It was later discovered that it had been a terrorist attack. It had happened two years before the peace treaty was signed. Xavier was hanging out with his best friend Joey Dunn after football practice when he saw the news story. It was the Dunn family that had adopted and raised him.
He had finally arrived at his family’s gravestones: Ethan Phillip, Mia Phillip, and Lucas Mason Phillip. His eyes began to well up. He shook it off.
“I have to be tough for you guys. I haven’t been able to get justice for you yet. I don’t get to square off against terrorists. I guess they really aren’t around anymore. We have seen seven years of peace now, and we typically deal with scoundrels, thieves, and drug dealers. I guess it’s a good thing. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get here. It’s never easy to see you like this. I need your help, if you can hear me. I’m not sure what I should do. I can stay where I am and get a promotion—a promotion I should have got two years ago—but a promotion regardless. Or I can move to another country and operate at a higher level, possibly doing a lot of the same. I don’t even know if it’s worth it. I wish you were here to help. I don’t know what to do.”
Xavier stood up and bid farewell to his family’s resting place. He chose to walk the rest of the way, hoping the journey through his city would help him make a decision. When he was a kid, his dad used to tell him whenever he made an error to go back to the beginning, and this was the beginning of his adventure; this was the city where his whole world was taken from him and he found his purpose. He set out to defend those in the middle of tragedy. He wondered to himself, what tragedy was he really fighting against? Did he even want to continue to do this?
Moments later, Xavier stopped in his tracks. A shiver ran up his spine as he arrived at the house his father moved him into when he was a kid. He stared for a minute, taking in the memories he had that were abruptly cut short. A “For Sale” sign was on the entry stairs. Nobody seemed to have lived in it since he moved out. It wasn’t the safest or most impressive area, but it was where he called home. It was where he had a family. The smell of pizza interrupted his thoughts and reminded him he hadn’t eaten in awhile.
He had a sudden desire for wings and a steak Stromboli, and there was only one place for that. After another mile or so, he arrived at Kristie’s, named after the team mom for his high school basketball team. She always had the players come over after a game and would make some wings for them. Her husband was a project manager and now employed most of the guys Xavier grew up with. As he stepped through the threshold, the smell brought him back to his high school days. Xavier’s face lit up as he saw a familiar face in the corner of the popular restaurant.
“General Flash!” Joey Dunn shouted out to him once they made eye contact.
They ran to each other, greeting each other with their famous handshake, and gave each other a big hug. Joey shouted out to the waitress.
“Yo, Courtney! Whatever this guy wants is on me!”
Joey was probably one of the friendliest and most outgoing guys in the world. He was kind to everyone he met and always smiling. He took a step back and looked at Xavier.
“You are ripped, bro!” he shouted to him.
Xavier sat down with him. They spent the next couple of hours catching up, and Joey told him everything their family and friends had been up to.
“It’s been almost six years! What brings you back?” Joey inquired.
“I have to make a career decision. I thought it would be a good idea to come home and figure it out,” Xavier said.
“When in doubt, always go back to the beginning,” Joey quoted what Xavier’s dad always said.
Xavier nodded in agreement.
“Well, how long do you have to figure it out?”
“A day and a half.”
“Well, that’s a lot of time,” Joey laughed. “One thing I do know, you always figure it out. You always make the right decision. You have a desire for justice and a desire to be the best. Whichever gets you closest to that goal is what you’ll do.”
“Thanks, man.”
“So where you staying, General?”
“I figured I would crash at the Eagle Inn.”
“Nah, that’s stupid. Stay with me! We’ll hit the gym and then you can head out.”
Joey drove Xavier to his place after they finished their meal. Everyone in the Dunn family was waiting for him when he got there. They stayed up until three in the morning, catching up and laughing together. When it came time for bed, Joey tried to convince Xavier to take the couch, but he felt more comfortable sleeping on the floor. He explained how all the late nights camping in weird places made it hard to sleep on beds and couches. They were just “too soft,” he tried to explain. As Xavier laid there, he drifted off thinking about all the conversations of the day and going between his two decisions.
Xavier often struggled to sleep for more than four hours, and come seven o’clock, he was up and ready to work out. He completed a ten mile run inside an hour. He walked back into the house and found Joey still snoring. Xavier decided to make breakfast as payment.
Joey was adamant about going to their old gym, so Xavier changed his shirt and they made their way to the school gym. Banners displaying the multiple championship runs Xavier had were strewn all across the gym. A pickup game was already underway when they arrived, and once the players discovered who had entered the gym, everything paused. All the young guys viewed Xavier as a celebrity and were asking him all kinds of questions about passing up opportunities to play college ball. As the questions became more personal, Xavier grew more uncomfortable and standoffish. Joey sensed Xavier’s discomfort and decided to show off their skills rather than talk about them.
