Day 40 of training, Alex and his friends had target practice. Alex had to hold the target and Elmer asked to be the one to demonstrate. Alex was worried but Elmer was able to shoot the target. He asked Alex if he was nervous and Alex said he was only nervous for Elmer in case he missed. Elmer said he never missed and Alex replied that he knew Elmer would not let their differences get in the way.
Victor’s men identified Saal as the man responsible for the ambush. They were not able to find out his real identity because he uses the alias name “Abdul Wajid”.
They were able to capture some of Saal’s men and threatened them to give out his location.
Rasheed found out what happened to their men and told Saal. Rasheed was worried that the captured members would give them away. Saal therefore prepared for the military to attack.
Dante and Victor were given the task to capture Saal. They went to his hideout but did not find anyone. Dante wanted them to fall back because the place might be planted with explosives.
Victor however pressured them to continue searching for Saal. They stepped on an explosive and most of them were injured. Victor was reprimanded by his superiors once again for failing to catch Saal.
Saal had moved his group elsewhere, anticipating an attack from the military. Rasheed and Yasmin were however worried because they were in someone else’s territory. Saal asked them not to because he was there to protect them.
The soldiers at camp learnt how to identify explosives and stop them from going off. Striker had a hard time learning how to read maps but Benjie and Alex helped him. As they were getting tested, Alex’s explosive went off. Elmer reprimanded him and Striker asked how Alex always remained calm in front of his brother. Alex said they were not real brothers and Elmer felt like Alex had stolen their parent’s affection.
When it came to their swimming course, Striker was worried because he did not know how to swim. Alex helped him practice late in the evening and Elmer found them. He threatened to get them removed but Alex said he would be in trouble too because he was the one who let them leave their sleeping quarters. Striker was eventually able to pass the swimming course as well.
Yasmin and Saal were working with the governor who supplied them with weapons. In exchange, they helped him take down his rival in the coming elections. He sent them a few weapons and Yasmin told Saal to work hard because the Governor was beginning to lose trust in him.
Alex and his friends learnt endurance through punching each other in the stomach.
During day 170 of training, they learnt war competence. They were woken up in the middle of the night and dragged outside. They were asked to remove their shirts and use them to cover their eyes and their hands cuffed. Elmer pushed Alex into a drum full of water. He fought out of Elmer’s hold until he was free. He then asked Elmer what was going on.
Source: Blasters Series
