The Greatest Showman - Chapter 18: Recruit Training

Chapter 18: Recruit Training

The barrack was silent, it seemed that everyone was unable to react, and finally it was Renly who made the first move, he greeted Rami and went outside, passing the group of people at the door, they were dumbfounded, and one could even clearly see the bewilderment and dismay on their faces, Renly tugged at the corners of his mouth, saying nothing, nor did he need to say anything, and then left the barrack.

The cigarette in his hand was still burning in the curl, amidst the lingering smoke, he could clearly see the look in the eyes of Renly, Richard’s chest stirred with an irritation, wanting to vent but simply could not say anything, until the cigarette burned his fingertips, then he hurriedly threw away the cigarette in his hand, sprang up, grumpily yelling, “Get out, get out!”

After rushing out of the barracks, Richard’s pupils could not help but begin to spread again – only to see a large number of people emerge from three different barracks, bustling with a good deal of activity, at least sixty people at a cursory glance; not only that, there were more people coming out one after another alongside, and then gathered on the left, it is estimated that there was really a one company of people.

Then Richard saw Renly and Rami, who had been smoothly integrated into the group directly in front of him, grinding his teeth he quickly followed them.

Directly in front of them were several soldiers standing around chatting, while next to them stood several low-ranking officers shouting, “Hurry! Hurry up! With your turtle-like speed, you can’t support women before they have time to take off their pants, and when you get to the battlefield, you’ll just pucker up your asses and wait for someone else’s pleasure!” The vulgar and unbearable words were endless, as if the wind and rain viciously smashed down, so that people simply could not breathe.

If this was a real military camp, there would be some pricks standing up to challenge the authority of the officers; but not here, this is the crew, they are all hired actors, and they are all below the third tier – in other words, the crew won’t lose anything if they dismiss them, instead, actors are the ones who can’t afford getting fired.

So, Richard held his head up, anger burning in his eyes, then held his head down again and stood honestly in the line.

The line was sparse and uneven, and an officer came up from behind them with his head held high, he looked at least seventy years old, with short pale silver hair that looked spry, a neat little beard, and although the wrinkles on his face showed the years of time, his straight spine, steady steps, and sharp eyes were not in any way old, as he stepped right up in front of the line, with a authority. “I am Colonel James Dale Dye, and I will be in charge of your training for the next ten days.”

Like a hawk’s eye slowly sweeping over everyone, burning so hot that it made the sun overhead seem unbearably mild, “From today on, I don’t care what your names are, all of you will always be addressed by your role names while also matching your rank; during boot camp, anything you say, begins and ends with ‘sir’. Don’t make me repeat myself a second time.” There was no threat, nor was there any emphasis, but the forceful words had a decisiveness that could not be questioned.

Like a hawk’s eye slowly sweeping over everyone, burning so hot that it made the sun overhead seem unbearably mild, “From today on, I don’t care what your names are, all of you will always be addressed by your role names while also matching your rank; during boot camp, anything you say, begins and ends with ‘sir’. Don’t make me repeat myself a second time.” There was no threat, nor was there any emphasis, but the forceful words had a decisiveness that could not be questioned.

After two simple sentences, the Colonel was ready to turn and leave, but paused in his steps and turned around again, “And, one more very important thing, do not say yeah, yep, okay, ya, and so on, use ‘Yes’ for all responses. YES! “, his eyes looked to the left, “YES! “, and then to the middle, “YES!”, and finally fell to the right.

The three short and powerful words, the appalling momentum immediately made the scene silent, this is really not the atmosphere of a small drama crew, rather this is like the real boot camp. In the beginning, Renly had a feeling of entering through the wrong doors, and everyone else was probably not an exception. Renly felt an inexplicable sense of joy.

The Colonel turned around dryly this time, without stopping in his tracks, and shouted to several officers not far away, “Training begins.”

Immediately afterwards, the captain who had just entered Barracks Eight stepped forward and raised his voice, shouting, ” Everyone! Today is the first day, and we will start with a warm-up, a four-mile run around the grounds! Collectively, to the right! Turn!”

Four miles? Warm-up? First day?

Richard looked down at the leather shoes on his feet, then looked at the boots under the feet of Renly and Rami, a sense of unease invaded him, he finally did not hold back, raised his voice and shouted, “Excuse me ……” after a pause, and then changed his words, “Sir! What about leather shoes that are not suitable for running, may I ask?” Then after a second’s pause, he added “Sir”.

The captain, whose name was unknown, glanced at Richard, “Then take off your shoes and run.”

Puff …… low laughter was almost impossible to hold back, especially seeing Richard’s face full of confusion, but the laughter was quickly suppressed, because everyone realized that Richard was not the only one – There were very few people who as Renly did change into their uniforms.

