A Democracy Fallen

by Matthew Savage

  The workouts had become much easier but everyone was still out of breath and sweating by the time it was over. Though Sarah was tired she felt good after the workout. Sergeant Wolf was waiting for them when they came back from their jog through the woods.

  “How are we feeling today?” The Sergeant said bouncing on the souls of his feet. Sarah could tell he was pleased with the class.

  “Great Sergeant Wolf,” the class responded.

  “That is what I like to hear. Now we are going to head to our classroom and get some instructions-”

  Sarah was paid attention but this was all stuff that Corporal Clearwater explained to them. Sarah listened waiting to hear anything that she didn’t already know.

  “When we give you assignments today,” Sergeant Wolf said and it caught her ear. “you will report there before lunch. They will give you instructions about your new duties. You will not be working today but after the ceremony, some of you will be required to get right to work.”

  Sarah hoped a little, that it wasn’t her who had to work right away she was looking forward to celebrating. They headed to a classroom where they were informed that several other classes of students would be participating in tomorrow’s graduation. They were told how the ceremony would work and basic instructions. Then Corporal Clearwater passed out papers with their assignments. As soon as they got it they shook hands with Sergeant Wolf and were allowed to leave the classroom. Sarah and Nolan got theirs and all that was on the paper was a room number. Everyone else was given instructions on what they would be doing. Karli’s had the most detail it told her a room number, what she would be doing, and her immediate superior. Evan was going to be working on maintaining vehicles. Aaron was part of the infantry so in the event of battle he would be one of the people participating. Sarah could tell that they were disappointed being separated from each other. Ian was assigned to office work. Sarah saw there was disappointment on his face. Considering how young he was, Sarah guessed they didn’t want him going into the field yet. Sarah and Nolan told them that all they got was room number, no one in their class had ever been to that area of the base. Everyone left to get their new jobs. Sarah and Nolan tried to find this room. It took them some time, and they even had to ask someone for directions at one point. They eventually found a long hallway, tt the end of it was a door. It was very plain with the number 394 on it. Sarah tried to open it but it was locked. They checked the envelope making sure there wasn’t a key or anything in it but the envelope was empty. Then a voice came out of a small intercom on the side of the door.

  “Names please.” The female voice said.

  “Sarah and Nolan Hunter, reporting for duty,” Sarah said. They heard a buzz of the door being unlocked. Sarah opened the door and they both entered. The room was small and not decorated, there was a small desk with a young woman behind it. She was typing very fast on a computer.

  “Be with you in a moment.” The woman behind the desk said as she finished typing. When she was done she turned to face them. She had glasses and took them off to exam the two people standing in front of her. He paged someone on the intercom. “Sergeant we have some new people here to see you,” She turned looked both of them in the eye before speaking. “I am Corporal Kelly Lynn. I do the administrative work here. You both can call me Kelly.”

  “What exactly do we do here?” Nolan asked

  “I am not permitted to explain that. The Sergeant will do all that.” She smiled at these words then continued typing.

  Sarah looked around the room wondering where this Sergeant was going to come from. The room didn’t have any other doors except the one that they came in from. To Sarah’s surprise, the bookshelf behind Kelly’s desk moved backwards, it then moved to the side and from the opening, Sergeant Mary Underwood appeared.

  “You two can follow me.” She said and waved her hand to show to follow her.

  Sarah looked over at Nolan judging by the look on his face, he was just as surprised as she was. Sarah took the lead going behind Kelly’s desk and through the dark passageway. The bookshelf door then closed behind them and the hallway lights lit up. The hall was white and they walked for a bit before going through a pair of double doors. They were then in a very large room filled with desks. Most of which were occupied by people. There were large screens on the wall with maps of the United States on it. Some maps of the world were also on the walls with pins in certain places. The room was very loud and many people were talking. Sergeant Mary Underwood led them to a narrow hallway. Towards the end of the hallway, she opened up a door for them. Sitting at a desk was Captain Underwood, he looked up when the door opened.

