“Unit G46,” A soldier stood at the top of the steps overlooking the whole bunk room. The rows upon rows of black-wired bunkbeds hurt to stare at for too long. Everyone stood alert, certain people stepping up as the soldier announced the group letter and number. G46 was the group set at the top of the class list. “G46, fall in behind me,” The soldier turned and, following behind, was G46. The door closed behind them, and they walked down the hallway. Phoebe dared to glance back for just a brief second. Dylan and Peter were in front of her, and behind her was Andrew, Colton, then Breelyn and Emma. They were assembled in tallest to shortest, an order they naturally fell into. They walked in sync, turning into the infirmary. None of them had been through here other than on the first day to get their first round of injections. They looked through the window immediately on the left as they unlocked the door, and that’s where Jacob was. He was sitting on the edge of the bed as he usually did, staring and watching as each of them passed by. Whoever fumbled a bit at the sight of him was forced to keep walking, or else the person behind would ram into them. They each made eye contact with him as they walked by, and not one of them stopped to do anything about it.

  There were a few people in the infirmary, some of whom the boys recognized from their hometown, others being random people from other secluded and protected sections of the nation. These people had one thing in common, and that was their living situations being similar to the square Windland and the surrounding cities were kept inside. Hunter watched them walk as they neared the end of their trek. Each of his friends gave him a look, hoping he could read the unknown emotions in their eyes. He wasn’t sure where they were being taken, but it couldn’t be good. He slowly diverted his eyes away as the doctor spoke to him, his sling hanging on the side of the bed. He continued to move his arm around, very slowly, in circles.

  G46 was led through another door, except this one was covered in thick metal. It was the first heavily guarded door they had been through. They walked inside, the door slamming behind them as they filed into an elevator. The doors closed, and the cage lining the inside rattled. The elevator rocked, and they slowly made their descent. “My name is Colonel Graham. As you ladies and gentlemen may know, your sector wasn’t the only one raided.” Graham stood there, his hands crossed behind his back and his feet shoulder-wide apart. He was almost shoulder to shoulder with Peter and Dylan. “Yet, out of all sectors, your group has been the most promising. We have special training for this team to go through. We call it Delta Company. There is an objective you need to meet, and certain standards you must reach before this objective is obtainable.” The elevator slowly came to a halt. “With this, you will be training with a soldier you may or may not be familiar with,” The elevator doors opened. Graham began to walk, and everyone else walked in the lines they were naturally assigned to inside the elevator. Their steps in sync, nobody said a word. The new formation felt safer for them. Instead of one thin line, they were now multiple people wide and multiple people deep. “G46, meet the soldier I believe you to recognize as Reaper.” They all stared ahead, sharing the same thoughts and the same stone-cold expression. In front of them stood many of the normal soldiers they had seen before, wearing combat boots, green camo pants, and olive colored t-shirts. They all had guns and stood alert. On the far wall, a large shooting range was built. In the middle of the shooting range was a tall soldier dressed in black, similar to those in the bunks, but different. They were in a tactical suit made up of pants and a long-sleeved shirt with bulletproof padding all around. Underneath their black tactical vest was a bulletproof plate, the same on their back and on any critical portion of their body. Their head had a black helmet with a full mask on the front. If you looked hard enough, above the balaclava was a black skull covering the upper portion of their face. That’s where they had gotten their name. As they shifted a bit to see the newcomers, the sleeve on one of their arms pulled up, revealing a sterling silver metal underneath. A metal arm. Some of them stood up a little taller, each of their hands folded behind their back.

  “I don’t suspect any of you to keep up with Reaper right away. I don’t suspect that you’ll ever reach his level, but anyone with general competence will suffice. Build your team as a unit, and be ready for your mission. Reaper,” Graham stepped to the side. “G46 is arranged by their frame names in order,” He started with Peter. “You have Point,” He moved down to Dylan. “Bravo-2,” He then moved down to Phoebe. “Center,” Everyone’s gaze shifted to Colton, Breelyn, next in line after him. “Six and Seven,” then to Emma at the end of the line. “And Anchor. Two more will be expected to join as time permits, taking the roles of Four and Five. Simulations will start in five days.”

