Ugh. Huh? What the hell?
"Ack!"
Why am I being thrown?
"Oomph!"
I hit the bottom of a good four-foot-deep hole.
Wait...
The hole! They're trying to bury me!
Argh! Why... Why can't I move my body?!
They're starting to pile dirt on me.
Why does this have to happen to me? I can't do anything but tear up. Is this my fate? Is this how I'm meant to die?
I can feel my ribs getting tighter and tighter as each clump of dirt is dumped onto me making it harder and harder to breathe.
Dirt's getting into my mouth, nose, and eyes. Fuck, why!?
It hurts... so much...
Please, end this.
I barely gasp for any bit of air I'm able to get, Inhaling dirt along with it. I cough and struggle. I'm trying so hard to move, but I can barely feel my body. Not because of the weight of the dirt being piled on me, but because I'm losing blood, or at least I... I-I was-
.......
I...
"Am I dead?"
I hear a chuckle to my right.
I'm in bed. It's not an infirmary or hospital but... it's not my house either.
I still can barely move however, I feel much stronger than I was.
I turn and I see-
"Lizzie?!"
She looks amused.
"So how do you feel, stupid?"
"Uhh-I... How did you?"
"I'm sorry about my boyfriend. He can be dramatic at times, especially when it comes to me... As well as when it comes to you, apparently."
"What happened? Where am I? What day is it?"
"Calm down, okay. I found out what Zander was doing and obviously murder isn't okay. He's not such a bad person, he just really truly cares about me and he doesn't want to lose-"
Suddenly, I remember everything he was saying about Lizzie.
"Lizzie! I don't think you know him as well as you think you know him."
It stays quiet for a second.
"Okay, you need to shut up. Now! Okay? I'm really pushing it doing this for you and I don't need you trying shit."
"No, he was talking about doing horrible things to you an-"
"Shut up! You're so full of it right now!"
...
I stayed quiet for about five minutes.
I guess now isn't a good time to tell her.
She continues to finally speak.
"Look. You're safe; you're in my house. Once I found you, I got them to carry you to my limo. I took you here immediately for care. It's 10 P.M. and your parents-"
She hesitates before she continues her sentence.
"Well, from what you said, I don't know if they care, but they might be worried sick."
"Thank you."
"The medicine I gave you should help you get better. In about ten more minutes you'll feel great, and you can head on home."
"Uhm... Thank you, again."
She sighs...
"I hate you, Nathaniel... But I can't just let my boyfriend kill you. So we're just... even, okay?"
I nod my head yes and she walks out of the room. It's fancy here and, if I'm in the guest room, it feels like a master bedroom. I'm scared to see what the rest of this place looks like.
.......
She wasn't kidding about that medicine. I don't know what it was but, damn! My body doesn't hurt in the slightest and all I have is just bruises.
Bruises...
All I have is just bruises.
That's odd. Last time I got injured, all I had was bruises.
Lizzie walks into the room and asks if I was feeling any better.
"Yeah, I feel fantastic. Thank You!"
She gives me a nervous laugh and rushes me out. We eventually make it to the front door.
"Bye Nathaniel! Oh and uh, happy birthday!"
She says with a smile, showing her perfectly sized, clean white teeth.
My heart...
Butterflies again.
"Thank you-"
She slammed the door in my face.
"Uhh."
Okay, well...
Wow. That's the first time anyone has ever told me happy birthday before. Besides myself of course. I guess I'm headed home now.
I use the GPS on my phone and-hey! This place is kinda on the way toward my home. It'd take longer if I walked this way but, it's just two extra turns from my normal route.
Wow...
I look up and see the most beautiful view I've ever laid eyes upon.
A lake, with mountains far off in the distance, and the moon right in between two of those mountains makes it perfect for the moonlight to make a fantastic lighting effect on the lake. I knew about this lake and mountain range, but this house-erm, mansion actually, has a perfect view of it all. I stay for a moment in awe before I start making my way home.
.......
It took about forty minutes I think but, I'm finally home. I open the door and-Boxes?
My dad looks at me, carrying a box-
"It's time for you to leave."
