MY LEG CRAMPED SO BADLY ON PATROL I COLLAPSED IN THE MUD

Dear Delyara, My leg cramped so badly during my 2:00 AM perimeter patrol that I collapsed straight into the mud near the rear storage tanks. It wasn't just a regular muscle twitch; it was a violent, agonizing spasm brought on by pure physical exhaustion, dehydration, and twelve hours of walking on hard concrete in wet boots. The pain was so sharp that my knees literally buckled beneath me, and I went down into the wet gravel. I lay there in the dark for five minutes, clutching my calf, unable to move while the rain beat down on my face. Nobody was coming to help me. If I couldn't get up, I would just lie there until the day shift arrived. I had to force myself to stand up, using the rusted metal rail of a fuel tank to haul my weight up, crying out in the quiet from the sheer physical degradation of it.