Jerrold turned back to the track after watching the kid who almost jumped over the wall by the obstacle course across the field be lead away by his guards.
"At least this one wasn't a freak out" he thought, as he started jogging again. The last few days had been the weirdest of all, with the Threading starting to manifest in all the kids. Through everything - the interviews, the training, even the injections - it hadn't really sunk all the way in, that this was for real... not until the stuff that started happening the last few days. And the guards that followed them everywhere, ready to kill them...
If Jerrold hadn't been jogging, he might have shivered.
But, running always eased him, let him calm down - the rhythm of his pace, the "Cadet Kingsley put your face on the ground or we WILL FIRE!" suddenly cut across whatever he was thinking, and he stumbled to a halt. Looking around wildly, he saw his guard detail behind him - too far behind him - rushing forward, with their guns at ready, shouting at him to get down or be shot.
He stood for a second, then collapsed to the ground and froze with his hands behind his neck, thinking with relief, "It's happening...whatever I did."