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A story that may lead into a book... |
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I've been working on this story for a while in hopes that I might be able to turn it into a novel. Its kind of Halo, Ender's Game, and Shade's Children in one. In a way...somehow. I'm posting the prologue here for some review, feel free to comment, please. I've started on another chapter, the first anyway, but I won't post that for a while..so..here goes: (sorry that its a bit long)
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Prologue
An old school bus traveled up the gravel and dirt road filled with school aged children. Perhaps if the bus had been yellow instead of black camouflage, they might have been singing instead of holding onto one another and sniffling. These children were no more than six years old, at least. The bus driver was recognizable only as a military personnel and he was the only adult on the bus. He wore a standard military uniform with no rank insignia or name tag. He seemed slightly uncomfortable with his current job, but he knew the same thing had been done to him.
This was a form of recruitment, but it was really kidnapping. The military selected children between the ages of five and eight from families and took them, so long as they were not the only child in the family or the only son. Sometimes, if the family had more than two children, the military would take several children, but as parents were cautious about having children it didn’t happen too often. These children were gathered once a year, every two years. It was for a program that needed these little soldiers trained from a young age so they could be easier to handle, or brainwashed as some would say. Most children grew up in the military and became heroes, but there were some that didn’t make it past the training. In fact, most didn’t make it through the training. Fragile minds aren’t used to strict military regulation training.
Tonight had been a little harder for Gunnery Sergeant Muller to collect the children. It was getting harder and harder for parents to give up their precious children. He had to force parents back into their houses just to get some of the kids into the bus. Gunnery Sergeant Muller had the same thing done to him when he was a child and for all he knew one of these kids could be a niece or nephew to him, perhaps a cousin. He knew he had a sister, but he didn’t know if she had been taken too or if she had been able to be one that was able to stay home to get married. He hoped it hadn’t been his job to steal his families’ kids. He sighed and turned the bus down another country road before looking into the mirror.
Most of the kids were laying on each other for comfort and couple of them smiled as they told little jokes. Some decided sleeping would help them cope with what they were getting ready to face. Muller kept one eye on the road, but there was this one girl who kept catching his attention. She was a brown haired girl with dark brown eyes and freckles. She sat alone with her arms crossed and a set expression on the seat in front of her. She had to be one of the only kids that wasn’t scared, or maybe she was scared and was putting on a brave face. She seemed tough, but when one of the kids stared crying, she was the first one to comfort him. She didn’t say anything, just gave him a comforting hug and a smile before moving away to her seat in solitude.
“Hey, you,” Muller said. A couple kids looked up, including the girl. This was the first time they had heard him speak since he took them away.
“In the back, the girl. Freckles.” She knew he was talking to her. She didn’t move, nor did she get up from her seat. Muller smirked underneath his serious face.
“Stay in your seat, okay? Don’t want you getting hurt in case I have to slam the brakes.” She nodded then turned and looked out the window as if she didn’t care what he had to say. Pretty much, he knew she’d move anyway.
Muller turned down another road. This time instead of just the bus’s lights to illuminate the road, in the distance there was a huge building with lights that lit up most of the surrounding area. By now, this bus wasn’t the only one on the dirt road leading up to this building. There were four more, all filled with kids under the age of ten. There were roughly 250 children all together. All these kids were collected tonight and were going to be the next round of soldiers to be trained for the rest of their lives. Hopefully, they would make it through the training, but sometimes they just couldn’t do it. They either died, were severely injured, or they went insane. It was a very sad thing to see a seven year old escorted home in a straight jacket. These children usually grew up and were able to get over it, but they just weren’t cut out for the military.
“Sir?” A small voice picked Muller out of his thoughts. He looked into his mirror and saw that girl with her hand raised. She had a questioning look on her face. He was told to answer all questions because lying wouldn’t help these kid cope with what was happening.
“Yes?” She lowered her hand and cleared her throat.
“Uhm…do you know what is going to happen once we get in there?” Her voice quivered a bit. So, she did have some fears. That was a good thing. Most kids who were cocky and fearless were the ones who didn’t make it through the training.
“Yes, I do. For tonight, you will be given something to eat and given a bed to sleep in. You aren’t going to do much for today and probably tomorrow. Tomorrow you will get uniforms and some medical stuff. Friday you will ship out to a larger base for you to be trained. This is only the welcoming facility. Boots never stay here. The next place is where they are mean to you. Any other questions?” The girl raised an eyebrow and looked past him at the building, sizing it up it seemed. She shrugged and looked back at him as he stopped at the guard house to prove what he was doing. She was about to ask another question but she decided against it and stayed silent. Most of the other kids weren’t brave enough to talk to a soldier.
