It could have only been five in the morning when a Sergeant kicks the door open. "On your feet subject 100. Time for your first day!" The light is switched on blinding me. Then a bucket of ice water is dumped on me waking me completely up. "Off your ass, lazy!"
I sit up and look at the Sargent, it is Soot.
"Normally you have to get up at seven, but since you got in a fight with Zed, you and him will be training bright and early for the next month."
Zed is at the door, he is also covered in water and still has the look of sleep in his eyes. Soot throws some clothing at me and instructs that I get dressed, so without asking for privacy I change. It was my outfit from yesterday that is now stained with blood but the holes have been stitched up.
Soot marches us out to the training course. Yells at us for a bit, then blow a whistle instructing us to go. I run across the tires and jump up on the wall. I struggle to pull myself up causing me to fall behind. Soot yells and makes us restart the course. This time I make it up the wall, barely, and then across the monkey bars, but Zed falls to the ground. Today is going to be a very long one. Fail after fail we kept having to restart the course. Others were starting to arrive and they watched us fail while waiting for a command. Finally, Soot calls us from where we were on the course to dismiss us to go shower and get cleaned up.
Zero has joined the crowd and is watching us. When I walk past, he shakes his head and winks at me. I could hear Soot chewing out someone who sat on the ground. I don't want to look back so I keep walking till I feel a hand on my shoulder.
"Chicken. This is your fault," Zed shoves me down to the ground, spits at me, and then continues walking.
"What a jerk." I get up and wipe the dirt off. "Hey asshole," I run up to him. "We wouldn't have been in this mess if you haven't insulted my face."
"No, we wouldn't have been in this mess if you would have just kept your mouth shut."
"Well, you shouldn't have swung your fist."
"If you don't shut up, I will hit you, and I won't miss."
"That's laughable. I'd kick your ass again in a heartbeat."
"You could not," he hits the wall with his fist. "Shut up, you are pissing me off."
"Then show me, go ahead and do it."
"No. That would add an extra month to this suffering."
"Whatever." I push, testing him. "That makes you the true chicken here."
A fist came flying, then another, both missing. This was too easy. He lets his little ego get in the way. It was like no one taught him to fight. Then wham, a fist connects with my jaw setting me off. I shove him to the wall, causing him to bang his head hard. I kick him in the groin and watch him slump to the floor in agony. I kick him a couple more times. Then reach down to help him up, instead, he pulls a nasty trick, pulling me down into the wall. Then he jumps up and kicks me till I'm coughing up blood. Then he walks off, staggering from the pain.
I manage to get up, the floor is covered in red, as well as the wall. Anyone who enters would notice it right away. I walk away, my rib cage flickering with pain.
In the mess hall, I get my breakfast, Zed was already there eating his food and supporting a black eye. I am sure I looked just as bad, if not worse.
"What happened to you?" Zero asks sitting down next to me. "You're covered in blood. Was that your blood in the hall?"
"Doesn't matter. I dealt with the problem," I smile at him.
"Wow, did anyone tell you that you two look a lot alike." A kid that Zero seems to know says sitting down next to us.
"Nope, and I doubt that." He laughs. "Sam, this is Max."
"Nice to meet you, newbie," he holds out his hand to shake. "I have to say that what you did yesterday was pretty badass."
"Don't encourage her," Zero jokes. "She'll get too cocky and want to fight everyone."
"Don't worry, I won't hurt your pretty little face." I tease. "Besides, fighting others doesn't necessarily interest me." I looked down at my food that I had started playing with. "I just lash out at dickheads sometimes."
"Attention," Sargent Soot yells making all of us jump. "I need subject Zed and subject Sam." She looks pissed off.
"Well, I have to go." I get up and throw my plate away before joining Soot in waiting for Zed, who is taking his dear sweet time knowing what is next.
"Subject Zed, hurry your ass up before you get thrown in the slammer." To the thought of the 'slammer' he hurries his pace. Soot marches us out to the blood puddle.
"Judging by what you look like, Zed beat the shit out of you." She grabs him and throws him to the floor. He lands in the puddle of blood getting it all over. "Subject Sam is your superior from now on. You do whatever she tells you to. Am I understood?"
"Yes, ma'am." He hangs his head, ashamed.
"Good. Get to your feet. You are a pathetic little worm."
Soot then walks away leaving me and Zed alone. Zed is still covered in blood.
"I hate you."
"I hate you too, but you heard the lady," I smirk. I don't get why she gave me a promotion over him.
"My father is going to kill you," Zed snarls at me.
"I'd like to see that," Zero laughs. "Your father killing someone he wants you to feel equal to. I overheard him and Soot talking, the man himself told her to do it."
"Let me get one thing straight." He gets up into Zero's face, "I will ALWAYS be superior to you."
"Back off Zed," I command, testing his ability to follow commands of superiors. He doesn't budge. "Do I need to repeat myself." He backs down. Zero starts laughing.
"I'll kill you," Zed mutters under his breath. "Just you wait." Then he walks off, kicking anything in his path.
"He will get over it," Zero says walking with me back to the mess hall.
"Was what you said about Soot and his father true?"
"Somewhat, they, of course, talked about it and how his son is not allowed to achieve any ranks making him superior to anyone. That's why you got a promotion, at that moment he was, but not anymore."