  “Please come in and sit down.” He said holding out his hand like an invitation. Sarah and Nolan both sat in front of his desk and Captain Underwood stood and paced a little behind his desk. “I am sure you both have figured out which department you are working for.” He looked at them both and they nodded their heads in unison. “We are the intelligence agency for the D.I and I can’t tell you what you both will be doing exactly. It does have something to do with who is still missing.”

  “Our father?” Sarah asked

  “Perhaps, I can’t give you both lots of detail but we deal with almost every form of intelligence that comes through. We have different groups that go into the field, phone reconnaissance, interrogation, and more. We have areas that deal with recruitment but for now, we will be working on your father.”

  “Has something happened?” Nolan asked.

  “Besides him being captured? No. We can’t find him, though. I will explain all this when you come back for your real assignment. For now, Mary will take you on a tour and show you both your team.” They stood and saluted Captain Underwood. He saluted and Mary came in and took them for the tour. She explained that where they came in is how they will enter every day. The information they talk about is not to be discussed outside of the office. She showed them other departments and different people who they can use if a mission requires it. She took them to an area in a corner and there were several desks put together. Steven Nelson and James Orson were sitting at several of the desks. There were still three empty desks.

  “I am glad it was approved that we got you on our team,” Steven said spinning on his chair.

  “I heard someone pulled some strings to make that happen,” Orson said throwing a piece of paper at Steven.

  “Obviously introductions will be easy,” Mary said sarcastically. “You both will report to me or Steven who has been given a promotion to Corporal.”

  “Congratulations,” Sarah said.

  “Thank you very much, Private.” He said and blushed.

  “Not yet we aren’t.” Sarah corrected.

  “Soon you will be, though,” Mary said “This is where you will work. We will all be here to help in every way we can.”

  Sergeant Underwood then explained how they will continue with combat training once a week to keep everyone sharp. She explained that there is an elevator leading directly to Senator Powell’s command station. They are only to use it if he requests you. She said that being a part of intelligence they are lax on military formality. She explained that they can just call her Mary. Unless in the presence of people outside of their department. In those cases, they should be acting like normal soldiers.

  They were allowed to sit and observe the team working. They couldn’t ask any question because it was all considered classified still. After some time observing, they were allowed to go to lunch. Mary encouraged them to eat with their team in the future but said they should still spend time with their class. She warned them that they were not allowed to tell them exactly what they are doing. They were permitted to say they work for intelligence.

  At lunch, everyone was discussing their new jobs. Ian didn’t seem too thrilled with his. He was mostly filling paper and sending orders to different areas. Karli talked very fast about everything she would be doing. Sarah could tell that she was really excited about this job. This was the most Sara
h had ever seen her talk. Evan didn’t talk much about his new position. It was mostly vehicle maintenance. He seemed excited about it and he mentioned his father being a mechanic so he seemed comfortable with it. Aaron seemed to have the most boring job at the moment. Being in the infantry unit with the Democratic Insurgency and not being in battle, meant they drilled and prepared for when they would go into battle. He said they did raids on US targets but nothing major as of yet. He said the guys in his unit thought they would be seeing real combat soon. The group asked about Sarah and Nolan’s assignment. They told them what they could and the class seemed impressed with it.

  “Wow!” Ian said not able to hide his jealousy of them.

  “We can’t say anything about what we are doing, though. It is a pretty big secret.” Sarah tried to explain but she was still afraid of giving anything away.

  Steven came and sat next to her. The group seemed to stop talking when he sat down. He looked around at all them. They all seemed to be focused on their food. Steven chuckled for a moment.

  “I take it you told them what you both will be doing.” He said looking at Sarah and Nolan.

  “We did,” Nolan said with a smirk on his face.

  “We won’t bite,” Steven said to the class and this seemed to loosen them up a little. “You all knew I was doing this same work and you didn’t act this weird around me. I am sure Sarah and Nolan have kept our secrets.”