“All right, kids. Wake up!” Muller’s voice snapped all heads up. Tear streamed faces looked up at him. He gave them a smile, it was warm and cold at the same time. He had parked the bus by now and was standing at the front looking at the kids. All the other bus drivers were doing the same.
“My name is Gunnery Sergeant Muller. I am the person who is going to be taking care of you until you leave Friday for Camp Pike. I am the person you are to come to if you have a problem. You will refer to me as ‘sir’ and only ‘sir’. I don’t expect much out of you yet, and neither do any of the other soldiers. You are to come to me if anyone mistreats you while you are here at Fort Hamilton. If another commander tells you to do something, do it, but check with me first. If you need someone to talk to, come find me. My job is to make sure you’re alright.” A couple kids smiled back at him. It was good to know that even though this guy kidnapped them, he did care. Besides, they knew he was going to be the last person that would be nice to them for a while.
“Stand up and start filing out to that line right in front of the bus. Keep quite for now, but you’ll have time to talk and play later.” Muller looked them over them trotted down the steps to stand at the very end of that line he pointed to. The children filed out slowly and lined themselves up on the line. They looked around, hoping maybe to see someone they knew until their attention was called to the front again.
Someone had called a command for them to move forward. All the children moved forward and went inside to receive a meal and were sent to their barracks for the night.
Gunnery Sergeant Muller went to his own room which was beside the room his busload was in. He could hear them moving about and choosing beds. He could hear that little girl talking to a group of kids who seemed interested in whatever it was that she was telling them. Her voice rose and fell with excitement and Muller soon realized she was telling a story to comfort these kids. That was fine with him; he didn’t want to hear them cry all night. This girl, he had to find out who she was. In fact, he was supposed to know their last names by tomorrow. He grinned and sat down at his desk. He had done this job for three years now and there were three pictures of his desk of groups of kids. They had all turned out to be good soldiers, or at least the ones that made it. Tomorrow he would get a group photo after they had all been groomed and given uniforms. For tonight, he would open files and learn their names.
Muller’s laptop sat open on his desk and he moved his mouse to open a folder which held his kids for this year. He had fifty of them, just like last year and the year before. The first name on his list was Anderson. He looked at the picture and nearly laughed. It was that same little girl. He shook his head and continued down the list, adding name to face until he was sure he knew them all. This was a long process and he was sure they were all asleep by time he had finished. He looked at his watch; 0200 hours. With a groan, he got up and made his way to the room next door and peeked inside. All fifty beds were occupied and all occupants were fast asleep. He shrugged and decided to turn in for the night himself. He closed the door and went back to his room.
Back in the room next door, Cadet Anderson was still awake. She heard Gunnery Sergeant Muller open the door and pretended to be asleep. After he left, she opened her eyes again and looked around. She flipped over and looked at the boy in the bunk under her. He was asleep. Everyone was for that matter. She sighed softly and curled up on her rack and soon fell asleep herself.
“I said, get up, boot!” A drill instructor hovered over a girl kneeling on the ground. She huffed quietly into the ground as she tried to catch her breath. They had been at Camp Pike for a month and training wasn’t getting any easier. The instructor grabbed the girl’s shirt and pulled her to her feet; he stared into her face and she stared right back.
“Because of you, this whole platoon is dead, boot! You gave us away by taking a break! You want a break?”
“Sir, no sir!” The girl breathed out. She knew what a break was and she sure as hell didn’t want one.
“No? Then why did you stop running?” She stared up at him then swallowed. Any answer could get her in more trouble, but telling the truth was the best answer.
“Sir, I was having trouble breathing, sir!” The instructor dropped her shirt and she stood at attention in front of him, her chest rising and falling heavily. He stared down at her before looking around.
“Having trouble breathing? Perhaps you need to do some more running. Get to it, boot! Start giving me laps around that building over there!” he yelled, pointing to the mess hall. It was by far the biggest building at the whole camp that any of the children had seen. She turned to the building then back at the instructor who gave her an iron look.
“I said, go, Anderson!!” Anderson’s eyes widened and she took off towards the building, only sprinting at first. All the other kids continued their circular run, but a few of them peeked at her as she started her first lap. She knew exactly how long it took to run around the mess hall, in fact, she had done it before just to be able to get out of running with the other kids. She gave herself a quick burst of speed and turned the corner before the drill instructor looked again. This gave her time to catch her breath.
