The man who kidnapped me is named Danny. The second one is Trent. They brought us to a secret location, and it turns out I wasn't the only one there. I remember a lot of yelling that day.
"Sit down, and be quiet!" He yelled. The guy who brought me here forces me to the floor. Everyone is wailing. In the confusion several other people burst in. They add to the yelling. A loud boom sends us scrambling.
I run in circles. There's only one exit, so we're trapped. "Sit!" A lady yells over the noise. The other people start sitting us down by force. It takes longer for the noise to die down.
"Unless you want to get your butt beaten by a baton I suggest you be quiet! From now on no talking." To add to her point she came around randomly hitting someone with the metal stick.
All of us were paired off with a soldier. My partner is an older lady named Arkesha. She's good with guns, but can't fight. Basically the goal is to put people with different skills as teachers to mix up our abilities.
My abilities are as Arkesha says, lacking. She says I am slow, but I am smart. I wish I was faster. They made us run a lot the second month to tire everyone out. We ran a trail, and the people chase us with electric sticks. They shock us when we slow down.
I won't talk about the first month just yet.
I know everyone was tired. I felt like I wanted to fall over. We got to eat afterwards then we get to sleep. Arkesha took me to the place where they shoot guns into targets.
♤♤♤♤♤♤
Zero-Five Hundred hours.
I get shaken awake by Arkesha. "Time to get up" she says. I push up with my arms, and place my bare feet on the floor. "Come on. We're going to head out" she whispers.
Kesha, and I pass the other sleeping kids as I rub my eyes. I follow her to her office. "Here" she says giving me some clothes, and shoes. Kesha sent me to her bathroom to change.
It was a grey t-shirt with black shorts. The shoes she gave me were for running. The same type of shoes mamma made me put on when I would go outside to play. There were socks too.
She told me to sit on the floor after I came out. She said she had to use the bathroom then we'd go.
After she is done then I have to follow her again. She tells me that we will run everyday, so that I can be faster. At the bottom of the base there is a road that goes in a circle, but there is no ending.
There are many symbols, and lines on it.
"What is it?"
"It's called a track. Cars run on the road, people run on a track." She answers.
"Why doesn't it go anywhere?" I question still confused.
"The track is used for people to get better at running" she says. We go to a room where there is equipment. She hands me a small green bag. It's like a bookbag.
"It's five pounds. You should be able to carry it" she says.
Kesha ties the strap around my belly to hold the bag still.
"It's filled with sand as a weight. You're going to need a lot of strength" she adds. Kesha carries the fifty. She says it's much heavier.
Kesha leads me back to the track.
"Pick up the pace kid we have a schedule!" she yells. Kesha runs her own speed.
"You don't stop until I tell you that you can understood?" she adds. Kesha puts something in her ears, and I can hear music playing.
I have to stop multiple times during the run, or I go to sleep. My belly aches, my legs hurts, and I need something to drink. I don't know how long we had been running.
Kesha told me when we are done.
"Now put the weight back where you found it" she tells me. I head away from her, and she whacks me.
"Hurry up! What part of hurry up don't you understand?!" She shouts causing me to whimper, but I run again.
In the range there are targets that line the walls.
"Targets are lined up this way, and your job is to hit them" she says. They kinda look like people.
"I'm not handing you a firearm anytime soon, but I'll teach you about aim, and how the weapon works. I don't expect you to remember all this in one day" she says. Kesha has me follow her to what she calls as the armory.
"They supply weapons, armor, ammo. The armory is your best friend, and each is kept under control by a Gunny. For the record don't make him mad too often, and don't argue with him. Weapons are his job" she explains.
The Gunny is named Gus, but no one calls him that. You just call him Gunny. He's short, and has brown hair with hazel eyes.
Kesha said shorter people often have bigger tempers, and that's why you don't make Gunny mad. He's not always forgiving.
"You have a name boy?" He questions me. I don't say anything at first as this is all still new to me.
"Well?" He asks again more demanding. I feel another whack, and yelp falling to the floor.
"Dylan" I mumble staring at the floor.
"Speak up" he says harshly then whacks me again.
"Dylan" I repeat.
"Dylan" he repeats, "when someone talks to you that means you look them in the eye, and don't mumble. I hate mumbling!" He too yells at me, so I just start to cry.
"Now, how can I help the both of you today?" He turns his attention back to Kesha.
