by Adam Sampson
Immediately surrounding the base was a large swath of flat land where no vegetation grew, but as they went further out they saw more and more vegetation. First, there was the moss they were used to, and that transitioned into small bushes, like pom-poms made of blue knives. Then royal blue trees started appearing, or perhaps overly large bushes since there was no clear trunk, just a group of branches jutting from the ground, with fuzzy blue puffs instead of leaves. It was like the trees had eaten some blue monster, and only tufts of dark blue fur were left. This forest of fur got tall and loomed high above them before petering out after they crossed a large hill.
Next was a field of low shrubbery, blue with green stripes, that smelled particularly nice. It smelled like a mix of bacon and lavender that somehow blended together to create a wonderful bouquet. The strange smell confused the nose but was pleasant nonetheless. Peter smiled as they jogged past. Not everything was terrible out here.
“We are in section D 10 and we will be walking from here. Standard procedure when you are one section away from your destination, you slow to a walk and keep an eye out for ambushes. Zerglings are too stupid to set ambushes, but it is a good habit to get into because they aren't the only monsters out here,” Rex said.
They walked for another ten minutes before Rex held up his hand in a fist. They all stopped behind him, some of them taking their weapons out and others looking to Rex for guidance.
“Don’t ever wait for orders to get your weapons out, if you think you need them, get them out. I will let you know if it is safe and you can put them away. In this case, keep them out, we have arrived at our destination,” Rex said and swept his hand across the landscape. They had stopped at the top of a shallow valley.
Blue covered hills surrounded the valley, which was perhaps two or three miles wide. The valley itself was mostly red dirt with a smattering of aquamarine moss here and there. In the center of the valley, at the lowest spot, was a series of familiar mounds. There were perhaps twenty of them, although it looked like some of them had been destroyed, but it was hard to tell because they were too far away.
“All right folks, listen up. That group of nests up yonder is mostly dead. A few level four squads came through here a few days ago and killed almost all of the zerglings. But there should be enough left that we can wet our beaks. We will walk into the valley, and herd some zerglings to you. I will make sure they come at you one at a time because I can easily kill any extras to the party. Whatever you do, don’t run away. This valley is fairly safe, we can see monsters coming a long way out. But if you get into those trees, you are in more danger than with three zerglings bearing down on you at once. Everyone clear? Don’t run away no matter what,” Rex said, the last part uncharacteristically stern.
Walking down the valley was the toughest thing they had done all day. They couldn't see any zerglings, but they vividly remembered them from yesterday. Hearts beating furiously, they walked in a tight formation, hands gripping their weapons tightly. Peter could see that as scared as he was, Emma was much more scared. She kept darting her head around, trying to see everywhere at once.
“Peter and Frank, set up your teams about fifty feet apart, facing the anthills. I am going to convince some zerglings to come out here and you brave folks are going to kill them. Don’t worry about rushes, I could take out the entire field by myself if I needed to. Just stand your ground and attack as we practiced. This is about being brave, and I know you can do it,” Rex said.
Once their teams were set up, Rex slowly walked towards the mounds. He saw something the others didn’t and lifted his hand to shoot a small fireball out between the mounds. Once it disappeared between the mounds, a roar was heard and a zergling raced out from the mounds straight at Rex. He slowly started jogging backward, still facing the zergling. Once he got closer to Peter's squad, he blurred and appeared behind their squad.
“Weapons ready, you can do this,” Rex said.
Peter’s squad was ready for the zergling, most of them attacking once the zergling came close. It tried to claw at them but met only shields. Directly after this, Yoon struck out with her spear at full length and scored a quick killing blow to its belly, the monster bleeding out in seconds. An orb appeared and zipped away. Peter was happy with the kill, but he had his attention focused on Emma.
She hadn’t moved from her spot once the zergling drew near. She stood there, shaking in fear for the entire exchange.
“Emma, are you alright?” Peter asked and walked over to her.