“This is so stupid…,” she muttered. Once she finally caught her breath and was sure enough time had passed, Anderson began her laps. The instructor never noticed the difference because by time she finally came around he had started the others on various exercises. She grumbled a bit to herself before staring ahead and continuing her laps.
It wasn’t too much later when Anderson heard another set of running footsteps behind her. She went rigid until she realized it wasn’t a drill instructor or any of the other adults. She slowed her pace and soon a boy fell into stride beside her.
“He told me to come run with you.” She looked at him then snorted. If she had hair, she probably would’ve flicked it over her shoulder.
“What’d you do?” The boy shook his head a bit and answered only after they turned the corner to the back of the mess hall where they slowed their pace just a little.
“Caught me watching you. Said, ‘Since you can’t stop staring, go join her!’ So, I did. It’s better than being with that bunch of idiots. All they do is complain, even if they aren’t speaking.” Anderson nodded and quickened the pace as they rounded another corner. They could be seen now.
“Yeah, it’s hard, but we have to get used to it or we’ll die here. I don’t want to see anyone die and I sure as hell don’t want to die. I’m seven years old, you think I want to die before I’m supposed to? I haven’t even lost all my baby teeth yet.” The boy laughed a little then shook his head.
“I’m nine, almost ten. I shouldn’t even be here, but when my ma died I had no where else to go. Don’t know where my pa is. I think he was a soldier, one of those guys who is never mentioned so even if I asked about him no one would know him. I don’t really care. Just as long as I get out of this alive, that’s all I care about. So anyway, what’s your name?” He looked at her as she stared ahead. She seemed to be thinking about what he said. She was short compared to him and it made him grin. He liked being tall, it made him feel special.
“Anderson. Don’tcha hear it getting yelled all the time?” She looked at him like he was stupid. He could’ve laughed.
“No, I mean your first name. Like, mine’s Ryan. I’m sick of calling everyone by their last names; when we get back to barracks, I want to be able to call people by their first names. They never said we couldn’t.” Anderson looked at him with a funny expression, until she realized what he was talking about. He wanted to make some friends; in fact, so did she. They rounded a corner and saw the drill instructor wave to them. They could hear him yelling.
“Jessica.” They both turned toward the instructor with blank expressions and acted like they had been silent the whole time. When they approached him, they slowed to a jog then stopped in front of him and stood at attention. Breathing heavily, they waited for what he had to say.
“I’ve had orders to send you all to your barracks to shower and dress into your dress blues. There is a funeral for one of the kids and all are supposed to attend. It’s at oh-eight hundred and its oh-six hundred right now. Move it, now.”
“Sir, yes sir!” Jessica and Ryan said at the same time. They turned and took off after the other children who were halfway to barracks.
The funeral was short and sweet. All the children were silent as they stood at rest in each of their respective platoons. The covers on their heads had the brims so low the shadow passed down to their noses, but when some turned their heads the light illuminated tears for their fallen comrade. A small casket with an American flag was before them and two adults were sitting just to the side; they were the child’s parents.
Parents would only see their child again if they died or returned home, never during their training or while they were in the military. They were strict about it, the military didn’t want these kids to be babied. They were being made into fighting machines, not softies. After the children found this out, they prayed they never saw their parents again. It would only mean they failed.
“Atten-hut!” Anderson called all the platoons to attention when an officer coolly strode into the room. It was First Lieutenant Henderson. His gaze washed over and danced on every child for just a second before he strode over to the parents of the deceased. They stood and spoke for just a moment before the officer turned and strode to the middle of the entire company. There he did an about face and barked an order. Six men strode into the room and took their places as pole-bearers for the casket. The father held his wife as she wept for her down dead son as the officer snapped to attention.
“Present…arms!” The order had been yelled. In unison, the children and their commander raised their hands and saluted the parents and their son. The bearers lifted the casket and carried it out to the awaiting car to deliver the child to his final resting place. There was no eulogy and no one spoke until the car and parents left.
“Order…arms!” Henderson yelled just as the casket slid home into the car. The door shut behind the parents and then Henderson turned to his company. He looked at them again and sighed.
“I hope I don’t loose anymore of you. Fall out and go to the barracks. You’re off for the rest of the day until tomorrow.” The children waited then took and step back, yelled ‘Aye, aye, sir!’, about faced, and marched off to the barracks with solemn faces. Henderson watched as they filed out around him, abnormally silent. Tomorrow he’d have to make sure his DI’s took their minds off death and families.
 Alarmingly Charming · Mon Jul 30, 2007 @ 08:45pm · 3 Comments |
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