by John Darling
The four of us walked right up to the doorway and waited by the opening. I tried to sound firm and confident in an effort to prove to my team that I was fully capable of being in charge. The last thing I wanted was to be disrespected or not trusted by my classmates for any reason.
“Marcus, open the door on my mark. Harold, take my six, and Mark, take right. OK, ready, open!”
I entered the room first with my gun pointed forward at eye level. I scanned the room, turned left and then instructed my team to follow me. One by one, they entered and confirmed that the room was empty. I crouched down and looked underneath the table closest to me when suddenly, the lights went out. I immediately called out to my teammates to make sure they were okay. We didn’t have night vision goggles or any way to see each other now that the room was dark. Just then the door opened up and Mark yelled out as if someone had grabbed him. His voice faded and the light from the hallway disappeared as quickly as it showed up.
“Mark! Mark!”
Harold continued to call out to him without answer. I quickly told him to stop wasting his breath and to adjust to the situation. This has to be part of the exercise. Commander Knight wouldn’t be here watching our team if nothing strange was going to happen. There were almost a dozen other teams and if something exciting was going to happen with one of them, surely he’ll be there to watch.
“Switch to triangle formation. Harold, cover back-left. Marcus, you have back-right. Stay tight and keep moving!”
Thankfully, the three of us were able to navigate through the rest of the room and safely exited the door without any more unusual mishaps. Commander Knight pulled me aside while Harold and Marcus found Mark down the hall.
“Alright, Mr. Flashman. First off, good job. You handled that catalyst very well. Do you know what the change represented?”
“Umm, no sir, I don’t think so.”
“Well, if a man goes down in battle, you cannot stop to see if he is OK. He could very well be dead but that can’t keep you from completing the task at hand, which you did. You adjusted to the situation and completed the mission. You scored high on this exercise and should be proud of yourself. Now get ready for the next rotation. Let’s see how your classmates do.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Finally, I got a win. It was a small one, but I’d take it. After running into that girl last night and listening to Harold talk down to me, I now had something to be proud of. Now, I just needed more moments and more days like this.
“Oh Trevor, one more thing. Clearing rooms is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to combat. If you can’t start hitting some of those dummies in the head, we’re going to have some major issues. The last thing we want is for you to have to get re-assigned to a lame division in some S.T.O.R.M. base in the middle of nowhere.”
It’s amazing how fast Commander Knight had put a damper on my good mood. I put my head down and sighed. I knew he was right and I did have to start improving my shots. I just hoped those damn red lights don’t haunt me forever.
Harold, Mark, and Marcus got their turns leading us through the exercise and to my surprise, none of them had to face a challenge like I did. We finished just in time for lunch and then we were instructed to report to the classroom as soon as we were done eating. We’d been waiting in the classroom and I’m not sure why there was such a rush to get us all in here. It’d been over half an hour with no sign of any officer.
With no OIC around to correct us, everyone enjoyed the time to talk. I added to the commotion as well and spoke with Alexei. Just then, Commander Bradshaw entered the room, causing everyone to immediately stand up. He instructed us to sit and a few people resumed their conversations, which only sparked a rather rash and unexpected reaction from Commander Bradshaw. He scolded our class for talking after he entered and warned us to not repeat that mistake. Harold and the few others who were guilty apologized for angering him. Thankfully, it appeared that Commander Bradshaw wasn’t the type of person to hold a grudge since his mood quickly deflated.
“Now if you are all done talking, I think I’ll take the floor for a while.”
He set up his two computers like normal and connected one of them to the projector. A presentation labeled “Security Clearance” appeared on the wall in front of us and Darin, who was sitting closest to the door, switched off the lights. My eyes became heavy seconds after they adjusted to the darkness. I really wish I’d gotten more sleep last night.
“Today’s class is going to be a little longer since we have two extremely important topics to discuss.”
The class moaned in reaction as Commander Bradshaw began the presentation.
“First, we are going to discuss our server system. Several of you have asked me about this and why your computers seem virtually useless. For the time being, they essentially are. However, once you graduate and become Junior Strike Officers, you will be granted Level One Security access. This will allow you to see the basic features our server has to offer, which you can access through your V-pod, as well as any other device S.T.O.R.M. allows you to have.”
Commander Bradshaw continued explaining the server system and from what it sounded like, it was just S.T.O.R.M.’s version of the internet. Articles are posted about recent and upcoming missions, as well as stats for who has the most kills and things like that. As we progress in rank, we’d receive higher security clearances which would allow us to see other Strike Teams’ rosters, classified intelligence and the thing that I’m looking forward to the most, access to old mission logs.
Once we made Lieutenant Commander we could read about what other Stormers had done before us. It sucks that I have to wait until then but it’ll be worth it once I can truly find out everything my dad did throughout his career. Although he just mentioned that if we perform exceptionally in our field, there’s a possibility of getting a higher clearance before we are promoted, which would be fantastic. The likelihood of my making Lieutenant Commander anytime soon was probably slim, so getting clearance early was my best shot at learning more about my dad. This whole lesson was ironic since Alexei and I had just been talking about both of our fathers’ careers this morning.