She didn’t look at him, just stared at the dead zergling, and shook her head. Peter walked up to her and slowly pointed her spear at the ground.
“Hey Emma. This is tough out here, I know. And it really isn’t fair to make someone as young as you come out here. But we have to survive and get stronger. The more of these things you kill, the stronger you get,” Peter said in a soft voice.
Emma wasn’t shaking anymore and looked at Peter with a face streaked with tears, but no longer crying. “I just couldn't, I tried, but I couldn't,” she said.
Peter drew her into a hug and held it for a few long moments before pulling back and saying, “Emma, you are stronger than you think. You can do this, next time you won’t freeze up, I am sure of it.” He paused before continuing, “Now I am going to give you an order as your squad leader, and I want you to follow it, ok?”
“Ok,” she said in a soft voice.
“Go kick this zergling in the balls,” Peter said in all seriousness.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Emma smiled through the tears and walked over to the back of the zergling. She lined up a shot and kicked so hard, the men in the squad winced. She smiled and kicked it one more time.
Rex came over and smiled, “Excellent. Now come back over here in formation, and show me your form. Strike the zergling in the belly between the two front arms.”
She walked back over and stabbed the zergling viciously. Without prompting, she pulled back and stabbed it again. Rex walked over and patted Emma’s shoulder and smiled. Without a word, he walked back towards the mounds to lure out another zergling.
A fireball and a roar produced another black skittering creature. The zergling was led to Frank’s squad, and they dispatched it with minimal fuss.
Then it was Peter’s squad’s turn. This time as they stood resolutely facing the charging zergling, they eyed Emma too. But Peter’s pep talk must have done some good, because she stood without tremors, and held her spear ready to attack. As the zergling attacked, the team counter-attacked as one. The beast died quickly under the combined assault, but in its death throes it clawed Jonas’ right arm.
The cut was deep, and Jonas fell to his knees when the pain hit him. Blood flowed and quickly stained the earth below him a darker red. Jonas keened, the sudden pain leaving him unable to form words. His team surrounded him, wanting to help, but without the means to do so.
Rex arrived and quickly shouldered everyone out of the way. He yanked Jonas’ hand away from his arm, exposing the cut. It was a deep cut, exposing the triceps muscle all the way down to the bone. As Jonas cried out in fresh pain, Rex held out his hand above Jonas’ injured arm. A soft white light appeared in Rex’s hand then extended a tendril directly down to the cut on the arm. The light poured in, a viscous liquid that filled in the spaces of the cut and joined the arm. Soon it looked like his arm was whole again, but with a glowing stripe across his upper arm. Rex’s hand stopped glowing and the tendril disappeared. Slowly the glow on Jonas’ arm faded, leaving unblemished skin behind. The only evidence of an injury was the cut across his sleeve and the swath of blood still soaking his uniform and the ground beneath it.
“Was that your only injury?” Rex asked.
“Yeah,” Jonas said, still staring at his arm.
By now the other team had run over and Simon asked, “What happened?”
“Jonas just needed a bit of healing, nothing to worry about,” Rex said, nonchalantly.
&nb
sp; Lola scoffed and said, “Jonas almost had his arm cut right off, and Rex healed it like it was nothing. He really does have magic.”
“Kinda, yea. The eggheads say it is still science, and spout some mumbo jumbo about quantum whosa-whatsits. But as far as us regular people are concerned, I magiked him better,” Rex said with a smile.
“Ok Frank’s team, no bunching up on the hunting ground, back to your position,” Rex said.
Frank’s team walked back over to where they had been standing and Rex went to lure in another zergling.
Peter turned to Emma, who was standing right beside him, and said, “You did good there, that was a solid hit to the last zergling.”
Emma blushed and smiled, but didn’t say anything in return.
Peter noticed something after Frank’s team killed their zergling, but he couldn't confirm it until after his team killed another one.
“How come all the orbs are going to you?” He asked Rex before he could walk off to get another one.
