The Expatriate-the story of a Prodigy

9. Identity Crisis

"Into the forest?" Fawkes asked, confused. "But there are guards, Higgins. How-" "I saw a guard let them in, actually," A girl with a dark skin tone, an Olivia, said, looking annoyed by the situation. Maybe she thought this was nothing and didn't deserve attention, Alex thought. But the thing was, at least he cared about it.
"Sir, can I go look for them? As you said, I already learnt what we're going to train now," Fawkes looked to the heavens for a second, thinking. "Alright, Alex. Just be sure that you don't get lost, and if you can't really find them, just come to me or the guards straight. I should speak to those posts to root out those who let them in-"
Alex was already done with the conversation and quickly turned away. He headed to the forest, where a line of guards were standing firm. Alex Mars walked up right up to the biggest guy and looked straight at him. A few feet taller than the 17 year old in front of him, the man narrowed his eyes, confused and amused-his lips pulled up at the sides.
"What you want, newbie?" He asked. He had this beard that looked like a buzz that danced when he talked. His hands stroked a gun at his side. "Did someone let a few new trainees in? You know, those in my team," It was silly, the whole situation, and the whole watching batch of guards seemed to be wanting to laugh. But the boy was glaring.
"No," The guard said curtly, and his words were serious-even when he didn't even try them to be. "There seems to be 2 in the forest right now, and my training general wants to find them," Alex said. "Hey, look, boy-" The man was trying to say when Alex Mars leaned into a tree. "Come one," He said and looked as if he would stand there all day.
  By now, all the guards were staring-nervous, unclear eyes on each other, not amused nor bemused. Finally, the guard in front of the boy scratched his ear. "Well, we did let 2 boys in. But the first one, the big guy said it was the command of General Fawkes. The general had reportedly asked him to take the other boy there. Well, we disagreed, but the general is well respected here and the boy seemed to be telli-" "Thanks for letting me know your truth," Alex said solemnly, than whirled his body around against the trunk of the tree, and even before the guards could stop him, he was inside the forest line completely.
This James had to be something, Alex thought as he ran.
He rushed over piles of leaves, old rotting branches and twigs and pebbles and some mud thanks to a recent rain, and footprints. Ok, so where to look? With these leaves and everything, it would be very hard to be silent-
Wait, footprints?
He stopped and wordlessly examined those stuff. Boots that were irregular in pattern, and sliding dents beside and a bit in the front...
An image of the burly James dragging Andrew in front of him made him shiver. He started to walk slowly and silently(the tactic of being silent still worked for him, though the leaves were irritating and it was gonna take a long time), allowing the tracks. Ok, nothing here, he thought. Just some-
Then he heard them.
"Come on, you fucker-I know who you are!" They were not even trying to hide themselves-well, at least James was unafraid of getting detected by others. Alex Mars silently pressed his back to a tree trunk and listened with his Prod ears.
Someone dragged someone else's feet. The leaves crinkled. Skin and bone hit skin and bone, hard. Someone fell, clothes nagging and tearing on branches. Someone whimpered. The other growled and snickered.
His ears zoomed back to Prod-mode and he heard every detail. In his mind formed a clear image in accordance to the sounds he heard. James had just hit Andrew. He was now on the ground, coiled in pain.
Well, I better get out there and interfere this silly mess, Alex thought. He decided to make a grand appearance, surprising James. James usually didn't like the sight of Alex, so maybe he would fight back, or maybe threaten Andrew further, ignoring the smartass who had suddenly appeared...
Alex heard a hand at Andrew's throat and his gasping, choking sounds. So James knew those techniques already-an ideal candidate for the military, obviously. So that was how the big boy had gotten into the military...Alex commented as he watched.
"Alright, did General Fawkes ask you to kill your fellow trainee on the first day?" Alex asked, swinging his body against the tree-his body slid from the back to the front of the tree, and he stared at James as if he had witnessed every part of the other boy's life. Well, James and Andrew were in the exact positions he had thought they would be in-James had wrestled Andrew to the ground, and half buried in wet leaves and mud, Andrew's throat was grasped in his hand. His eyes bulged at Alex and he gestured, making gurgling noises.
But the thing was, James didn't falter his grip at all. Huh, he must be determined...
James stared at the new boy, surprised, then smirked. "Oh, the general didn't, Alex. But I am doing the right thing. Even when you two are room mates-you didn't realize that he's strange? And the general wants to keep track of...abnormalities," Alex watched as James' grip actually got tighter. "Ok, but don't you think you'll get hurt more for skipping class on your first day and killing a 'fella who is a bit strange' without the general's order?" Alex said, stepping closer. As if to emphasize his friend's words, Andrew's eyes just rolled back into his head right at the moment, and Thomas saw it. He let go and as Andrew's limp face hit the leaves on the ground, rose to face Alex full-on. Here comes, Al, Alex thought.
And it did come, afterall.
His ears detected the punch even before his eyes could, and for a second, he was 100% purely glad and proud as his body automatically ducked. James' hand hit the tree behind, eliciting a huge crack, but the boy didn't cry out in pain. He got even more angrier, and Alex licked his lips. Now this is gonna be fun, he thought.
When James kicked, he danced out of the way a bit, then tackled from the side, and the other boy started to look frustrated. Alex wondered why James was being so courageous today-maybe he wanted to make the lines of leadership in the military base among the team (excluding him and Andrew) clear, just like how dogs do their thing with the fire hydrants to mark their territory. This seemed like a silly but quite possible idea at the same time.
"Come on, what did I do wrong?" He asked, never out of breathe. Well, James had intended him to suffer-now he himself was out of breathe, fists blistered, frustrated. James seemed to want to say something threatening to end the fight on territory when he just decided to say something otherwise. "Just don't tell the general, Mars. I just wanted to be recognized-against you and him," Then he whirled around, shoulders still heaving from his 'performance'. "Wait-what did Andrew do to you?" Alex asked, now him frustrated. James groaned. But he paused before answering in a voice even Alex thought wasn't possible for the big boy.
"He might be a Prodigy, afterall-and that's terrifying. A Prodigy in the base, in here. And that should never be allowed," James sputtered out, then ran off through the leaves, mud, and branches.
Alex Mars stood with deer's eyes for the second time of the day, innocent Andrew still out cold at his feet.