  “Copy,” Reaper spoke. His voice was distorted through some sort of modulator, making it deep and robotic. It sent chills down Emma’s spine. The line of soldiers up against the wall followed Colonel Graham into the elevator, leaving G46 alone with Reaper. He stood there in front of them, holding a weapon they had never seen before. It was a matte black assault rifle-like weapon, but not some basic, military-grade rifle. This was new. “Delta Company,” His voice rattled their brains. As he stepped, you could hear the metal in his legs. It made them wonder whether he really was human. All they knew was that this person in front of them was the military’s greatest weapon. “One man falls behind, each man must fall with him.” He stepped closer. “We start with endurance. In only your uniforms, we will run for consecutive hours. Memorize each formation and change into it as it is called. Shoot with accuracy and precision. Carry each weapon you may need, and switch when you are told to. Report to the front at 18:00. Dismissed.” He turned and walked towards the wall and through a door they hadn’t seen before. Slowly, it clicked shut behind them, and they relaxed, stepping out and letting their arms rest by their sides. On instinct, most of them released a sigh with their new relaxed posture.

  “That was fucking creepy,” Colton started to walk back to the elevator. The others slowly filed in. “Now we know what Hunter was talking about.”

  “How did these guys manage to get a killing machine? I mean, look at him,” Breelyn was still in disbelief.

  “They didn’t obtain him, they made him,” Emma threw out the statement that all of them had been thinking. Phoebe shook her head to agree with her. As they stepped out of the elevator, they greeted Hunter when they walked by, now that they weren’t under Graham’s supervision.

  “Hunt,” Andrew slid beside his chair. None of the doctors were around. He knelt to talk to him as the rest of the group returned to the bunks to get their weapons situated. “Dude, they have a robot soldier. Reaper can’t be human, there’s no way.”

  “What did they want you guys for?” Hunter looked up as the door closed behind Emma. It was just the two of them now.

  “It was like you said. They want us to train with him and keep up with someone who isn’t even human. After training, we’re going on a mission. Weird thing, though,” Andrew glanced up to make sure nobody was listening. “Colonel Graham said there were two more people expected to be joining our group eventually. Who would that be?” Hunter cracked a smile.

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  “I think that’s Jacob and me, if all goes well,” He reached his arm straight into the air. Just a few days ago, his bone had been sticking out. “Look at this. Whatever they’re pumping me full of is working,” He gave Andrew a high five. He winced a bit, but it wasn’t as painful now. “They let me talk to him. He said,” Both of them looked over as a doctor walked in. They both knew the conversation was over. “I’ll see you later.” He lifted his newly healed arm to wave to him. Andrew nodded a goodbye and followed the group’s path back to the bunks. Jacob watched them walk by again and slowly sank back into the bed as they all disappeared. Everyone was gone as soon as they had entered.

  “So we’ve got, what? Half an hour?” Breelyn asked. Each of them loaded up, grabbing everything they thought they would need. “What’s the point?”

  “I don’t know, but Delta Company doesn’t sound too simple.” They all stood around, waiting for the silent queue that all of them were ready before they walked out back through all of the bunkers. Everyone watched them, staring and muttering words about them as they went. They didn’t care enough to pay attention and filed out of the doors that lead to the front area. They gathered in the front, staring out of the small window on the metal doors that led to the outside. They would wait here, away from the cold, until it was time to go out to the front.

  “So what happens if we can’t keep up with a robot?” Andrew slowly looked up. He was never this quiet, but clearly he was thinking long and hard about it.

  “He’s not actually a robot. They couldn’t make one that quick and that realistic. It wouldn’t make much sense either. Why make one and not a whole army?” Peter kicked a rock back and forth between his shoes. “Hunter said he was from the infirmary, right? That would make sense. Find someone who needs a prosthetic, turn them into a war machine. It’s the best strategy if they can find a way to get past the morality block of humanity, which they seemed to have already done.” All of them fell quiet and slowly turned their heads. He was here.

