EVERYTHING MADE SENSE

 

By jonty

 

“You can’t keep trying to recreate Manticore.”

 

“We never should have left, everything made sense there.”

 

“No, nothing made sense there.”

 

- Pollo Loco

 

>>>>>

 

October, 2006.

 

494 lay staring at the ceiling. Usually, he would still be asleep, he craved sleep, needed it more than many of the others. It was something he hated. He wished he could be like the one or two others in his squad, who didn’t need more than 3 hours sleep a night. He didn’t understand why they didn’t need to sleep, and why he did.

 

He didn’t really understand much of anything, and the idea of having to rely on others to tell him things really annoyed him.

 

There would come a time, when he didn’t need to rely on anyone for information. He would simply know what needed to know.

 

He nodded to himself. One Day.

 

The kid on the rack beside him moved, rolling over, catching 494’s attention. 511, one of those who didn’t need much sleep.

 

494 turned his head to look at him. 511 stared back, raising an eyebrow.

 

494 shrugged, and turned back to look at the ceiling. Whatever was wrong with him, that was his problem. You don’t get involved with anyone else. If someone is weak, then being around that person meant that you were weak also.

 

He could remember being told that once, and it made sense, kind of.

 

Beside him, 511 rolled over again.

 

“Cease!” came an order from the far side of the room. There was a thud as a foot hit the floor, then another.

 

The atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone was awake now, pretending not to be, but awake, and listening.

 

598 walked quickly across the room, and stood at the foot of 511’s rack.

 

“Problem, Soldier?” he asked, the words sounding strange coming from a 6 year old, but these were words that he had been trained to use.

 

“No, Sir,” 511 answered, quickly sliding out of bed to stand to attention.

 

“You woke me.” The authority dropped from 598’s voice, making him sound more like the child he was.

 

“Sorry, Sir,” 511 responded.

 

“The unit comes first,” 598 parroted the phrase they had been told so many times. “If we don’t sleep, we can’t…” he paused, trying to think of the right word. “Function!” he said triumphantly. “We don’t sleep, we can’t function.”

 

“Yes, Sir.”

 

“So, be quiet and let us sleep.” The boy turned and went back to his rack.

 

511 slowly got back into his and stared at the ceiling.

 

494 disliked 598. He didn’t trust him. There was something about the way that he kept repeating the words of their instructors instead of saying what he himself thought. And although none of them really understood what their instructors said all of the time, he thought that maybe 598 understood less than the others. The way he repeated things didn’t always make sense.

 

598 said he understood the words, because he was leader. But 494 thought that perhaps that wasn’t true.

 

>>>>>

 

“Up, Now!” the call came a few hours later.

 

494 still hadn’t slept, but he threw himself out of bed and grabbed the shirt that lay folded perfectly in his top drawer.

 

“Formation in 5 minutes!”

 

494 pulled the shirt on over his head, running his hand over the short hair on his head. He rubbed his eyes, trying to force himself to look awake.

 

Around him, the other kids were doing the same things he was, throwing on clothes and shoes, waking themselves up.

 

All without talking.

 

Without looking at each other.

 

494 was ready with 2 minutes to spare.

 

He knelt and untied his shoelace, and tied it again, slowly. Don’t stand out, his mind screamed at him. Don’t be noticed. Wait until 598 leaves.

 

“You’re too slow!” 598 called out as he headed to the door, grinning as he was the first to leave.

 

494 allowed a small smile to cross his face as he moved to head outside. 511 fell into step beside him, and as they moved through the door, he nudged him. 494 looked over at him, and 511 rolled his eyes. “Nomaly,” he whispered, his eyes flicking in the direction that 598 had just gone.

 

494 allowed himself a small nod, and the two boys looked quickly around, to see if their brief exchange had been overseen. It hadn’t.

 

They joined the formation with 45 seconds to spare. With 5 seconds to go, their entire squad of 30 was there. With 1 second to go, by 494’s count, one of the instructors marched out in front of the squad.

 

“Squad, Attention!” he ordered, and the squad snapped to attention, the sound of 30 feet hitting the concrete simultaneously sounding like a single gunshot.

 

“Good,” the instructor commented. 494 breathed an inward sigh of relief.

 

They were finally learning to move together, and maybe, if they kept it up, the punishments would stop.

 

“Squad leader, report.”

 

598 took two steps forward, and saluted, slightly raggedly. “All present … and accounted for, Sir!”

 

“Very good.” He nodded, and 598 stepped back again.

 

“5 klick run this morning. Follow the boundary fence. There will be soldiers positioned around the course. You will not see most of them. Do not slack off.”

 

“Sir!” they answered as one.

 

“Squad Leader, move them out.”

 

>>>

 

They ran through the woods, the squad separating slightly as the better runners moved to the front of the pack. Some were starting to breathe hard, not used to running distances, but 494 was completely comfortable. Not that he was pushing himself, he was perfectly content to stay somewhere in the middle of the squad. Let those like 598 be noticed. He would wait until it was his time to make his move.

 

It wasn’t. Not yet.

 

Just ahead of him, he saw 511 stumble slightly as he stepped on a rock. 511 regained his footing, and continued running. 494 increased his pace slightly to catch up to him.

 

“Nomaly,” he whispered. 511 laughed slightly, very, very quietly.

 

>>>

 

By the fourth kilometre marker, the squad was pretty spaced out. They ran together in groups of three or four, but were far enough away from each other to risk conversations, if they felt like it.

 

494 ran easily, focussing on each step. Beside him, he could hear 511’s breathing grow harder.

“Think of something else,” he muttered.

 

“What?”

 

“Don’t think of how tired you are, think of something else.”

 

“We have weapons training today,” 511 commented.

 

“Yeah.” 494 enjoyed shooting. It was easy, and there was a great deal of satisfaction to be gained from putting a hole straight in the middle of a target.

 

“The Range Officer says I’m incon… something.”

 

“What’s that?” 494 asked.

 

“Means, I miss more than I hit.”

 

“Oh.” 494 reached the corner of the boundary fence and turned. “Stop breathing.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Don’t breathe when you fire. Slow your heart down.”

 

“Hmm,” 511 commented. It made sense, kind of. It was worth a try anyway. If he got the lowest marks in the squad again… it would not be good.

 

>>>>>

 

“Let’s see if you’ve learnt anything from your instructors. Step up to the mound, take up your weapon, and fire ten shots. You will be scored out of 50. Each bullseye will earn you 5 points, each shot in the inner ring, 4, and so on. Questions?”

 

494 forced himself not to laugh. As if. Even if they had questions, none of them would be dumb enough to actually voice them.

 

“Right, 598. Let’s see you lead by example.” 598 looked around his squad, an arrogant look on his face, and stepped forward.

