A broken stem with sap oozing from the recent break.
He pointed at a clear muddy track and muttered to those nearby, “See how no leaves have fallen to hide this yet. Nor is there any water pooled within the depression.”
As Mister K increased his speed, the class spread thinner until it was again Willow pacing just behind her teacher. They raced at breakneck speed, following the clues left by the stag.
Willow began to feel confident in her ability to track this animal and pushed ahead for a few seconds when suddenly she found her feet kicked out from under her by Mister K. She slammed against the ground and slid a few feet forward and gasped.
The scrapes and bruises were nothing as her heart thumped heavily in her chest and Willow broke out in a cold sweat. Five feet ahead of her was a well-camouflaged ravine. I could have fallen in and broken my neck!
Mister K helped her up and pointed toward a hoof print that indicated that the deer had shifted to the left. A sign that Willow had missed.
Mister K gave her a gentle squeeze on the back of the neck, looked her in the eyes and nodded. “Always pay attention in the woods. Creatures aren’t the only things that can kill you.” He motioned toward the left and continued the chase.
With Willow’s knees shaking, she took a deep breath as a string of her classmates caught up and chased after their instructor. She shook out her nerves and began jogging after the class, knowing that she could easily have died due to overconfidence.
A mistake she didn’t intend to ever repeat.
Willow stood in the mustering field along with both of Mister K’s advanced combat classes. Even though her teacher was a tall heavily-muscled soldier with battle scars marring his face, the man that stood next to him gave Willow the heebie-jeebies. He was a giant, with a pitch-black beard and shiny bald head. He had a maze of white scars crisscrossing his heavily-tanned scalp as he glowered at everyone under thick black eyebrows. The man was built like a mountain and nothing about him seemed approachable.
With a wave of Mister K’s arm, a hush fell across the students. “Okay men,” Mister K’s expression flickered with amusement just as he met Willow’s gaze. He cleared his throat and coughed into his fist.
“Atten-tion!”
Willow stiffened and slammed her arms down to her sides as she and the rest of the class focused on Mister K.
“Seniors, we’ve talked about this before, and the time has finally come.” Mister K gestured toward the intimidating man to his left. “This is Captain Rift. He’s a veteran of the Protection Zone, and has more than once been called upon to lead excursions to rescue fallen comrades that had been taken deep within the Forbidding. He’ll be the one taking you through the phase of instruction that is geared to help you gain a realistic understanding of what you’ll encounter and be expected to overcome in the soldier’s Choosing ceremony.”
The glowering warrior gave Mister K a brief nod and with a booming voice that reminded Willow of the rumbling of stone grinding against stone. “Thank you, Sergeant Krauthammer.” He took one step toward the class and hitched his thumb toward Mister K. “This class has a huge advantage this year. I’m not sure you know it, but your instructor is fresh from active duty and one of the best forward rangers I’ve ever had the privilege to serve with. I’m expecting a lot out of you, and I certainly plan to push you to your limits. Are you ready?”
“Sir, yes sir!” Willow and the rest of the class bellowed in response.
With a wave of his hand, he motioned for everyone to follow. “Let’s start with a little stroll.”
The large man turned and jogged toward the nearby forest. A warm feeling of confidence washed over Willow as she eased into Captain Rift’s moderate pace. Somewhere behind her, Willow heard Zeno’s groan and she suppressed a smile.
“Maybe this isn’t going to be so bad,” Willow thought.
Willow’s thighs burned with fatigue as Captain Rift yelled, “Keep those legs pumping! The terrain you’ll cover in the Forbidding is pockmarked with craters and boulders and such; your legs are going to feel like they’re on fire, but remember, they’re the only thing that’s going to keep you alive when trying to get out of a crappy situation.”
Mister K and Captain Rift sat next to each other as the class jogged in a giant circle around them.
The pack that Willow carried had to weigh fifty pounds or more. Unlike their previous runs with Mister K, this was the first time she’d had to carry a supply pack. Willow concentrated on her breathing and tried to ignore the pain.
