by Nguyen,Peter
“Mom, are you okay?”
“H-hazer go, okay? I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t want to lose you. You’re everything to me,” I can feel the tears stinging my eyes as I hug my mom tightly.
“Everything is going to be fine,” she whispers.
“I love you so much mom.”
“I know Hazer. I love you too. Look after him, Rylan” She says.
“I will, I promise mom,” I say.
The soldiers grab me, pulling me away from my mother, isolating her in her lonely despair.
~
The troops place me back into the truck as they drive me back to my street, picking up the people who are on the list of initiates. The door opens and the surprise look on Garret and Carter’s tells me they thought I was a goner.
“Carter, is he okay?!” I ask
He doesn’t reply.
I sit quietly next to Garrett and Carter, across from the other two initiates who are also assembled for the military army. One of them doesn’t even have an expression on his faces and I recognize one of them because he lives near my street. I glance over at Carter who has his hands buried into his uncombed hair. The irritation in his eyes gives me a hint he doesn’t want to talk to me. He probably even hates me, but I don’t blame him, because I hate me.
I don’t know how to feel right now but speechless. The truck finally slows down and we all get up. The door opens and Ace is waiting for us outside along with two Redeems, Rylan and Kala. The military is located in an isolated region of Capa. It’s the warmest place in North, considering it’s near the East Realm.
I don’t know too much about the East but they were our opponent 7 years ago. It’s obvious their army is stronger than ours and it’ll take twice the size of our men to face them again.
The sun shines bright on our skin as we walk out of the truck. The Grass peaked from the sand as we stand in a formation in front of Ace in a unify formation.
“Today, we will show you around Capa’s military. If I see any of you step out of line, I will not hesitate to schedule you up for an injection.” Ace walks pass us with her hands behind her back.
She walks pass me and glares at me for a second, until she continues.
“Follow me,” she says.
We begin to march on the sandy grass and I notice one of our saviors, Kala begins to walk right next to me. She seems taller than I have expected considering she’s to my ear.
“Hey” says Kala.
Is she really talking to me? I look over and she’s looking right at me with her exotic eyes.
“Oh hi” I whisper.
“Hazer right?”
I nod. I really didn’t want to talk to her because Ace said don’t step out of line and taking to a Redeemed is one of them. I notice I also notice we’re drawing a lot attention and that’s last thing I would want before joining the Capa’s army.
“You two really do look alike” Kala whispers
“Who?”
“Rylan.”
I shrug my shoulder. I didn’t want to her to find out I’m actually his brother, then she’ll defiantly freak out. Kala turns her head and leans in closer. Things start to get awkward as Kala I can hear her breathing against my neck. What is with girls doing that?
“If I didn’t’ know any better I think you two are related?”
I try to ignore her but she’s waiting for an answer. I don’t want to tell Kala my life story about how Rylan was snatched from my life in a mere second. Kala continues to look at me, so I reply “No, I don’t know.”
“Well he’s a nice guy. He can be a little serious sometimes.”
I look over to Rylan and he stares right back at me almost as if he’s waiting for me to say something to him. The first thing I want to tell him is that I’m sorry. He probably hates for what happen that day when the soldiers came.
“Kala! Sergeant Jasen and you have just been called on a mission. Go get ready” says Ace.
“Well I guess I got to run” says Kala taking off in a different direction.
She starts run to pass the helicopters and into a gray building right behind the white dome.
“Kala, wait up,” says Rylan.
I glance at the two and their saying something to each other but I can’t hear. Kala makes a pouty face, grabbing Rylan in for a hug. It’s like they’re saying goodbye but Rylan doesn’t want her to go.
“Dude you just talked to the one and only Kala Boltman,” Garrett says.
“Shut up. Where do you think she’s going?”
“I’m guessing the Cyto Field,” Garrett replies.
We follow Ace Closely as we pass a bunch or firing range. The sounds of their guns are so loud that I can barely hear Ace.
We come across a small heated crowd surrounding two people fighting for dominance. One of the fighter, the girl quickly dodges a punch and comes back with a back kick knocking the man to the ground.
“For the following month this is where you all will be trained,” Ace comments.
“Look at that woman go,” one of the initiates whispers.
The girl suddenly gets knocked down by another troop from the crowd. She falls to the sand. Something about that bulky troop looks awfully familiar.
“Sergeant Seth!” Ace calls.
The muscular man turns around and my heart nearly stops. Garrett even looks over at me because my breathing is faster than normal. It’s the man who Faye and I tried to kill a week ago. Same scar and even notice he is bruised up a bit. I quickly get behind one of the taller inmates before he spots me. If he recognizes me, I’m done for. I’m defiantly getting the injection and there will be no second chance this time.
“Please show our inmates how true warriors fight” says Ace as she folds her arms.
Seth nods and gets on top of the fallen girl. He suddenly starts to punch her repeatedly in the face. The girl starts to scream in agony.
My heart is pound so fast I just want to run away from here. Her face is now covered in blood and everyone cheers him on. I feel like I’m going to vomit from this violent fight. The man violently grabs the girl by the throat. I look over to Ace but she doesn’t stop the fight. Instead a devilish grin appears on her face. I can’t believe she is enjoying this. If no one stops him she will die.
