It was Saturday morning, 10:00 a.m. I woke up, made myself breakfast, and got ready to visit John.
By 2:00 p.m., I reached the base gate — it had taken me two hours on foot.
Two new soldiers were standing guard. I had a feeling they'd mess with me like the last ones, but luckily, one of the old soldiers from last Saturday was nearby in the gate office. Before the new soldiers could start anything, the old one came out and asked,
"You here to see Captain John?"
I simply nodded.
The new soldiers looked surprised and asked why he was letting me in.
"He's here on Captain John's orders," the old soldier replied firmly. "I'm just following orders."
He then called in a Humvee to take me to the same gym as last time. "Captain John's not here right now," he added, "but I'll let M know you're coming."
I looked at him curiously. "Who's M?"
He smirked. "You didn't meet a blonde woman last time?"
"Oh… so she's M," I said.
After five minutes, the Humvee arrived and drove me to the gym. Some faces were familiar; others were new. As I stepped inside, I suddenly heard a loud voice from behind me:
"What the hell is a kid doing here?"
I turned around — a large officer stood there, towering over everyone. Before anyone could answer, M walked up behind him.
"He's here on Captain John's request," she said.
The officer frowned. "And why would John want some weak kid like him around?"
M replied calmly, "I don't know, General, but if John asked him to be here, there's a reason."
The General clearly didn't like it. He sighed and said, "Fine. He can wait here until John gets back. But he better not mess with anything."
Both the General and M left, though I could tell they didn't want me here.
While I waited, the same bald soldier from last Saturday kept staring at me — like he wanted me dead.
He finally walked over and said, "You're my sparring partner today."
I shook my head. "No, I'm not."
He smirked. "I wasn't asking."
He forced me into the ring. As soon as the bell rang, he lunged at me, throwing punch after punch, shouting,
"What the hell does John want with someone like you?!"
Every time I tried to stand, he hit me harder. My eyes began to swell from his punches. I tried to get up one last time, but he knocked me down again.
At that moment, everything around me faded. I felt that same cold rage from the night I had aimed my gun at that man in the alley.
Darkness swallowed my vision.
When I finally opened my eyes, eight or ten soldiers were holding me back — and the bald guy was lying motionless on the ring floor, blood dripping onto the mat.
The noise drew the attention of everyone. The General and M rushed into the gym. When they saw what had happened, both stood frozen in shock.
The General barked, "Get both of them to the pharmacy — treat their injuries! And when he's done," he pointed at me, "lock him in a cell. If he tries anything funny, you have permission to use force!"
I could see hesitation in the soldiers' faces; they looked scared, not angry. Still, they followed the order.
At 5:00 p.m., John returned from an operation with his team. He was about to hit the showers when he noticed the commotion around the base. He stopped one of the soldiers and asked,
"What's going on here?"