Both instructors were watching and occasionally whispering amongst themselves when Captain Rift’s gravelly voice called, “Hey Zeno, don’t you think it’s unfair that Miss Park has to carry the same size supply pack as you do?”
Zeno nearly stumbled as he looked over his shoulder at Willow’s red sweat-streaked face and he nodded. “Sir, yes sir.”
Willow shook her head and remained silent despite her sudden desire to kick Zeno in the shins. The last thing she wanted was to be treated differently.
The Captain hopped up on the balls of his feet and grabbed a large backpack that had been lying next to him. “Miss Park,” he motioned for Willow to approach, “come here.”
Willow broke away from the circle of tiring students and jogged in place in front of her instructors. “Sir?”
Captain Rift hefted the large backpack and held it up for her. “Take your pack off, I’ve got a better one for you.”
Willow shrugged her pack off and gasped as she received the new pack. It had to weigh at least one-and-a-half times what the previous pack did!
Glancing to the right, Willow spied Mister K sitting cross-legged with a grim expression.
“Come on Park, get with it.” Captain Rift appeared amused as Willow heaved the pack on her back. As soon as she managed to get it situated, he motioned dismissively. “Get back in line.”
Willow’s mind struggled with what had just happened almost as much as her body did. She couldn’t fathom why in the world she’d just been given a pack that easily weighed at least fifty percent more than everyone else’s. Willow gritted her teeth, ignoring the throbbing in her back and legs, and instead focused on keeping herself moving forward.
A handful of minutes passed and some students were having trouble maintaining their speed.
Captain Rift began pacing within the circle of struggling students, growling at all of them. “You think those mutants in the Forbidding are going to slow down because you’re tired? Do you want to become food for a pack of those werebits? Move your butts!”
The class picked up the pace and a groan escaped Willow’s lips as she pushed harder to keep up.
With a smile evident through the dark beard, Captain Rift focused on Willow and spoke with a friendly tone. “Miss Park, it looks like you’re working pretty hard. You’re the smallest of this group, yet you’re carrying the heaviest pack. Doesn’t this suck for you?”
“Yes,” Willow blurted at her instructor before she could think about whether that was the wisest response.
The Captain looked as if he were about to barrel into her as he ran at her, jogging to keep his face in hers. “Embrace the suck,” he yelled with his face an arm’s length away. “Hate me. Hate that I’m being unfair to you. Let it feed you past the point of failure. The more you hate me, the longer you’ll live.”
Suddenly something snapped inside of her and the man’s tactics began to make sense. He was pushing her. Pushing her to see how far she’d go before breaking.
From some hidden reserve deep within, Willow eked out enough strength to push further.
The cool breeze tickled Willow’s skin as the fire within her body threatened to sear the grass she was lying on. Staring up at the sky, Zeno lay exhausted on the ground next to her. The class had dispersed ten minutes earlier and they were the last ones left on the field.
Willow glanced at her friend and joked, “Don’t you think that cute engineer of yours is going to be jealous, seeing you out
here with me by ourselves?”
“Hah! No more than the governor’s son would be. Besides, Baby’s smarter than anyone I know, including even you. She knows better.”
Ignoring the remark about Tristan, Willow snickered. “Her name’s Baby? What were her parent thinking?”
Staring up at the sky, Zeno chuckled as he also lay exhausted on the ground.
“No, it’s my nickname for her. Her real name is Babette.” Zeno turned to Willow with an amused expression. “Willow, I don’t mean this to be taken in the wrong way, but I was so relieved when I finally saw you fall to the ground.”
Willow’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the behemoth that had become a good friend over the last six months.
He winced as he pulled his knee to his chest, trying to stretch a cramping hamstring. “I didn’t think you were ever going to give up.”
With a wistful sigh, Willow stretched her aching limbs as well. “I did notice that lots of you guys dropped moments after I did.”
“That damned Captain Rift shamed all the rest of us into pushing further than we thought we could. I mean, let’s get real, I couldn’t exactly convince myself that it would be okay to stop if you were still going.”
