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The Crucial Test

Benjamin Coleman 4
BuchKartoniert, Paperback
Englisch
Grohsebner, Veronikaerschienen am07.12.2020
Benjamin Coleman is close to finally becoming a full-fledged Special Trooper. The last assignment of his field training is evacuating a boot camp in New Mexico. A welcome change from routine, it starts out as a harmless mountain trip. But the unexpected nature of the boot camp and a Mexican drug cartel soon turn the simple mission into a dire challenge for Ben and the whole team ...mehr

Produkt

KlappentextBenjamin Coleman is close to finally becoming a full-fledged Special Trooper. The last assignment of his field training is evacuating a boot camp in New Mexico. A welcome change from routine, it starts out as a harmless mountain trip. But the unexpected nature of the boot camp and a Mexican drug cartel soon turn the simple mission into a dire challenge for Ben and the whole team ...
Details
ISBN/GTIN978-3-200-06997-8
ProduktartBuch
EinbandartKartoniert, Paperback
FormatPaperback (Deutsch)
ErscheinungsortWien
ErscheinungslandÖsterreich
Erscheinungsjahr2020
Erscheinungsdatum07.12.2020
SpracheEnglisch
Artikel-Nr.49185137

Inhalt/Kritik

Leseprobe
There is always HopeSixteen-year-old Greg Sheldon slipped away from the crowd. Hidden behind the row of huts, he waited for a few minutes until he was sure that nobody had noticed and followed him. Then he made his way to the secret place where he and his two comrades used to meet whenever something bad had happened. The hiding place was about a hundred yards away from the back of the camp, a natural hollow in the dense undergrowth. Paul Durance had discovered it by chance a week after things had started to go weird. By now, it had become the only refuge for the three of them who were still refusing to succumb to the general pressure. Not that most of the other boys seemed to regard it as pressure. They´d embraced the ideas with enthusiasm from the start.In the fading light of dusk, Greg slowly moved through the under-brush, careful not to make any undue noise. Even though, what with the boisterous singing round the campfire it was doubtful that the quiet rustle of the leaves would arouse the attention of anyone. Finally he crawled through the short tunnel formed by tightly intertwined brambles. This was the most challenging part. With his broad shoulders and hefty build, he had to take care not to get caught in the thorny growth. At last he emerged in the small meadow. This was roofed over by a natural net of some climbing plant which spread its vines over the surrounding brush and trees. All in all the space was about half as big as his room at home, which was not all that big, and with his five feet ten he could not stand completely upright. But it was snug and about the only place where the three boys felt safe from the persecution.In early April, day temperatures were already mild even at this alti-tude, but in the evening it grew quite chilly. However, the hollow was protected from the light breeze by the dense growth and it felt warm enough. Greg involuntarily drew in the air deeply, enjoying the intense earthy smell of the place. Paul Durance, a teenager of fourteen, a little shorter than Greg and more slenderly built, sat on the ground, his knees drawn up and arms slung around them tightly. When Greg emerged from the tunnel, he looked up sharply with alarm, and then relaxed. In contrast to Greg´s brown hair and brown eyes, Paul was fair and his eyes showed a grey blue colour. Their eyes met, and with a motion of his head Paul indicated the boy lying on his stomach beside him, a blanket beneath him. Mickey Kolanko was the youngest of them; he´d turned thirteen just before the camp started. He was short for his age and rather skinny, his thin hair was mouse grey, and his eyes were hazel coloured. For all their outward differences, there was one thing the three boys had in common: their hair was done in a buzz cut and a broad strip on top of their heads had been shaved bare completely. It was an efficient way of humiliating them and of setting them apart from the others. Mickey´s T-shirt was pushed up to his neck. His breathing came jerk-ily, and from time to time his whole body shuddered. Looking at the boy´s back, Greg winced with sympathy. A crisscross of angry red welts, one of them oozing a little blood, covered the white skin. I´ve brought a pot of healing lotion, Greg said abruptly. It´s from my personal belongings, nobody will miss it. One of my stepmoms used to swear by it for sunburn. I guess it´ll work for rope burns just as well. Keep still. Mickey made no reply, and Greg gingerly started to spread the lotion on the injuries. At the first touch, the boy inhaled sharply and jerked once, and then held himself still again. Thanks, he got out from between gritted teeth when Greg was fin-ished. The cool air fanning