Phoebe, Emma, and Breelyn all stood in front of or behind one another in the long line of to-be soldiers. Since the day they arrived and were thrown into these black tactical pants and black, long-sleeved uniforms, they conformed to the majority and joined them all without a second question. These soldiers were collecting teenagers and young adults like candy and training them, but they didn’t know what for. It didn't seem to be of concern, though. When everyone was sent back to the bunks or the cafeterias between training sessions, their curiosity would flourish amongst them all by word of mouth, but the moment they stepped out into the compound or the hallways that led to their training quarters, something suppressed it inside. Curiosity had only a short, temporary hold. None of the captures had the urge to escape, even when there was a clear shot, because the thought became crippling. The first day, the captured followed the line made by their own out into the base and into the stadium lights; the gate was wide open. They looked out of the fence and into the real world, but they didn’t want to run. The thought of being back out there brought such an unnatural, immense amount of fear that made this place seem like paradise. They were safe here, no matter how difficult it got, and no matter how much they wanted to leave and find those who were left behind. It had only been a few days, maybe three, since they had gotten here. The first three days, everyone was mixed—the fifteen through twenty-five year olds—and were somewhat competing in these training sessions. Accuracy and speed were measured when it came to shooting and combat, agility was measured in the physical tests, and logic and skill were measured in the tests they were given to plan strategic attacks. Today, they played a game similar to one big round of paintball.
Everyone was divided into similar age groups, and those age groups were split into the regions they had come from. That was how it worked almost every day they trained. Phoebe, Emma, and Breelyn were all together, and so were Jacob’s friends: Colton, Andrew, and Peter. Peter had located Jacob’s friend Dylan, too. The other groups consisted of kids from Windland and smaller towns. Occasionally, in the cafeteria, Colton and Andrew would interact with friends they had from school, but there was a different tension in the air within each interaction.
Within the group mixed of the three Hartland girls and the Windland boys, each of them was almost opposites in their skills. Their external connections and diverse skills made them a good team. Some of them had their smaller size to their advantage, like Breelyn and Emma, allowing them to hide better and dodge attacks, while some could overpower their opponents in one-on-one combat, like Dylan and Phoebe, due to their height and size. Peter was incredibly smart and strategic and knew exactly how to categorize people when it came to attack plans. Andrew and Colton were the best shots in the group, though. Each of them knew where they had to improve, and that allowed them to advance at a quick rate. This made the other groups fear them, for they were often used as an example by the soldiers and were seen highly. Their label---Unit G46---was placed at the top of the hierarchy.
G46 was at an unfair advantage from the start due to their average age being roughly in the middle of all of the captured, but the unfairness started to weigh out when they noticed the common patterns of the other groups. A lot of them were heavily skilled in one area, leaving them extremely weak in another. The younger ones lacked diversity, and the older ones, seemingly stronger, faster, and smarter than the rest, were unable to improve. They had started strong, but the other groups started to catch up. They were left with roughly the same advantages and had no improvement by day four.
After guided training, G46 would usually go to the shooting ranges, practice combat in the bunks, or work on improving their weak points to keep them sharp and ready for the next day, but not today. It was the day after Jacob had come in and caused a scene. The training ended, and the group returned to their bunk in the corner where Hunter was waiting for them. He had finished his physical therapy in the infirmary early. They all gathered around, their minds heavy with brain fog. During training, they could zero in their focus, but ever since Jacob had come in, something changed. Their minds were making it difficult to think when they had time to themselves. Hunter sat there with his ankles crossed, fidgeting with his bracelet and the charm hanging off of it. With how intense their emotion was when Jacob had barged in the day before, it had conflicted them. Thats the conclusion they came to. They didn't feel strongly about any of their training, which is what made their days so easy. This much emotion coming from nowhere had been what threw them out of orbit. They wanted to do something about it, every one of them, but they couldn’t bring themselves to take one step in that direction. Hunter informed them about the infirmary to break the uneasy silence.
