Blackstone

The Enemy Revealed

After finishing our afternoon meal, David and Nicole marched Alpha Company backed to a large brick building that was to be our Barracks. B'Zide extended one of his arms and placed the large Alpha Company Standard in a notch above the door so that it hung above the entryway. I looked for the barracks for Bravo and Charlie Companies and saw that they were right next to ours.

            Nicole turned and addressed us. "All right, Worms. It's time you got rid of your smelly commoner clothes and started looking like proper Blackstone recruits." She summoned her razor phone and a spreadsheet hologram beamed into the air in front of us.

            David stepped up and pointed to the spreadsheet. "You're about to hear your room assignments. Pay close attention because your room assignment is also your team assignment."

            "You're going to be spending a lot of time together, so if you don't like your teammates then tough. Adapt, Survive, Thrive," Nicole said.

            "It's the Blackstone way," David added, "Now listen up. Here are your room and team assignments. When you hear your name, fall out and go to your room."

            He and Nicole began calling out names. Recruits heard their names and ran into barracks. I saw Carrie dart off when she heard her name called for Room 3A. I remembered her prediction that we were going to be teammates and wondered if it would come true.

            "Grant, Room 3A," Nicole shouted out.

            Yes! I exulted silently. I ran into the barracks, climbed to the top floor and walked into 3A. Carrie was waiting for me with sly grin on her face. "Can you believe this?" I said and went to give her a high five which Carrie awkwardly received.

            "Yes, actually. All the major time streams pointed to this direction. It was inevitable that destiny would draw us together," she said.

            "I still think it's pretty cool," I said looking around the small barracks room. It was no thrills; that was clear to see. 3 simple beds made up the room with desks and chairs besides them. Wooden wardrobes rounded out the decorating touches. I opened one of them and found a selection of black jumpsuits. I ran my fingers over the fabric. It felt strange, like some strange combination of cotton and spandex. I played around with it and found it incredibly pliable in my hands.

            "Oh, I don't bloody believe this." Thomas stood in the doorway with a look of mock exasperation. "I'm stuck with you two?" He slouched into the room and collapsed on one of the beds. "I think I'm going to sleep for a week. Wake me when this whole thing's over."

            I punched him on the arm. "Yeah, and we're glad to see you too, you bum."

            Thomas jumped up, "Hey, take it easy. I bruise easily, you know."

            Just then, a Razor Phone flew into the room. A hologram of Nicole sprang out of it. She scowled when she saw how Thomas and I were clowning around. "I'm glad you're in a good mood, worms, but there's no time for play. You've got 20 minutes to shower and change into Blackstone Gear and then meet me and Agent Ross in the Common Room." The Razor snapped shut and flew out.

            Carrie looked around at the room. "Everything we do is being monitored. I suggest we watch what we say," she said.

            "Bollocks to that," Thomas said and stuck his tongue out at the ceiling.     

            "It could just as easily be in the floor, dummy," I said.

            Thomas glared at me and opened his wooden wardrobe. Inside was a thick bathrobe. He took off his shirt and looked back at Carrie and me. "All right now, no peeping. I grew up with three older sisters but that doesn't mean I'm not shy about my appearance so no looking, okay." he said with a blush.