"We're headed off to the range, I need my pistol, and a couple clips for it. He won't need a weapon for today" she informs him.
Gunny takes the cigar out of his mouth, and beckons us to follow him. There are many tables with weapons on them.
"What is that?" I ask pointing to a bigger one. I mumbled at first, but a look from Gus made me correct myself.
It had three holes in the front, and a box on the side. Gunny came over to stand next to me.
"It's called a rocket launcher. It's used for vehicles, and it can lock onto targets" he explains, "quite heavy, but very useful."
"And that?" I point to a small ball with a pin.
"That's a grenade, they explode. Shrapnel can injure your opponents." He affirms. Gunny picks it up, so I can get a closer look. It has rough edges.
"Cool" I remark.
Arkesha doesn't say anything as I go asking about the other weapons in the room. There are many different shapes, and sizes.
"That's a big gun" I exclaim pointing to one with a long nose.
"Sniper rifle, it allows you to aim at targets from long distances" he says, "handy for killing someone from afar."
"How does it do that?" I question. Gunny picks up the rifle, and shows it to me.
"You see this?" He asks motioning to a metal circle with glass on one part. It's a green color, but on the other side everything looks like it's normal color.
"It's called a scope. It allows you to see farther than you can with your own eyes" he points out.
"I wanna learn to shoot that one" I tell Arkesha, and she just shrugs, "We'll get to all of them, and I'll let you shoot it. Except you have to earn that weapon."
Kesha shows me her pistol, also called a magnum. Pistol is like another word. Kesha says I can watch her shoot, but it's going to be loud. On our way out we pass some other people. I wave to the other kid.
Back in the range I continue to follow her.
"Here" she says handing me earmuffs.
"The sound will hurt your ears, but you'll get used to it" she tells me. I put them on my ears then pat them down. I get to watch her reload her gun. Kesha shows me about the safety. She says you have the safety on when you're not using the gun. The pistol has five bullets in it.
After the shooting she made me run some more. However, this time there is a sled then there is a weight put on it. I had to drag that. What made me feel better is that a couple hours after we got up then the other people show up.
The other kids have to something like what I did, but their person did different things. I am one of the few kids who had to run with a bag.
She didn't run with me this time, but everytime I pass by her I can hear the music. It's hard to miss because it's very loud, and noisey.
By this time my belly rumbles. I haven't eaten. I wonder if I should ask because the last time I did she yelled at me. She just told me to do as I am told.
"Dylan, come" she yells from across the room. I pull on my shirt, and head over to her.
"Stop, arms by your side. Head forward" she says grabbing me. She makes me stand like that. Arkesha moves my hands to my sides.
I can see a man walking in. I can tell he's important because Arkesha is doing the same thing.
"Send him back to the dorm. The boss has called a meeting" he orders her. Kesha looks down at me, and motions me to go. I don't want to get yelled at, so I run out of the room. It turns out I am not the only one sent back. There is a person standing across from the door. One of the first kids to arrive hesitates to walk pass him.
I stop behind the gathering. I follow the wall then go inside. I don't stop running until I jump on my bed, and hug my legs. I just feel safe here for some reason, but there's no running, loud booms, or yelling.
Someone throws a pillow at me. I turn to see someone wave at me. I get up to go sit with them.
"Are you okay?" I ask quietly. There is a red mark on his arm, and I can feel that it is warm.
"What hurt you?" I ask.
"The guy that is with me. I can't march" he says.
Arkesha's hit me like that before.
"I'm Dylan."
He gets up from the floor to sit on the bed.
"I'm Kaleb, and I'm five."
I hold up three fingers to tell him how old I am.
The boss calls a meeting every month. Sometimes Arkesha would not come back, and then I would train with someone else. Sometimes another kid would come train with us. She once told me that they go on missions to kill their enemy.
"Get up, and form a single file line!" The guard yells coming. I jump up then follow another boy as we move to stand behind each other.
"Your eyes should be facing the front, and your head shouldn't be facing the floor" he yells. He walks by us, and grabs me by the neck to raise my head.
"Stop staring at the floor, or I'll add a few more scars to your arms" he threatens.
He continues walking correcting every mistake as we march. No one knows where we're going now. We walk back through the hallway, and head a different direction. This time we walk into a room smaller than where the track is. It's filled with tables. There are many people in here, and it's loud.
"Head through that door to get lunch, and then sit over there. Don't move until someone comes to get you" he instructs us.