“STOP!”
We all look over and it’s Arraya. She stands in front of a small building holding an open enveloped. Her black wavy hair looks a lot messier than before. She’s in a black long sleeve shirt that covers her thigh and her boots stretch up to her knee. The troop immediately looks down except for Seth and Ace.
“Why have you left your headquarters,” Ace asks.
“I’m here to see my brother” Arraya answers in a soft voice.
Ace takes a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.
“Make it quick” she says.
Arraya looks into the crowd searches for Carter. She must have heard what happened to her father. I wish I can explain to her what had happened, I’ll just make it worst. I look over to Carter who begins to walk pass the initiates, making his way to his sister. I had never seen Carter this upset before; he pulls Arraya into his arms. She breaks into tears. We can all hear her soft sobs; even the people who were fighting are now giving their attention to them.
“That’s enough? Get your hands off her!” Seth yells.
He walks up to Carter and pulls him away from Arraya. Arraya’s eyes turn red and the initiates all stand back not knowing what she’ll do.
“Leave him alone” Arraya cries.
Seth pushes Arraya off of him, causing her to fall to the soft grassy sand. He looks back at Carter. I quickly run pass the initiates before the Seth does something.
“NO BODY TOUCHES THE REDEEMED!”
Seth quickly forms a fist.
“GET OFF OF HIM,” I push Seth and he immediately grabs my wrist, bending it into an unnatural painful position.
He looks directly into my eyes. I struggle to get out of his grasp but it’s no use
. It’s like all of my blood in my hand is about to explode. His eyes become wider and he’s even more furious. I can feel his rough hands getting tighter around my wrist as recognizes who I am now. I know now he’s going to kill me. I start to remember how Faye and I tried to kill him back in the woods. Even though we didn’t succeed, Faye still killed his unknown partner, giving him enough motives to carry out his revenge.
“YOU!” the words drags out of his throat.
Seth pulls out a knife and holds it out in front of me.
“ENOUGH!”
I look over and it’s the Realm Leader.
Seth immediately drops his knife and everyone looks over. The man looks to be in his 50s and very built for someone his age. I can’t believe I’m a few feet away from the Realm Leader. He has a tall figure and a noticeable scar across his face. His gray hair is neatly comb over.
“Realm Leader Greg” Ace says.
Seth quickly lets me go and stands up straight.
The look on their faces tells me Realm Leader Greg isn’t a joking matter. The people who were training all come to a stop and looks this way.
“I’m very unpleased with your work Commander Ace.”
“Sir, I can explain” says Ace.
“Please go ahead.”
“This Redeemed one attacked one of my troops and these two initiates aided her plan to escape,” Ace points at me and Carter.
“What she’s lying!” I shout. The words came out louder than I expected.
Greg turns to me with piercing eyes. I can feel heavy tension on my back as I have to explain myself now.
“That soldier attacked my friend first” I say.
I realize no one is agreeing with me. Nothing but dead silence. Everyone is too scared of Ace and Seth.
“Sir he’s the one telling false accusation” Ace raises her voice.
“I heard enough. Commander Ace I want you to go back to your station. As for you. Take her back to the lab” Greg points at Arraya.
“She didn’t do anything!” Carter yells.
“Sergeant Chris will be taking over for now. That is my final order” Greg announces.
Greg looks over at me and Carter. He says “This is your final warning. Know your place or I’ll place you will the test subjects. Now get back in line”
The Leader walks away along with two guards escorting Arraya. I turn around to help Carter up as Seth and Ace eyes me from the side. They walk away. I know they aren’t letting this go especially Seth who would give anything to have my head on a spear. It’s best to keep my distances for now.
I reach out to Carter who is still on the ground. “You okay ?” I ask.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” Carter gets up, ignoring my hand and brushes the sand off his clothes.
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t act like you’re not the reason my dad isn’t alive right now,” Carter walks off before I can reply.
The words that just came out of Carters mouth and struck me like a gun firing into the distance, killing its target. I can’t believe this but he’s right I am the reason why Mr. Rivera got shot. If didn’t ask him to go talk to Ace, he would still be breathing right now.
“Listen up. Commander Ace is off duty for now. I’ll be finishing up this tour. Follow me and keep up” says Chris.
Sergeant Chris doesn’t look as mean as he sounds. I notice he looks a lot shorter than the other troops around here. In fact I think he is about the same height as us initiates, even though the man looks like he is about in his mid 20s. We all start to follow the Sergeant Chris into a building about two stories high and it’s a lot wider than most of the buildings here. There are balconies’ on the second floor where troops are guarding. I even notice a large satellite dish on top of the building that rotates very slowly. It’s pointing towards the sunny sky.
“This is Capa’s headquarters. Do not touch anything!”
The two guards at the large entrance steps aside and lets us walk in. The first thing I see is twenty vehicles parked side by side. The whole room is white and I assume this must be their garage.
Each black vehicle has four seats but I don’t see a driver seat. I never even drove a car before but I think you would need a steering wheel. Chris walks us pass the vehicles while Garrett wonders off to explore the exotic cars.