“I must warn you all right now, High Command takes clearance levels very seriously. If you are caught sharing information with another Stormer who doesn’t have the same clearance level, severe consequences will be given. In most cases, those people are stripped of their clearance and even reduced in rank. With knowledge comes responsibility and you’re all entrusted with more of it each time you get promoted. Don’t be that person who screws up. Once you get flagged for a security mishap, it’s almost impossible to gain access to that level again.”
Commander Bradshaw repeated his speech two more times about security breaches and drilled into our heads that it’s not a mistake you want to make as a Stormer. I looked over at Alexei and expected him to be as worried as I was. But he looked extremely bored. He already had access to his laptop and probably knows everything that Commander Bradshaw had just spoken of. If Commander Bradshaw hadn’t mentioned the fact that we would get access to old mission files, I probably would have fallen asleep minutes ago.
The presentation came to an end and Commander Bradshaw told us all to take a five-minute break before the second half of the lecture. Alexei and I got a drink of water from the fountain down the hall while others used the restroom. The next presentation popped up on the wall and we were all called back into the classroom.
“Man, I hope we’re done soon. This school stuff puts me to sleep.”
“Yeah, what happened to all of the action?”
Harold and a few others made comments as they re-entered the room. I understood their frustration and agreed with them to an extent. We’d spent mornings running through the O Course and shooting weapons in the range. Going from that to class in the afternoon where we were just sitting and watching a screen click through pictures was quite the shift. Although, I had enjoyed learning about the inner workings of this organizati
on as well as the combat stuff. Maybe that was because I’d come from a military academy where ninety percent of our day was focused on academics whereas most of these prior military guys focused on nothing but combat.
“I’m handing you all a packet which I encourage you to study whenever you have some free time. We don’t test you on these here at BCS, however, it’s one of the tests your mentors will give you once you’re in the field. I think it should be added to the program here, but High Command wants you all as Strike officers to have to know what to do in real life missions.”
One of the packets landed on my desk. Across the top was the word “Codes” written in bold lettering, with the S.T.O.R.M. shield below it. It wasn’t very thick, only a few pages or so, and I began flipping through it. One of the guys on the other side of the classroom raised his hand and asked what these “Codes” were.
“As you all know, our mission is a complicated one since this is the twenty-first century and millions of people have access to multiple forms of technology. Often on missions, there is a chance other organizations, governments, and militaries will be near you and can potentially hear what’s going on our radio channels. These codes were created so if someone is listening in, we can still operate without them knowing what or who is on the other end. For the most part, these codes are for when missions go wrong. Hopefully, none of you will ever have to say these words during a live mission.”
Each page of the packet was divided into two vertical sections. On the left is a phrase and on the right was its definition. Some of the phrases were terms I’d never heard anyone discuss or talk about before. They all started with the word “code” and end with a phrase associated with some kind of weather related event. There was Code Cloudburst, Code Cyclone, Code Downfall just to name a few. I started reading each of the descriptions on the right-hand side of the paper while Commander Bradshaw continued lecturing.
“Using the correct code in a mission could be the difference in you or one of your teammates living and dying. It’s also important to know that they go both ways. You may report to your team leader a certain code, while your Regional Command could issue a different one later on in the mission. That’s why it’s critical that you study all of them so you know what’s expected of you when one of them is issued. If you hear a Code Frostbite over the radio, that’s not the time to ask someone what that means, it’s time to run.”
I flipped the page over and found the phrase. According to this packet, a Code Frostbite meant that a Stormer has been bitten and infected. The procedure was to get as far away from the person as possible so they could terminate their lives and not endanger anyone else from becoming a zombie. This can’t actually be real. I looked up from paper and just before I raised my hand someone else asked my question.
“So if we get bitten, we have to kill ourselves?!”
“Yes, that’s the protocol. Unless, you can quickly cut off the part of your body that’s been infected, then yes. It’s the only way to prevent the infection from spreading. By removing yourself from the equation, you are preventing others from receiving the same fate.”
The room went silent and I think everyone was just as shocked as I was. Surely, there had to be another way to live if you become bit. I refuse to believe that killing yourself is the only solution.
“I wouldn’t stress out about it. We train you all the way we do for a reason. No one has been even close to becoming infected in years and we intend to keep that trend going for as long as we can. As long as we do our job, no one goes home in a body bag.”
Commander Bradshaw moved onto explaining another code before anyone could ask another question. He taught for another twenty minutes or so, but I couldn’t shake the thought of having to kill myself for that. I mean, I understood the purpose and realize that getting infected is the worst case scenario. There just had to be another way to survive and come back from that.
“Thank you all for your attention today. I hope you think about what I taught and realize how important these lessons are. Dismissed.”
Everyone exited the classroom and I pulled Alexei aside as soon as we got through the door.
“What’s up Trevor?”
“I’m still hung up on this Frostbite thing. There’s gotta be a way to counteract that, right?”