After a series of fancy dunks and alley-oops, the young guys burst into an uproar. Xavier enjoyed the attention but wanted to hit the weights. They said their goodbyes and moved onto weightlifting. After working out for a while, Xavier asked about his old mixed martial arts gym. Joey took him there to say hello to his high school coach. After a quick pep talk, his coach gave him a folder with a bunch of his old stuff in it.
“I thought it might be of use one day,” Coach Ward said.
Xavier and Joey went through the folder. In it was a series of quotes, mottos, goals, and news reports that covered terrorism and military activity. A few of the goals he had clipped inside his locker stood out. Among them were: Never back down from a challenge, Become the greatest soldier of all time, and Always find a way to win. He had set these goals the moment his parents passed away.
He knew what he had to do. He was going to move to Berlin and become the greatest soldier the Crimson Force had ever seen.
Chapter 6
July 25th 2062 3:00 p.m. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Joey dropped Xavier off at the car rental place and said his goodbyes. Washington, DC was a ruin now and the only road that went in or out of the city ended at the outskirts. In order to get to Theodore Roosevelt Island, he would have to walk several miles. No one had ventured into DC in well over a decade, and there weren’t any maps or routes he could follow. He would have to trust his tracking ability.
The woman that worked at Xavier’s drop off point tried to discourage him from going any further south, but Xavier’s mind was made up. After two kilometers Xavier grew hesitant and doubtful. He almost turned back around, but he approached the city line into DC. Rumors suggested that all the nuclear air had been flushed out, but there was no way to know for sure. Xavier took a deep breath and with all the courage he could muster, he pushed forward.
As he trudged onward, thoughts of bombs and explosions fired in his mind like shooting stars. He convinced himself that he was being silly. There was no one left on the planet that could build a bomb—the allied governments made sure of that. In the distance, Xavier could see an eerie fog and a haunting darkness. Seeing the city in complete ruins was a frightening sight.
After seventeen years of neglect, he half expected to be walking through a forest. Rubble was scattere
d all about, and occasionally there would be a patch of dead grass. Xavier paused for a minute to take a swig of his water and check the time. He had three hours. As he moved forward, it felt as if the sun was beginning to go down, but he couldn’t tell for sure; everything was dark and all horizons seemed to glow a spectral pale orange. The shadows began to overwhelm him as if the ghosts of the destruction were going to smother him.
He turned towards the heart of the city. Xavier could see the silhouettes of buildings laid out all around him in the pitch black night. He scaled the mountains of rubble in order to stay on track. The trek began to weary him. His thirty pound bag felt like one hundred pounds after carrying it for four hours. He tightened the clip around his chest and decided to run in order to rejuvenate himself.
After several minutes of running, Xavier was pulled to an immediate stop. He found himself standing in front of the demolished White House. He was standing in muck, and the fence all around the facility was shattered to pieces. The front had one whole side hanging on by a few steel rods. Blackened trees were scattered about, and there was scum all over the building, with unnatural brown weeds and vines growing up all around it. It was an atrocious sight and it knocked the wind out of him. As he contemplated the results of terrorism, he was enraged. Xavier was pulled out of his trance by the sound of running water and he quickened his pace. He dove into the water without hesitation, knowing he was running out of time. Xavier realized his skin wasn’t burning, so he figured he was alright. The whirring of a plane preparing to land met him as he crossed to a launch pad.
The pilot helped him load up his stuff. Xavier plopped into a chair with loud thump. He knew a long journey awaited him. He wasn’t sure how he was going to sleep after everything he witnessed. He couldn’t believe that the power of a single bomb could do that to a city. He was relieved that there was no one capable of building one anymore.
He tried to get some rest but sleep escaped him. The plane made a couple of more stops to pick up remaining recruits. He learned that the entire world had been divided into six sectors that represented all the continents with the exception of Antarctica, and each continent had its own plane for recruits.
After all the stops had been completed, the plane carried six recruits; three people from Canada, two people from Central America, and him. Kevin, Charlie, and Amelia represented Canada and Luis and Francisco represented Central America. The two groups spoke to each other but made a point to exclude Xavier. He tried to involve himself in the conversations to get to know the recruits, but they all ignored him and seemed to look at him with disdain. Kevin and Charlie even made some disparaging remarks to each other in French about him. He understood them, but he restrained himself from reacting. He laid his head back as he wondered what was going on.
Hours later the plane was preparing for landing and Xavier woke up. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he noticed that all five recruits were getting dressed in their military best. Xavier hadn’t brought his military uniforms because in his mind, he was joining a new military and needed to be associated with them. His anger burned hot as he thought of Captain Cromwell and wondered why he was not apprised to the dress code. The British Captain hadn’t even mentioned a dress code. Xavier pulled out the invitation and scanned it multiple times to see if he had missed something. Nothing. His eyes flashed red as he put on his best jeans and a dress shirt. It was all he had ready to wear. He was ignored, insulted, and now treated with neglect. He began to wonder if he had made the right decision.