against the skin combined with the moisture of the ointment worked to soothe the pain. After a while he was breathing more easily, but he didn´t yet dare to move. They are going to kill us, aren´t they? he muttered in a matter-of-fact voice.Paul and Greg exchanged a troubled look. What are you thinking of? They´d never dare. How would they explain the deaths of three guys to the authorities? Paul said breezily. Accidents happen, Mickey said. Especially during boot camps for difficult boys in the middle of the wilds. A tree might fall down on us during a storm? We could get killed by lightning. Even better, we´ll fall into a river and drown. That way our bodies could allegedly be washed away and disappear for good. Nobody would look for us. At last he stirred and turned his head a little to look up at his friends. I can´t imag-ine that the authorities would be eager to clear the circumstances of our deaths up. Who cares about guys like us? Our parents... Paul started, but at that Greg shook his head. Who entrusted us to the jerks in the first place, he said. Parents, stepparents or foster parents, whatever, they all signed an agreement, ac-cepting the risks to life in this kind of surroundings. Which is quite telling. Do you really think they would mind if we never returned? Paul dropped his eyes. This was something he didn´t want to hear. Greg went on gently, No use kidding ourselves. Mickey is right. I don´t think that Brown and the other instructors will allow us to get home at the end of the camp. Paul looked frightened. We could pretend to experience a change of heart and go along with their ideas... After all the resistance we put up? They´d never believe it. Besides, I´ll be damned if I give in. Okay, I´ve done a few stupid things. Perhaps I even deserved to be packed off into the middle of nowhere to get some sense knocked into me. But this here is way beyond what a boot camp should be. He paused briefly and then went on slowly. And what would happen if we pretended to fall in with their ideas? What if at some point it stopped being pretence? That scares me most of all. You think we´d actually become like them? Paul said incredulously. That´s what that kind of brainwashing does to you. Once you give in only an inch there is no stopping it. Paul looked doubtful but also daunted. After a while he whispered, half ashamed, Maybe we should do it anyway. Just to save our lives. Mickey sat up stiffly and wriggled his shoulders. The intense burning pain had abated and was turning into an itch. It´s too late for that. Even if we only pretended and they actually believed us it wouldn´t change anything. They´ve already decided that we´re the last dregs of their kind of society, and they´d just go on with their harassing. Of course they can´t let us live to tell the tale afterwards. So what are we to do? Paul asked. Run away? There was a silence as all three of them thought about escape. At last Greg said reluctantly, We are in the middle of nowhere. I don´t even know exactly where we are. So where should we go to? Are you able to survive in the wilds, all alone? I´m not so sure about that. But if we are to die anyway? Paul uttered savagely. Wouldn´t it be better if we just took our chance, and maybe we´ll somehow survive and reach help? I don´t want to be killed by those scumbags. Greg stared at the surrounding shrubs and trees. It was getting dark, and here and there the quick rustle of some small animal darting through the leafage could be heard. But there were also bigger animals out there. As if on cue, the cry of a mountain lion sounded from far away. I don´t want that either. But I also don´t wish to be eaten by a bear or a mountain lion, Greg said. Besides, Brown and his henchmen can´t risk that we get away and tell what we´ve come to know about them. They are skilled hunters; they´d track us down and kill us at once. But if we stick it a little longer, something unexpected might happen. A line flashed into his mind he´d once heard in some movie, he couldn´t even remember exactly which one. The words were corny enough that they might have been used in several movies where the main characters found themselves facing a dire situation. Briefly he hesitated, but then uttered them nevertheless. There is always hope. And at least we have each other. Greg felt astonished and also ashamed when he saw see how his comrades perked up and actually took courage at hearing those words.mehr

Schlagworte

Autor

Veronika Grohsebner (*1966) was born in Austria. She not only passionately loves reading thrillers, she also writes them. And since she loves languages with equal passion, she does so bilingually, making her own German versions of her originally English books. The author of bestselling Johnny Designed, the Alan Jason-Trilogy, and the Benjamin Coleman-Series lives in Vienna together with her husband. Their four children are grown-up by now.