“It is because y’all are grouped with me as the leader. Once we are done hunting for the day, I will distribute the orbs fairly. That is why you always want to go hunting with a leader that you can trust, they get a lot of leeway from the cuff to distribute the spoils of battle,” said Rex.
Soon they settled into a rhythm, each squad taking a turn to kill a zergling. Frank’s team had an injury of their own that required healing, and they got to witness Rex’s healing skills first hand. Peter earned a cut of his own after overextending on a kill shot, but Rex said the wound was minor and would heal on its own before morning. His forearm felt like fire and hurt much more than a minor wound, but he trusted Rex and didn’t badger him for healing.
After perhaps an hour and a half of hunting, Rex called them back together. They looked across the field at the scattered zergling bodies, amazed at how many there were. The black bodies were strewn across the red ground, like a raisin cookie. Like all raisin cookies, it was utterly disgusting.
It was just shy of thirty hides, all of which had been killed one by one. The first bodies were starting to smell, a putrid bouquet wafting up from the field. Everyone’s strength was flagging despite their increased stamina. It had been an extraordinarily long day.
“The sun is setting soon, so that means it is time to distribute the loot,” Rex said and touched his cuff. A stream of orbs flew out to Frank and Peter, like twin water spouts of blue energy. Once the orbs hit the squad leaders, they immediately split off to their team. Everyone ended up with two orbs absorbed by their cuff.
“Even distribution of orbs today, beware the leaders that stiff you. Stow your arms folks, we are running back home. Never stay out past dark if you can help it,” Rex said.
Their run back to base was faster than the trip out, in no time they were back at the south gate. There was a small line of people reentering the base, but it moved quickly. They only had to touch their cuff to the box on the way back in, to record that they had returned from the field.
As soon as Rex scanned in, the guard called out to him, “Hey, you. Level sixteen Scout. Can I talk to you for a bit?”
Rex walked over and said, “What's up?”
“The commander is sending a level eight squad through here to do a rescue mission, but I have a feeling it is going to be a double cuff retrieval if they don't get some help,” the guard said.
“Rescue mission? You know the Trolls hate those,” Rex replied, and continued, “But I figure the Trolls are not on base, otherwise the Captain would never sign off on a rescue, right?”
“Yes, Captain Mason signed off on it, Trolls aren't due for another few days. I worry that one team won’t be enough. Listen, all I am saying is I am sure the rescue team would appreciate some help, with the sun setting and all.”
“You really think they need the help?”
“I do, I got a sense about these things and I think they need the help.”
“Fine, I’ll go.”
Rex turned to his trainees and said, “All right folks, you get the night off. Head straight back to the barracks and get some dinner and relax. Lights out in three and a half hours, don’t fall asleep before then.”
Chapter 9
Peter sat down at the table with his plate loaded with food. He found himself sitting with the same group from this morning. Lola and Jonas were on either side, Simon and Chris across from them. Emma had joined them, sitting next to the boys and Dima.
“What do you think that was all about at the end there?” Jonas asked.
“What do you mean, the bit with Rex? I guess he is just a badass, in high demand,” Simon said.
“It is certainly nice that our trainer is capable, but I suspect that isn’t what Jonas meant,” said Dima.
“Dima is right, Rex was worried about the Trolls. What do you think he meant about the Trolls not liking rescues? Aren’t we all their soldiers, why wouldn’t they want their soldiers to be rescued?” Jonas asked.
“I bet it is because rescues are dangerous. The trolls probably think of us as numbers and they don’t want to risk the lives of five more people if the first five are probably dead,” said Peter.
“No, that is not it. What would cuff retrieval mean if not the obvious? The cuffs must be valuable enough that they are retrieved even if a rescue is not possible. Surely a cuff retrieval is just as much risk as a rescue,” Dima said.
The table was silent while they all thought about it. Eventually, Yoon spoke up, “I think the Trolls do not like weakness. They killed the humans hiding on the train, they took us to kill zerglings where only the strong would survive, and they do not like rescues. I think that means they do not like weakness.”