 

“34 points. Not bad.”

 

One by one the rest of the squad took their turn. Most scored in the 20s, some in the 30s, but no-one had beaten 598’s score.

 

“494.”

 

494 stepped forward and picked up his weapon. It felt comfortable in his hand, like it was meant to be there. He aimed it towards the target. His first 5 shots went straight through the bullseye, and he allowed himself a grin of satisfaction.

 

His next 5 barely hit the target.

 

“31,” the instructor commented. “Not bad, 494, just need to build up some more strength.”

 

494 nodded, as he moved back to his place.

 

“511. Let’s see if you can hit the target today.” The tone was slightly sarcastic, and 511 bit his lip as he stepped up to the mound. He remembered 494’s words. Stop breathing. Slow your heartrate. He took a deep breath, held it, and fired 10 shots fast.

 

“29. Not too bad,” the instructor commented, grudgingly.

 

511 allowed himself to smile for a second. By the time he turned back to his squad, his mask was in place. He took his place beside 494, glancing at him quickly.

 

He had known. 494 had known exactly what his problem was, and had told him how to fix it. And his own shooting? There was no way that 494 wasn’t strong enough to hold the gun steady long enough to fire 10 shots. If he had hit the first 5 perfectly, why hadn’t he hit the others?

Because, he had chosen not to?

 

511 decided that 494 was someone to start watching very closely.

 

March 2007

 

“Class dismissed!” the instructor barked. As one, the 30 seven year olds sprung out of their seats and stood to attention.

 

“598, 494. Remain for a minute.”

 

“Yes, Sir!”

 

28 of the squad filed out of the room. 511 was last, and he didn’t quite look back, but his head turned slightly.

 

“Have a seat,” the instructor invited, his voice slightly less like a dictator. “Colonel wants to see you both. He’ll be here in a minute.”

 

“Thank you, sir!” 494 answered. 598 stayed quiet, a surprised expression on his face.

 

>>>>>

 

Barrack room…

 

Without the presence of 598, their commanding officer, the rest of the squad were slightly more relaxed. They sat on the edge of their racks, talking quietly amongst themselves. 511 gestured to two others, a boy and a girl, and they came over to join him.

 

“Bet he’s in trouble,” the boy muttered, really quietly.

 

The girl nodded. “Hope so.”

 

“No,” 511 whispered. The other two looked over at him, and leant closer. 511 looked around quickly, to check that no-one else was watching them. He bent his head. “He’s not getting told off. He can’t be, because, if he was, that means 494’s in trouble, too. And He can’t be.”

 

“You really like him, huh?” the girl, 462, whispered.

 

“Yeah, don’t you?”

 

“Dunno,” the boy answered. “Never says much.”

 

“Taught me to shoot.”

 

“Really?” She could remember, whenever it was, a few months ago, that 511 couldn’t shoot too good. He was about to get in trouble, then suddenly, he got better. “He showed you?”

 

511 nodded.

 

“Careful,” the boy whispered. He glanced towards the door and moved off the rack. 462 leant back.

 

Others in the room caught their quick movements, and the entire atmosphere in the room changed.

 

598 stormed into the room and threw himself down on his rack. The room was completely silent. Slowly, the other kids moved back to their racks. 511 looked at 462 and shrugged. She glanced at the door and shook her head. She had no idea where 494 was, either.

 

>>>>>

 

“Up, now!” 511 leapt out of bed, and turned to look at 494. He hadn’t come back before lights out, but 511 had heard movement later in the night. Really later.

 

494 wasn’t there.

 

He risked a glance at 462 as he grabbed a shirt. She shook her head. She had the rack right next to the door, and slept about as much as he did. If 494 had come back, she would have heard it.

 

“Hurry Up!” 598 yelled as he ran out the door, still tucking his shirt in.

 

511 quickly pulled his shoes on, and followed.

 

30 seconds to go. He wasn’t there.

 

15 seconds. Three soldiers missing, including 494.

 

5 seconds.

 

1 second.

 

“Squad Leader, report!”

 

598 took two paces forward, and paused. “1 unaccounted for, Sir,” he spoke slowly, unsure of what to say. “Uhh, X5-494, Sir.”

 

“Back in formation.”

 

He jumped back in line.

 

>>>>>

 

494 wasn’t back that day.

 

Nor the following day.

 

Nor the one after that.

 

>>>>>

 

On the fourth day, with 5 minutes to go until lights out, 494 marched briskly into the barrack room. He walked over to report to 598 without glancing at anyone. 511 looked at his two friends in horror. What had happened? Where had he been for so long?

 

598 glanced up from where he was lying on his rack, and saw 494 standing there, waiting.

He stood up to face him.

 

“X5-494 reporting.” The voice was expressionless, blank.

 

598 stared at him. 494 never did show much emotion, or much of anything, but there was usually a hint of an expression on his face. Now, there was nothing.

 

“Very good.”

 

Parroted words, again. A flash of something went through 494’s eyes as he turned and walked back to his rack.

 

A murmur of noise swept the room. Kids had vanished for a time before, but they always came back the same day. He’d been gone since the start of the week. That was something new.

And, when they came back, they’d always be crying, bawling their heads off. Not even the guards would complain about the noise. It was like they knew what the kids were going through, and were prepared to ease off, just for that night.

 

494 reached his rack and kicked off his shoes, before throwing himself head first onto the mattress.

 

5 seconds later, he jumped back up and knelt beside the bed.

 

511 watched as he lined his shoes up perfectly beside the bed, brushing off a speck of dust.

Then, with a last glance to make sure the shoes were perfectly lined up, 494 lay back down on the bed. On his stomach.

 

“Hey,” 511 hissed.

 

No response.

 

“Lights Out!” Came the call from the far end of the room, and 462 reached up and flicked the switch.

 

The room went completely black.

 

As if they were turned off, too, the kids fell silent.

 

“Hey,” 511 whispered again.

 

Still silence.

 

He gave up. He would try to talk to him tomorrow, or at least catch his eye. If they were running again, he might get the chance.

 

>>>>>

 

It was so dark. He didn’t like it. He hadn’t slept for 4 days, and he didn’t want to sleep tonight.

494 rolled onto his back, gasping at the pain, then quickly stifling it, putting a hand over his mouth. He counted to twenty, slowly, then moved his hand down beside his body. He lay at attention, not moving, staring up into the darkness. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

 

March 2007- 3 days later

 

“I think I know what happened,” 481 jogged to catch up to 511.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Where’s 494?”

 

“Up ahead. Figured what out?”

 

“What happened to him. I think 598 told on him for something.”

 

“What?”

 

“Dunno.”