"You really are just... kicking me out?"
"Yes son. It's time for you to become an adult."
He's so full of shit.
They had people moving my stuff into my new house so, at least they did that for me and left me some cash. Maybe they do care, at least a little bit.
I go straight to my room after that conversation. I get to stay here one last night.
...
It's the last few minutes of my birthday left, so, I do what I've done every year.
I turn off the lights, light up my pine-leaves scented candle, set it on the middle of the floor, and sit criss-cross in front of it to meditate and reflect on my day.
Today was mixed. Something that never happened to me before, happened.
I was happy.
I mean, yeah, I almost died but, I felt... so muc-
"Ahh!"
*Crashes!*
All of a sudden, I'm hearing gunshots, big vehicles, yelling, and... Screeching!? A Huge Dog? Or a Lion, maybe?
*Boom!*
My door bursts open! About five or six people, all unique from each other but synchronized like, barge into my room. They're all pointing their guns out of my windows looking for something. One guy, who seems to be in charge of the group, puts his hand out for me to grab.
"Come on, rookie. Get up!"
Rookie? What the hell is going on?
*Roar!*
Seriously, what the hell is going on?!
The guy huffs and picks me up by my waist, tosses me over his shoulder, and starts to sprint outside as the whole group follows. We run towards the middle of the street towards these armored trucks and he hurls me into it. I look up and-
"What the fuck is that?!"
The leader looks at me.
"Huh?"
As I point to this... Monster! It looks like its flesh is turned inside out but, it's purple... with a small black mist surrounding it. It has bones covering it with a dragon-like skull as its head. It's a seven-foot creature with giant claws and deep, bright, purple eyes. Almost like a flashing light, you can see miles away!
The leader looks at the monster.
"Yeah, it's nothing different than normal, soldier. It's just another one that got out of our controlled area and attacked during pickups today. Are you one of the pickups?"
I gave him a blank stare. I froze up.
"Aghh. It doesn't matter. Come on people let's move! The Warriors got this one. Just get everyone picked up and get to base. Come on! Hussle! Hussle!"
I'm frozen as we drive off, staring at that... that... that thing. A different group comes in, shooting the, erm, thing. We drive around a corner and I lose sight of them.
That guy looks at me for a while before asking.
"So, uh... is this your first time seeing one in person?"
I'm still frozen and I try to get the words out...
"W-Wha... wa... sss... t-that?"
He looks at me, seemingly more assertive.
"Wait a minute, do you have any idea what's going on?"
I nod my head no, worried about what they might do to me.
"Haha, guys! We got some fresh meat here!"
Everyone laughs and chuckles.
"I welcome you then. I know you're probably shitting your pants here, so are a lot of us. It'll all be explained to you once we get to the base. Everyone here is chosen for a reason. We all have a purpose, whether it's big or small. There's a reason you're here, right now, at this moment. This is Delta Squad F76. Our squad commander had to depart from us to help keep the Corrupted at bay, while we got our pickups. Which wasn't originally supposed to have newcomers, but with this mess, we'll have to sort it out at the base. I'm the backup for situations like this, when we lose our commander, I fill in that role."
I have no fucking clue what the hell he's talking about.
He and the squad start talking about all sorts of things I don't understand. They all seem mostly calm, but with a little adrenaline from what happened just now.
.......
It's been about a half-hour and finally, we get to this absolutely massive place. It has like ten of my schools, with another big building that's about five times bigger than that!
"Here we are, uhm... Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Nathaniel."
"Nice to meet you, Nathaniel, my name is James Reed. Not the prettiest name I know, Haha. Now, follow me. I'll take you to our recruiter and, word of advice, don't speak unless spoken to with her. She's a very serious person who gets shit done and has a bad attitude. I mean, dealing with crowds of people with questions all day, saying the same long ass boring thing, she has every right to be that way."
He doesn't say anything else on our way there.
...
What have I gotten myself into.
It's like I don't have a choice.
I sigh to my thoughts.
At least this James guy is pretty nice. He welcomed me and kinda kept me comfort through this mess.
