Genetic Flux (Phase One Book 1)

by Eckrich,Jeremiah P.

  “Ben, I selected you first because I think you have the heart and the drive to do this. I’m gonna be completely honest with you, this will be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life. I know because I’ve been through the training. I will be the one training you and if you make it through I will become your squad leader. I’m warning you now, if you decide to do this, you have to have it set in your mind that you will make it through no matter what. You will want to quit, the point of the training is to make you quit. If you can push through the pain, sleep deprivation, hunger, and mental assault you will experience then you will come out on the other side of that as one of the best and most deadly soldiers there is. Does that sound like fun or what?”

  “Well, Captain, it sounds pretty tough, but I think I’m up for the challenge.” He looked the Captain right in the eye, “I’m in, when do we start?”

  “Well hot damn, I like your enthusiasm!”

  “Sir, if I may, I would like to ask one question though.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why all of a sudden is there a need for an Army Rangers unit? Didn’t we all just get trained so that we could protect the compound?”

  “That’s why I picked you Ben, you’re able to see things and use your instinct better than most. To answer your question, it’s come to our attention that some of the other compounds were experiencing a problem with outsiders snooping around. At this point we’re not sure if any of those nosy bastards saw anything or not. So you, five others and I, will take care of any such threat to our safety. They want a unit that has the best training the military can offer so when we go outside that gate to do patrols or handle a threat, the threat gets neutralized and we come home alive. That means you might have to take someone’s life, when that moment happens will you be able to pull the trigger?”

  “Sir, I will do whatever has to be done to keep this compound safe. If that means I have to kill someone then that’s what I’ll have to do.”

  “All right, I just wanted to make sure you knew what you’re getting into. Welcome to the team. Training will begin tomorrow at 0400 hours.”

  “Yes, sir. I will be there.”

  “Fill up on dinner tonight and get a good night’s rest because it will be the last good meal and night’s sleep you will get for a while.”

  Captain Munez left the apartment and tracked down Michael, Randy, Cody, and Dillon. He had the same conversation with them that he had had with Ben. To his surprise all four wanted in. Captain Munez had one more person to talk to and he wasn’t quite sure how this one would work out. He walked up to the door knocked on it.

  “Just a minute, I’m coming.”

  After a few moments the door opened. “Hello Captain Munez, is everything okay?”

  “Why does something always have to be wrong when it’s me standing at the door?”

  “Well, sir, the captain usually doesn’t associate with the maggots outside of training unless something is wrong or that person is in trouble.”

  “Fair enough, everything is okay and you’re not in trouble. May I come in?”

  “How rude of me yes, sir, please come in.”

  “Thank you.” Captain Munez walked into the dining room and motioned to a chair. “Let’s have a seat. I need to talk to you about something.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Tracy, what I’m about to tell you is classified information, which means this conversation never happened, do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. “ She felt uneasy and anxious not knowing why the captain would be sitting in her dining room about to tell her classified information.

  “Alright, here’s the deal. I’ve been given orders to select six people to be trained and join an Army Rangers unit…” He explained to her everything he had explained to the other five. He sat back in his chair and looked at her, “well what do you think?”

  “Um, well, sir, I am honored you would think of me for this, but I’m not quite sure if I’m what you’re looking for.”

  “Sure you are or I wouldn’t be sitting here, hell I wouldn’t have even bothered knocking on your door if I didn’t think you were capable. You have what it takes. I know this because I trained you. I don’t want you to do something you’re uncomfortable with because that will just get someone killed. Tracy, this is the highest honor any woman could ever be given.”

  “You know what, Captain, my whole life I’ve always doubted myself and I never had the confidence to take risks so that I could improve my life. That’s why I have always worked in a cafeteria, my whole life, because I was too scared to try something new. Well evidently you see something in me that I never could. You know what? I’m tired of being that person, count me in!”

  “Holy hell, that’s what I’m talking about. Training starts tomorrow morning at 0400 hours, and just so you know, Mister Nice guy will not be present, have a good night.”

  ***

  The next morning at 0400 hours Ben, Michael, Randy, Cody, Dillon, and Tracy were all present in an area of the compound that had been designated solely for their training. No one other than the colonel, captain, a couple of privates and the six recruits that are being trained would be allowed in that area.

  “Alright maggots, here’s how this is going to work. You—”

  Randy interrupted him, “Sir, I thought you said we were soldiers now not maggots!”

  Captain Munez stormed over to Randy, he got right in his face and yelled, “Listen here maggot, you will only speak when you are spoken to do you understand me?”

  “Sir, yes, sir.”

  “Second, you will remain a maggot until you make it through this training! Got it?”

  “Sir, yes sir, permission to speak, sir.”

  Captain Munez took a step back. “Permission granted.”

  “Sir, it is my understanding that females are not allowed to be in the Army Rangers, sir. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable trusting a woman with my life.”

  Captain Munez got back in Randy’s face, “Well maggot, first off, you are wrong! Secondly, she might be thinking the same thing about you! What are you trying to say shit bird? That I lack the judgment and expertise to pick a qualified candidate!”