“Are you sure? We really only have two days of experience around Trolls, maybe this is a cultural thing we don’t understand. It wouldn’t make sense for them to hate weakness in humans, we are all weak compared to them,” Lola said.
Yoon shrugged and said, “Perhaps I am wrong. All I know is that I will show no weakness around them.”
They sat at ate for a while in silence. Those that had been injured today took large portions and were doggedly working through their plates of food. A majority of those sitting there had gotten a large plate of food. It wasn’t great food, but it wasn’t bad either. Perhaps slightly better than standard cafeteria food.
Simon slowed down his eating and gestured with his fork to the table. “You guys heard our sob story this morning, two orphans adrift in an uncaring world. What about you, what is your story?” he said and pointed his fork at Dima first.
“I am old, and my story is much longer than yours. Let me just say I am Russian, that is all that is important to know about me.”
Simon rolled his eyes before Dima continued.
“Fine, a few more details. I work for an international company, we do business in the UK, America, and Russia. I mostly fixed problems for very rich people. I have a husband in London that I will do anything to get back to. He is waiting for me, and I will not stop until I can return to him,” Dima said resolutely.
“Cool, family is important. I guess I want to see my uncle after we get out. How about you?” Simon said, pointing at Emma.
“Pass,” Emma said without looking up.
“It's alright, we are all friends here, you can tell us,” Simon urged.
Emma said nothing.
“Don’t push her, Simon. Friends know when to back off,” Peter said. After a moment he said, “I guess it is my turn. I am American and I am, or was, a salesman. I was supposed to pitch these big clients in Dresden, I was going to make the company millions. They have probably already replaced me though. I was living in Lubbock, Texas but I didn't grow up there. My mom and I moved around a lot when we were growing up, we had to move each time she got a new job. I loved California the best, but we spent a few years in New Jersey, Kentucky, Florida, Nevada, and North Carolina.
“You know, she predicted this. My mom told me right before I got on the train that it would be a tribute tr
ain. She is probably so mad at me right now. I bet the first thing she will say when I get back is ‘I told you so!’” Peter said that last part in his mother’s voice, and the table laughed.
“Ok, psychic mom is the story to beat, who is next? How about you, Jonas?” said Simon.
“Oh, I can’t beat that one. But I will take my turn. I am German, I was to be returning home with that train. My family lives in Dresden. I do not have a job, but my father was hoping I would join the family business. My father is the chief foreman for the Nike factory there. But I do not like shoes, so I have been avoiding the work. This last whole year I spent it in America. I was camping and hitchhiking to all the national parks. Many people would pick me up on the side of the road and tell me how dangerous it was to hitchhike. But I had no harm from it. The train ride has been the thing that put me in the most danger,” Jonas said.
“I was sure you were from Germany from when you first talked,” said Lola with a smile. “I am next I suppose. I am German too, but not from Dresden. I come from Freiberg, a small town an hour away from Dresden. I have no job, but that is because I just finished University. I was taking a holiday in America to celebrate being done. My girlfriend from an exchange year invited me to come stay with her at her house in Lubbock. I very much liked staying with her, and now I wish I had stayed longer,” Lola said with a wry smile.
Peter wanted to clarify what she had meant by girlfriend, but couldn't think of a way to ask without seeming creepy. So instead he turned to Yoon and said, “Do you want to take a turn?”
Yoon frowned, but answered anyway, “Yes, I will take a turn. I am from South Korea. I am single mother with my three-year-old son. I was housekeeper in America. But my boss, she said I stole something, I did not steal, but she fired me anyway. I was going back home to Korea, my son and I change trains in Germany. I worry about my son. He has no one to take care of him, no family. But I will get to the end of boot camp very fast so that I can return to him.”
“We are going to help each other get there, Yoon. All of us want to get back home, and we are going to work hard to make it happen,” said Peter.