He looks like he's in his thirties or fourties, and he's about five feet, seven inches tall. He has buzz-cut black hair and he's white complected but, I believe he's from another country. His eyes are slanted and they're a very light brown; almost yellow. He makes me feel at least a little sane with everything happening.
I mean, this is insane... Right?
He stomps over to this woman, speaking to a whole crowd of kids-I mean adults, my age. That means we're at the right place, I think. He salutes and starts talking but, I can't quite make it out. She looked a bit peeved, I think because she was interrupted, and walks toward me. I see James who, over her shoulder, waves goodbye to me. I acknowledge him, but before I could wave back, my wrist was grabbed by this woman. She puts something in the palm of my hand and motions to put it in my ear. There's a lot of commotion to the point that I can't even hear her in front of me.
We are in this huge building the size of at least a fourth of our school. It has one huge open gate, similar to a massive-sized warehouse! People are moving everywhere and this crowd is about one-hundred or so kids-erm, adults, my age. They're all facing this giant curved screen that's a hologram. It's like a floating screen, all futuristic and stuff and it's pretty damn fascinating.
Anyway, she handed me some kind of earpiece, so I put it in my ear.
"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Uh, yeah, I think so."
She gives me a dumb look.
"Go head toward the back of the group and pay attention. This won't be repeated."
I do as she says and I stand in the back of the crowd...
"Okay everyone! I'm sure you're all pretty confused as to why you're all here. You might be thinking, oh god, they are enlisting me into the military; they're going to send me out at war with the terrorist! I'll tell you right now... No!"
"..."
"So relax... Because this is far worse."
The whole crowd starts a bit of a panic when suddenly, this guy comes up next to me, really close, to the point that his lips are almost touching my ear.
"What is she saying, I can't hear her."
I'm really worried about this guy as I'm concerned his earpiece must not be working.
"She's explaining why we're all here, so shush and I'll tell you later."
I go back to listening to the woman.
"Now don't worry, you'll be fit for exactly what's perfect for you and every one of you all will be trained in everything you need to know to survive."
"Pssst, my name is Corn... Like the vegetable."
I look at him and tell him to shush, again. Wait a minute.
"Corn? Like vegetable kind of Corn? Like with a C?"
"Yeah, like the vegetable!"
What am I doing? I need to pay attention. I direct my undivided attention back to the lady.
"So what do we do? Well, we protect the world!"
The hologram computer shows off the whole galaxy and everyone is in awe.
"What do we protect the world from? Corrupted!"
Pictures of that monster I saw from earlier start popping up... Hundreds, all different from each other. I must say, seeing one in person and one in a picture is two really different experiences.
"These beasts, with just a single scratch into your skin, will turn you into one of those mindless creatures, and this one."
The computer shows a bigger specific hologram of one of those monsters.
It has one huge right claw and then a human-sized left claw on the other. It has two long husks and two fangs going over them. It has, what looks to be a crater in its face. Almost as if it was hit with a cannonball on its right eye. I do notice however, they all have a few things in common... Purple flesh, black mist, bone-covered, dragon skull, and five to twelve feet tall. Not all of them have claws. For example, one had a long spike for a hand, while another had two nubs with a solid bone ball at the end of it, probably to completely crush humans' skulls... Egh! I don't wanna picture it. Anyway, back to the main one on the screen.
"This one is special. He is, what we believe to be, the one that leads the Corrupted. He. Is. Dangerous! And you will do your best to never encounter this one without the order to do so. His name... Claw."
Hmph. That's real original.
"That's a pretty cool-looking dinosaur."
"I swear if you don't shut the hell up, Corn!"
"Okay. Sorry. I was just trying to feel involved."
This guy is ridiculous. Anyway, I missed what she was saying.
"Now, with that out of the way, here is our leader. The highest-ranking, with the utmost authority, Carter Jones!"
Everyone starts clapping.
"Ahh, Mallory! I told you not to call me that.
You all will call me, and only call me, General. Got that maggots!?"