Rami looked over at Renly with delighted eyes, when he finally understood what had just happened. Obviously, he was fortunate.

“What are you pussies still doing! I said to the right! Turn!”. The captain hissed again, and everyone panicked and turned right one after another, “Keep the current formation, start, and run!” And then, he followed the group, and ran along with them.

The boot camp, just like a storm, began immediately. Less than twenty minutes earlier, Renly had been sitting in a cab, seriously flipping through the script, envisioning Eugene’s character, looking forward to his first performance in front of the camera; but now he was sweating profusely, running in circles around the field – four miles, which sounded like a journey without end.

The “first day” after becoming an actor was really something else.

Although Renly was mentally prepared, sometimes the synchronization of body and mind is not so simple. Four miles equals more than six kilometers, a distance that is not easy for anyone to complete, not even for Chris Hemsworth, who stays fit, let alone Renly.

They thus circled the grounds one after another, the same scenery repeated in their sight, so that by the end of the day they were completely numb and could not even distinguish where they had run, their feet were not their own, they just kept moving forward mechanically and apathetically, and then moving forward again, as if they would never be able to stand up again after stopping —-

And so, it came to be. Just under a mile into the run, Richard fell down hard, claiming to have sprained his ankle, and fell to the back of the pack. Everyone thought that Richard had just gotten away with it, but little did they know that soon after, he would start running again, accompanied by another staff sergeant.

By the time most of the people ran four miles, Richard was still running endlessly, hearing that he had to run a total of six miles.

Renly had no time to care about others, his body has reached the limit, his brain was completely numb, unable to think, and could only breathe heavily, every muscle in his body seemed to be disobedient, he knew he should walk more slowly, and could not sit down, otherwise his heart would not be able to endure. However, his heavy feet could barely move, he felt like his feet were filled with lead.

Every inch of his body was moaning with pain, his whole body seemed to be falling apart, he couldn’t remember how he held on for four miles, even his instincts went on strike, he just relied on his breathing, his feet stumbled with inertia, and when the captain announced the end of the run, his feet actually couldn’t stop.

The air in his respiratory lungs was so hot that it seemed to be boiling, so much so that his chest began to tingle – or was it his ribs? His ability to sense his body seems to be off.

“Ren …… ahem, Renly, don’t sit down.” Rami’s clothes have been soaked to the bone, it looked like he was just fished out of the water, he supported his knees with both hands, his face had an abnormal flush, “should …… you should walk a little slower, otherwise …… ” Rami pointed to his heart, but the words failed to come out.

Renly tried to nod towards Rami to show that he understood, but his head just shook, and he actually had an urge to vomit. Four miles is far tougher than one might think. Helplessly, Renly could only wave his hand towards Rami to show that he understood and then remain silent.

At this point, the surrounding area has been covered with “corpses” – the captain just announced the end of the four miles, many people directly fell on their backs on the ground, not caring about dirt, their image or health issues, they just want to lie down, and then let themselves turn into a pile of mud. The horizontal and vertical “corpses” looked really spectacular, and there were not many left standing.

In comparison, Renly’s condition is already considered to be at the top.

To make matters worse, people running in leather shoes have worn out their shoes – after rubbing out blisters, they broke during the run, and then the wounds blurred into a mess, and some people couldn’t resist taking off their shoes, and the image, the smell, the sourness simply called out for yesterday’s dinner.

Even though Renly replaced his shoes, his feet were now in a vague pain, the heel, the side of the foot, the forefoot …… he felt that his feet were no longer his own, and he estimated that he had grown blisters on his feet. Only now that his body is almost struggling to breathe, the pain in his feet is temporarily ignored.

The captain stood next to him and pulled the corner of his mouth in contempt, “This is just the beginning, what a bunch of softballs.” After muttering a couple of words, he continued, “Fifteen minutes break, then the next round of training.”

The whole field wailed.

After the four-miles run, they first had a group sit-up training, that is, thirty people were divided into two groups to sit on the floor with their legs hooked face to face, and then each group of fifteen people sat in a straight line with their shoulders hooked together, and they all collectively exerted force to complete the sit-up at the same time, which tested not only the abs, but also the coordination of teammates; then there was an 800-meter cross-country obstacle training, which each person needed to complete at least three times. Immediately after that, two hours were spent practicing shooting – not the playful kind, but the kind that actually requires learning to disassemble a gun and finish aiming and shooting; and then after that, two miles of jogging ……(T/N – This sounds tough…)

It has been a long day, an incredibly long day, and it is hard to believe that this was only the first day.