  “Like how cool is it working for D.I intelligence?” Ian blurted out.

  Everyone laughed and Steven responded. “Now we are getting to the bottom of this.”

  “It is fine. We haven’t really done much or anything for that matter.” Sarah said trying to stop her laughter from Ian’s outburst.

  The rest of lunch was more laid back with everyone joking around. After they ate the class went to practice the ceremony. It was very easy. It was made up of a quick march and sitting for speeches. Sitting through practice and having the officers tell them what they would be doing made Sarah that much more excited and proud to finish. The idea of her and Nolan both helping to get her father back put her at ease. It seemed to her like the pieces were starting to fall into place.

  The practice ceremony was very short and to the point. The ceremony the next day would happen before dinner. Which meant that they had tonight and most of the day tomorrow off. Sarah had no idea what she would do with so much free time. She didn’t think they would have to go to work yet so she might take some time and explore the base a little. Given how long they had been on base, she still didn’t quite know her way around it yet.

  At dinner, they discussed hanging out tonight. Evan mentioned he was able to get some alcohol from one of the guys he would be working with. The group all agreed to pitch in for it.

  “Alright after dinner, I will talk to my guy and he’ll hook us up,” Evan was saying. “Then we will meet in the common area on Sarah and Nolan’s floor.”

  “I think I can find us some cups,” Karli added.

  “I have a deck of cards I won from that poker match from that girl who works on the maps,” Aaron said.

  They all separated, excited for a night off. Evan was the first to show up he had a big bottle of brown liquor. “It is some kind of whiskey. I hope we don’t need chasers.” He said taking a smell of the bottle and coughing a little. “I think he might have made it himself.”

  Evan passed the bottle to Nolan who smelled it and took a sip. Nolan made a face that was a mix smelling something awful and being burnt.

  “That is certainly strong.” He said his voice hoarse now.

  Evan then took a big sip and coughed. It occurred to Sarah after she took a pull from the bottle that they weren’t big drinkers. Karli arrived with cups and passed them out. She took a small pull, winced but then took another drink really quick and Nolan laughed.

  “You’re pretty tough,” Nolan said surprised at her ability to drink the whiskey.

  “Perseverance,” She said to him taking another big sip.

  Ian and Aaron showed up. Aaron noticed that everyone sitting had already started feeling the effects of the whiskey.

  “I guess we are playing catch up.” He said to Ian and they both grabbed a cup and started drinking.

  The group played a variety of card games. It seemed to get harder to focus on playing the games as the bottle got lower. Eventually, everyone was laughing. Sarah knew they were probably being loud but the part of her that was worried about waking people disappeared from the whiskey. Sarah laughed with everyone. She could feel her eyes getting tired and the room became blurred. Nolan was on the one couch with his arm around Karli talking to her. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about but they were looking into each other’s eyes.

  Sarah wasn’t sure what time it was when everyone decided to finally go to bed. She remembered only a little of the short walk back to her room. She knew that Nolan and Ian had both helped her to her bed. She lay in bed trying to make the room stop spinning before she finally was able to fall asleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cadets to Privates

  Sarah was falling… falling… Thunk… She hit the ground. It took her a moment to get her bearings on where she was. She stood and rushed to the bathroom. She could feel the bile climbing up from her stomach. She barely made it to the toilet before she threw up. The room was still spinning, she wiped her mouth with a piece of toilet paper before vomiting, again. She had the feeling like someone was watching her. She turned around and Nolan was standing in the doorway. He went to flip on the lights but Sarah stopped him.

  “Please don’t.” She pleaded with him.

  “Here drink some water,” Nolan said going to the sink and pouring a glass for her.

  She took a small sip of water and hung her head over the toilet. She didn’t think she would vomit again, but she wanted to sit and make sure for a moment. She felt terrible as she wiped cold sweat off of her forehead. She flushed the toilet because the smell started getting to her.

