There was Tip “The Hammer” O’Reilly, Raves, The Twins, and me. We were all there when they put Hollister down like a dog and we all knew that they would do the same damned thing to us. Well, we weren't waiting until we went crazy and ended up with a hundred shots in our asses. Raves didn't like the idea of bringing in more guys but I knew that with what I was planning that we would need all the help we could get.
Tip would be useful because of his skills with his hands, particularly his right. He got the power to fucking level shit with one punch. They measured it at 211 tons of pressure. Now take into account that they use fucking 500 tons of energy to simulate atomic bombs and you can see what we're working with.
The Twins were these two homeless fools The Corps found fighting each other in an alley in Utah. We had no idea if they were really twins or if their dirty asses just looked alike. Either way they were fucking insane but loyal to one another. When they were close enough to each other and started heading towards something, be it a building or moving vehicles, they could run right through that shit! It looked cool.
Raves had the ability to annoy you with an itchy eye and I was pretty much all around. I was fast, strong, and had the reflexes of, uh, something that had quick reflexes.
If you shot at me I had a 97% chance of dodging the bullet and beating your ass.
“How do you plan on doing this?” Tip asked me as he sipped on a beer he had conjured up from ingredients he found in the kitchen (and bathroom if you believe what The Twins tell you). “Are we going to fight our way out or sneak away?”
“We are going to have to wait a little while,” I told them. The Twins sighed.
“We don't know what will happen when we get back out in the real world,” Raves explained. “Let's use Hollister as an example. He went from nearly dead, to perfectly healthy, to having the ability to disappear.”
“That was nifty,” one of the Twins said as the other nodded. “But let's look at the downside,” I added. “We could walk out of here thinking we're good because we can run fast, lift cars, or fly...”
Raves said. “Someone can fly?” Tip asked excitedly. “That’s just a fucking rumor,” I said trying to hide my envy. If there was some Peter Pan fool
here I ain’t seen him. “Either way,” Raves continued. “We don't want to leave and then discover that all of a sudden we
have the power to die in a week. Imagine if Hollister disappeared and never came back?” We all looked at each and nodded. “I am sad to say this but we have to stay here for a bit longer.”
“Damn it,” a Twin said. “At least until we know more about what is going to happen to us in the long term,” Raves said. “Yeah,” I agreed. “I don't wanna be in this fucking project for the long term.” The following morning during breakfast The Corps made a special announcement. He kept his
eyes on Raves and I the entire time which made me think that there was a rat in the group. “I know some of you may be experiencing doubt in this project. Some of you may plan to leave. Some of you may plan to kill yourselves. But I can guarantee you that if you see this until the end that it will be one of the most fulfilling times of your life.”
Someone in that back of the room shouted “We wanna get laid!” which got applause from everyone. The Corps just sighed and took a step back. Hecksford nodded as they passed one another.
“We have been excited with the progress made recently,” he said while averting his eyes from me. His wife Deidra sat near him. She looked like shit. She had huge bags under her eyes and looked like she'd lost a ton of weight. “There have been a few minor setbacks...”“Like death,” Tip muttered.
“...But we are sure that once the bugs have been worked out,” Hecksford continued, shaken by Tips comment, “everything will be fine.”
“Just be patient,” The Corps interjected. “Any pain or discomfort will be well worth it.”
They all left the room together. Hecksford had to help his wife stand. He held her by the elbow. I noticed a small bump in her stomach. I nudged Raves in the side and he nodded. Tip walked over and stood next to us. He was no replacement for Hollister but he was cool people.
“A damned shame,” I said.
“Yeah,” Tip replied. “Like the world needs any more colored people in it.” I turned to face him and he was already running away laughing.
“Dick,” I said.
The next few weeks were spent training. Waking up at 4am and stopping at 6pm. Raves thought that they were trying to break us. And it did. By the end of the week 152 guys had dropped out leaving only 8 of us. Five of them were our small group and three other guys that I hadn't really paid attention to until one of them shot Tip in the back.
“Live rounds means you’re dead if you stand!” The Corps shouted above the rounds being fired feet above our heads. We were crawling through mud and God knows what else. Raves was to my right with Tip a feet few to my left. The Twins were damned near the finish line.
“This isn't fair,” Raves complained. “Putting them in dirt is like putting me in a whorehouse. Of course they breeze right through!”