“When I first went in today, I think I saw him. He’s in containment. I overheard them say they couldn't inject him; he’s fought against it too many times. The injections he got aren't working. I'm pretty sure he’s safe, but I don’t think he’s our biggest problem.” They all instinctively scooted closer to listen to him. “G46's rankings are high, but there’s this one group, or person, I should say, that's at the top. They call him Forged Reaper,” Phoebe lifted her eyes a little more when she heard the nickname. She recognized it.
“I’ve heard people talking about him, but I don’t know if the things I hear are good or bad,” Breelyn gave Phoebe a weird look. “I hear people calling him non-human. What’s that supposed to mean?”
"I'm more concerned about the thought of one person being better than groups of ten or more people!" Breelyn looked around to see if anyone else agreed. She received a couple of subtle nods.
“He’s unnaturally skilled,” Peter spoke like he personally knew of this non-human soldier. “Stronger than most humans, smarter, more agile. He’s their biggest weapon. They’re building a new group of soldiers to go out into the world, and right now, G46. I know it’s not our biggest priority to get out of here, but this might be our ticket to get the answers we're looking for about Jacob.”
“What’s his real name? Maybe if we figure out the region he’s from, we can get to know a little more about him?” Emma looked to Hunter. She figured if anyone knew, it would be him. Hunter usually heard the most since he spent his days with a lot of authority figures, but he had no clue.
“I don’t know yet," Hunter replied. "Nobody knows anything about who he is. He came from the hospital I was in after the bombing, though. That’s why he hasn’t been around here with the rest of the trainees.” Breelyn sat back, picking at her nails.
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“I’m sure we’ll meet him at some point. We should worry about Jacob for now. They're keeping him locked up, so when will they let him out?” Breelyn seemed more worried than usual.
“That’s the other thing.” Hunter stood up and stretched out his leg. His break was almost over. “They like his dedication. They think he has enough potential to join us, which is good. I just have to get through to him and convince him to take the injections,” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t know why he’s fighting so hard against it.”
“I’m telling you guys, he knows something we don’t. He has to. Why else did he fight so hard to get us the radio? And the shots?" Andrew ran his hand through his hair. “A lot of this doesn’t sound right.” Everyone could agree, but they didn’t know what to do about it.
“Well, if we want to keep moving up, then we need to keep working harder,” Dylan spoke as he reached behind his bunk and took out his wrist tape. “How about we hit the shooting range?” Everyone agreed, and soon they all got up and left to go train. Hunter went back to the infirmary to continue with his physical therapy. As he walked in, he could see Jacob through the opposite window. He was sitting on a bed, staring at the floor, still in his original clothes. Jacob looked up and met his eyes. Hunter was brought to a halt and stared back at him. Every bone in his body was frozen. Jacob had gotten up from the bed and walked to the window, slamming his palm on the glass. He could see him opening his mouth, yelling something to him. Yelling his name. The two hadn’t seen eachother in person until now.
“Hunter!” he yelled. He slammed his palm on the glass again. “Hunter, get me out of here!” he watched Hunter stand there in his sling, staring back at him. He seemed to take a step back, but a lady in a lab coat stepped forward and grabbed his shoulder to coax him forward. He kept looking back, saying something to the doctor. Soon, Hunter was out of his sight. Jacob yelled in furstration and started pacing around the room, then ran back up to the glass and pounded on it. He knew Hunter wouldn’t leave him in here. Hunter was hurt; he couldn’t overpower anyone right now. He was glad to see him alive. He sat back down and put his hands through his hair, hanging his head low. The darkness on his lower eyelids was getting darker from how sleep-deprived he was, and the climate change had made it worse. He looked like someone had been keeping him up for days. Jacob had worked to get a metal pole off the backboard of the bedframe, and that had helped him fend off the doctors for a while. He wasn’t sure how long he could last without food and water. He grabbed the metal bar and held it in his hands. The doorknob started to turn, and he stood up, grabbing the bar. It was the same girl who had tried to sedate him the first time he came in here, which was the same girl doing most of his visits. Her nametag said Tabotha Watkins.
“I can’t let you out of here until we know you’re not contaminated. We need to give you immune boosters-”
“You’re not injecting me with anything!” He yelled. Anytime he would move forward, she would step back, closing the door a little more each time. She was scared of him. Of course, she always brought soldiers with her for protection, but this time, he could see a new doctor approaching, and Hunter was with them. Hunter pushed past, standing in front of the doorway and looking at Jacob with a smile.
