The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (21 page)

Taking a small device out of his pocket that looked like a little black remote, Sergeant Ramsey pointed it towards the ceiling and one of the metal rings began to descend. “Oh my God!!” I squealed. “That is SO awesome!” I clapped my hands before hugging one of Gideon’s arms. “Do you realize what this means? You and Sam will be able to catch up to me pretty quickly with all these new gadgets!” Turning to Sam, I saw that he looked just as excited as I was.

“Do you really think that Gideon and I will be able to jump as high as you?” Even though he was excited, he was doubtful that he’d be able to catch up. Silly goose. I hugged him around his middle as I smiled happily up at him. “I’d bet all the dark chocolate in the world that you’ll catch up before the end of the week.” My answer seemed to satisfy both him and Gideon, since they knew how serious I was about chocolate.

My gaze jerked to the Sarge as he snorted and said, “They’ll catch up way sooner than that.”

When the metal ring was finally about halfway down, Sergeant Ramsey stopped its descent and turned to look at me expectantly. “Well? What are you waiting for, Teagan? A personal invitation?” Grinning at the challenge, I jogged to the South wall where the ropes were located. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw our little portable stereo sitting near the corner.
Hmmm….how did you get there?
Shrugging, I jogged over to it and chose a station for some mood music. The sound of reggae music filled the air as I jogged back to my starting position, but I just ignored Sergeant Ramsey as he started shaking his head in amusement at my selection.

Taking a deep breath, I focused my gaze on my target. I was a little worried when it seemed like the metal ring was so much higher up than I thought I was capable of jumping. Flicking my gaze uncertainly to my left, I saw that the other test subjects were doing shuttle runs from one side of the Gym to the other. A few of them looked in my direction, but for the most part the majority of them were all facing forward. I guessed they’d have to or else they’d run the risk smacking head on into someone else. The sergeants were all staring right at me though, so the pressure to succeed in front of them was high. At that moment, the door to the Gym opened and I saw the familiar forms of Dr. Duffy and Jamie both enter and start heading my way.
Oh great! More witnesses.

Just do it, Teagan! You can do this! Failure is not an option!
Sometimes I felt like it helped when I gave myself pep talks, and today was no exception. Exhaling one last breath, I darted forward and ran full speed at the wall, my gaze fully fixed on the metal ring that was spaced about a foot and a half away from it. As I approached the wall, I leapt and began running upwards, the toes of my sneakers finding purchase on the wall as I propelled myself up. I felt my fingers brush the metal ring and I flailed briefly before I found the strength to push up that tiny half inch more in order to grab the damned thing. Once I had it firmly in my grasp, I gripped it tightly and just dangled there for a moment, trying to catch my breath.
Geez! I almost didn’t make it!

Hearing clapping and shouts of praise, I tilted my head back and grinned at Sam and Gideon over my shoulder. “That looked so much more impressive in person than it did on the video!” Gideon called up to me. I finally released the ring and dropped back down onto the padded floor in a crouch before collapsing shakily onto my butt. “Whew! I swear, I think that was the highest I’ve ever jumped!”

Sergeant Ramsey nodded in agreement. “It was! Quite honestly, I wasn’t sure you’d make it the first time darlin’. I’m proud to see that ya proved me wrong!” He pointed his remote to lower another metal ring on the other side of the one I had just jumped onto. When it was at the same exact level as my ring, he turned to both Sam and Gideon. “Okay, now it’s yer turn! Practice makes perfect! Go!”

When Sam and Gideon just stood there staring at him incredulously, he roared, “NOW! Run, Run, Run!” Sergeant Ramsey was yelling in his no-nonsense voice which immediately set the guys in motion. I scrambled out of the way as they both jogged to the back wall to get into position. Gideon went first, and watching him run at full speed was like watching poetry in motion. When he approached the wall, he mimicked my method and leapt before running up it. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that he only came up a foot short. It was pretty freakin’ impressive considering it was only his first attempt. My eyebrows were arched in surprise when I looked at Doc Duffy and Jamie in amazement. “Whoa! Did you guys see that?!”

I whistled loudly and clapped my hands as Gideon turned to head back to the starting point. I saw his pleased grin of acknowledgement as our eyes met. When it was Sam’s turn, he was only a couple of inches short of Gideon’s first attempt. Shocked, I turned to ask Sergeant Ramsey, “How is this possible? How did they progress so fast already? I had to practice for over a month before I could get to that height. Is it because they have more upper body strength than I do?”