The doors blasted open and everyone grabbed their stuff and headed down the ramp. Xavier felt humiliated. He figured this would be a terrible first impression and he was going to make America look bad and further instill why Americans didn’t belong there. As they stepped onto their new premises, a row of eleven high ranking officers met them. Xavier skimmed the line and found that every country was represented. He could tell that nine of the eleven were Captains and Commanders.
He looked down the line of recruits that stood beside him. There were five other planes and they all seemed to be filled to maximum capacity. It was obvious that these countries were significantly more involved than anyone in North America. They were all dressed from head to toe in their military best. Xavier was infuriated. He turned his attention to the row of officers standing in front of all the recruits.
As he digested the line of his new leaders, he became distracted by a perfect woman of Spanish descent. Her light brown hair fell just right, and he was captivated by her incredible emerald eyes. She was the only one smiling in the group. Xavier had to refocus. He continued down the line and saw Captain Stanley in the center. He had to be ten years younger than the other Captains. As impressive as that was, Xavier couldn’t help but glare at him because he felt that he made him look like a fool for his first impression. Almost at the end of the line was another girl who looked sweet and was most certainly the youngest officer present. There was no way she could be older than Xavier. In the middle, standing next to Captain Stanley, was a striking man who was burly and looked rough. Xavier felt as though he knew who he was, but he couldn’t quite place it. Just then his thoughts were interrupted as a woman in a business suit stepped forward and began to speak.
“Congratulations on being the elite few selected to be officers within our ranks. We are grateful for your service to your countries. We are even more grateful that you have elected to join us here. Our Captains have spent months researching and studying each and every one of you. You have served your countries with the highest level of honor and superiority, and we are delighted to have you bring that same distinction to the ranks of the Crimson Force. You will encounter many difficulties and trials in your time here, and you will go through the most rigorous training you can imagine. I believe you will find yourself triumphant. Now, Advisor Kelly and I will leave you in the capable hands of Captain Walsh.”
Xavier knew who they were now; they were the Advisors to President Conrad, Kristina Johnson and Brad Kelly, which made the massive man in the middle Captain Christopher Walsh.
Occasionally they would speak on behalf of the United Nations, and the three of them alone made up seventy-five percent of the governing leaders of the world. He began to feel a bit star struck. With a raspy and rough, booming Irish voice, Captain Walsh spoke:
“Wasn’t that sweet. Now…as pretty as those uniforms are, you’ll find us unimpressed. You no longer represent your sectors and you no longer represent your own countries. You have joined the ranks of the United Nations as of ten minutes ago. For our first order of business, if you are wearing a uniform that is not a Crimson Force uniform, you will need to strip down to your knickers and place them in the fire barrel to your right. Your previous accomplishments may have gotten you here, but now every one of you is at square one. If you hope to stay here, the only thing that matters is the next accomplishment.”
With an apologetic smirk, Xavier looked at Captain Stanley. He was completely wrong about him.
Captain Walsh continued, “Once you have set your uniforms to be ignited, line up in front of the Captain that recruited you to receive your room orders. You have just sacrificed loyalty to your country for loyalty to world peace.”
There was an air of discomfort floating around as everyone waited for someone else to move.
“Now!” Captain Walsh shouted with annoyance in his voice.
Several recruits were red and feeling humiliated as they began to strip down. Xavier was taking everything in—the leaders, the facility, and the fifty recruits. Everything seemed so surreal, and the facility itself was massive and exquisite, just from what Xavier could see from the outside.
Xavier was filled with anticipation and excitement. He found it hard to imagine that just two days ago he was in Philadelphia trying to decide his future. Now he was here, and it was time to prove that he was the best. He would prove to the world he belonged there.
Chapter 7
July 26th 2062 5:30 p.m. Berlin, Germany
&n
bsp; At the head of each line, the Captains and Commanders were greeting each recruit, most of whom were now standing in their underwear, and were giving them their room assignments. Captain Walsh didn’t have a Commander next to him. As he looked around, he saw there were two other recruits that seemed to be wearing their own clothes and were not wearing their military uniforms, and one of them was in the middle of Captain Walsh’s Honor Guard line. He was wearing a fresh pressed suit, was clean shaven, and he looked like a business man. He had an aura about him that shouted he knew what he was doing. As he looked around, he and Xavier made eye contact. His green eyes were fierce and focused. He was an impressive individual.
The other recruit who wasn’t wearing a military uniform was directly in front of Xavier. He had a huge, contagious smile.
“Good evening! My name is David!” he shouted joyously.
David was wearing a casual suit with a t-shirt under it. He was fun, youthful, and lively and seemed to engage everyone around him. After the line had withered down, Captain Stanley gave David his first orders
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