“Man, I'm glad you’re alive,” He walked up and hugged him, patting him on the back. Jacob was awestruck and lightly hugged him back. He didn’t know what to say. Clearly, these people trusted Hunter, which was strange to him. They were keeping them captive, but let them roam? Who would let prisoners do such a thing? Tabitha closed the door to Jacob's cell and stood outside the window, watching. Waiting. “They don’t have a secret microphone on me, it’s just us,” Jacob was breathing heavily. He slowly set the metal bar down on the bed and leaned against the frame.
“What the hell are we doing here, Hunt? Why’d they bring us here?” Hunter shook his head and sat down next to him. He stared down at the bracelet on his wrist.
“I don’t know, man. They’re training the others to go out on some sort of mission. I’ve been here in the infirmary. They're giving me these healing shots, and dude, they’re speeding up the healing process. These people are helping. They’re using us for something, but they’re helping,”
“Hunt, why haven’t you tried to escape? You’re over here roaming around, and the fence is wide open! I've seen it. Why are you still here?” Jacob watched his face. He had an expression like he knew the answer, like his muscle reflex wanted to fight and leave, but he still sat there.
“Even with all of us working together, we wouldn’t make it out. We haven’t tried, either. We just… we're not gonna leave,” Jacob stood up, starting to laugh. “You need to get in there with us. Help us figure this out, man,” Jacob turned around and looked at him like he was crazy.
“You don’t see a problem with this?” He held his hand out, gesturing towards the window. “This place has made you their slaves. They inject you with shit that makes you want to stay. You listen to whatever they tell you, and they make you think you have free will, but they’re just changing your will to fit what they want it to be!” Hunter brought a hand up to his forehead and massaged his temples. His head was starting to hurt the more he thought about it.
“I know I should care. We all feel like we should care, but we need to stay here. We don’t care about making it out; there’s nothing to go back to. Why leave now if we don’t have a reason? We can wait until we have a reason, but think about it. We have everything we need. Come with us, Jacob,” Hearing him talk like this was breaking Jacob into pieces. Hunter was always so reasonable, but now he wasn’t making any sense. Whatever they put into him, he wasn’t the same person. He couldn’t fight for himself anymore, and he was trained to be okay with that. Jacob didn’t want to stay in this room any longer. It was making him go crazy, and he hated to be alone, but he wasn’t going to turn into one of those robots. He couldn’t lose himself, and he couldn't lose sight of the plan.
“I’m not taking those shots. I’ll come with you, I'll train, but they aren’t injecting me with their drone juice.” Hunter sighed and stood up as the doctors motioned towards him.
“They don’t know about the radio, and I won’t tell them. What are we looking out for?” He felt a ping in his chest. He trusted Hunter with his life, or at least he used to, but now he didn’t want to tell him the whole truth. He didn’t want to risk putting me in danger. Right now, I was everyone's only shot at getting out of here, brainwashed and all. Jacob knew he couldn’t give in. He had to fight for however long it took.
“I know a lot of things you don’t, Hunt. Things about this place, the world, and even things about you. That’s why I can’t tell you.” Hunter stood there at the door. He knew something was very morally wrong, but he couldn’t place his finger on it. Hunter felt every bone in his body wanting to stay in this base, but the connection he had with Jacob ever since they were kids wasn’t automatically gone. He knew he still trusted Jacob with his life. Hunter didn’t know what to do.
“I’m going to try and get you out of here,” Hunter spoke quickly. Just then, the door opened again. Jacob grabbed the bar, and Hunter was pulled out. The door closed, and he started talking to the doctors, but they shook their heads and sent him back to his therapies. Jacob was alone again, sitting in this room with no way to tell time other than the clock outside the window. He stood up and took the metal bar, pounding on the glass, but it didn't even make a dent. He sat back down. Hunter would try to get him out. Until then, he had to keep the plan to himself. He sat back to relax a bit. He had been on edge for hours and hadn’t slept since he was knocked out the first time by the darts. He was tired and knew he would need all the strength he could get.