There was no beating around the bush with Sergeant Ramsey. “Yes.” Smiling at me pleasantly, he once again raised his remote to lower a new metal ring so that it dangled a foot and a half above Gideon and Sam’s rings. Turning to me expectantly, he ordered, “Go!”

“Shit,” I groaned. It was gonna be a long day.

“What did you just say?!” Sergeant Ramsey’s voice was sharp as he glared at me.

“Poop! I meant to say poop!” I quickly amended.

“I’ll let that one slide just this one time since Kyrie is on the other side of the Gym and not within hearin’ range. Don’t let it happen again,” he warned as he gave me the stink eye.

I bobbed my head in understanding and cast a quick look his way before jogging over to the guys.
Geez!
He could be freakin’ scary sometimes when he got in one of his “moods” and acted all demanding. Once I fell in place beside Gideon, he gaped at my new ring in surprise. “He really expects you to make it that high? It’s impossible!” Sam just nodded his head in agreement as he frowned at how high it was.

To our surprise, Sergeant Ramsey slowly walked in our direction and looked all three of us in the eye before coming to a stop right in front of me. Looking down at me in consternation, he pivoted until he was facing the rings. Without warning, he crouched down slightly before sprinting at the wall. I had never seen the sergeant move that fast before and I stared wide-eyed as he easily ran up the wall and grabbed the new ring he had adjusted for me. I felt my mouth drop open in shock. Turning to Gideon whose mouth was hanging open even bigger than mine, I said, “Well he just threw your opinion out the window because apparently it’s
not
impossible. I can’t believe how easily he just did that!” We watched as he dropped back down to the mat and crossed his arms over his chest. He continued to stare at us as a self-satisfied smirk began to spread across his lips. “Showoff,” I mumbled. Clearly he still heard me because he threw his head back and laughed.

I eyed the other guys before saying, “I think we need a stronger beat.” Gideon obligingly jogged over to the stereo and set the station on hip hop. I bobbed my head along to the faster beat as I stared determinedly at my ring. If the old man could do it, then I sure as hell could do it too!

And this is how we spent our morning—with the guys determined to reach my height, and me determined to reach Sergeant Ramsey’s height. Two hours in when I was already glistening with sweat and my muscles were starting to ache, I plopped onto the ground in exhaustion and took a water break. The Sarge allowed it, so the guys dropped down beside me and drank greedily from their own squeeze bottles. We all watched curiously as Jamie took the remote from Sergeant Ramsey and lowered a new ring just to the left of mine. She stopped it about a foot above my ring and then turned to stride our way. When she was standing over us, she caught my eye and winked before turning and sprinting at the wall. That was when I finally noticed that she was wearing exercise clothes and not her customary blue scrubs. I watched her carefully as she used
both
her hands and feet to scramble up the wall and grabbed her ring with ease.
Bloody hell! That’s it!

Huffing out a frustrated growl, I stood up and dusted my hands off on my sweats as I glared at my blasted ring. I couldn’t help but feel like it was taunting me as it hung there innocently from the ceiling. Exhaling, I sprinted for the wall with a new determination, and just like that…I finally caught my ring! I squealed gleefully when I finally did it I was so happy. I was sure I had discovered the trick just from watching Jamie. I heard Gideon and Sam cheering for me in the background as I dropped back down. Sergeant Ramsey, Jamie, and the Doc all grinned at me with satisfaction when I turned around. “Atta girl! Knew ya could do it!”

I didn’t know if it was because we had all gotten a little water break, or if it was because they had noticed Jamie’s method too, but both Gideon and Sam succeeded in reaching
their
rings on their very next try. Our half of the Gym was decidedly noisy as we all took turns cheering for each other, and I peeked at the others to see if we were disturbing them. I was amused to see that they were all sitting on the ground watching us. The sergeants behind them were giving us the thumbs up sign when they noticed we were looking at them. Sergeant Kami gave me a broad grin and a wave before she started bellowing at her charges to continue their workouts. Promptly, that half of the Gym rolled over and simultaneously started doing push-ups.

