One week

"As a reward for finally completing the circuit, you can play with these toys here." Jorge said as he raised a pistol.

"From now on, you will undergo training supervised by Lieutenant Marcos. You will learn to shoot enemies, instead of your feet. In addition to combat classes ... with me soon after." Jorge spoke with a smile.

"But your first mission as cockroaches will be to clear that field, removing all obstacles." Jorge then pointed to some shovels and wheelbarrows in a corner, he also had some other equipment.

Upon hearing this, the Walkers sighed, they did not have the thought of revolt. During the training days, some of them tried to revolt against the abusive treatment they were receiving, but they were always easily knocked down by stun guns.

Nobody dared to use skills against the military, as this could result in something catastrophic. No one can fight firearms and explosives with only skills, at least not yet.

Ralph just didn't care much about the treatment he received, since that wouldn't change anything, he just saw it as trivial, a simple obstacle to be overcome.

"Words are empty by nature", this is what his father taught him when he was bullied at school.

After taking a wheelbarrow, Ralph looked at Victor and said:

"I have no experience with this type of work, do you?"

"I used to help my father with his work, he was a construction foreman." Victor spoke with a smile.

"What the hell, I have no idea what to do with it." Julius spoke as he lifted a drill with his hand.

"Stupid, this is a drill, it serves to drill." Junior spoke.

Júlio looked at Junior and smiled slightly as he asked sarcastically:

"Were you born knowing !?"

Ralph ignored them both and went with Victor to the field of barbed wire, there were some pieces of tissue and blood strewn all over the wire.

As he swallowed his own saliva, Ralph got his hands dirty and started to work.

At the end of the day, there were no more obstacles on the training ground. The barbed wire had been removed, along with the strange mud. The water wells had been drained and plugged. The tower had literally been dismantled.

Jorge again went up on the platform when the sun went down, and, seeing everyone on the floor, tired and dirty, nodded and shouted:

"Very well, it seems that you are not that stupid, since you are all in one piece. Very well, you are no longer cockroaches, you are now rats, congratulations."

No one was willing to take Jorge's words seriously, and they were silent.

Jorge noticed this and smiled, finally there was not a single face with an angry or offended expression, their mind seemed to have finally matured enough.

"As a reward for your hard work, you will have a decent dinner tonight, you will clean up before the food gets cold." Jorge screamed and left, leaving everyone surprised.

-Won't we have to cook today?

The Walkers who were responsible for the kitchen on the day thought.

Ralph felt anticipation for the "worthy" dinner and got up from the floor.

The same food every day, even the juice is the same always ... This is simply hell for most who have never experienced anything like this.

After both men and women had showered and changed their uniforms, they went to the "cafeteria".

The cafeteria was just an area with no roof, where they had to improvise when it rained to eat in a minimally decent way.

As some Walkers had land-related skills, some parasols were made so that everyone could take shelter in the event of rain.

When Ralph got there, he saw that there were several tables with a banquet on them, and finally, chairs !!

Ralph had already gotten used to the floor or chairs made with skill, but nothing is better than a real chair.

After taking a seat, Ralph waited and endured the urge to eat at that moment. A banquet like this was certainly special, how could he eat so carelessly?

Certainly, after all the Walkers arrived and sat down, Commander José and some officers arrived.

There was no platform this time, so José simply spoke while standing:

"First of all, I congratulate all of you for evolving so much in such a short time. Some of you were already veterans, but I am sure that even you have gained a lot in that period of time." José said and then nodded to Lieutenant Marcos.

Lieutenant Marcos then spoke:

"As has been said before, I will supervise your training ... However, a change was necessary. You will not have three months, you need to be ready for combat in a maximum of one week."

Upon hearing this, everyone was wide-eyed, but before anyone could speak, Marcos continued:

"Therefore, the training will be done in a more radical way than expected. Starting tomorrow, you will no longer have to parade in formation, instead you will have training with firearms and explosives, and after that you will have combat training. , supervised by Sergeant Jorge and me, the training will have breaks only for meals, so get ready. " Marcos finished speaking and stepped back, waving to José.

"Sorry if this is sudden, but this change was necessary. The reason for this, you will understand from the moment you step on the battlefield." José then raised a glass of wine and shouted:

"Here's to all of you, good luck." He then swallowed the wine at once and left with the officers, leaving everyone with no opportunity to speak.

"This ... They are going too far!" Junior shouted.

A commotion started on the spot, everyone was disgusted with the move. What do you mean, "just a week?"

So far, they have only had basic physical training, and have suffered humiliation. Now do they have to go to the battlefield?

Ralph sighed, he didn't agree with that either, but he knew there was a reason, he's a rational guy, and he doesn't like to let feelings suppress rationality ...

While the majority were talking to each other in disgust, Ralph simply made the most of the banquet.

"Here, I don't think you tasted that turkey breast." Carmen, who had arrived at Ralph's side, said while offering Ralph a plate.

Ralph looked into Carmen's eyes, but just thanked her and accepted the dish.

"You don't look so angry." Carmen said as she sat down next to Ralph.

"What's the use?" Ralph said with a smile as he continued to eat.

"Well, some are thinking of revolting, they think that if we unite, we can defeat the military." Carmen spoke while eating a dessert.

Ralph laughed and shook his head.

Carmen frowned slightly and asked:

"Do not you agree?"

