She had to be pulled off by Ray, but she somehow still managed to make it through that station. Two wolves were lost and we were down to ten. Cassie, myself, and lovely Lisa are three of those wolves.

Thenext two stations consist of a foot race, followed by laps in a pool. Two wolves were lost in the foot race and two

Thenga

Chapter 10 – Oakley

wolves who couldn’t swim were immediately sent packing. Down to six wolves.

We are pitted against seasoned warriors for the human hand-to-hand fighting and wolf combat stations. We have to just last three minutes in the ring with them. Surprisingly, none of us are kicked out during these rounds. It’s the last four stations that seem to take a toll. These four stations have more to do with m ental acuity and flexibility than brute strength and knowledge of weapons. These are the strategy rounds.

The first station in this section is a memory task. We are given a list of 20 directions that we have to memorize. We are then given headphones pumping loud rock music, dark sunglasses, and spun around several times. We have to recite the 20 directions that we were given. I guess that the sensory overload that they give us prior to our recitation is to disorient us and make it harder to recall everything appropriately. But I was used to being messed with in my old pack because of my weak wolf. People would constantly whisper behind me about how worthless I was, put gum in my hair, throw papers at me, or otherwise torture me. Very few of the adults did anything about it and I just had to endure. So, though initially a bit disconcerting, the sensory overload didn’t do anything to my memory.

But it did take us down to just five wolves. Wonderfully, Cassie

e was still with me. I wish I could say that Lisa-chick wasn’t, but we can’t always get everything we want, can we?

At the next station, which took place in a large hedge maze, we had to wait about 10 minutes before we could go in because the group ahead of us took a while. Each one of us were then blindfolded and taken into the maze and left on our own to complete it. Our time to get out had to be less than 10 minutes. If it went over that, we were automatically disqualified. I was led into the maze by Ray, my blindfold pulled tightly over my eyes. After the first few turns, it started to feel familiar and it was only after I was able to pick the next four turns that I knew I was right. The maze was a 3D representation of the directions that we just had to memorize. Once I’m left alone to complete the puzzle, I just reverse the directions and am out in three minutes. The final male wolf that had been with us is gone and there are just four she-wolves left in the group: Cassie, me, Lisa, and some random she-wolf I never caught the name of

The next station seems to come easily for all of us. We have to decode a message using a partial cipher. The message isn’t hard to decode, but it also isn’t the most encouraging: How many are left? It seemed to be a way to try and get into our

heads, but we didn’t lose a single wolf on that station.

The final station is somewhat weird, but it makes the random she-wolf that was hanging in there with Cassie, Lisa, and me

freak out. Needless to say, she didn’t stay. We were put in a room that was completely dark, windowless, and with only a single

door and given ten minutes to get out. Apparently, the other she wolf really didn’t like the dark. I quickly realized that there was

a table full of all different kinds of tools and materials in the room, both on top and under the table. I also realized that I wasn’t

going to be able to do anything in the dark. So, I needed light

In the strangest of occurrences, an elementary school science project came in luck here. There was a potato, pennies,

wires, and a small light bulb in all the stuff that I found. I was easily able to h o ok up a potato light bulb. It didn’t give me a ton of light, but it was enough to see with my advanced wolf senses.

I very quickly realized that the hinges of the door were inside with me. Instead of trying to bust down the door or pick the lock, I could just take the hinges off, open the door, and leave. So, using a screwdriver and a hammer, I slowly but steadily lifted the pins out of the two hinges and pull the door open. Took all of five minutes and I was out.

Both Cassie and Lisa made it through the stage.

We a

are done. The tryouts were over. Now we just had to wait for them to

give the official results to see if we had made the cut.

There were several groups where no one made it to the final trial and the trainers bided their time until the end by helping

the other trainers with their groups.

Our wait lasted about 30 minutes and then Sophia called everyone to give her their attention. “Sixty of you completed the

Chapter 10 – Oakley

Tryouts des Though we nut many of your fellows, you sixty persevered You should feel quite proud of yourself But, as! sad at the beginning we can only take 50 of you call your name, please evit the castle ground immediately

If I

I

intently afraid that ‘l have to leave after finishing everything But my name is never called I made it into the trials, along with Cassie Stary and Jer ry We’re all jumping up and down, hugging each other and giving loud who ops of excitement.

and then it dawns on me. For the first time in a long time. I feel happy

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