 

“I don’t like him,” 511 spoke even quieter. “Even before, I didn’t.” He looked nervously over at 481, worried about his reaction. They had never really discussed this before, and he wasn’t sure it was safe to do so. Talking about liking 494 was one thing, not liking someone was another. Particularly when that other person was their squad leader.

 

“Me neither,” he replied, just as quietly. The two boys smiled shyly at each other before turning their attention back to the path they were running down.

 

>>>>>

 

494 picked up speed so he was running just behind 598. He lengthened his stride to match the other boy’s, running in synch with him, 2 paces back. 598 glanced over his shoulder and tried to run faster. His breath came in short pants, as he focussed on the finish point. 494 breathed easily, even as he increased his pace to keep up.

 

598 sprinted towards the end, throwing himself across the line and collapsing on the ground. He fought for breath, hands pressed to his stomach. 494 crossed two paces behind him. He stopped running and stood to attention, not even breathing hard.

 

“Interesting,” one of the instructors commented quietly.

 

“Yeah,” the other one nodded. He reached into his pocket, and handed his partner a $20 note.

 

“Told you he wouldn’t win.” The first guy smiled slightly as he pocketed the money.

 

“And I’m telling you, he could if he wanted to.”

 

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

The two instructors marched over to where the two boys were. Three other kids finished the run, and bent over, hands on their knees, to catch their breath.

 

494 remained standing at attention, staring straight ahead of him, a completely blank expression on his face.

 

The first instructor moved over to stand in front of him. 494 didn’t move. “Tired, soldier?”

 

“I’m not weak, Sir,” 494 spoke quietly, but firmly.

 

“Is that right?” The instructor drawled in a neutral tone.

 

“I wasn’t trained to be weak, Sir.” A hint of something crept into 494’s voice, and the instructor looked down at him. Was that contempt? Sounded like it. Contempt for who? Him? The instructors? No. He let his gaze travel to the other kids. The three who had just finished were moving to stand to attention. The kid CO was just moving to his knees, still breathing hard.

 

“No, you weren’t,” he replied, nodding his head before turning away.

 

>>>>>

 

494 took his mess tray and held it out to receive some rations from a serving lady. She smiled at him, wondering if he had been sick. He hadn’t been at meals for a week, and since then, he still didn’t look quite right. He was such a sweet looking boy, would probably grow up to be really handsome.

 

“Thank you,” 494 muttered, smiling slightly at her.

 

She looked back, stunned, before nodding. The kids… soldiers, she had to call them… they never spoke to her. She barely heard them speak at all.  He turned away and left, and she turned her attention to the next soldier. The little dark haired boy, smaller than the rest. He was watching the first boy walk away, staring at him like he was trying to figure something out.

 

She placed the food on his tray, and his attention turned back to her.

 

“Thank you,” he told her, his tone sounding very much like the other boy’s.

 

She was quicker to smile back this time.

 

511 moved to sit next to 494. He looked over at the older boy, and nodded a greeting. 494 ignored him, staring at his food. 481 and 462 joined them.

 

“Hey, hear you beat 598 on the run this morning,” 462 whispered.

 

The other two watched him, waiting for a response.

 

“No,” he muttered, shaking his head slightly.

 

“322 said you did, said when she got there, 598 was dying, you were fine.”

 

“Didn’t win,” 494 smiled slightly.

 

“You didn’t want to,” 511 cut in, knowing that smile. It was the same smile 494 had given him that day at the shooting range. When he had hit the first 5 shots perfectly, then missed the rest.

 

494 glanced quickly at him, then shrugged and took a mouthful of food. “Maybe.”

 

>>>>>

 

“There’s an inspection tomorrow. This place has to be perfect.” 598 stood in front of the others, glaring at them. “They better not find anything wrong.” He stalked over to his rack.

 

“He sounds scared,” 511 whispered to 494 as they polished the window ledge.

 

“He should be.”

 

“How, how bad was it?” He had to know.

 

“Bad.” 494 bit his lip, before shaking his head and going back to cleaning.

 

>>>>>

 

He lay in bed, hours after lights out, unable to sleep. When he closed his eyes he saw that room, the soldier, something in his hand that just didn’t look like a weapon, until…

 

He shuddered.

 

“Hey,” a quiet whisper. He turned his head. He must have been slipping, hadn’t heard any movement. The girl, 462, knelt by his rack. She reached her hand out, and placed it nervously on his arm. “You okay?” she whispered.

 

He nodded.

 

“You’ll be okay. I won’t let them come in here,” she told him. She squeezed his shoulder lightly, before crawling back to her own rack.

 

494 watched her until she was safely under the covers, then closed his eyes. He fell asleep almost immediately.

 

>>>>>

 

Across the room, 598 watched her move to 494’s rack, then back to her own. She would pay for being out of her rack after lights out. There was no way he was going to be punished for her mistake.

 

The following morning…

 

494 woke slowly, 5 minutes before reveille. He rolled over in bed, and glanced towards the door.

462 lay on her side, her head resting on her hand. She smiled at him, and nodded. He looked back at her, unsure what to do for a minute. Then, he slowly smiled back, before turning away from her.

 

>>>>>

 

Later that night…

 

“462.”

 

598 stood in front of her rack, staring at her. She put down the boots she was polishing, and stood up.

 

“Sir?” she responded, moving to stand to attention.

 

494 looked up from where he was cleaning. Beside him, 511 caught something in his expression, and glanced over in the same direction.

 

“Colonel wants to see you. You are to come with me. Now.”

 

“Yes, sir.” She straightened her uniform and slipped on her boots.

 

“Let’s go.” 598 gestured for her to leave the room in front of him.

 

“What’s wrong?” 511 asked, as he returned his attention to the polishing he was doing. He rubbed at a spot, buffing it so that he could see his face in it.

 

“Nothing,” 494 shrugged, finishing his patch of floor and moving across slightly.

 

Without 598 in the room, the others began to talk quietly. There was even laughter, although that was quickly cut off. Even without their CO, they were all still very cautious.

 

What did she do? What could she have done to be sent to the Colonel? He felt like he should know the answer to that, but he didn’t. Maybe he hadn’t been watching everything as closely as he had thought. He shrugged. He was making too much of it.

 

“Finished,” 511 said happily, grinning slightly as he looked at the perfectly polished floor.

 

“Yeah.” He rubbed his cloth over the surface one last time, just to be sure.

 

“Hey.” 481 moved over to them, kneeling down as if he was helping them polish the floor. “Think she’s in trouble?” He looked worried.

 

“She didn’t do anything wrong,” 511 said simply. “She never does. She’s a good soldier.”

 

“She’s my friend,” 481 replied. “Do you think she’ll be back tonight?” His voice cracked slightly. He looked over at 494.

 

“Don’t know. Maybe,” 494 shrugged. Why ask him? He had no idea what the Colonel had planned. The Colonel. Oh, No. Damn.