"I'm surprised that some of us believe we have a chance." Ralph replied.

Carmen was silent for a moment and asked:

"But then, do you accept being treated like that by the military?"

Ralph shook his head and said:

"It doesn't matter. I just treat these things as trivial."

Carmen seemed to be a little irritated and said:

"Trivial? They've been humiliating us since we got here."

Ralph stopped for a moment and said:

"Humiliation? What a joke. Who told you that the military is humiliating us? Who decides whether this is humiliation or not ourselves. Honestly, I see it as trivial, and in fact it is beneficial to everyone's mentality." Ralph then went back to eating, leaving Carmen speechless.

"You are crazy." Carmen sighed and stood up.

Ralph just smiled slightly and ignored her.

It is no surprise to Ralph that Carmen doesn't understand this, as it sounds very strange. But it is the truth. Words are empty by nature, what makes them "alive" are people's actions and decisions.

Ralph's decision was to deal with the treatment he was receiving lightly, considering it trivial. And that mindset may have helped Ralph further develop his fighting intent.

Ralph wonders every night, how can he have changed so much in such a short time. But it almost always comes to the same conclusion: He was always like that, he just didn't have the opportunity to notice.

A comfortable life without major obstacles, that was Ralph's life. How was he going to discover his characteristic like that?

After eating until he was satisfied, Ralph joined Júlio and Junior, who were "tasting" wine.

Victor seemed to be talking to a woman in a corner, but it didn't seem so simple.

"What the hell, if I had my cell phone I would certainly take a picture of that bastard now and send it to his wife." Junior commented with false anger.

"What is it? Are you jealous? Don't worry, he's also like you." Julio spoke with a brilliant smile.

"I bet he's still a virgin, look at his face! Looks like he never talked to a woman in his life!" Ralph spoke while drinking.

Júlio and Junior agreed, but Victor's next action stunned the trio.

Victor grabbed the woman's shoulders, who looked to be around thirty years old, and placed a deep kiss on her lips.

The woman was stunned at first and tried to revolt, but soon stopped and hugged Victor.

"FUCK !!"

"I DON'T BELIEVE THAT BASTARD HAS GOT IT!"

"SHE SHOULD BE A TRANSVESTITE, THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"

The trio almost broke their wine glasses when they saw this.

After a while, Victor approached the trio after "saying goodbye" to the woman.

The bastard's expression was splendid, with a big demented smile.

"Give me one of those glasses, I think it's best to enjoy it while there's time." Victor spoke with a laugh, but the trio ignored him, with somber expressions.

Victor frowned and said with a wicked smile:

"And to think that that woman would send me a note declaring her interest! I think she just couldn't resist my charms ... But unfortunately, I have a woman waiting for me at home, and I had to reject her."

Upon hearing this, the trio broke the wine glasses in unison.

"Did you reject her? What a joke! We saw you kissing her." Ralph spoke in a somber tone.

Victor narrowed his eyes and said with a stoic smile:

"As for that, she seemed to be sad that I rejected her, so I felt sorry for her and offered her a kiss, she seems to have enjoyed it as she suggested being lovers."

The trio decided to have their ears deaf to Victor, thinking he was lying.

"Well, if you don't want to believe it, I don't think there's much I can say." Victor said and took a glass of wine.

The quartet drank wine until they felt a little drunk and went to the dorm. Even if they had a hangover the other day, they wanted to celebrate at least a little.

To everyone's surprise, however, they were not woken up at dawn, but by a trumpet sound at dawn.

They didn't need anyone to say what it meant, so they all dressed in uniform and put on their boots as usual, and after brushing their teeth quickly, they went to introduce themselves.

"Very well, I see that they are old enough to not be long." General José, who was on a plataform again, shouted.

"Today begins the real hard training for all of you, which will last a whole week. I will not lie, maybe some of you will not be able to reach the end, but that does not mean a total failure. Even those who do not reach the end of training will earn an official certificate, which proves their qualifications as Walkers, and will be promoted to the rank of staff sergeant. "

"However, those who complete the training completely ... In addition to receiving the certificate will be promoted directly to the post of master sergeant!"

Upon hearing this, Ralph's expression has finally changed a bit, there is a difference of two ranks between staff sergeant and master sergeant.

Ralph is well aware of the significance of these ranks within the armed forces, so he made it his first order goal to reach the end of training.

All Walkers thought the same thing.

"This is true not only for Brazilians, but for all of you!" José shouted.

There was no longer a need for a translator, since during the time together, the Walkers interacted a lot with each other and got used to the other language.

Although not perfect, everyone has great proficiency in the opposite language. Portuguese and Spanish have always been similar languages.

"In addition, whoever gives up in the middle of training will go directly to the reserve and can go back to their families." José spoke as he carefully watched everyone's expressions.

Some of the Walkers, upon hearing this, were tempted to give up at once, but contained themselves. They have worked so hard all this time, they want to go to the end.

Even those who had children, those who were entering middle age and felt tired, were all determined to try!

José smiled in approval and continued:

"During the morning and afternoon, you will have advanced combat and weapon handling training, during the night you will have ... special training. I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope with all my heart that the majority will reach you the final." José said and left, leaving Jorge and Marcos on the platform.

Seeing their sadistic expression, Ralph can't help but sigh, this week would certainly be hell.