"Faster! Pick up the pace!" Tom stood at the edge of a freshly dug mud pit on the training grounds, bellowing at the actors in soldiers' uniforms as they crawled through the murky water. "Faster! Rember, you're soldiers now!"
With a Thompson on his back, Matthew ignored the splattering mud and water and kept pushing forward, his powerful arms and legs soon putting him significantly ahead of the rest.
Perhaps it was a combination of his natural physique and relentless exercise, but midway through the training period, he demonstrated an enormous advantage in both physical ability and strength.
Hauling himself out of the mud pit, Matthew stood up as a mber of the dical team imdiately handed him hot water and a blanket. He took a sip of the warm liquid before using the blanket to wipe the gri from his face and drape it over his shoulders.
The crew's intention was only to put them through realistic combat training to make their performances more convincing on screen, not to actually torture them, and all the support asures were well in place.
"Son of a bitch!" A curse cut through the air as Michael Fassbender scrambled out of the pit. Matthew offered him a hand and pulled him up. Fassbender shot a look at Tom, standing a short distance away, and cursed again. "I want to punch that bastard."
Tom glanced in their direction. Matthew pulled Fassbender closer and whispered, "There's no point in confronting him directly. It won't do us any good."
He had only ant it as a caution, but to his surprise, Fassbender seed to take it as a suggestion. He nodded, gritting his teeth. "You're right. We can't do it openly."
Matthew said no more. He rembered from the script that there was a scene like this; as a highly trained paratrooper unit, they would naturally have to drill tactical maneuvers. But this kind of training should have been scheduled for the sumr, not in weather like this.
A cold wind gusted past, and Matthew couldn't help but shiver.
Soon, the last of the actors had dragged themselves out of the mud pit, and Tom strode over.
Matthew assud Tom was about to call an end to the session and felt a surge of relief, but then the instructor bellowed, "You are a team! An elite paratrooper unit, not a disorganized rabble! Where are your formations? Where is your coordination? I'm not seeing it!"
He thrust his arm out, pointing a finger at the mud pit. "Get back in!"
...
By the ti the training finally concluded, darkness had fallen. The actors dragged their exhausted bodies to the hot showers, and many of them skipped dinner entirely, returning to their dormitories and collapsing into sleep.
In truth, few had any appetite for a dinner made from military rations.
Fortunately, while Tom had replicated a genuine army boot camp, the production team hadn't forgotten they were dealing with actors, not actual soldiers, and had scheduled two days off starting the next morning.
Matthew didn't bother reading before bed. He switched off the light and was out instantly, likely exhausted from the past few days. He didn't wake until the sun was already high in the sky.
He pulled his phone out from under his pillow to check the ti and saw he had three missed calls from Britney.
He started to call back but then rembered it was the middle of the night in the States, so he put the phone down.
Britney had a packed schedule and was probably sound asleep.
"You awake?" Michael Fassbender's voice cut in. "I saw you were out cold, so I didn't ntion the calls."
He set a pair of packaged food containers on the table. "Your breakfast."
"Thanks." Matthew stood up and stretched.
Fassbender looked him over and remarked, "I was starting to think you were an iron man."
Matthew smiled. "Even iron n need their rest."
He went to the bathroom to wash up. When he returned, he opened his breakfast container, started eating, and asked, "So, we're off today. Any plans?"
Fassbender thought for a mont. "Jas and I are eting up with Damian Lewis. Want to co with?"
"I don't know him," Matthew said, shaking his head. "Why are you eting with him?"
"To ask about their training regin. He's one of the leads, after all," Fassbender replied imdiately. "And to see if they're getting tornted as much as we are."
A few of the other principal actors, including Damian Lewis, weren't training with their group.
Matthew understood perfectly well that actors like Damian Lewis were far more important than supporting players like himself.
"I bet that bastard Tom is only putting us through this hell," Fassbender griped. "Another day like yesterday, and I might actually lose my mind."
Matthew asked, "So have you co up with a plan?"
Fassbender shook his head. "No."
Finishing his carton of milk, Matthew grabbed a napkin, wiped his mouth, and tossed it in the trash. "I might have a useful tip for you," he said.
"What kind of tip?" Fassbender asked, his interest piqued.
"You know how I go out to call my girlfriend every day after lunch."
Fassbender nodded. It was a well-known fact among the cast.
Matthew cut to the chase. "A few tis, while I've been on the phone, I've seen Tom and Kate heading into the warehouse together."
Fassbender raised an eyebrow. "So those two are actually an item? I thought that was just a rumor Jas was spreading."
"I'm going to head downtown for a while." Matthew changed his clothes and slung on a backpack. "But I've never been to central London."
Fassbender, who seed to be mulling over what he'd just heard, replied distractedly, "Give
or Jas a call if you get lost."
...
After leaving Hatfield Airport, Matthew hailed a cab.
However, instead of directing the driver straight to his destination, he acted like a typical tourist. He first had the cab drop him at the famous Westminster Abbey, wandered around inside for a while, and then went to a busy nearby supermarket, browsing the aisles without buying anything.
After making a few more stops in crowded areas, Matthew finally headed for his real destination.
The place was located in the Soho district of Westminster and was bustling with restaurants, boutiques, and souvenir shops.
When Matthew arrived, he gave the area a quick scan. His first impression was that it was just another tourist trap.
He walked down the street. The entrance to the block was lined with restaurants bearing huge signs, but Matthew wasn't there for a al. He pressed on, and soon spotted a small supermarket, which he entered.
The supermarket was small. After walking up and down the aisles twice without finding what he was looking for, he approached a clerk to ask for help.
A young woman with dark hair greeted him. "Hello, sir. Can I help you with sothing?"
"I'm looking for a specific product," Matthew said, making a bottle shape with his hands. "It's a small, green bottle, called..."
He trailed off, scratching his head as he tried to describe it. "It's a kind of oil... an essential oil. It has a cooling effect, relieves pain and itching. People also use it as an ointnt for mosquito and insect bites."
"Ah, I think I know what you an," the clerk said, her face lighting up with recognition. "Just a mont, we should have so in the back."
"You're in luck," she said with a smile. "Over the sumr, we got a special batch for so forest rangers. It's three tis more concentrated than the standard formula."
She led Matthew to the checkout counter. "We normally only sell this in the sumr. Hardly anyone buys it in the winter, so we usually take it off the shelves for a few months." She then asked, "How many bottles would you like?"
Matthew considered it. He still needed to run so experints, and one bottle clearly wouldn't be enough. "I'll take ten," he said.
The clerk looked a little surprised that he wanted so many but didn't ask questions. She went to the back, returned with ten small boxes, bagged them, and handed the package to Matthew.
After paying, Matthew left the supermarket. He first found a place to grab lunch, then stopped by a small pharmacy to buy a few dical syringes and so quick-drying glue. Finding a quiet park with few people around, he opened his backpack, took out the condoms he'd purchased a few days earlier, and started his experint.
After several attempts—which used up a few bottles of the oil, half his syringes, and most of the condoms—Matthew concluded that his idea was perfectly feasible. And even if it failed, he had nothing to lose. He decided to go for it.
If this worked, Kate was in for a world of hurt.
And though Tom might get caught in the crossfire, Matthew didn't hesitate for a second.
Frankly, while he could endure Tom's brutal training just as well as Fassbender and the others, he had no patience for sadistic drill instructors.
As darkness fell, Matthew returned to his dorm at Hatfield Airport. Pushing open the door to his room, he found Michael Fassbender, Jas McAvoy, and Michael Cudlitz chatting amongst themselves.
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