Alex Mars didn't tattletale about James to the general. The main reason was because he was kind of sorry for the big boy, and, also(most primarily),afraid that James would end up suddenly blabbering that Alex and Andrew was a Prod, and, he didn't definitely want that.
He didn't help the general train the other newbies, nor did Andrew participate. Alex took him to the nurse and just ditched his training at the side of Andrew's bed. In his head whizzed around thoughts once more.
'Huh, it was the first day, and so much had happened...'
But the real, main thing was this: Alex himself had no trouble hiding himself-at least, yet. But the pronblem was not him-the problem was Andrew. The poor kid wasn't a Prodigy for sure, but because of his damn serious habits and awkward style, the others were now believing that he was a Prod. Not Alex.
Well, and Andrew didn't deserve to be in constant danger from the hunting hands of the army and the others, Alex thought.
It was all his fault-he shouldn't have come to the army at all. He should have just lived with little money but hide himself well in his hometown and mean no harm along the way for others.

It was 5: 43 in the afternoon when Andrew got his senses. The sun was setting and threw shadows of Alex and the bed onto the hospital tiles. Alex sat still as Andrew shook himself up, since he was still occupied mentally.
Alex finally noticed Andrew and turned to him, intending to say something when Andrew held up a bruised hand. "No, no. I know. I'm in the military, I am Andrew Stewart, you're Alex Mars, and-wait, I'm not sure of the time, though. Did I ditch training?" Alex gave him an amused smirk. "It's 5: 44, and you ditched the entire post-lunch session. Well, thanks to you, I also ditched," "Um, I'm sorry, you didn't have to stay here-""Well, it's a class on martial arts. A major field, but one of the most boring at the same time," Alex assured him and got up. Andrew also got up, rubbing his head. "Well, I think I have a memory-stick problem here, Alex. Or maybe I bonked out before anything major did happpen, I guess," Alex sighed mentally. He was still wondering whether Andrew should know the world about Prods and the cruelty of the gov and army.
"Well, I think James just considered to have a prank and took you to the forest. Bet you know that part, at least. So you guys fight back and forth till I catch you two in the scene, and James finishes throttling you, then see that you've bonked out. The general had made me look for you two, so I had found you-so I hauled you here while James went to train on the lame martial arts," Alex said quickly. Well, part of it was the truth. "Uh-huh, right. But I still am not sure why James first tackled me...well, I'm gonna hope it was a joke, as you said. We had actually been buddies a few years ago," Andrew said, now rubbing his sore throat bitterly.
Alex, once more, had nothing to say-nor wanted to.
They strolled out of the place and right away went for dinner. They found their team at the same tables as before, and the general didn't question them except raising his brows. Alex glanced at James. He was just stuffing food into his mouth, forehead crinkled at his tray. Maybe he got away properly from the general, Alex thought. Everything would be great-unless he had tattletaled the Prodigy-part himself...
He sipped water into his mouth and sighed. He had just so many problems to solve-from the very first day. What was gonna happen in the days after?
Well, he wasn't Muhammad the Phropet like me.
He was going to learn soon, however.