 

494 stood quickly, and moved to the door. Opening it slowly, he peered out into the corridor. He couldn’t see anyone.

 

Behind him, the whole room had gone silent. They weren’t allowed outside the room at night. And, they definitely didn’t run inside.

 

494 snuck out the door, closing it behind him.

 

The silence continued for a few seconds, then they all started whispering at once. What was he doing? Why go Outside? They turned to look at 511 and 481, the last people he had been with before he had taken off. 511 looked away quickly.

 

“There’s only 15 minutes before lights out,” 481 whispered.

 

“I know.” 511 sighed, and moved over to his rack. He changed quickly, and climbed under the covers. He was pathetic. Why did he have to be so scared all the time. If he had any courage, he would have gone with 494, followed him. Maybe, if he had been stronger, 494 would even have asked him to go with him.

 

He sighed.

 

With 7 minutes to go before lights out, all 27 remaining soldiers were already in bed. They didn’t know what to do. 598 was always there, to tell them to get into their racks, and to sleep. And if he wasn’t, there was a guard there. But 598 wasn’t there, and that made them nervous.

They didn’t know what to do. So, they did what they had been trained to do. They got ready to sleep. Besides, 494 wasn’t back, and that scared them. He had just walked out. None of them had done that before. It had never even occurred to them that they could go outside the barrack room at night. Under the covers, they were safe. They could pretend that 494 was back, or at least, when it was discovered that he wasn’t, they could pretend that they didn’t know anything about it.

 

With 5 minutes left, the door opened quietly. 27 kids squeezed their eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. When no-one yelled at them, they slowly, one by one, opened their eyes and looked towards the door. 494 crept across the room and crawled into his rack.

 

“Hey.” A voice came from the other side of the room. “What were you…?” The voice stopped, as they heard another sound.

 

Footsteps.

 

494 held his breath. He had almost gotten caught. Just a few seconds later, and he would have been. That would not have been good.

 

Two sets of footsteps. The door opened.

 

“Get into your rack.”

 

That was 598’s voice. 494 breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

462.

 

494 could hear 511 breath a sigh of relief. He himself wasn’t that relieved.

 

“Lights out. Now,” 598 commanded, sounding pleased with himself.

 

Lying in his rack, 494 clenched his fist. The Colonel had never told 598 that he wanted to see 462. The squad had been together all day, and he hadn’t seen the Colonel. The man was very noticeable. So, when exactly had he told 598 to bring 462 to see him?

 

Yeah.

 

Half an hour later, the room was quiet. The only sounds he could hear were the regular breathing of 29 soldiers sleeping soundly.

 

28.

 

He looked over to the rack directly beside the door. Sighing inaudibly, he climbed out of his own rack, and crept across to hers.

 

“You okay?” he whispered.

 

“Yeah,” she nodded. Her eyes were wide, and he could see her struggling to control her breathing. 494 looked down, then met her gaze firmly. He touched her arm, like she had done for him.

 

“I won’t let him come over here,” he told her firmly. She nodded. “Sleep,” he whispered, sitting down on the floor and leaning back against her rack.

 

He didn’t see the smile on her face as she closed her eyes.

 

 

598 woke early, the way he always did. In three minutes, he would give the wakeup call, and the day would begin. He loved his life, being in charge was fun, having everyone jump to obey his orders was fantastic. And the way the officers looked at him when they gave him orders. It was respect. It was cool.

 

He got out of his rack and slowly walked across the room. 462 needed watching. She needed to learn that he was in charge. He would not have one of his soldiers act out of line.

 

He walked past the racks, glancing casually at them, making sure that everything was fine. It seemed to be.

 

“Out of your rack before reveille? Setting a bad example there.”

 

598 jumped. He stared in the direction of the voice. 462’s rack. But, not her voice.

 

“Might get sent to Psy Ops. It’s really fun there,” 494 continued, keeping his voice emotionless.

 

“You’re out of your rack, too,” 598 replied, stepping closer.

 

The light flicked on, and 598 was momentarily blinded. When he could see again, he saw 494 sitting on the edge of a rack, watching him.

 

“No, I’m not,” he replied, standing up. “Now, I am, but it’s reveille, so I can be.” He moved past 598, shoving him to the side as he went.

 

“Hey!” 598 yelled after him.

 

From the room came the groans and mutterings of kids woken by something they weren’t expecting.

 

“What’s going on?” one of them asked. “Is it time to get up yet?”

 

“Go back to sleep!” 598 yelled.

 

494 stopped walking, and turned to stare at him. He watched him for a few seconds, then shrugged, and moved to his dresser, grabbing clothes to put on.

 

511 was the first to jump out of his rack and reach for his shirt. 462 and 481 followed quickly.

 

The rest of them didn’t follow 598’s last orders, exactly. They didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, they sat up, watching the scene trying to figure out what was going on.

 

494 finished dressing, and turned to 511. He frantically tied his shoes, then stood up, facing his friend. 494 nodded at him, then turned and moved towards the door. 481 fell into step with them, and as they reached the door, 462 joined them.

 

“You have two minutes,” he spoke to the room casually as he shut the door behind him.

 

>>>>>

 

“That kid CO is usually out by now.”

 

“So, the kid slept in, Andy, don’t stress,” the second instructor replied, quickly finishing his cigarette.

 

“Or, that other one killed him off,” Andy replied. “Bet $10 that he did.”

 

“You’re on.”

 

“Heads up.”

 

Greg, the second instructor, glanced up to see the barrack door open. He quickly dropped his smoke and crushed it under his boot.

 

“Looks like I win.” Andy watched as 494 left the building first, followed closely behind by the other three.

 

“Don’t see any blood. You haven’t won yet.”

 

“And, that’s time,” Greg noted, staring at his watch. He looked up. Only the four soldiers were there, standing casually at ease, their eyes straight ahead, their expressions blank.

 

>>>>>

 

Andy glared at 598. “Unacceptable. 30 seconds late. The last of you were over a minute late. I want an explanation, right now.”

 

None came.

 

“598, explain.”

 

598’s eyes opened slightly, as he searched frantically for an answer. He couldn’t think of one.

“No explanation, sir.”

 

“So, your entire squad was late, and you have no reason for it? Scratch that. Most of your squad was late. Some of you managed to find your way here on time this morning.”

 

His eyes flickered towards 494, who had what could only be classified as a bored expression on his face. He looked back at 598. “So, what was it, trouble waking up this morning?”

 

“Go back to sleep, my ass,” muttered a soldier. Beside him, a girl snickered.

 

“Something to add, 496?” The instructor moved slightly so he could see the culprit clearly.

 

“No problem waking up, Sir,” the boy spoke in a louder voice.

