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boots. “Like this.”
    After arranging his pants as directed by Akiva, Ezra was fully dressed. The uniform had the effect of equalizing him with this environment, which made him feel and look more confident, so when he followed Akiva out into the field Ezra actually felt ready.
    Jena had joined them only a few minutes later, fully dressed in uniform like Susan’s, her family name also stitched onto her chest.
    Ezra was surprised to find Private Bullring—whose real rank and name was Sergeant Lucius Barnes—joining them exactly at the agreed-upon time, to the second. There were no introductions, conversations, or pleasantries: Sgt. Barnes got down to the test even before he reached the flagpole.
    The huge man started by making them run around the entire base, and by the third lap, Ezra felt sick and regretted his dad’s heavy breakfast. After that, with no rest at all, they were asked to drop to the ground and do fifty pushups, followed by fifty sit-ups, followed by another five laps around the base (a distance of about five miles, according to Barnes, who would time this last run). Ezra did well in the sit-ups and the run, but could barely finish the pushups in a way Barnes found satisfactory.
    Ninety minutes after starting, Ezra was out of breath, feeling like a corpse and trying to wipe vomit off his clothes. Ezra was a bit relieved to see that both Jena and Akiva seemed almost as exhausted as Ezra was: they were on their backs, looking up at the sky and laughing.
    It was Jena who was first on her feet as Barnes came to tell them the test was over and that they had all displayed acceptable physical fitness. “Your physical training in Zenith will be the standard,” he said with something like a smile curling under the nose ring.
    Akiva grabbed Ezra’s shoulder in an affectionate gesture. “We did pretty well, eh?”
    Barnes laughed. “Don’t feel too bad, Blanchard. People puke more often than you’d think in this test. Maybe next time you’ll keep it in your stomach.”
    “Next time?” Ezra said, finally managing to speak and to get up without feeling he was about to faint.
    “Oh, you have to complete this test twice every year. Now go shower. You have twenty minutes before you meet with Corporal Higgins and you sign your contracts. Congratulations on getting this part done. See you later,” he said, and left them.
     
    It was only minutes later that Ezra found himself showering sweat off his body and vomit out of his hair.
    Jena was in the next stall, naked. Though he couldn’t see her, the thought alone was exciting, and made him have thoughts that he probably shouldn’t be thinking.
    The showerhead was poorly maintained and the water pressure too high, making the shower more a chore than a relaxing reward, but Ezra still wanted to stay in there for hours, washing it all away.
    Ezra was finishing the shower when he heard the faint weeping sounds coming from Jena’s stall. He wasn’t sure if what he was hearing was actually her crying (there was too much noise to know for sure), and because of that, Ezra felt unsure whether he should say something or not.
    When he had finally decided to ask her if she was okay, he heard it come from Akiva’s mouth first. “Jena? Is everything all right?” Akiva’s voice came from outside Jena’s stall.
    “Yeah,” he heard her say before shutting off the water. “I’m okay.”
    “Wanna talk about it?” Akiva said. Why had Ezra taken so long? That could have been him offering a shoulder.
    “No, it’s all right. Thank you, Kiv.”
    “All right. If you need anything—”
    “Yeah, I will. Thank you.”
    Ezra cursed and began wrapping his towel around his waist. When he was about to step outside, he saw two girl’s feet under the door. Was Jena waiting for him just outside the shower stall? Maybe she had something to say to him.
    With the towel still wrapped around his waist, Ezra opened the door.
    “You’re in my stall,” the semi-naked girl outside