PRICE OF DISOBEDIENCE

"WHO the hell are you, and what are you doing here?" the stranger's voice thundered.

Shari's eyes broadened when she realized she was in deep trouble. When she turned, she saw an unfamiliar man who looked more deadly than Levi. The man wore a blue athletic uniform.

She swallowed hard and hurriedly put down her cellphone from her ear.

"Are you a trainee?" The man asked dangerously. His eyes were glaring at her.

"Y-Yes, sir." Shari was agitated. She just got caught using a damn phone!

"Wait, is that a cellphone?" He pointed at her hand. And before she could answer, he had already grabbed the phone from her tight grip.

"How dare you break the rules!" the man was fuming. His hand raised, and Shari had prepared her face and closed her eyes because surely, his palm would land on her cheek.

"Castillo!" another voice reverberated.

Shari slowly opened her eyes. Then she witnessed Levi walking towards them. He wore a black shirt and athletic shorts, and he held a radio.

"Look what I've found. I thought you're implementing strict rules here, Hirsch?" the man looked at her menacingly and showed Levi the phone.

Levi stared at her in disbelief, and his thick brows almost formed a line as his eyes narrowed.

"Let me handle this," Levi said calmly.

"You're going to let this slide? This is ridiculous! What she did was risky and cannot be tolerated! I never thought you'd be so lenient these days." Castillo expressed his dismay. One of the risks of having a communication device inside without the knowledge of the officers in charge could jeopardize everyone, especially if one of the trainees was a spy from the insurgents.

"No, just leave this to me," Levi said firmly.

Shari remained her gaze fixed on the ground. She was too unwary, thinking she was safe in this spot. She could not escape this trouble easily; it was her fault anyway.

Castillo hardly shook his head and walked away while drawing his breath through his flared nostrils. Then Levi gave an order through the radio that gave a chill to her spine.

"Alarm the bell to wake up every recruit and proceed to the grandstand," Levi commanded.

"Did I hear it right, Captain? You mean… everyone?" said a male voice from the other line.

"Yes, all these five hundred forty trainees. That's an order!"

ON THE grandstand, Shari could not hold back the tears; her eyes started to get puffy. She bit her lower lip hard to control her sob.

She was comfortably sitting in a monobloc chair amid the grandstand. Beside her were Levi and Castillo.

Her eyes were low, and she avoided looking at her front, where all the trainees, especially the Delta Company, were suffering. They should be resting now, but because of what she did, they were forced to do a deadly exercise non-stop while she was sitting there, watching.

It was customary, and her moral sense was kicking in. Her fellow trainees were bathing in mud and repeatedly crawling on the ground. They were looking at her with so much hate.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

It was a mixture of guilt and conscience gathered inside her chest. If it were not for her being selfish, all these people would have been sleeping now. And yet, here they were, being punished for the crime they did not commit.

"Look at them. It's your fault. They're almost dying." Castillo seemed to have fun studying her distressed expression.

Shari knew it was unfair to everyone, but that was the retribution of her foolishness. Instead of the culprit, everyone was penalized while she had to watch her comrades being tortured right before her eyes.

"Please, enough…" Shari muttered as she couldn't bear it anymore. Everyone was exhausted and out of breath.

Shari clenched her fists while her tears kept cascading down. It was their situation for almost three hours before they were dismissed.

"You stay here, and we'll talk," Levi said in an icy voice when she was about to go.

She knew he was mad, but he did not reprimand her with words yet. Everyone left except the two of them.

"Sir, I'm sorry." Her head arched down. She tried to brush off her tears but found herself sobbing. It was mixed emotions she could not name. Why on earth would these problems come all at once? All she wanted was peace of mind.

"You promised that you'd not break the rules. Why did you do it again?" Levi's voice was low. He let her sit back in the chair and sat beside her.

"I don't have a choice. My problems are piling up, sir. I don't even know how to manage everything." She buried her face in her palms and sobbed hard.

She felt Levi's hand brushing her back, "That's enough. Let's talk about what's bothering you." He let out a hard sigh.

"I'm scared. I might be kicked out for lying." She was having trouble breathing. The heavy feeling was unendurable.

"Tell me what happened."

She shook her head hard. "I-I can't."

"You need to tell me. You have seen Castillo earlier, right? He is a lot stricter than me." He breathed out before he continued, "I've already received the order to become the Chief of Police in this city. Castillo will be handling you. You'll probably face the harshest punishment if you continue breaking the rules, Shari."

She looked up and faced him. The man slightly smiled, and his hand stretched to brush the tears on her cheeks.

"Trust me. I won't let you be in danger."

For a little while, she hesitated. But his encouraging words comforted her, and she decided to tell him everything.

"I-I lied about my grandma. She had already passed away a few years ago. I had to lie to extend my passes because I needed to attend a preliminary investigation…" she shortly told him her dilemma why she had a pending case.

Levi nodded as if he understood the situation. "Good thing you mentioned that. Those trainees with pending cases are allowed to go out during the hearing. You don't have to worry about your case. Just a piece of advice from me. Focus on the remaining training days since your recognition is approaching."

"Thank you, sir."

"Call me Levi if it's just the two of us conversing. Stop crying. You should rest your mind and don't overthink."

"I hope it's that easy, but tonight I also learned that my fiancé cheated on me." She gazed away.

Levi paused and shrugged. "See? That's why all of you are forbidden from using your phone. So you don't have access to the outside world. We all wanted you guys to concentrate on the training alone. And now you're going to pay for the consequences of your actions. You will be restricted until your graduation."

Shari nodded. She knew it well. Being restricted means she could no longer have passes until the graduation rites. She would stay on duty inside the training school, even if her fellow trainees had the privilege of going out.

"I understand. From now on, I will follow everything. I don't want this to happen again just because I'm selfish."

"I trust in you, Shari." He held out his hand, offering a handshake, which she reluctantly accepted. She felt the light pressure of his grip.

"Go ahead and rest. See you very soon. Be good."

Shari found herself smiling. Somehow, she unloaded her burden. "I will prove my sincerity, sir—Levi, I mean."

He nodded and smiled.

Shari straightened her posture and gave him a salute before she ran away, going to the barracks. Surprisingly, she felt light. Levi patiently listened to her without saying anything to make her down. He boosted her morale instead. This time she concluded that Levi was not as bad as she thought.

She went inside the barracks and apologized to everyone. She promised them that she would not make the same mistake. She was willing to pay the price of everything.