  “You feel like you’re gonna throw up again?” Nolan asked.

  Sarah couldn’t make out what his face was like in the darkness but judging by the sound in his voice there was a genuine concern. Sarah knew she went a little too hard on the homemade whiskey. She told herself that she would never drink again.

  “I think I am okay,” Sarah said. Her throat was burning from the vomit.

  “I am going to shower. Will you be okay while I do? I can leave the door open if you want?” He said.

  He knelt down and helped her up. She slowly walked back into the room feeling very weak. She laid back in bed with her face in her pillow for a bit before answering him.

  “I will be fine.” Her voice was muffled by the pillow.

  “I will leave it unlocked just in case.” He paused for a moment, “You skipping breakfast today?”

  Sarah groaned, “I can’t make it.” She looked at him in amazement. “How are you feeling this good?”

  “I have a mean headache but food will help me. You, however, need to keep sleeping.” He said and put the covers back over her.

  She heard him say something about going to breakfast. Sarah was already half asleep by the time Nolan got out of the shower. The next thing she knew was that there was a knock on the door. Before she heard it opened, she rolled over and Nolan walked into the room. He shook his head when he saw she was still in bed.

  “Get up and get moving or else you are going to miss lunch. I figured you didn’t do much but I figured you would have at least gotten up by now.” He said coming next to the bed and turning on the light. Sarah rolled over and put the covers over her head and groaned. The blinds open and she peeked her head out from the blankets.

  “Why do you do this to me?” She said in a mock voice.

  “To torture you.” Nolan pulled the covers off of Sarah and she threw her pillow at him. “Come on get ready. This is a big day!” he said in a sing-song voice.

  Sarah had almost forgotten about graduation. Now that she
was feeling significantly less hungover. She was starting to comprehend that they will become privates in the Democratic Insurgence. This seemed to give her the energy to get out of bed and get ready. She took a long shower and got ready. Sarah looked for a long moment in the mirror, knowing this was the last time she would be wearing a cadet uniform. Nolan was waiting for her and she figured it was to make sure she didn’t go back to bed. Which had Nolan not been there it would be something she would consider doing. They made their way to the mess hall and stood in line for food. She had to pass on most of it because the thought of some of the food made her stomach turn. Sarah and Nolan were the first from their class to sit down to eat. Evan and Aaron were next. They teased Sarah about how much she drank. When Karli arrived Sarah knew that Karli was feeling it way more than she was. Karli was as white as a sheet and she had grabbed a large glass of orange juice. Ian arrived he had brought extra waters for both Karli and Sarah. Sarah thought this was sweet. Nolan then leaned over and whispered in Sarah’s ear.

  “He was very concerned about you this morning when you didn’t show to breakfast.”

  “Really?” She whispered.

  “He wanted to bring you food but I told him to just let you sleep.”

  “Aw,” She said

  She did her best to eat and Ian kept asking if she needed anything. They had a couple hours until graduation, most of them were still hungover so they spend most of the time talking and relaxing in the mess hall. They all expressed fears of starting their new jobs. Even Karli said she was nervous to start. “What if I mess something up? That could cost people's lives,” She would say. This was something that everyone was feeling. No one wanted to be the one to get someone else killed. Sarah wanted to say that she was excited to start so that she could find her father. She still wasn’t allowed to tell anyone what she was doing so she kept it to herself.

  Everyone paid close attention to the clock. It was around an hour before they were supposed to report for the ceremony when everyone went to get their new dress uniforms on. Sarah got her uniform and had to do some stretches because the new uniform felt so stiff. She saw that Nolan was doing the same thing and they both complained about how it felt. They concluded that the dress uniforms were supposed to be stiffer. When they both were ready they went to the auditorium and found their class. Karli was the first one there, she complimented Nolan right away on how he looked in his uniform. Then like remembering Sarah was there, she said that Sarah looked good as well.