  “Sir, no sir, that’s not what I was trying to say I—”

  The captain cut him off, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you were trying to say! Shut your pie hole and drop down and give me fifty. Anyone else have something to say about who I have selected to be in this unit?”

  The group answered simultaneously, “Sir, no, sir.”

  As Randy was doing his pushups, the captain continued where he had left off. “Okay maggots, when I went through this training it lasted roughly forty seven weeks. We don’t have the time for that so I will be cramming forty seven weeks’ worth of shit down your throat in twelve weeks. You will be sleeping outside and will only be given enough rations to keep you alive. Moving forward you will learn survival skills where there will be a strong emphasis on intense physical and mental training. You’ll get trained in small unit tactics, advanced Army Rangers tactics, unconventional warfare, escape, resistance and evasion, advanced combat survival tactics, and last but not least land navigation. Let’s get started. Get over there and pick up that log. The log is twelve feet long and weighs four hundred pounds. Pick it up and follow me.”

  The squad scrambled to pick up the log and their training began in earnest.

  ***

  The group of six where sprayed with cold water while being asked test questions. They got woke up at all hours of the night to deprive them of sleep. By day fourteen they were hungry, sleep deprived, and physically and mentally broken. One night the six recruits lay in there sleeping bags staring up at the stars.

  Michael was the first to speak, “I don’t know about you guys, but my whole body hurts.”

  “I’m glad you think of me as one of the guys and all, but I’m still a chick.” Tracy chuckled.

  “Sorry dude I’ll try better, I just forget sometimes.”

/>   “Did you just call me dude, oh my gosh Michael your helpless.”

  Ben looked over at Tracy, “I realize you’re a chick, you’re covered in dirt, you stink, and yet you still turn me on. I would have to say that’s pretty impressive.”

  “Um, thank you I guess. I’m really not sure how to respond to that.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be crude. Seriously, I was just trying to be nice.”

  “Okay, I have a guy on my left who thinks I’m a dude or something and a Casanova on my right.”

  “Oh come on Tracy, I wasn’t trying to hit on you.”

  “You weren’t? You just said that I stink and look like shit but you would still bang me.”

  “Hey now those were not my words!”

  “Might as well have been. Damn dude grow a pair and make up your mind you either like me or you don’t, which is it.”

  “Alright fine, I like you, there I said it. This really wasn’t the place or time I wanted to get into this discussion.”

  “See that wasn’t so hard was it? Listen, I like you too even though you called me a bitch, which by the way will be the first and the last time that ever happens if you want to keep your manhood intact.” She looked at him half-serious and half with desire.

  “Listen about that, I have been meaning to apologize to you for calling you that. It was a really shitty thing to do and I was just taking my frustration out on you and Michael.”

  “Hey Michael.”

  “Ya’?”

  “Sorry for being such a prick, I’m glad you punched me in the face because I totally deserved it and you sticking up for Tracy was the right thing to do, bro.”

  “It’s all good, dude. I like this Ben a lot better anyway, since I have been forced to spend so much time with you I realize that you’re not such a bad guy after all. I’ll cover your six any day of the week, bro.”

  “Damn Mikey, thanks that means a lot. So I take it you’re not mad at me for moving in on your gal.”

  Mike looked at him and they both started laughing. “Shut up bro that was cold.”

  Cody popped up. “Wait so Mikey has a thing for Tracy, too.”

  Randy started laughing and Tracy looked at Michael.

  “Well do you?” Randy inquired trying to egg things on.

  “No, Ben’s just being stupid. Me and Tracy are just friends.”

  Cody chimed in, “Ya’ right you got it bad for her.”

  “Guys seriously, that’s not how it is.”

  But secretly Michael was attracted to Tracy. Now with her and Ben hitting it off he knew his opportunity to ask her out had passed.

  Tracy jumped in, “Alright guys back off and quit riding him so hard.”

  Dillon found his opportunity to get in the mix, “Ya’ guys quit riding Mikey so hard.”

  Tracy looked at Dillon. “Thank you Dillon.”

  Dillon waited a second. “Ya’ because that’s what he wants to do to Tracy.”

  Dillon started humping the air. Everyone but Michael started laughing hysterically.

  “Ha, ha, ha, you are soooooo funny, maybe you should try being a comedian instead of an Army Ranger.”

  Ben stepped in. “Alright guys, you have razzed Mikey enough for one night now chill out.”

  Everyone settled down and Ben focused his attention back on Tracy. “So, you like me too?”

  “Yes, the Ben I have gotten to know over the last couple weeks is sweet, kind, and cares about others.”

  “Thank you Tracy, that was nice.”

  Ben leaned over Tracy and moved in close to her. Their lips almost touched, but then he stopped. Tracy pulled him closer and kissed him. The two of them got lost in the moment and completely forgot that four other people were sitting there watching them make out.

  Finally Cody spoke up. “Daaaaaamn you might want to think about coming up for air soon before you get brain damage.”