"Well, I don't want anything to do with him," I sighed. "But now every time we are in the same place he has to follow my orders."
"Yeah, well that's still pretty badass," Zero laughs. "Want to see something cool?" I nod my head. Zero grabs my wrist and then runs towards the halls that are restricted.
"Zero, we're not supposed to be here."
"I know, shh."
We are approaching a large glass window. The closer we get the clearer the view becomes. It is beautiful, but then passed the treetops, the greens, and the colors, it was red, like fire. The earth is scorched and dead. There is nothing out there.
"See past the trees?" Zero says pointing. "They say that's where most recruits like us came from. They said we were abandoned and left for the blood wolves."
"Wow. I take that's what you are told in the classroom?"
"Yeah."
I look down, there are soldiers training below us. They have badges on their uniforms but, they had practically the same training clothes as us, yet they look… different.
"Those are the enhanced." Zero answers as if he knows what I was thinking. "They have been put through countless tests of their abilities, and have been surgically enhanced to be better than the average human. From what I have heard, if some of us from this class survive, we will be the next group to undergo the change."
We can hear footsteps coming towards us, so Zero grabs me and pulls us back into the shadows. We match the wall with our dark uniforms.
"Sir, I did as you said."
"Good," says the man. "How did the subject react to it."
"Subject 100, didn't say anything." It is Soot. They stop walking in front of us. "She's different from the rest. Her record shows that she was a fighter for the enemy. That's why of course she can kick Zed's ass in hands-on combat."
"I know the report." Zed's father says sternly. "After all, I did bring her here."
Footsteps come from the hall we came from. "Sargent Soot. Two bodies are missing from section C."
"Who?"
"Subjects, Zero and Sam."
"What? Sorry Commanding Officer Ezekiel, we have to find them." Then Soot runs off towards our section.
"Alright you two," Ezekiel says looking directly at us. "Come out. I know you are there."
"You're not going to report us are you?" Zero asks.
"Not today. Follow me."
We follow him to his quarters. Without saying a word.
"You both have grown up a bit since I last saw you," he looks us both up and down. "I'd ask how much you heard but you were clearly there for everything I said. I will offer you both two options." He shakes his head. "I can tell you both your origins, which I plan to anyways, but, you can either both die right here right now or go back and not say a word to the others. So what will it be." I look at Zero, and he looks at me.
"Which option would you prefer sir?"
"Wise," He says while stroking his prickly chin. "You two still share the connection you had back then too. So much trust, but I guess that's how siblings train in war are." We remain quiet. "Of course, sibling are against the law, your parents knew that, and they didn't want to choose so they dropped both of you out in the red land. That's when the enemy found you two, the raised you and trained you in war. Zero, struggled with fighting but you didn't. You could take down their highest ranked member. Yes, we watched you. It was, however, dangerous to take you from them so we watched and waited. Then you went on your first scouting mission together which was fine and dandy. You killed the two soldiers we had sent to collect you. That's enough for today. Meet me at the glass window in two weeks time and I will tell you more."
He presses a button and asks for Soot to come to his office.
Soot walks into the door, anger floods her eyes. "What are you two doing here?"
"That my fault," Ezekiel speaks for us. "I sent for them."
"Oh," Soot looks down in embarrassment.
"From now on," He says. "I want you to bring these two to me at this time every two weeks."
"Yes sir," She nods her head once, then beckons us to come with her. We walk in silence all the way to our section.
Zero and I go to my room to talk in private.
"What should we do?" I ask. "The others deserve to know."
"For now. Let's do nothing," Zero suggests. "We could learn more. See where it goes. Besides, he could be lying for all we know."
"Yeah," I sigh. "I guess you are right." I look at the clock. "That's how they found out we were missing… We missed lessons today."
"Oh well. I can talk to the teacher…."
"You two," it is the instructor. "Come with me. Commanding Officer told me to teach you two the lesson separately from the rest of your crew members."
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In class, we learn about the enemy known as the "Blood Wolves" which is what they call themselves. We also learn their strategy of attack and basic knowledge of a possible upcoming battle between us and them. The "test" that Zero had spoken of which would define if we were strong enough to undergo the necessary changes to win the future battles of Peace, our nation. At the end of the lesson, we were left with a lot to think about, and some homework to do. Next Class time, we are supposedly going to learn about the history of Peace.
The Blood wolves where supposedly part of Peace at one time, but they rebelled against Peace and Scorched the land, marking their territory. The lands of Peace use to be beautiful and full of life, many people and others, lost their lives due to the crimes spiraling Peace into a fast race of time to defeat extinction. The wolves just wanted to decide what was best for themselves instead of the Council of Greats. Most of their military force were children who were abandoned by Peace. We were told that they were trained to kill and told that Peace rejected and would never take them back.
The kids were hardened to war. The ones that they couldn't harden where tossed out and they made the others find and kill them for rank and sometimes sport. It was sick, to think that they raised kids to kill other kids, people they had known since they were abandoned. That's why Peace started taking us, to 'save' lives and to use us to kill them before they destroyed the world. Of course, Peace was only a small colony in the whole of things, but we had it the worst with rebellion because we were small and overlooked. The council had more important matters then protecting its own sons and daughters on Peace.
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