Finally something to eat. I wait patently for my turn, and pick up the tray of food. I walk pass the other tables to sit in the back. It made me feel safe that there are in front of me, and I can see more. I just feel scared. I wave down Kaleb, and pat the table with my hand. I want him to sit with me. Kaleb is taller than me, and older.
"They gave us watermelon. My momma could cut one up, so we can eat it when it gets hot" he explains.
"Grapes are my favorite" I say picking the seeds out of the food. The fruit is juicey, and yummy.
"I like to suck the seeds out then spit them into the water because they taste yucky."
The cup has milk in it, and I drink a little before pulling a piece of chicken off the bone.
"How long do you think we will be here?" Kaleb asks.
"I think forever."
"That's a very long time."
We got to eat for a while then a woman comes to order us back into a line, and she also checks us over. The lady stops us by two doors then she says we have 30 minutes to use the restroom, shower, and prepare for bed. They gave us a new set of clothes to change into. At least the water is warm for kids up in the front. If you took too long then they lady would beat you with a shocker stick. We have to line up again, and march.
I'm pretty sure we started calling her the Mean one.
They take us back to the dorm where we are sent to bed. The lady stands guard, and she makes sure that we sleep by walking around the room. She scares me, but this time I don't feel safe in my bed. That's the daily schedule. Except when Arkesha didn't have to go to the meeting she taught me stuff like math.
The one thing I remember most about my childhood is our first contact with the enemy. Years of simple to complex training shape our bodies, and minds. They drill us hours on end, punishing the weak. They started to wake us up an hour early, and soon they train us as a group. After so many years of individual training they want us to work together.
Arkesha did let me shoot the sniper rifle. It actually was my first mission alone, but I'll get to that later.
Our first encounter with our enemy didn't take place in a mission. If I remember it was actually about 0300 hours when it happened, and it was about 2 years after we were taken.
*~*
"Wake up!"
I bolt up, and find everyone scrambling to get up, so I jump out of bed.
"Make your bed, and it better be neat!" The night guard yells at us. I rub the sleep from my eyes.
I fix the blanket over the bed then set the pillow on top. I pat it down on both end to flatten it. We line up as usual in the position of attention. The night guard takes the lead then instead of our usual training he takes us outside the base. "Double time" he orders. We picked up the pace, and start to run.
"Your destination is a mile, the last kid to arrive gets punished" he informs us.
Suddenly the tone changes. I shove someone out of my path as we take off running. I shoved anyone who came close to me. I didn't want to be punished. Punishment usually involved an assault from the electric baton.
The sky is still dark out, but it's warm. I don't remember the last time I saw trees, or grass. They kept us inside most of the day. The breeze blows the strands of hair out of my face. Running through the forest is wonderful. Even though we're in a race it feels peaceful. I take a deep breath of air between faster breaths. I glance behind me a bit to see the others a little father away. I wasn't first of course.
I slow down to catch my breath, speeding up every time someone came close. The only other thing I have to worry about is Kaleb. He's in front of me. I don't want him to lose.
I run alongside him.
"I don't want to be last Dylan" he says with tears in his eyes. Kaleb's teacher is a lot meaner than mine.
"Just keep going, and you'll be fine" I promised him, "I won't let you lose."
I run beside him every step of the way. I won't leave him behind because Kaleb's my friend. We eventually came to a large building, and race inside. Arkesha is waiting for us with her hands crossed behind her back.
I bent over, and threw up in the grass. My heart is pounding in my head. I feel sick again.
"Walk it off" Kesha says to me. I gain my bearing, and follow the others inside.
I can a glimpse of the victim as they receive their punishment. I didn't get a good look, so I don't know if they are a girl or boy. We're lead to a huge room lined with seats. We fill in the chairs. In the center of the room is a stage with large purple curtains. Standing there is a man in uniform.
"My name is Robert Watts, and it has been brought to my attention that our enemy is gaining a foothold on our activities, so it is time to show you the enemy you have been training to combat" he begins then a soldier pulls down a string. There is a cart sitting on stage with a white box that has been turned sideways. Cords connect the box to an outlet. Pictures appeared before us.
"Do any of you know what this stands for?" He asks. Four large letters appear on the screen.
U, N, S, and C. I have no idea what they meant. I'm eager to find out. After a moment of silence Robert spoke again.
"United Nations Space Command, or UNSC for short."