“That looks boring doesn’t it? I’d much rather be doing this!” Gideon was all smiles again, now that he had his newfound confidence in his abilities.

“Well that’s just too bad because we’re movin’ on to somethin’ different. We’ll pick up where we left off on this tomorrow.” Sergeant Ramsey had three silver hula hoops that Jamie had grabbed from somewhere when we hadn’t been paying attention. I noticed that they looked bigger and heavier than what we were accustomed to which didn’t worry me because I knew they would swing more slowly which would make the speed easier to control. Handing each one of us a hula hoop, he went on to explain, “As soon as you reach 10 minutes of hooping without letting it touch the ground, you’re excused for lunch.”

“Pfft! Piece of cake!” I murmured to the guys as they both nodded their heads in agreement. Doc Duffy positioned himself 15 feet away from Gideon and dug a stop watch out of his pocket. Jamie took up the same position in front of Sam with her own pocket watch, which left Sergeant Ramsey to monitor yours truly. We all stood at the ready with our hoops poised around our midsections waiting for the signal. After a very dramatic pause Sergeant Ramsey finally shouted, “Go!” at which point we all commenced hooping. “Hands to the sky!” Okay,
that
was new. Our arms would probably tire easily in this position but I suspected that was all part of his plan.

About four minutes in, my midsection was definitely starting to feel the burn of keeping up a heavier hoop, but I felt confident that I could continue the pace even though my arms were also starting to get tired. Suddenly, the radio started playing a current popular rap song. It had a really catchy hook and almost imperceptibly, Sergeant Ramsey’s head began to bob along with the beat. I watched him, mesmerized but amused. Without warning he started busting a move and I observed as he attempted his own version of popping and locking. It totally caught me by surprise, and the sight was so hilarious that I pointed at him and started howling with laughter. It didn’t help that Jamie and Doc Duffy started laughing too. Naturally, it totally broke my concentration and my hoop went crashing to the ground. It started a chain reaction as the guys started laughing at me and our sergeant’s antics. Their hoops crashed too meaning all three of us had to start over from scratch.

“Dammit!” I quickly clapped my hand over my mouth, but it was too late.

“One minute penalty for Teagan, and no chocolate for the next two weeks!” Sergeant Ramsey practically crowed with happiness.

“What!? Now I have 11 minutes? POOP!!” My ridiculous expletive made everyone except me laugh louder. I was hungry, dammit! I took some comfort in the fact that at least I could still swear privately in my head.

I sighed in resignation as we all picked up our hoops to begin again. I glanced apologetically to the guys but they just grinned back, obviously enjoying the whole freakin’ situation.
G’ah!

“Go!” Our hips started rocking as we picked up momentum and once again we raised our hands to the sky. Now that I knew the Sarge was purposely trying to sabotage us, I knew to expect the unexpected. I watched him cautiously but this time he waited until five minutes in before he pulled his next move. He kept his eye trained on me as he sauntered over to the stereo and pushed “play” on the CD player. None of us had any CD’s so I was curious what he had up his sleeve. I heard Sam’s loud gasp of surprise as the opening to one of his favorite boy band songs started to play. It was one of the songs we had learned the choreography for. Okay, I had a feeling I knew where
this
was going.

Positioning himself directly in front of me, Sergeant Ramsey assumed the position for the beginning of the dance. I’d have no choice but to develop even more respect for the Sarge if he actually bothered to learn the choreography to this song. We all watched in amazement as he started dancing again, but with a perfect expression of seriousness on his face. Jamie and Dr. Duffy started clapping along to the beat and I saw Sam in my peripheral bobbing his head as he started to sing along. It felt like we had just entered the twilight zone or something because the situation was so absurdly hilarious. Or maybe it was just dementia starting to set in because I was so hungry. I heard Gideon laughing beside me, but I refused to look at him for fear of dropping my hoop again.

Instead, I concentrated on matching the speed of my hooping to the beat of the song as I started dancing in place. “Is this a dance-off Sarge? Cuz you know you’re going to Loserville if it is!” I taunted. He only growled in displeasure as he realized I remained unfazed. As he continued his ridiculous dance, I raised my voice and started singing along to the song with Sam. Gideon had a decent voice too and I smiled as he decided to join in the fun. I laughed out loud at the frustration on Sergeant Ramsey’s face. Okay, I had to admit that this was fun.