The following week after The Corps deemed that we had recovered we were sent out on a field for some exhibitions. They wanted to see what the hell we could do or more importantly what we couldn't do. They gave us some sweatpants and tank tops to jog around in. Raves was showing off and running backwards around me while Hollister tried to keep up. I know I am faster than this!
“You have to be the slowest black man on Earth!” Raves said as he lapped me.
“Keep it up,” I said while gasping for breath. All that smoking I had done since I was 12 had caught up with me. The Corps and the Hecksford's were in the stands taking notes of us and talking quietly to one another.
“Don't feel bad,” Hollister said to me as he passed.
“I don't need your sympathy, zombie!” I shouted at his back as he passed. A few other recruits were jogging together and laughed when they shot past me.
“I thought you guys were supposed to be fast!” one of them named Tip “The Hammer,” O'Reilly said. He was this white ass White boy with hair so red that it looked fake. He was a former boxer from Florida that had fallen on hard times. They say that The Corps found him in an alley drowning his sorrows in booze.
“I'm only running slow because of my large cock!” I shouted. They all laughed and then I fell to the ground. My head felt like someone shot the top of it off. I started slapping it thinking it was on fire. The Corps and the Hecksford's ran over to me. A few medics came as well.
“Another one down,” The Corps said.
“What's goin’ on with my brain?!” I shouted. “What’s goin’ on?!” I rolled to my side and kept slapping my head. Raves and Hollister saw what was going on and ran across the field. Raves knelt down beside me.
“What the hell is going on with him?” he asked Hecksford. “What did you do?” “Nothing,” Hecksford replied. “Sometimes there are side effects.” “Like coming back to life?” Hollister asked. “Or having an infected ass eye?” Raves asked.
“Everyone just calm down,” The Corps said. “Let's get him out of here.” They pulled me up by my arms and suddenly I felt okay. I took a step and my brain caught fire again. I was about to fall when I just started running. For no fucking reason I started running. I could hear everyone telling me to stop but I couldn’t. I wanted to but couldn't. I ran past “Hammer,” and heard him gasp.
“That extra bone in the foot you guys have must really be working!” he shouted.
I picked up more speed and looked down at my legs. My shoes felt like they were melting but I still couldn't stop. I felt good. Yeah, my brain kept threatening to set me on fire but I didn't care. I was always the slowest fucking kid on the playground. Now look at me! Shit, man. If I could run like this all the time I woulda been robbing folks blind! Then someone ruined my day. I crashed to the ground banging all my shit up. The Corps stood over me holding a tranquilizer gun.
“Interesting,” he said as he stood over me and Raves and Tucker peeked over his shoulder. “Banks,” Raves said with a smile on his face. “That’s what I was thinkin’!” I said as I wiped my pants off while still sitting. “How fast was I
goin’?” “Too fast,” Hollister said. “How did that feel?” “Good,” I replied. “110mph,” The Corps said to no one in particular. “Very good, Jones.” “Ain't nobody ever gonna beat that shit!” I shouted. “Nobody!” “Do you hear that?” Hollister asked. Everyone just looked at him. “Hear what?” Raves asked. “Like, someone screaming or something,” he said as he looked off in the distance.“No, it's just you,” I said. He looked worried. Raves started scratching his eye. “Seriously, can I get something for this shit?” he asked. “My eye is killing me.” We had no idea that Raves and Hollister were about to do things that made my fast running look
like Double Dutch in comparison. A few days after I broke all kinds of world records running Raves and I were witness to one of
the craziest fucking things we had ever seen in our lives. Well, at least up to that point. In the gym we were punching at each other as I kept hitting the right side of his face.
“Stop doing that!” he shouted. “It’s not healed yet!” The Corps had some folks work on Raves eye after the infection got worse. He says that used some space aged shit. You couldn't even tell that one of his eyes was fake. The only thing was the slightly red tinting. You could only see it if you got really close to him and nobody was trying to be all up in his face.
“I can’t help it if I sting like a bee!” I said as I peppered his face with left jabs.
“Yeah, That’s what she said!” he replied as he caught me with a cheap shot to the balls followed by an overhand right hook. I fell to my knees and my brain began to sizzle.
