Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 68369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Nutrition, I jotted down too. ’Cause that was another thing. If I was out in the field with limited resources, I was going to need to know what exactly would keep me alive. Fat? Slow carbs? Fiber? What would sustain me the longest?
Protein bars with peanut butter seemed like a good choice, but I needed to study the topic properly.
Operator Rose walked by me, leaving a piece of paper upside down on my desk, and I picked it up.
Echo Unit
“You’ll find a code at the top of the paper,” Rose declared. “It’s the team’s duty to keep that secret. The interrogators do not know it. Which brings us to the team that will interrogate you. They are highly trained operators with Hillcroft and agents with our sister agency JATE Shield in LA, and they are allowed to use the same torture methods you might get subjected to if you get your ass captured in the field.”
Holy fuck, this was really happening.
I was nervous and, yeah, okay, a little scared too, but this fucking worked for me. Adrenaline started pumping through me at the mere prospect, bringing me back to when Bo had told me I’d find joy in more than using my gun. I’d get my adrenaline hits from rescue operations, from training, from pursuit, and from…well, life. A life I loved.
“In case you need the reminder, escalation won’t be sudden,” Rose went on. “Our interrogators will increase your suffering slowly, and every trainee has the right to call it quits whenever you want. And if you want to stop, you say your mentor’s name. In Echo’s case, that’s me. If you utter Operator Rose at any point, everyone will back off, and the sensory deprivation and whatever else will cease. Just keep in mind this will be reflected in your evaluation.” He returned to the front desk and faced us with a serious look in his eyes. “I don’t need to tell you that this is a matter of life and death. It’s our goal to make this as realistic as possible—nothing else can prepare you for the worst-case scenario in the field. All while—don’t give your life for a fucking drill. If you need to stop, you need to fucking stop. Am I making myself clear? Nobody’s getting kicked out for needing a break during training. Ever.”
I took a breath. “Understood, sir.”
The others understood too, and Rose nodded once.
“Take twenty minutes to read the information we gave you, and feel free to discuss things with your teammates.” With that said, he strode out.
I exhaled and dropped my gaze to the paper again.
Code: EchoZeroTwoFive
Scenario: Your unit has broken in to an armored truck in downtown DC, where you retrieved a box with a code inside. The interrogators have footage of the unit being within 25 meters of the break-in. You and your unit are prime suspects.
Use your training to get through 72 hours without revealing the code.
Seventy-two hours without revealing the code…
We could last that long without food, no sweat, but preferably not without water. So that was at least one thing we’d need to bargain for.
We could go without sleep, too, but it would lower our guards, slow us down, and possibly fuck with our heads.
Then there was pain. We were about to discover our thresholds for pain.
“EchoZeroTwoFive,” I heard Gabriella whisper behind me.
I cleared my throat and looked up, ready to address the others. “We need to create fake details that we can give up in exchange for water, some rest, and hopefully less pain.”
Jones looked up too, and he eyed the other trainees.
Miguel spoke. “And we gotta make it simple. Just enough details—and they gotta be decent in terms of what the intel is worth—but nothing else.”
“We’ll expand the scenario,” Montgomery suggested. “For instance—a getaway vehicle. An escape route. The location of our headquarters, et cetera.”
I frowned. “I like the first two, but nobody would divulge their headquarters for some water. Whatever intel we surrender needs to be believable and realistic.”
“Agreed,” Gabriella said. “In addition, with the getaway car…? We need to be careful there too. I’m all for a silver Camry, but no flashy military-green Porsche. The car needs to be somewhat difficult to find—and we can’t remember the license plate or something.”
Valid point, except—
“It needs to be a car the whole unit fits into,” Lawson pointed out.
Yeah. That. There were seven of us. It had to be a decent-sized SUV. Inconspicuous.
“Hold on, we’ll settle this right now,” Miguel said. I looked back at him, and he was on his phone. “Let’s see… We have, uh… Okay, here. The Hyundai Palisade has sold over 500,000 units at this point. Common enough?”
“It’s a fairly affordable make too,” Lawson added with a nod. “It doesn’t stand out.”
Jones cleared his throat. “Just mentionin’ that we have plenty of time to map this out after we’re done here.”