  “Point, you’re up,” The doors opened for Reaper as he walked through. They each filed out behind him, falling into their usual line order. They gathered outside, the snow swirling into the door’s opening as they stepped out. The wind had picked up. The second wave was here. The sun was going down, too, making the stadium lights flick on and light up the whole camp. They had people running the snowplows around the clock, but there was a thin layer of snow on the ground in the matter of minutes. It looked like a very thin, worn down cloth was laid over the dirt. With purpose, they moved to a two-line stance in front of Reaper. The soldiers that walked by---who were laughing and having casual conversation---went silent when they noticed Reaper was in the general area. They averted their eyes and continued walking. Reaper approached Peter, holding something in his hand. He held it out, instructing him to take it. It was a headset that latched into a helmet. “You will repeat to your team the correct formation depicted upon thorough analysis of the obstacles,” Peter clipped it into his helmet. “You will start to run, and you will not stop running.” He was unmoving. Phoebe, in the middle of the front, stared at his mask. She wanted to see through it, but his eyes were just as black as the rest of his uniform. She wanted to find a little piece of humanity somewhere, but she couldn’t. He didn’t seem to be human, no matter how closely any of them looked. Peter reached up and turned his headset to the same channel that everyone’s helmets were tuned to. “This first day, I will strictly be observing. Soon, I will join you so you can grow accustomed to the full team. Begin.” They all shared a glance before Peter took off, leading them towards the fence. The rest ran after him, running in pairs. Reaper stood, watching them run with their weapons, before he reached up and turned on Peter’s headset. “Sniper, three o’clock.” Peter slowed down a bit, then called out a name. Each of them spread out, pressing flat against crates and trucks, but they knew they couldn’t stop for long. Peter was in the front still, scouting out the perimeter. “The roof,” Peter shouted out the location to the rest of the group. Dylan had the best shot. He aimed over the roof of the car, Emma being his backup shot as they fired at the pinpointed area. “Clear,” Peter repeated the command, and they continued to move. They ran around the perimeter of the base for four hours. They dove, rolled, dodged, shot, reloaded, and some of them even played man-down. It wasn’t until the middle of the night that they lined up in front of the base again.

  “Your endurance is strong, but the effort will become lighter. Once you pass, the simulations will put you into real situations. The simulations don’t follow the rules of time. An hour can feel like a week. It’s optimal training, and drains energy like the real thing. Get some sleep, G46. We will be out here tomorrow.” They didn’t move until he was out of sight, then they all relaxed. The heavy breathing was lightly suppressed, but now they didn’t try to hide it. Phoebe started coughing for a couple of minutes straight.

  “We’re never going to make it,” Emma gripped her vest with her hand, pulling up on the neck to relieve some of the shoulder weight. They all agreed, even though they didn’t say anything in reply. Slowly, they walked inside and into the bunks. The lights never turned off there, but it was obvious when people were asleep. They could hear a couple of faint gunshots from some people practicing down the corridor. In the corner was Hunter, sitting back on the weight of his arms. He was healed, just like that. That’s when Andrew finally decided to speak up.

  “Hunter talked to Jacob.” He spread the word across the group as they made their way inside. “He has some updates to tell us.” They quietly walked over and sat down, taking off their gear as Hunter spoke. He kept his voice low. Noise travelled easily across the bunks, and people had nothing better to do than eavesdrop.

  “Andrew catch you all up to speed?” Hunter watched as they all took off their armored padding and helmets. A few of them nodded. “Jacob is successfully refusing injections. They can’t get past him. He called it drone juice, whatever the hell that means.” He scooted over so Colton could sit down. Breelyn threw herself down beside them, sprawling her arms across the bed, and released a big sigh. “He said he knew things about us, what these people were doing, and things about the world, but he wouldn’t tell me anything,” Peter stood in front of him, leaning against a ladder with his arms crossed. He was clearly conflicted.

  “Now, why wouldn’t he tell you?” Peter asked. Hunter stared at the ground, fidgeting with his thumbs. He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

  “I don’t think he can trust us. He said the things he knew were why he couldn’t tell us.”

  “Kind of like if he told us, something bad would happen?” Phoebe chimed in from the ground. Hunter nodded. He wasn’t sure how else to word it. He watched the conflict grow on her face as she looked back to the floor. Nobody could look at the other.

  “Something tells me it has to do with those injections,” Dylan spoke up. He was usually very, very quiet. He knew these people, but not very well. Jacob was the only friend he really had. “Jacob wouldn’t refuse something without reason. He called it Drone-juice? What if it’s doing something to us that only he can see? What if it’s turning us into drones?”

  “I think we would know if something like that was happening to us,” Breelyn sat up. Emma agreed with her. They went silent again, stuck between the battle of trust and what was right in front of them. They were given commands by these strangers, and they followed them blindly. Maybe Jacob wasn’t so far off.

  “Jacob and I are supposed to be joining you in your mission once I’m cleared, and once he’s… conformed. They have to have some sort of plan for him if they’ve already cleared out a spot for us. Whatever we decide to do and believe, we need to decide soon. It’s him or them.” The silence was louder than ever before. Being faced with a decision between survival and connection meant that either way, something would morally eat them alive.