“Bitch...” I moaned as Raves laughed and bounced around the ring.
“Enough clowning around,” The Corps said as he motioned for us to leave the ring and Hollister and a guard entered the ring. The guard removed his gear and placed some gloves on. Hollister looked nervous so I walked over to him in his corner.
“What you thinking about?” I asked him.
“I don't like fighting,” Hollister said as he slowly pulled his gloves on and smacked his hands together.
“Just pretend he is someone you don't like,” I told him. “I like everyone,” Hollister said. I smiled and then slapped him in the back of the head. “How about now?” I asked as I jumped from the ring. Hollister's eyes began to water as the bell
rang. Raves and I removed our gloves and watched from ringside. The guard was a big guy. Hollister
was about 5’9”. The guard was at least 6’4”. Hollister threw a few lazy jabs that were countered with hard body shots. Hollister winced with each shot. The guard popped Hollister with a right jab to the eye and a low blow. Hollister collapsed and the guard kicked him square in the chest. Hollister landed flat on his back holding his groin.
“Cheatin’ bitch!” I shouted as I jumped up. I heard the guards clicking their safeties off. Raves looked over my shoulder and saw The Corps smiling. The guard in the ring then sat on Hollister's chest and rained blows down on his face. “Get up, Holly!” I shouted. Hollister tried to cover his face but the guard easily moved his hands away and hammered down on him.
“This is fucked,” Raves said. He put his hand to his eye and grimaced.
In the ring all you could hear was the sound of wet smacking. The guards in the gym actually started laughing. A few other recruits refused to even look in the ring. Maybe they were afraid that they were next. The guard in the ring started vibrating and laughing.
“I think he's ready to go!” he shouted as the rest of the guards clapped and cheered. Each recruit had guns trained on them in case they were feeling froggy. Then the guard was thrown high enough for his back to smack the ceiling. As he came crashing down into the ring Hollister slammed him down face first. We all heard the sound of his neck snap. The room got dead quiet.
“Uncontrollable,” Hollister said. He was standing with his arms to his side and shaking. Three guards jumped into the ring and swung their guns at him. “Uncontrollable!!!” Hollister appeared in front of the guards a moment after they got in the ring. Now when I say “appeared” I don't mean that he ran really fast and then all of a sudden was in their faces. No. He fucking vanished from one side of the ring and then was in front of them! You could tell by the looks of their faces that they knew they were dead. Hollister hit one guard so hard that his head was nearly torn off. Imagine a Pez dispenser. The other guard swung his gun an inch from Hollister's face but hit nothing but air.
Hollister was behind him and twisting his neck around. The way the guards’ eyes bulged and his head spun he looked like an owl. The third guard jumped over the top rope and was met mid-leap by Hollister. “Uncontrollable!!!” was the last thing that guard heard before his chest met Hollister’s fist. The poor son of a bitch's torso disappeared in a cloud of pinks and browns.
The Corps motioned for the other guards to intervene. They hesitated for a moment and then entered the ring. Hollister appeared
near the exit. Then near the bleachers. Then behind me and Raves. The looks on his face for that one moment was terrifying. Later Raves said he heard screaming but not from Hollister. Then he was back in the ring surrounded by guards. He appeared in the corner and disappeared. Then he was in the next corner. And the next. He was moving too fast to shoot. The guards exited the ring and began filling it with bullets. They could not hit Hollister because one moment he was on one side of the ring and the next he was near the opposite. Then he was hit.
“Uncontrollable!!!” Another hit, this one in his chest. “Uncontrollable!!!” His face. “Uncontrollable!!!” His legs and arms. “Uncontrollable!!!” His head. Hollister lay in the corner unmoving. The guards would not lower their guns. The Corps walked
towards the ring and Hollister vanished from the ring and appeared in front of me. I looked into his eyes and there was no fear. The Corps marched over and emptied his clip into Hollister's chest.
“Remove him,” The Corps said. The guards stared nervously at each other. “Now!”
As the dragged Hollister away Raves looked at me and nodded. That link again. I knew what he was thinking and I agreed with him. Fuck this project. We were gonna break out.
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Veterans Day Page 17