Alexei put his hand on my shoulder and we took a few steps in the opposite direction.
“You’re talking about some kind of cure to the infection?”
“Well… perhaps, yes. I understand the infection is fatal, but there has to be something we can do.”
Alexei shook his and patted my back a few times.
“Keep dreaming kid. This thing is deadly and there’s no getting around it. I guarantee there isn’t going to be anything close to a cure for a long, long time. Definitely not in our lifetimes. For now, keep working on your shooting so you don’t get infected.”
Chapter Fourteen: Tag, You’re It
“WAKE-UP, WAKE-UP, WAKE-UP!”
The lovely sound of angry OICs, along with bullhorns filled the hallway air outside our room. I rolled over and acted like I didn’t hear anything. Perhaps it’s a just a bad dream. Just then, our door opened and a bullhorn with tape on it slid across the floor. It stopped right in the middle of our room and continued to make an awful noise. Alexei took his pillow and mushed his face in-between it in an effort to shield his ears. The noise was pissing me off and I scrambled down my ladder so I could take the tape off. Whoever had wrapped this had done a damn good job and it took me over a minute just to find where the tape began. Alexei begged for it to stop as I heard one of the OICs shout “incoming!” and I turned around to see Lieutenant Ward happily throw a bullhorn into the room across the hall. It was obvious they were having way too much fun messing with us.
I finally got the tape off and the wretched device ceased making noise. Alexei removed his face from his pillow and reluctantly climbed down from his bed. I closed our door so we could change into our work-out clothes and take a few moments to get ready for the day. Based on the way we were just woken up, I have a strange feeling that today is going to be an interesting day.
“Let’s go recruits! We’re waiting on you!”
As we hurried to get changed, I listened to several other recruits standing in the hallway repeat in unison “we’re waiting on you”. I urged Alexei to hurry up and he quickly slid his sneakers on without even tying them. We rushed out to our spots in the hall and joined in the elementary chorus while we waited for the other recruits to finish. Thankfully, all of the bull horns had stopped making noise. Maybe if I was lucky my ears would stop ringing in a few minutes.
Sierra and Darin rushed out of their room in a huff and Commander Knight instructed us to stop chanting. Sierra looked like a disaster. Her blonde hair was bundled together in a glob on the top of her head. It looked like she had attempted to put it in a bun, but was barely successful. Darin didn’t look too great either, considering the fact that I was pretty sure her shirt was on backwards. That was still better than Alexei’s mishap yesterday when he had forgotten his pants. I didn’t think the OICs were ever going to live that one down.
“Good morning recruits! It’s about time everyone got out here! Man, you guys are slooowww.”
Commander Knight got in someone’s face at the end of the hall. I couldn’t see who it is in my peripherals and I didn’t want to risk drawing attention to myself by looking.
“How’d you like our little presents this morning? Everyone feeling alive?!”
The entire class responded, in a rather dull and tired tone, “Yes, sir.”
“I’m sorry, did anyone hear that? Because I sure as didn’t hear anything. Everyone feeling ALIVE!?”
This time we put some heart into our voices and screamed “Yes, sir” at the top of our lungs.
“Good! Let’s go do some PT!”
The OICs instructed us to form up and follow Commander Knight down to the O Course area for our morning workout session. Of all the thi
ngs I didn’t understand around here, the biggest had to be how Commander Knight had so much energy in the morning. I never had as much energy as he did right now. I wanted whatever he was putting in his system because it was working way too well.
Commander Knight took us through an intense ninety minutes of exercises, beginning and ending with a series of stretches. I might not have been as buff as any of my classmates by the end of training, but I could have guaranteed that I was the sorest. Today’s burpees hurt the most and I felt like I couldn’t even lift my arms. Thankfully, the workout came to an end and the OICs sent us to shower and get breakfast. Commander Knight also told us that there had been a slight change to today’s schedule. Instead of going down to the range this afternoon, we have to go to the classroom for a brief with Lieutenant-Commander Bradshaw. Apparently, Commander Knight had a surprise for us this afternoon and needed to finish setting it up. If the surprise had anything to do with working out, then it was not going to be a good one.
Alexei and I scarfed down two helpings of food in record time and met up with our classmates down the hall. Working out this hard every day had drastically increased my appetite. I’d never been able to eat as much food as I was eating now. We walked into the room and found most of our class with their heads down on the desk. I had expected everyone to be talking and a few people were, but most of the recruits looked exhausted. Even the toughest looking guys seemed like they could have used another twelve hours of sleep. Alexei and found seats in the back of the room and sat down. I asked Alexei what he thought the upcoming surprise would be. He moaned and replied “I hope it’s nap time” as he let his cheek find the surface of the desk.
“Attention on deck!”
Lieutenant-Commander Bradshaw walked in and quickly put us at ease.
“You guys look dead. Commander Knight must be doing his job well. Since he’s beating up on you guys, I’ll try my best to finish up a few minutes early so you guys relax before this afternoon.”