Willow lifted herself up onto her elbows as understanding bloomed within her. Not only had the Captain pushed her beyond what she thought she could do, he’d actually used her to motivate the rest of the class too. “That Captain is downright devious.... I just hope my dropping first doesn’t count too heavily against my scores.”
Zeno shook his head. “Hah! I doubt you have anything to worry about.”
Willow lay back down on the grass and worried nonetheless.
“Hey, Willow, have you seen Steve lately?”
“You mean Steve Fisker?” Willow’s mind flashed back to the boy who’d challenged her on the very first day she arrived in Mister K’s class. “He wasn’t in class today, was he?”
Zeno muttered under his breath. “That’s twenty-eight.”
A sense of foreboding chilled Willow as she turned to her side and stared at Zeno. “What do you mean twenty-eight? Twenty-eight what?”
He shifted closer to Willow and whispered, “The senior class started with 123 people in it. From what I figure, we’re now down to 95.”
Stunned, Willow’s mind raced to the farmer that Mel had befriended. As far as she knew, he’d never reappeared after winter break. Could so many people have actually disappeared and she’d not noticed?
“Zeno, are you sure? Maybe Steve is sick.”
With a grim expression, Zeno shook his head. “Steve was my roommate. He didn’t sleep in his bed last night. I even checked the infirmary on the way here and didn’t see him.”
Her mind reeled. As she thought about her classes, it dawned on her that some of them seemed to have one or two empty seats, where in the beginning of the year, Willow was sure they’d been occupied. It was one thing for one or two people to drop out of a senior class, but for over twenty? “But Zeno, how...?”
Zeno leaned closer as he chewed nervously on his bottom lip. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but....” He hesitated, Willow felt the nervous energy pouring out of him as he scanned the field.
Willow gave him a soft punch in the shoulder. “Out with it already,” she hissed.
“Tristan. I know you two are a thing—”
Zeno raised his hand as Willow opened her mouth to protest.
“Don’t deny it, it’s cool. Heck, he seems like a nice guy and all. All I’m going to say is, ‘be careful.’ His mother might have been a merchant, but he’s still a Dominion. I don’t want anything to happen and you suddenly becoming one of the useless stats that rattle around in my head.”
Willow stared at Zeno’s expression of concern and for a moment he reminded her of her muscular brothers in that dream of hers. Like them, Zeno was trying to keep her safe.
Not having words to say–especially about the Dominion or Tristan, Willow patted the top of Zeno’s hand and nodded her understanding.
Zeno had just left her with two huge things to worry about: how and why were people disappearing from school and what if anything was she going to do about Tristan.
Captain Rift tapped Willow on the shoulder. “Miss Park, you’ll lead Team A and Mister Malaleuckus, you’ll lead Team B.” He slapped his heavily calloused hands together and yelled, “Okay, everyone line up behind your team leads. This should get interesting.”
Watching as the teams lined up, Willow sighed as the team she’d been sparring with for the last six months lined up behind Zeno and the other class that Mister K trained lined up behind her.
Zeno looked relaxed as he stood at attention, waiting for instruction.
Willow’s stomach flip-flopped as she surveyed her team and realized that she barely recognized half of the students lined up behind her.
Standing not more than fifty feet from the entrance to one of the forest trails, Captain Rift paced in front of the groups. “Being an effective squad of disciplined soldiers means you work as a unit. No one person can ignore their role without jeopardizing the safety of the rest.” He stopped pacing and turned toward the teams, his penetrating glare swept over the students. “I mean this for every one of you. Your lives will depend on the men,” he tilted his head in Willow’s direction, “and women on your team. I’ll bet you soldiers are wondering what this particular test is all about, right?”
“Sir, yes sir!” Willow and the rest of the students bellowed in response.