Well, there's not much to say. The General is exactly what you'd picture a General to be. He's old, white, and he's almost six feet tall I'd say. He seems very fit and buff for his age. His eyes are a very average dark brown. He has tons of medals and of course that General officer's hat.
Mallory is that woman who handed me the earpiece. She seems to be very young for the job she's doing. She's Hispanic and about five feet, four inches tall. She has long, wavy, curly, black hair and dark brown eyes. She's very pretty and would probably have a beautiful smile, however, doesn't seem like she's the type. Her skin is a light lovely brown and seems to have zero flaws.
"Now, if I'd have you all check your phones for the time. If you don't have a phone, then just believe what you hear."
Hmm? I'm confused about what he means-
What?!
It's still just-
"Twelve o'clock! Midnight! Twenty-fourth hour! Now, it's no error. Time as we know it is frozen. Except for you and everyone here, haha!"
The General exclaims.
He's very cheerful and upbeat for what you'd think a general would be. I wonder how long he's been here.
"All of you are specifically chosen by our special, main, secret, computer. This computer is stopping our time-freeze from affecting you. And yes! You don't age while time is frozen. For all you ladies who want to stay young and beautiful, don't worry."
What the actual hell is this! I must be dreaming. This is just too much for me to handle! We are all picked out by a computer to be here, to fight these monsters that can kill us and worse, turn us into one with just a tiny scratch! They are giving us a suicide mission with this! This can't be allowed.
As I pause and think for a moment. It's not like I had a better life back home.
I sigh and look back to the General.
"The mastermind behind it all just happens have time to be here today for you lucky few. He is a part of our top mechanical engineering and science production team, giving us all the innovative technology you see here. Doctor Reginald!"
Ugh. There's too much learning, too much information, and, dammit, too many names! This is ridiculous!
"So is this like a museum? And are they like, cosplayers of like, really old people like, back in time?"
This kid is so sad. I've never heard someone say the word like so many times in one sentence.
"No, that's our General and that's the leading scientist, ya dope!"
"Oh wow! Wait, General?"
Oh god, he's hopeless. He hasn't even figured out he is in a military base right now!
"H-Hey everybody. So uhm, heh, uhh, basically this machine we've built, and transferred to every country around the globe, send signals to each of the other machines and out to these crystallized meteorites we have set around in space to perfectly stop time at midnight and stay for as long as we need till each machine is shut off. In short, all of the machines connect to each other and cause the world to freeze. There are plenty of explanations as to how this works and the technology behind it, but we'd be here all day were I to explain everything to all of you wonderful people. Now we can't have this place or our organization discovered by the public because it'll create total chaos and anarchy and all our hard work will have gone to waste."
The General takes over the conversation.
"Speaking of which, before we move you all to our next phase, we sadly need to set an example."
A guy covered in a mask is walked up there and put to his knees. Oh fuck! Is this an execution?!
"This one has tried to spoil our plans and tried to tell his best buds about our secret organization."
He pulls out a pretty big revolver and blasts his head without any bit of hesitation. Guts and brains explode all over us. Blood covering a few people in the front. Bits of the slimy chunks still pulsing.
All I could muster up to say...
"Oh my god!"
My heart dropped to my stomach, girls were screaming and crying and everyone else was just in shock. This man just wanted to tell someone because he probably had nobody and just needed to let it off his shoulders. He could've had a family... Kids... And, now... Where his head used to be... Just gushing out with blood... I just have to look away-
*Clap...Clap...Clap-Clap-Clap!*
Who the fuck is clapping to this-Corn! He's smiling, almost in tears it seems. It's almost like he's proud and amazed.
They start taking us separate ways. This big guy, probably in his thirties, is walking me and a small group somewhere. Corn is right behind me, looking cheery as ever.
"Dude, why are you smiling?"
"I'm having a great time here, obviously."
I wonder if he thinks this is all an act or if he is actually just this insane.
Corn is this unnaturally pale guy with green eyes spread far apart. He has a black bowl hairdo and he's about five feet, five inches tall. Freaky, if you ask me.
We stop at this dark room with a door shaped like a triangle, with the top cut off to be flat. I'm up first to walk in.