“I SAID DON”T TOUCH ANYTHING!”
Garrett quickly backs away.
“I’m sorry it won’t happen again sir.”
Chris takes a deep breath and we can all tell he’s Chris is startled. Maybe he is new at this? At least I rather have him show us around than Commander Ace. I just really hope we don’t have to run into her anytime soon.
“Let’s just get some lunch first” says Chris in a relief.
VII
I grab a tray and walk in line as we get our lunch for the day. The lunch room looks like it was built for a bomb shelter, double medal doors at the entrance, pipes sticking out of the ceiling, and greasy floors that are uncomfortable to walk on. I have to admit I would hate to eat here for the rest of my life but the food does look decent.
“What are we having?” Garrett whispers behind me.
“I think we are having steak” I say while looking at the burnt meat.
The old man drops the large steak on my tray along with some broccoli. I follow Carter to a seat and we notice Vera is sitting alone so we join her.
“There you guys are. I thought would of chickened out and take the injection instead” Vera laughs. Vera stares at Carter and notices his mood.
“What’s wrong?” Vera ask.
I look over at Carter but he just sits there quietly, staring at his food.
“Why don’t you ask Hazer.”
Vera turns towards me and I take a deep breathe. “We got in trouble with Commander Ace…”
Carter immediately cuts me off and says, “My Father was shot because of you!”
My face goes blank and everyone’s eyes are on me.
“What!? Is he okay?” Vera quickly asks.
“He’s in the hospital right now,” Carter flexes his jaws.
“Carter, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”
“Whatever,” Carter says.
The next 10 minutes, our table ate in silence. I didn’t want to say anything stupid that would get Carter even more upset, but hearing that Mr. Rivera not dead really gives a relief. I just within time Carter will forgive me.
“So I heard these two stood up to the commander.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
I turn around it’s a couple of initiates around our age. Their naive faces tell me they just got here as well. One of them has a buzz cut so short that he looks almost bald. He also has freckles all over his cheeks. The other one is has dark chocolate skin and he looks really fit for someone his age.
“Hazer and Carter right?” says the pale boy with freckles.
“Yea, and you are?”Carter replies.
“I’m Alex and this is Kai. We just got here too but a lot of people have been talking about you two. Don’t worry it’s not bad.”
“Just the fact that you guys talked back to the Realm Leader and the meanest commander ever. Pretty badass if you ask me” says Kai.
“Oh my god you guys are idiots” Vera laughs.
“I was trying to defend my sister” says Carter.
The two boys sit at our table. I didn’t even realize how young initiates can be until I look at these two.
“So do you guys know what they will be showing us after this?” I ask.
“Well my brother is a Sergeant here and he told me we’ll get to see Capa’s headquarters” says Alex.
“Who is you your brother” ask Vera.
“That would be me.”
Chris folds his muscular arms and stands next to Alex, making him look like giant compare to Alex. He looks down at his little brother and snatches a fruit.
“Didn’t realize you already made some friends” says Chris.
�
�Don’t eat my food” Alex yell.
Chris takes another one and dangles the food from his little brother, like he’s his pet. Alex gets up and they are about the same height.
“Man you’ve gotten taller the last time I saw you” says Chris.
Alex takes the fruit back and quickly eats it.
“So how long have you been a sergeant?” Vera ask.
“Well this would be my 7th year little lady. Trust me it’s only exciting if you get to go on missions. That when the fun begins”
I can’t even imagine what is out there nor have I breathe the airs from the other three territories.
“So which one of you was the punk that got Ace so pissed?” Chis ask.
“
We all begin to stack up our trays as we exit the lunch room. Alex and Kai run pass us to catches up to Chris. I start wonder how things would have went if I had grown up with my brother Rylan. I guess would never hear dead silence again. We’d probably fight a lot just like how me and Carter would wrestle all the time when we wanted to see who was the alpha. Usually he would win but I still don’t believe he’s my superior.
We walk pass a group of older Northern troops and I quickly spot Seth along with his two teammates. The sight of him just makes my stomach ache. One of his buddies points at me while touching his pocket knife. He stares at me with anger and I realize I’m not going to be safe from now on.
“Ignore them. They’re not going to do anything. There are cameras everywhere,” says Vera.
I nod and I start to feel relief, realizing she’s right. We continue walking in the faculty’s hallway. After Chris shows us where soldiers work out we head to a room made just for spectating missions. The room is completely black with a huge screen, nearly the size of my house. I notice there’s a lot of Northern troops sitting at a computer and monitoring the security camera of some place.
“Sergeant David! I want you to show these initiates how you operate in this area. Most of them will be train to become a Northern troops but if they fail than this is their second field of work,” says Chris.
Chris leaves us initiates and he exits the room. I look at the huge screen it’s showing a bunch of people waiting in line for a security check. It looks like a terminal but I never saw anyone going to one before. This must be from a different domain since Capa doesn’t use any airplane services. Walking gave us the ability to become more independent to vehicles or other transportation considering how small our territory is compare to the rest of the world.