  Completely embarrassed, Tracy pushed Ben away from her playfully and lay back down.

  “You guys fucking suck, that was the most action I have gotten since the start of this crap.”

  Dillon looked at Ben. “Hey bro, if you two are going to get it on you better do it somewhere else. We ain’t getting any so the least you could do is not rub it in our faces.”

  “I’m sorry guys. That was totally not cool of me. We will be more discreet in the future.” Ben looked at Tracy and whispered, “Goodnight beautiful.”

  “Goodnight Ben.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Coping

  Once settled in Kaden and Bob watched a lot of TV just to catch up on what was going on. They could turn on any station and get information on what the flux was doing to humanity.

  “Bob!” Kaden waved as Bob walk past the door.

  “Yea’.”

  “You have to watch this.”

  “What is it?”

  “News.”

  Bob sat down next to him. A news anchor was starting an interview.

  “Let me introduce you to the principal of Windsor Elementary, Denise Funston.”

  “Hi.”

  “Tell us what’s going on.”

  “Well as you know we all look alike. There are very few differences in us, if any. I stand in front of a class room and I can’t tell who’s who. Annie looks just like Marissa who looks identical to Pam, and they are not related. One was black another Bosnian and the other white. As you can imagine the past month, when we all started to settle down into what we look like now, has been very hard to know who is who.”

  “I can well imagine, but doesn’t the chip help?”

  “Yes and no. It helps, but it also takes time to put a child’s name in. If I only use the watch I have to always look at it. We aren’t use to that. We are used to just looking up and seeing our student and knowing it’s them. So while the chip helps in many ways it still doesn’t completely solve the problem in the class room. This past month has been hard on the entire population of the world. We now have to figure out what we are going to do to help others know who we are. I noticed at the end of last week that the kids were starting to do things with their hair—”

  A loud buzzer sounded and the principal shrugged. “You’ll see what I mean in just a minute.”

  “What will happen in a minute?”

  “We have had to let the parents go into their child’s classroom to make sure they are taking the right child home. The parents will start to come in the door in a few minutes. You can watch them come in, go get their child or children and leave. That will tell the story better than I can.”

  The outside door opened and parents started to come in. While watching this unfold on TV, the moment the door opened Bob laughed. “Oh wow look at that!” he said.

  As the parents came in one could see just how important to them it was that their child knew them when they walked into their classroom. Most wore clothes that were before the flux, but a few were already using clothing to make themselves stand out. One dad had a bright red top hat with a shirt to match. A mom had a hat with yellow feathers that were about fourteen inches long coming out the top of it. Another woman had hair that spiked up six inches and was bright blue.

  “I see what you mean.” The anchor said, then to the woman, “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Your hair is six inches tall and bright blue, would you mind telling me why?”

  “I want my son to be able to look around and see his mom just as like he always could. If it takes a crazy hair doo, then so be it.”

  “Who did it for you?”

  “Stacie at Magnolias. They are located at 1227 Main Street in Imperial.”

  “Oh!” Another mom chimed in, “I had Stacie do my hair last night. Look!”

  “Yes it is beautiful.” The anchor answered.

  “Yes they are swamped at Magnolias. Stacie said she has never been so busy.”

  At that moment a young man walke
d by. The anchor waved him down. “Excuse me sir.”

  “Yes.”

  “Where did you get your hair done?”

  “I’ve gone to Menke’s Main Street Barber Shop at 1009 Main Street in Imperial for years now. It’s owned by Mike and Corey. Ever since the flux made us look alike they have been offering new services such as hair dyeing and braiding beards and hair that let us stand apart from another. They have a note book of new designs they have come up with, you can pick one and make changes to it to make it yours.”

  “Does this help your child find you?”

  “Are you kidding, look at my hair, have you ever seen anyone with this cut?”

  “Well, no.”

  “Exactly, and when you do I’ll change it. I want my children to know it’s me. I can’t be worrying about whether they are going to go off with someone else by mistake. At Menke’s I can make sure my children will be able to recognize me anywhere.”

  “Yes and this isn’t all of it. You need to go to the high school and see what the kids there are coming up with. No one likes looking the same. There are one or two that might have just a slight difference. Maybe their hair isn’t so brown or maybe a bit darker. They are considered the lucky ones.”

  Kaden and Bob watched as the parents came for their children and left with them. “Do you think we should dress different so the kids don’t have any problems telling us apart, Kaden?”

  “No. They see us all day, they call us by the right name. I think since we are such a small group they have naturally been able to see how we walk different or say things in a different way. But wow, can you imagine going into a school and not knowing which child was yours? Or the kids not knowing which adult was their parent? That had to be very confusing.”

  “Yes, I bet the kids were frightened they’d go home with the wrong parent.”

  “I bet.”

  The news was full of how the population was dealing with the changes. By now everyone looked so similar one couldn’t tell one stranger from another. “Clothing and hair styles,” the anchor was saying, “is one of the most popular ways for a family to let other family members know who they are. Let’s show the feed of what some are doing.”