Rains of Heaven & Sprouts of Hell: by Nick Venom (ereader android .TXT) 📕

“Okay…” He muttered as he sat up in anticipation of their arrival. He already had guessed when they would arrive, finding them arriving on time. Azaan and Miah were drenched in sweat, barely managing to keep going. Still, being so tired, they accomplished their goal. The others weren’t too far behind them.

“Congrats on finishing the laps,” Raife told them. “Especially Azaan and Miah. I see that you guys want to stay here.” They both nodded their heads vigorously. “Well, that’s good. You all get ten minutes to rest then we’ll finish up with push-ups and sit-ups then we’re done here. You all understand?” 

All of his rookies nodded their heads before he dismissed them. “Ten minutes then we’re continuing.” He reminded them before sitting back in his chair. He stared at the soaked rookies as they nearly fell to the ground with their tiredness. This brought a grin to his face as he remembered finding himself in their situation.

“He was right. We all grow up one day.”

TBC…

“Uh… I… I…” Mae stumbled over her words. “I think w-w-we…” Her voice trailed off suddenly. She then tried again but lost her voice again. Madelyn watched from some distance away, shaking her head.

Poor girl, She thought to herself. She’s gonna collapse at this point. She stood up, approaching the frazzled Mae. 

“Do jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and arm and leg stretches. Twenty of each in this order.” She ordered the rookies. The rookies nodded, glancing at Mae with sympathetic looks, before beginning their exercises.  

Madelyn then placed her hand on Mae’s shoulder, steering her away from the rookies. They went some distance away from them, not far enough to lose sight of them but enough to be unheard by them.

“Are… Are you okay?”

Mae stared at Madelyn as if she had two heads. “Y-You… You’re talking to me?”

Madelyn took a step back, taken off guard by her comment. “Y-Yeah, who else would I be talking with then?”

Mae nodded. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Stop freaking out when you’re talking with them. Selena assigned you the good kids, so you got nothing to worry about.” She told her. “Nobody wants you to mimic Selena and start yelling at them like her, but you do need to put your foot down and start behaving like a normal trainer. Trainers don’t fumble over their words and act like a rookie, so why are you doing that?”

“I… I didn’t m-mean to.”

Madelyn shook her head. “Stop acting like a scared kid, Mae. None of us are here to hold your hand, so grow up already.”

“I just didn’t want to mess up.” 

“You don’t want to mess up? How do you think people change? By always making the right answer? No! They screw up. They make bad decisions and learn from them. Sometimes the risk outweighs the consequences. And sometimes it’s the other way around.”

Mae nodded. “I d-didn’t want to disappoint the others.”

“Mae. Do you really care about what they think? Do you want to fit in with them? By what? Stumbling over yourself? If you truly want to be part of the squad, then show your worth! Otherwise… get the hell out of here.” Madelyn remarked, staring deeply into Mae’s eyes. Her words cut deep into Mae. “We don’t need a burden going with us.”

Mae nodded, though she looked like she was close to crying. “I-I’m sorry.”

“What did I just say? Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to the rookies who get to see this pitiful side of you!” She shouted, pointing at the rookies who had overheard her and now looked in their direction. “Go show them that you can be a good teacher, otherwise, off with you.”

Mae nodded, wiping her tears on her sleeve. She breathed in and out before turning away from her. “T-Thank you,” She whispered before approaching the rookies. Madelyn watched her from afar, seeing her new approach. She was still very shaky, but she managed to get through more than one sentence without stuttering. 

“What are your names?” She asked them. 

“Max.”

“Clara.”

“Elizabeth.”

“Rue.”

“Jake”

Were her responses. All of her rookies were nice and sweet to her, especially once they realized that it was her first day.

Sweet kids, Madelyn thought. That’s why Selena paired them with Mae. She knew that they wouldn’t cause her any trouble.

Madelyn cracked a small smile before it disappeared as soon as Mae glanced at her. The glance held uncertainty, but not as much as she expected. 

Mae turned back to face her rookies. “Five laps around the community.” She ordered. Her rookies complied and began the laps, trotting away at a conservative pace. As soon as they disappeared from her sight, Mae rushed to Madelyn with small sparkles in her eyes.

“I did it!” She exclaimed.

Madelyn nodded her head, a smile threatening to crack through her facade. “You’re not done yet. You still have to supervise them for their laps. Once the laps are done, do some more stretches or something then you’re done for the day.”

Mae nodded. “Thank you, Madelyn.” 

Madelyn nodded her head. “Go. Go and supervise. I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?” She asked, furrowing her brows.

“Personal matters. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Madelyn turned around. “See you.”

“See you,” Mae responded, watching as Madelyn walked away from her. After lingering for a few moments too long, she turned around and headed to the starting position of the laps.