 

“Good. Then you’ll be fully energised to run an additional 10 kms this morning?”

 

“Love to, Sir.”

 

Greg stepped forward. “Listen up. Eyes on me.”

 

The entire squad turned towards him.

 

“When you are told to be out here on the parade ground at a certain time, you will be out here at that time. Before it, even. If you can’t manage to do that, there are only two possible explanations. One, you are all incompetent, and should be treated as such. Two, your CO is incompetent, and should be replaced. Understand?”

 

“Sir, Yes Sir!” they screamed as one.

 

His eyes moved over the squad, looking particularly at the four that had made it on time, and together.

 

This was an interesting development, and one that the Colonel would want to know about, as soon as possible. Something was happening. Were they actually beginning to think for themselves?

 

Go back to sleep, my ass? He forced himself not to smile.

 

His gaze moved over to 494 and stopped. The boy had the strangest expression on his face.

First, it was strange because he never showed any expression, no matter what. He always just kept a blank face. But mostly, it was strange because of what emotion it showed.

 

Realisation.

 

The instructor stood in front of the room, lecturing about something. 494 was not listening.

He was staring at the front of the room, giving the outward appearance of a perfectly alert and concentrating little soldier, but anyone who looked closely would see the slightly glazed look in his eyes that betrayed the fact that he was thinking of something else entirely.

 

Your CO is incompetent and should be replaced. The words ran through his mind, over and over again. The CO could be replaced. He had always thought that once you were chosen as CO, you stayed that way until you died. The idea that a CO could simply be replaced by another soldier, was interesting. It was more than interesting. It was…  different.

 

The instructor finished talking, and 494 blinked, refocussing his eyes.

 

He still didn’t understand HOW one soldier could take over the CO’s job. More than that, he didn’t know if he wanted the role.

 

His life had just gotten a lot more complicated.

 

>>>>>

 

It was during a field exercise that 462 managed to get 494 alone.

 

The exercise was a simple one, a game that they had played since they were three. Capture the flag, it was called. The aim was simple. The soldiers started from point A, and had to get to point B, without getting shot by blanks. At least, they assumed they were blanks. Every game, one of the instructors would joke that there were some live ammo mixed in with the fake stuff.

The game was supposed to take a long time, 8 hours or so.

 

462 saw 494 move off to the right, and followed him. As she left, she signalled a set of coordinates to 481.

 

She stayed far enough back from him that he wouldn’t notice her following him, but close enough so that she could still see where he was going. He seemed to be heading into a deep forest area. It didn’t make much sense, but the one thing she had learned about 494, was that most things that he did were slightly outside the norm.

 

She shook her head and crawled forward.

 

Shit. One second of thought, and she had lost sight of him. Where had he gone? She kept moving forward.

 

“Don’t move,” a voice came from behind her, and something hard pressed into her back. She stopped, standing completely still. “Why are you following me?” 494 moved around to face her, talking in a low voice.

 

“I don’t know,” she replied, looking carefully at him, trying to read his face. Unsuccessfully.

 

494 glanced around him quickly, then pulled her behind a tree. “What?” he asked her.

 

“I wanted to say thank you,” she said quietly.

 

“For what?” He looked confused. That expression, she got.

 

“For staying with me last night.”

 

“You did the same for me.” He looked at her with surprise. He had just returned the favour. It was no big deal, definitely not something that required a thank you.

 

“But, I didn’t stand up to 598. You did.”

 

He looked away. He couldn’t control the emotions flooding over his face. He didn’t even know what most of them were.

 

“Listen.” She touched his arm slowly. “We have time on this mission. I’m meeting up with 481 half a klick from here. Come with me.”

 

He should say no. He should return his focus to the mission. He knew what he had to do.

But, he didn’t. He nodded, and followed her.

 

>>>>>

 

481 was already at the meeting point. He looked up and nodded as they approached. 462 smiled at him, but 494 barely nodded. He was too busy looking around him. This was not a good plan. If they got caught, they would be in serious trouble.

 

“We’re okay, for a while,” 481 told him, noticing his nervousness. “The rest of the squad went forward. We went back. 511 is making sure of that. He’ll be back here, soon.”

 

494 looked over at him. He wasn’t sure he trusted this kid.

 

“Just me,” came a whisper, as 511 crept back through the bushes. “We’re clear. Everyone is up ahead. 571 just got taken out by a sniper, and a couple others are pinned down. Couldn’t see who.”

 

“Things are changing, can you tell?” 462 spoke, apparently to all of them, but her attention was focussed on 494.

 

He blinked in surprise. His world had pretty much changed a lot over the past few days.

 

“Like what?” he asked cautiously.

 

“First was you getting punished,” 511 spoke with certainty. “Kids have been punished before, but you did nothing wrong that I saw.”

 

“Maybe I did something you didn’t see,” 494 suggested, watching the younger boy for a reaction.

 

“No. They would have told us. To teach us a lesson.”

 

“I never thought of that,” 481 spoke with a hint of respect in his voice. “You notice a lot, huh?”

 

511 shrugged, but smiled slightly.

 

“They never told me, either,” 494 commented slowly. “They never said what I did wrong.”

He bit his lip, remembering.

 

462 saw the expression on his face, and moved slightly closer to him.

 

He smiled at her, but quickly spoke again. “So, what came next?” he asked 511.

 

“462 got punished. Again, for nothing.”

 

“Not for nothing,” 494 replied. “She…” How could he say that she held his hand, so he could sleep? “She helped me out.”

 

“And for that, she got sent to the Colonel,” 481 spoke, obviously unhappy with the fact that she had gotten in trouble for helping him out.

 

“No. There was no Colonel,” she told him. “It was just 598. He took me to a classroom, taught me not to disobey him again.”

 

“That little bastard,” 481 moved closer to her, putting his arm around her.

 

“How did you know?” 511 asked 494.

 

That question got the attention of the other two.

 

“What?” 481 asked.

 

“That’s where you went, when you left the barrack block, wasn’t it? To find them.”

 

“You went to find them?” “You left the barrack block?” 481 and 462 spoke at once.

 

“I couldn’t find them.” He shook his head.

 

“But you tried,” 481 nodded with respect.

 

“But I failed. I won’t fail next time.” 494’s eyes hardened with resolve.

 

“So, what do we do now?” 511 asked him, ready to do anything he was told.

 

“We go win the game.”

 

>>>>>

 

The colonel stood at the entrance to the barrack block, listening. He had heard rumours for a day or so, that something was going on with squad 2. His instructors had dropped a few hints, and he had noticed that one of them, in particular, seemed to have more money than usual. The guy was shouting a lot of drinks at the NCO club, and to him, that was a sure sign of gambling.

So, to say he was curious was an understatement. If something was going on, that might have an impact on his plans.