“Quit your bitching,” Tip said as he spit mud from his mouth. “At least you don't have to stare at this guys Black balls the whole time.”
“Take it all in, Hammer!” I replied. Two of those other guys were also with us both neither of them spoke to one another. They just trudged along as we were. The third was the man next to The Corps firing the shots above us. “We almost done anyway.”
“I don’t like that guy shooting,” Raves said to me. Mud covered his face giving him the look of a brother. He should thank the lord he wasn't born black. He woulda been ugly.
“Neither do I but what can we do?” I asked. Raves finished with me shortly behind. The Twins were already washing themselves off as Tip stood and stretched. Then we heard a crack and he went down.
“Sorry!” the guy with the rifle shouted. “What the fuck?!” I shouted to him as I ran over to Tip. “I can't feel my fucking legs,” Tip said. “What happened?” “What the fuck, man?” Raves asked. “Get some help!” The Corps just stood there and the
gunman had a smirk on his face. Shit. We were being set up. “Get some fucking help!!!” The other two recruits just watched. I saw the muscles in their necks twitch with anticipation of a battle.
I sped towards The Corps and the gunman and was almost there when all of a sudden my ass was 100 feet off the ground. One of the recruits had me by my collar. I looked down and saw the ground caving in over where we flew. He released me and I plummeted to the Earth. I knew that with all the new shit I had going on that I wouldn't die from this. But it would hurt and if there's one thing I hate its being hurt. 50 feet, 40 feet, 15 feet, I started running. I hit the ground and was on the other guy before he could blink. I knocked him back a few feet. He landed like a damned cat and smiled. That Peter Pan asshole flew down and the ground buckled under him. He tried to fly over me and I dodged him, but just barely. Then he turned to dust. I looked at where a red beam had come from and saw Raves on his back holding his eye. He tried to scream but nothing came out but a long gasp.
Tip slammed the ground with his hand and sent a shock wave that made the stand that The Corps and that asshole stood on explode. The Corps tumbled to the mud with a loud smack. The asshole landed on his feet and charged towards Tip. Tip tried to slam the ground again but was kicked in the face by this guy. He slid across the mud for about 20 yards before stopping unconscious. I ran over
but was tackled halfway there by the one that moved like a cat. He got down on all four in front of me and smiled. He slowly pulled up his sleeves and I could see track marks up and down his arms.
“Your move, ‘bro’,” he hissed at me.
“Flashlight!” Raves shouted as I dropped low. A red beam lashed out over my entire backside. I could feel my skin boiling as I watched the cat scream as he died. “Flashlight,” was our codeword for “Get down!” If there was a fine bitch it meant that one of us had just called dibs on her. If sh
it was getting hairy it meant that one of us was about to do something crazy and it might fuck the other up in the process. The beam finally stopped and I stood. Smoke radiated off my back, as I smelled my skin. I could feel the shit already healing me. Cool. “Are you okay?” Raves asked.
“Better than him,” I said while pointing at the pair of boots left standing.
“Enough,” The Corps growled. Medics ran to the field and quickly placed Tip on a gurney. “This was supposed to be an exercise to showcase your strengths. But you...” he motioned towards the gunman. “...You got carried away, didn't you?”
“Sorry, sir,” he muttered.
“‘Sorry’ doesn't bring back two dead recruits, Donner!” The Corps shouted. “'Sorry' doesn't cover the loses we shall have to recoup! 'Sorry' doesn't cut it here!” he said as he pulled a gun from his holster and emptied the clip into his face. The Corps looked over at Raves who was holding his eye while sitting down in the mud. “Stand,” he said.
“Fuck you,” I said. “Excuse me?” The Corps replied. “I said fuck you,” I repeated. “You kill one of our friends and cripple another. And where the
fuck are The Twins?!” I looked around and Raves stood and ran over to them while still holding his eye. I joined him as The Corps slowly made his way there. They were pressed down at least three feet into the ground. Alive, but barely. I pulled them out by the seat of their pants. They coughed and gasped as they spit mud out of their mouths and blew it out of their noses.
“Did we miss anything?” one of them asked. “Just a lot of bullshit,” I said as I threw Raves’ arm over my shoulder and we walked away.
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Veterans Day Page 18