Chapter 4: Forcibly Drafted
"—lex-kun. Alex-kun, wake up! Can you move?!"
Groggily, Alex woke up finding that he could not. He looked around, seeing he was in some sort of lab or doctor's room. It was too dim to see clearly. He looked down and saw that he was strapped to a surgery table, set standing up vertically. His hands and feet were in leather binds, while across his chest, hips and legs were giant Velcro straps. Still able to move his head, he saw Kumiko on his right, with Abby, Theo and Val down the row, strapped the same way. Val was still knocked out, his head lolling to one side.
"Where the hell are we?" he said.
Looking more closely, he saw the roomed contained computer screens at the opposite end of the room, the monitors providing a little light. In the middle were two long tables stretching horizontally, stacked with medical and science equipment. There were bigger machines lining the other two walls. There was enough space between the closer table and them that one of them could be set to lay down.
"Don't know, mate," Abby answered him. "One moment we're camping, the next, we're in Frankenstein's lab."
Alex looked down the row. "What's wrong with Val?"
"We can't wake him. Theo, try again."
Theo kept shouting Val's name, but after several attempts, he started to trail off from exhaustion. Val stayed asleep; his body completely limp.
Oh, God, please. Don't let him be... They couldn't even finish the thought. Alex looked around again, and the most important question to him right now sprung from him.
"Where's Coal?!"
Before anyone could answer, the main room lights came on. The added light made them realize that they were behind a clear barrier, made of some kind of glass, with a hatch carved in the glass. A door they didn't notice before opened at the opposite end of the room. Through the door came a thin, blond man in a white lab coat holding a tablet screen, and an older man, wearing a military uniform.
The scientist tapped his tablet, and in response a pale purple light filled their containment cell, casting an eerie glow through the rest of the room.
"Suppression field in place, sir," The scientist said to the military man. "No unexpected surprises for them to throw at us."
"Thank you, Doctor."
The military man walked closer to the glass, looking at his new recruits. He paced, looking each one in the eyes with cold indifference. He walked back to the middle and addressed them.
"I am the General. This is my associate, Dr. Gene. You are our new experimental subjects. Before I explain any further about where you are and why you're here, are there any questions?"
Alex had only one. "Where's my dog, asshole?!"
A slight scowl appeared over the General's face, then quickly vanished. He turned and nodded to Dr. Gene. The doctor tapped his tablet several times, activating the generator behind Alex's table. A surge of electricity poured through, traveling all over Alex's body. He began to scream loud, pain shooting everywhere. It lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like the pain would never stop. It was this guttural scream that woke Val. He held up his head, looked at his friends, then ahead to look at the General and Dr. Gene. He shouted,
"What the hell is this? Who the fuck are you, cabron?!"
Val got his own jolt of electricity, sending him screaming. All the others could do was watch helplessly as their friends were tortured. The General spoke again,
"I do not abide rudeness. You will learn to give your betters the proper respect. Anything more? And if there is, I suggest you choose your words carefully."
Abby was the next to speak, her tone low and soft.
"What do you want with us... sir?"
"Straight to the point. Excellent. Then, why don't I begin? As I've said before, I am the General, but you all can call me 'sir.'" He stopped and looked at Abby and Miko when he said that, giving just a hint of a sadistic smile. Abby returned it with a disgusted scowl. He began again.
"I lead a covert group of military and science personnel, codenamed the 'Shepherd's Flock.' Our goal is to defend our country, from both within and without, with the best soldiers and weapons made in America, and by the grace of God, make it like it should. Once we succeed in eliminating all undesirables here, we'll expand to the rest of the world."
He paused for a breath, then continued. "An important step to accomplish this is to have the most perfect army. Dr. Gene here studies human development. His work includes the improvement of the human body, making it better than it was. With that, we hoped to make the perfect soldier. Unfortunately, all his experiments yielded little results, given the resources available."
The doctor looked defeated at those words.
"So, as we began to search for alternative solutions, one quite literally fell into our back yard. Two years ago, a large meteor entered the atmosphere and landed near a deserted road. Inside it was an unknown gaseous element, which we have dubbed 'Radiex'. We set out to collect it, to see what properties we could utilize. At first, we thought to make a new compound, possibly a drug. However, there were complications. The road it struck wasn't as deserted as we previously thought. Doctor?"
Dr. Gene turned his tablet to the captives, showing them photos of the impact site. It showed a destroyed road, a crater in the grass field next to it, with the large rock visible, and a wrecked school bus. The same that held the missing class. Fearing more shocks, the group remained silent. Dr. Gene then continued the story for the General.
"The meteor struck the bus before impact, the shock knocking all the people onboard unconscious. Before we could collect any Radiex, it had already been absorbed into the passengers. We thought it was useless to us. How wrong we were."
The doctor fiddled with his tablet, now showing pictures of the missing school kids connected to his tables and machines.
"We were unable to extract the Radiex from the children, but learned more than we knew. Using their blood, we were able to invent that barrier illuminating you. Why, you ask? Because the Radiex isn't completely useless. The subjects each gained extranormal abilities!"
With that, he gave a stereotypical mad scientist laugh.
"Amazing! Instant super soldiers, they just need to be trained and grown. Unfortunately, they are stubborn little brats, refusing to cooperate. Even the two adults with them gained abilities, but they were even more stubborn. They even tried to escape. They never got far. So now we come to you."
Risking another shock, Val spoke shakily. "Are you saying... we have... super powers? Like... in a comic book?"
"That is what we're here to determine. The field is in place as a precaution. While that is on, your abilities will be negated."
The General then stepped forward.
"You are to be America's new covert tactical squad. With whatever abilities Dr. Gene squeezes out of you, you will defend this country from all threats and aid in our current plans. Normally I'd abhor using... foreigners... like the most of you, but you will learn obedience."
The group looked at each other, thinking the same thing: What is wrong with this guy?
"And yes, I know you all went to that disgusting academy, and you're normally what we'd defend against. But you will fight for MY country, or you will suffer greatly. And you...," turning, he addressed Alex personally.
"Befriending all this trash, you make me sick."
Alex spit at the glass, which earned him another shock.
"I leave you all in the hands of the good doctor. Any survivors of his treatments will hopefully come to their senses and be thankful for my guidance. May God have mercy on all of you."
Finishing, the General turned from the new subjects and walked out the door. Keeping his eyes glued to his tablet, Dr. Gene spoke,
"If you simpletons haven't figured it out yet, since we know where you graduated, we obviously know your names. But so that it makes it simpler for everyone, you'll be referred to by your subject designations." He looked up and began to assign letters, pointing to each of them.
"A." Val.
"B." Theo.
"C." Abby.
"D." Miko.
"E." Alex.
"Now, let us determine what you can do. I'll see you on the other side."
Poking his tablet again, the cell they were in began to rotate, turning from the lab they were in into a more open spaced room. The ceiling was higher, and the room more dimly lit with hanging lights. Before them were more tables laden with various devices, but now more people were behind them, two men and a woman, wearing lab coats just like the doctor. They were tall, Caucasian and blond, also like Dr. Gene. Behind them were several larger glass boxes, with basic beds inside.
Dr. Gene then walked into view, entering from a side door. He nodded to his assistants, who nodded back. The doctor turned to the group, and said,
"Now then, who's first?"