 

That would not be good.

 

There was only a faint sound coming from the room, and he moved closer. Nothing. He shook his head, and decided to keep a closer eye on this squad from now on. If there was something weird going on with them, he would have to put a stop to it before it got too serious.

 

>>>>>

 

He stormed into the staff room, and slammed his fist down on the table. The gathered officers and instructors looked up at him, calmly. The Colonel was well known for his anger management issues.

 

“Talk to me,” he said, staring around at his instructors, picking out Andy and Greg. “The exercise today?”

 

“Actually, Sir, something interesting did happen,” Andy said slowly. The Colonel glared at him. “The CO-598, he was hit by sniper fire.”

 

“So, the kid was careless. And, you’re boring. Apart from punishing him, why do I care?”

 

“We tag our bullets, so we know exactly who took out each X. We keep track, kind of like a game. The kid, he was hit by an untagged bullet.”

 

“One of his own guys hit him?” The Colonel shrugged. “Looks like the little bastards took our stories about live ammo a bit too seriously.”

 

“Sir?” Andy looked stunned. He had been dreading reporting this to the Colonel, expecting the guy to go ballistic, but, he just didn’t seem to care. It was weird.

 

“Find out who it was, and bring them to me.”

 

“Sir!”

 

Andy stood up quickly and left the room.

 

>>>>>

 

The barrack block was strangely silent. Out of the 30 of them, 12 had been hit by sniper fire. It was not a good record. Those who had gotten hit had been punished. Not hard, but enough to convince them to try harder next time. A lot harder.

 

494 stared at the ceiling. He hadn’t been hit, and he really didn’t care about the ones who had been. None of his group had been shot, that was all that mattered.

 

He frowned. His group? Where had that phrase come from? 462, 481 and 511, he meant. Not his group, just the kids that had been near him before. They weren’t his. They weren’t his responsibility.

 

>>>>>

 

496 had been watching him, cautiously, for about 15 minutes.

 

He had been there, close to the flag at the end of the game, when 494 had taken it out of the ground, ending the game.

 

He had seen something else, too. Three others, taking up positions to cover him as he went for the flag.

 

It was the first time that that had happened in these games, that kids had actually worked together, without being ordered to.

 

The winner of these games tended to get rewarded, so it was every kid for themselves.

 

The three with him, they had been the three that had been outside with him this morning for rolecall. The only ones that had been there on time.

 

>>>>>

 

The following morning….

 

“I think it was 511,” Greg muttered, watching the barrack door. “I think he took 598 out, so that 494 could win.”

 

Andy shrugged. That sounded remotely possible. “Wasn’t,” He commented, smiling slightly.

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Because, I’m very smart.”

 

>>>>>

 

“You are surrounded on all sides. They all have weapons pointed at your head. What do you do?” The instructor stared at them, waiting for a response.

 

They looked down, not sure.

 

494 ran through scenarios in his head. If he took out the one in front of him… nah. He could drop to the ground, hope that they shot each other and not him… yeah, that was likely.

 

“Come on, think,” the instructor encouraged. “When you’re faced with a decision, no idea is too stupid. Whatever you say, it might make someone else think of something. Something that might work.”

 

“I wouldn’t get into that situation in the first place,” 598 spoke up. A few of them grinned.

 

“In Iraq, twelve years ago,” the instructor spoke quietly. The squad looked at him, with interest. “My squad leader was captured, trying to save the life of a young woman, and her two small kids. He shot two of the enemy before taking a shot himself to the leg. He ran out of ammo, and was surrounded by four enemy soldiers. They circled around him.” The kids stared, rapt with the story, dying to know what happened. “He walked away. How did he do it?”

 

“He put himself in danger to save someone he didn’t know?” 494 asked slowly.

 

The instructor looked at him, his eyes searching the boy’s. He hadn’t expected any of them to focus on that particular point, but it was interesting that this one had.

 

“Yeah, he did. Steve, his name was, that was completely his style. Was a real leader, always did what he thought was right, and damn the consequences. One of the best men I’ve ever served with.” He paused. “Do you know how he walked away?”

 

“No, sir,” 494 admitted.

 

598 and several others snickered.

 

“Silence.” The instructor glared. “It is not weak to admit you don’t know something. It’s only weak to pretend to have knowledge you lack.”

 

481 looked over at 462, and nodded. He stepped forward. “I know how he did it.” His voice was slightly high, but confident.

 

“Let’s hear it.”

 

The entire squad turned to look at him, and he looked down nervously. It was stupid. What if he was wrong? He looked over at 494, who nodded slowly at him.

 

“He dropped to the ground,” 481 said slowly.

 

Several kids laughed shortly.

 

“Keep going.” The instructor stepped closer to him.

 

“You said you were there?” He made it a question.

 

“Yes. I was.”

 

“He didn’t need to kill them. He dropped to the ground, and the rest of his squad took them out. He knew he could trust his men.”

 

“That’s dumb,” 598 commented. “You can’t trust anyone else in battle. You look after yourself.”

 

The instructor just nodded at 481. “Good answer. Okay, class dismissed. Head back to the barracks.”

 

The squad turned to leave, but 481 hung back. “Sir?” he asked, quietly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Was I right?” Even quieter, as if he really didn’t want to know the answer.

 

“Yes. He hit the deck, and we took them out.”

 

481 nodded, then turned away. He hurried to catch up to the others.

 

“What did he say that guy’s name was?” 462 asked him.

 

“Steve,” he replied.

 

“I like it,” she commented. “It suits you. Maybe, if you had been born on the outside, you would have been called that.”

 

“Maybe,” 481 frowned.

 

“Yeah, it would be nice to have a name, not just a number, huh?”

 

>>>> 

 

“You shot him, didn’t you?” Greg asked. “Seriously, you wanted to see what would happen with 494, so you took 598 out?”

 

Andy shrugged, grinning. “Nah. It was one of his squad. I’m just not saying who, until I figure out why he did it.”

 

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

>>>>>

 

“That was nice, that story, wasn’t it?” 511 muttered.

 

“Yeah,” 494 replied, his mind elsewhere.

 

“I like it when they tell us stories, it’s so much better than being yelled at.”

 

494 looked over at him, thinking fast. He bit his lip as he tried to decide what to do. Could he risk it? Maybe he could. 511 was revealing stuff to him that he shouldn’t be saying. You should never admit weaknesses to others, it gave them power over you, or just gave them a reason to laugh at you. Yet, 511 seemed okay with saying that kind of stuff, to him anyway.

 

“What?” 511 asked, seeing the thoughtful expression on his face.

 

“Do you think it could be like that?” he asked quietly.

 

“Like what?”

 

“In the story. The soldier, he trusted the others to save his life. He relied on them, and they didn’t let him down.”