The door slams shut behind me. I look forward and all I see is lights over this bed with mechanical little arms connected to it as if they are supposed to be performing surgery.
Oh no.
They tell me to lay down and I don't really have a choice. Who knows what they would do to me if I resist.
They're now putting a mask over my face.
And... whew... I'm getting... really... tired...
*yawns.*
.......
"Agh!"
I wake up in an instant to a stun baton being jabbed at me.
"Alright look we need to take you to the General, okay bud?"
"James? What's wrong?"
"Nothing man, just."
He pauses with a worried look on his face as he is rushing me somewhere.
"Ahh man, I can't lie to ya... They just did their whole examination and you barely survived. You don't have nearly enough blood to be going through our procedures and you're organs are too soft as well... You aren't supposed to be here. You weren't supposed to be one of the unfrozen ones when time froze. I don't know what they will do man. The computer had a fuck up and I'm sorry if anything gets worse. I'll do my best to convince them to let you be with us or to at least let you live. Whatever it takes, alright?"
"Oh... Uh, thanks."
"Don't thank me yet."
He takes me to the General and they go to this back room, while I'm stuck outside.
Damn. I'm just as much of a mistake here as I am at home. Great! So the computer glitches and I'm stuck here for their mistake and my fucking life is on the line now because of their screwup!
.......
A good thirty minutes pass. James and the General come out and look at me.
"Hmmm"
The General groans.
We sit in silence for a few minutes...
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but now you know about us and we can't just let you go-"
Oh fuck, really! Just my fucking luck! I die, after all that... Fuck my shitty life-
"So you have to be one of us now. You managed to live past the endoskeleton we put in you."
"The what?!"
"Well, its cords, wires, and some metal beams that basically allow you to have access to a large assortment of tools and things you'll need here. For example, a phone-line between everyone. Look."
He presses on his wrist...
"Call Z237."
I hear this ringing in my ear...
"Now, lightly push your tragus."
I do as he requests and it's exactly as he says, it's like a phone call.
"End call... Now, I can call with an immediate answer, but if you were to call, it has to be monitored and approved. The only calls that you can make that will instantly go through, are with your squad and your partner. Speaking of which let me go introduce you to your partner. I have someone special, like you, that I want you to be partnered with. The endoskeleton does much more than just calls, by the way. You'll learn about it soon. Also one more thing, we always know everything you say outside of here and that's how we find out if you are talking about things you aren't supposed to be talking about."
James leaves with a couple of these guard-looking guys pulling him out somewhere and General takes me to the barracks. The barracks have walls that are like houses stacked on houses with elevators in between. They go high as fuck, at least thirty stories or some shit like that. There are nicer-looking ones as there are cheaper-looking ones.
We go to the far back which was like a thirty-minute walk. This place is enormous! We go inside one of the elevators and go up twenty-seven floors. We walk into this room with doors. One straight ahead and one on both left and right sides. He starts walking toward the left door and stops in front of it.
"Well here's your house. We have a normal day and night cycle here and every unfrozen day at midnight, time will stop. You'll be picked up by one of our trucks and then we stay here for forty-eight to fifty hours. Sometimes much longer, depending on what's happening. We then drive y'all back. So just settle in and get comfortable with everything. Take it all in. I know it's a lot. There's so much more to learn till you're all trained up. So prepare for your new life! Also, your partner is going to be your roommate which is normal. However, normally, partners are usually the same gender. Yours... well, yours is a girl. She's pretty pissed and upset right now because she just got deranked and she's restarting everything she built up and worked so hard for. She betrayed us by stealing our medicine crystals without any true reason or order. So she has lost everything, her partner, her guns, her rank, her units, and well, her pride. She was very promising too, she was our youngest to ever achieve the rank she had. So that's why I put you with her. So surprise me, soldier."
He salutes me, and I give my best salute back. He laughs and walks away.
He's actually really nice and motivating, but I'm sure he can be scary when he wants... Like earlier... I don't want to think about that right now.
I let in a deep sigh and open the door.
"Oh, what the hell are you doing here?!"
"Lizzie?!"