“It’s actually very simple.” Captain Rift smiled and the expression on his face left Willow with chills. A smile coming from that man couldn’t be a good thing. He pointed toward the forest. “Sergeant Krauthammer has established two bases deep in the woods. Each base has an injured soldier that needs transport back to this position. Team A, your retrieval mission is to the northeast. Team B, yours is to the northwest.”
Captain Rift tossed a fist-sized object at both team leads.
Willow caught hers and nodded with recognition as she stared at the metal object with a clear glass face and rotating arrow. She’d never seen one before, but Willow had read about compasses. She rotated the object in her hands and watched as the arrow maintained a constant position, pointing north. She glanced at the direction of the arrow and shifted her gaze slightly to the right. That’s where she’d have to go.
“Remember, you have an injured soldier waiting on you, so time is of the essence.” His gravelly voice grew more ominous as he growled, “Oh, and I’ve set a few obstacles along the way. I warn you–they aren’t to be taken lightly. Some of your enemies are devious and know how to use the forest as a weapon.”
Captain Rift lifted a ram’s horn to his lips and blew a near-deafening blast.
Seconds later, two audible responses echoed from somewhere within the forest and Captain Rift shielded his eyes as he squinted toward the sun, hanging low on the horizon. “Okay teams, you have two hours before sunset. You might want to get going soon. Consider it an automatic fail for your entire squad if you don’t return with your mission completed by sundown.”
Feeling the burden of leadership, Willow glanced at the position of the sun while Zeno’s team raced into the woods. With one last look at her compass, she motioned for the team to gather around. “Let’s take two minutes to organize our positions.”
Eleven students followed Willow’s lead into the woods. As the commanding officer of her squad, it was Willow’s responsibility to make decisions. Ultimately, the fate of the mission hung on her shoulders. She’d nominated the twin brothers, Eric and Derrick, to be her Warrant Officers, responsible for communicating her orders to the others and acting as second and third in command. She motioned silently for her squad to spread out and Willow sensed the others disperse into a wedge, while she took the middle point position and began heading northeast.
Before they’d left the clearing, she’d told everyone to keep their eyes open for booby-traps, and it was exactly for that reason her
hand shot out with her fist closed, signifying a halt. The brothers, who’d taken a position to her immediate left and right mimicked her hand signals and the advancing wedge of would-be soldiers halted almost immediately. Willow kneeled as she studied a vine that hung suspiciously in a loop five-feet ahead of her. With her studied gaze, she followed the thorny green rope up into the leafy canopy above and motioned toward what she saw.
Hiding in the boughs, attached to the vines, were wooden buckets. Eric and Derrick both let out low whistles in unison, motioning for the others to look. Willow scanned the boughs to her left and right and noticed that buckets were randomly positioned across their path. She motioned for the squad to back up, and as they did, Willow began gathering a length of vine that clung to the bark of a nearby pine.
Eric approached and whispered so that only she could hear, “What now?”
Willow tied one end of the vine to the loop of vine attached to the bucket above. She leaned close to Eric and hissed, “I don’t want to risk the squad, but if we’re going to get to the base and back before sundown, we can’t risk having these traps in our way.” She motioned him back as she stepped backward, spooling out the vine she’d tied to the trap as she went.
When she was fifteen-feet away from the loop of vine, Willow gave a slight tug on her end of the vine. The bucket attached to the loop immediately tilted, spilling white paint in a ten-foot radius across the forest floor. She motioned for the twins and as soon as they were within earshot, instructed, “Have everyone do what I did, trip the buckets from far away. Captain Rift will probably fail us if we get splashed with that white junk.”
The twins nodded and within minutes, a warm sense of pride swelled within her as Willow watched buckets begin dropping across the forest floor.
Without hesitation, she motioned for the team to continue forward and took her position at the point of the wedge. As they advanced deeper into the woods, the distance between each tree shrunk, making the travel that much more difficult. The forest canopy was thicker, and the smell of the rotting vegetation beneath her reminded Willow of the frontier lands near the Forbidding. The musky smell of death was all around her and she could barely make out the direction the arrow was pointing on her compass.
Dispocalypse Page 13