 

“Yeah. But not with 598 in charge,” 511 replied, then grinned suddenly. “Hey, I heard one of the guards talking before.”

 

494 looked at him with interest. “What’d they say?”

 

511 leaned in close to him, and whispered. “That whoever shot 598 in the game, it wasn’t a guard. They think it was one of us.”

 

“One of us?” 494 let a rare smile cross his face. Then, he quickly wiped it off. “Did they say who?”

 

“No, they’re not sure.”

 

“How do you know that? How do you find this stuff out?” 494 looked at him with respect.

 

“I hear things, sometimes. I could see if I could find out who it was?”

 

494 nodded. “Just, don’t get caught.”

 

>>>>>

 

The lights flicked out for the night, and the barrack room was filled with the low noises of kids rolling over in their racks and getting comfortable.

 

511 stared at the ceiling, allowing a wide grin to cross his face. He had been considered one of the weak links in the squad for a while now. He wasn’t the best runner, or shooter and he was shorter than the rest. Also, for some reason, 598 just didn’t like him.

 

494 was different. The changes in the squad, even in the past few days, were incredible. 494 didn’t really understand, and didn’t seem ready to be the leader of the squad. But, he would. In time.

 

And, he wanted to be a part of that. For the first time, he actually seemed to be useful to 494. He had gotten information that was of interest to 494, and more importantly, information that no-one else had managed to get.

 

>>>>>

 

The next day…

 

494 had to force himself to remain calm, not to show emotion. They had a lesson with the new instructor next, and he was hoping that he would talk more about his old squad. 511 was right, this new guy was nice. And, he got respect without yelling.

 

He liked hearing about the missions, they were like adventures. Maybe, when he was older, he would get to go on missions like that. He could save people’s lives, and be part of a squad that would watch his back, like he would watch theirs.

 

That thought interested him. The squad he would be a part of, it would be the best. It would beat everyone.

 

He tuned in briefly to his instructor, who was explaining a karate throw that he had mastered last week. Boring.

 

His attention wandered back to his squad. Who would be in it? 511 would be, for one. That kid was smart. He seemed to understand things, know things. Plus, he managed to find out stuff.

 

Who had shot 598? He would have done it, if he had thought of it.

 

>>>>>

 

“Okay.” The instructor looked over the group. “We’re going to try something new today. You’ve all seen the obstacle course?”

 

Around him, the squad started to smile, look excited. This would be fun. They had never been allowed to try that before.

 

“We’re going to see what you make of it. The required time for the X3s is fifteen minutes. The best of the X4s can do it in 25. Anyone here think they can crack it in 30?”

 

“No problem.” 598 took a step forward.

 

“Maybe you should see it, first,” a quiet comment came from the back of the class.

 

598 spun around, trying to figure out who had spoken.

 

511 tried to hide a grin. He hadn’t said anything, but fully agreed. 598 was way too cocky. How could you state that you could so something, when you hadn’t even seen it?

 

“Let’s see it, then,” the instructor commented. “Ready?” He pointed to the start line, and the squad moved over to it.

 

494 moved beside 511 and kicked him. “Go fast,” he muttered, almost inaudibly.

 

511 nodded.

 

“Go!” the instructor called, and the squad moved off through the woods towards the course.

They ran slowly, as they had been taught, saving their strength.

 

494 ran fast, not sprinting, but almost. 511 followed him, trying to keep up. 462 and 481 glanced at each other, and picked up their pace, to catch up.

 

“What are we doing?” 481 gasped as he reached them.

 

“He said the X4s can do it in 25. I say, we can do it in 20.” 494 shrugged.

 

“Okay,” he replied.

 

They hit the first obstacle, a V shaped frame with crisscrossed ropes over it. 494 nodded, and started to climb it. Reaching the top, he flipped himself over it, and moved down it quickly.

511 and 462, having seen how he did it, quickly followed the same way. 481 glanced at it nervously.

 

“Come on,” 462 called to him, encouragingly.

 

He nodded, and started to climb, slowly. He couldn’t help it, he just didn’t like heights. Never had. And the way that the ropes sagged, when he put his feet through them? It gave him a kind of sick feeling. He didn’t like it at all.

 

“Take your time,” 494 called to him. “Keep looking up.”

 

481 nodded, and reached the top. This was the bit he was really scared of. How did you get over the top?

 

“Come, on… Steve,” 462 spoke slowly. He grinned.

 

“Yeah,” 511 laughed. “You want to be named after that guy, earn the name.”

 

481 slowly got over the top, and climbed down the other side. He was grinning as he reached the bottom.

 

“Good job.” 494 nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

 

>>>>>

 

Andy leant against a tree, hidden from view, watching the whole thing. As the four ran off, he keyed the button on his radio, and spoke briefly to Greg, at the next obstacle.

 

>>>>>

 

The four of them completed several more obstacles, until there were only two left. They reached the second to last one, and looked at it carefully. It consisted of a few dozen small poles of wood sticking out of the ground, the idea being, that they had to jump from one to the next, to reach the other side. The problem with the obstacle was that some of the posts were spaced very far apart. Even the older X series soldiers would have a problem with some of these.

 

“How do we get over it?” 462 asked.

 

494 shook his head, staring at the poles, trying to see a way over it. He glanced at 511. “Any ideas?”

 

“Maybe if you started from the right,” he suggested, frantically trying to see a way through it.

 

494 looked in the direction he was pointing in. “Okay, and then across to the centre?” he suggested.

 

“Wait,” 462 stepped forward. “How about, I try it, you direct me through it?”

 

They all nodded.

 

>>>>>

 

Lying on the ground, Greg nodded his head, smiling. That might actually work.

 

>>>>>

 

462 reached the other side, and jumped to the ground. She had made it.

 

“Everyone know the route?” 494 asked. The other two nodded.

 

Quickly, they moved across the obstacle, following the route they had worked out before.

 

511 turned to look at 462. “Next time, I go first, and you direct me. I could barely make some of those jumps, what are you, part cat or something?”

 

“Yeah, actually I am.” She grinned at him. “And, it’s not my fault you’re short. When you get Big, maybe you could do it easily too.”

 

494 shook his head, but smiled. “Can we make fun of each other after we finish the course?”

 

They all looked at him. That was possibly the first time that they had seen him smile, and not try to hide it. And, him joking with them? That was something new. Something nice.

 

“Let’s go, then.” 481 smiled.

 

>>>>>

 

The last obstacle was the worst of all. A sheer wooden wall, about 8 foot in height.

 

“It’s too tall,” 462’s words hung unanswered.

 

If they were five years older, then maybe they could get over it. But, they were kids, only 7. It was around twice the size of them.