Madelyn, meanwhile, glanced around and noticed that Mae was way out of earshot. “You’re welcome, Mae.” She mumbled before picking up the pace. Something exciting was waiting for her at the main gate.

“He’s finally home.”

TBC... 

Madelyn left Mae with the responsibilities of supervising the rookies and headed towards the main gate of Winter Hollow. She approached the main gate, waiting off to the side. He should be here soon, hopefully. She thought to herself as she waited for the gate to open - which it did a collection of minutes later. 

A few humvees, riddled with dents, rolled into Winter Hollow. The guards above the gate began directing the others, moving everyone in position in case the roamers tried to squirm in with the humvees. “Watch for roamers!” A guard shouted, in front of Madelyn. He was armed with an assault rifle, staring down the iron sights while crouched. “Incoming!”

Guards swarmed to protect the front as a small clump of roamers tried their luck. They sprinted towards the main gate as it began to shut close.

“Incoming roamers! Fire on target!” The guard in front of Madelyn ordered. Madelyn closed her eyes and cringed as the sound of gunfire overtook the atmosphere. The soldiers poured bullets into the roamers, cutting them before they could come too close to the main gate. The roamers fell apart because of the bullets, falling to the ground dead. 

“Hold fire! Hold fire! Hold your goddamn fire!” The guard in front of Madelyn shouted. The gunfire cease as the guard rose to his feet. “Burn the bodies, watch for reinforcements!” He ordered before turning away from the scene. He glanced at Madelyn recognizing her. “Afternoon, Madelyn. Sorry about the ruckus.”

Madelyn opened her eyes before shaking her head. “I-I’m fine.” She said before turning away and heading to meet with the humvees. The guard, named Alec Coy, watched her from afar. 

“What a lucky guy. He has someone waiting for him.”

Meanwhile, the humvees came to a stop in a makeshift parking lot some distance away from the main gate. The doors opened and people jumped out. Some of the soldiers were stained with blood and guts but were unfazed by it. They helped to get out a few corpses that they quickly dressed in sheets to spare the deceased’s loved ones from seeing them while others appeared dazed and uncertain. They had seen a true battlefield and death - their expressions showed this.

One of the soldiers jumped out, glancing around and instantly noticing Madelyn. He handed his weapons to a fellow soldier before approaching Madelyn.

“Madie!” He exclaimed, opening his arms for an embrace.

Madelyn went in for the embrace. She dug her head into his chest, embarrassed to show her face to him. Her cheeks burned and the water in her body began to pour out.

The soldier hugged her tightly. “I’m back, Madie. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving anytime soon.”

Madelyn sniffed before looking up at him, her eyes burning with love. “R-Really?”

The soldier nodded. “Certain.”

Madelyn cracked a large smile before she dug her head back into his chest. “I missed you, Ryder.”

Ryder nodded his head, a dumb grin on his face. “I missed you too.” He told her before hearing noises from behind him. His teammates were making several sounds to mock their love.

“Get a room!”

“You bastard!” One of Ryder’s teammates jokingly shouted.

“Ahh, I hate you, Ryder.” Another one said. 

Ryder shook his head, his emotions flooding over him. He turned back to face Madelyn, embracing her tighter as if she was fragile. As if she would leave him one day. As if she would never come back to him if he let her go. 

“I… I was scared… that you were never coming back.”

Ryder rested his face on her head. “I will always come back to you.”

“You promise?” She asked, escaping the embrace. “You will always come back to me?”

“As long as my heart beats, I do,” Ryder told her. “Plus… I can’t leave you as a single mother in the future, right?”

Madelyn raised both eyebrows before glancing around to see if anyone overheard them. She then proceeded to smack Ryder in the chest. “Really? An emotional moment and you’re talking about kids.”

‘I’m talking about our future.” Ryder said, grinning. “Anyways, how has it been with your teammates?”

“The same,”

Ryder raised an eyebrow. “I know I don’t dictate your life, but it wouldn’t kill you to make friends with them. Maybe drop your cold facade and show them this side.”

Madelyn shook her head. “Only you get to see this side.”

“And I absolutely love it, but… you should connect yourself with your teammates. They don’t have to be your best friends, but they should be people you can rely on. I trust my teammates. I know they would do anything for us to all return home, though-” He glanced at his comrades taking away the bodies on makeshift stretchers. “-sometimes that isn’t possible.”

Madelyn nodded before turning away from him. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I would like,” Ryder told her. “Now, come on. Let’s head home. We have two months to rekindle our relationship again.”

Madelyn glanced at him, a smile on full display. “Idiot.”

“And you’re in love with me. So I guess that would make you a bigger one.”