 

“We got this far,” 494 pointed out. “I can’t even hear any of the others. No-one has kept up with us. There must be a way over it.” He paused, and looked at the others. “Would he give us a task we couldn’t complete?”

 

“Yes,” 481 nodded.

 

“No,” 511 contradicted him. “There would be a way to get through. He’s trying to teach us something, but there will be a way through.”

 

“You know, you two make a good team. 494 tells us we can do it, and you figure out a way to do it.”

 

“That’s not true,” 511 said quickly.

 

“Doesn’t matter who figures out how to do it, as long as we can do it,” 494 replied, staring at the wall.

 

“Do you have a plan?”481 asked, hopefully.

 

“Of course.”

 

>>>>>

 

Two men stood at the end of the obstacle course, the Colonel, and the instructor. Both were casually smoking. 28 minutes into the exercise, and they didn’t expect to see any of the soldiers for a long time.

 

“They will learn,” the instructor commented.

 

“Yes, but not yet. They’re too young.”

 

“That kid, 598. He isn’t a leader.”

 

“Give him time.”

 

“He’s not going to make it. He doesn’t think the right way.”

 

The Colonel turned to him. “He’s genetically designed to be a leader. He will succeed.”

 

The instructor just nodded. It was not wise to comment further. It was definitely not wise to say what he had been thinking for the past day, that new loyalties were being formed, and that a new leader was emerging. The Colonel could figure that out for himself, or not.

 

“Inform me when they finish.” The Colonel ground out his cigarette, and strode away.

 

5 minutes later, the instructor saw movement in the trees. The four finished the course at a sprint, reaching their instructor and standing to attention.

 

“Relax,” he told them, glancing at his watch. “34 minutes. Not too bad. How did you get over the last obstacle?”

 

He watched them as three of them turned to look at 494. The only thing they didn’t do to acknowledge him as their leader, was to take a step back.

 

“Sir,” 494 spoke slowly. “We boosted 481 up to the top of the wall, then he helped pull the others up and over.”

 

“Your plan?”

 

“Yes, sir. This time. But, 511, 462 and 481 got us through the other obstacles, sir.”

 

The instructor nodded. Interesting. He was prepared to share the credit.

 

“Did you know we had guards spread out over the course, reporting in?”

 

“No, sir.” 494 frantically searched his memory for something that they had possibly done wrong.

 

“You’re not in trouble,” the instructor said quickly, seeing the look on his face. “My point is, you’re at least 15 minutes ahead of the others.”

 

None of them smiled, exactly, they were too disciplined for that, but he could see something in their eyes, something lighter. Pride, maybe.

 

“Here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a package. “Don’t let the others see. Eat it before they get here.” He tossed it to 494, and headed off towards the entrance to the woods.

 

“What is it?” 511 asked.

 

494 looked at it. It was dark brown, with the word ‘Herscheys’ written on it. He shrugged, and opened it. “Looks interesting.”

 

He broke it into four pieces, and handed it out.

 

The fifteen minutes they supposedly had to wait stretched to twenty, then twenty five. The instructor turned to stand beside them, and pulled out his whistle.

 

“On your feet,” he told them, and they jumped up, standing to attention. He blew three short blasts, indicating that the exercise was abandoned, and that all personnel were to rendezvous at the sound.

 

“Sir,” 494 spoke quietly, unsure of himself.

 

“Soldier?”

 

“Thank you, sir.” He meant for the chocolate, but also for everything. For the story, for being nice, everything.

 

The instructor looked at him, and nodded. “Don’t forget what you learnt here today,” he told them.

 

>>>>>

 

598 was angry. Frustrated, hurt, but mostly angry. The words of the instructor repeated in his mind, over and over again.

 

“Didn’t quite make it in 30 minutes, did you? Didn’t quite make it at all.”

 

So, he had said he could do the course without knowing how hard it would be. Leaders had to believe in themselves, right?

 

And, it’s not like anyone else had completed it either.

 

Except for 494 and those other three, but they must have cheated. They had to have. There was no way they could have gotten over that wall, that little brat 511 in particular.

 

He looked over at the four of them, sitting on two racks, facing each other, talking quietly. Well, three of them were talking. 494 was lying on his rack, but he was listening to what they were saying, and every so often, one of them would look over to him, and he would nod in reply.

 

It wasn’t right. This was his squad. The one thing he understood was that squads had to work together. Soldiers that didn’t work as part of the team, were trouble. 494 was not only not working as part of the team, he was leading 3 others astray too.

 

And, it was his job as CO to hold the squad together.

 

At least, that was what the Colonel had told him that afternoon, after the exercise. He had said that the CO must think of the squad first, that he must resolve any problems.

 

598’s expression darkened.

 

And, the Colonel had told him that it wasn’t an instructor that had taken him out of the capture the flag game, but that it was one of his own squad.

 

Who?

 

494 was the obvious choice, but he couldn’t have done it, dropped the weapon and got the flag that fast. It couldn’t have been him.

 

So, one of his little friends?

He watched them again, 511 smiling as he spoke to 494, his voice so low it could not be overheard, 494 reaching out and pushing him slightly.

 

It had to have been 511. That idiot couldn’t do anything for himself. And it would be just like 494 to tell 511 to shoot him so that 494 could take the glory for himself. There were no other options, really.

 

This was his squad. His. Not 494’s.

 

>>>>>

 

“I think you should be called Cat,” 481, Steve, he had to keep reminding himself, whispered.

 

462 frowned. “Why? That’s dumb. It’s like calling someone Goat. It’s weird.”

 

“I like it,” 511 whispered.

 

“It’s like what 511 said, you moved like a cat over the obstacle course. Plus, your eyes are so green, like a cat’s.”

 

She smiled at him, liking the name more all the time.

 

“And, you could spell it with a ‘K’,” 511 put in. “Like, short for Katherine. That’s a human name.”

 

She grinned, then looked over to 494. “Do you like it?” she asked.

 

He turned his head, and looked at her. “It suits you,” he said quietly.

 

“Okay. Kat, then.” She nodded.  “I’m gonna call you Biggs, though. Because, we always talk about how you need to be bigger.”

 

“That’s mean,” 511 commented, then smiled. He was happy just to be included in the naming. And, Biggs was kind of a tough name. He could live with that.

 

>>>>>

 

598 stood up. Several eyes immediately flicked to him, wondering if they were about to be told to do something.

 

He glanced at two kids closer to him.

 

“Guard the door.”

 

“Sir,” they replied, moving to stand by the door.

 

“511, front and centre,” he ordered. 511 glanced at 494, then did as he was told.

 

598’s face hardened. How dare he look at 494, as if to ask him for permission to follow the order he had been given.

 

“Sir,” 511 reported as he stood in front of him.

 

“Stand to attention.”

 

511 snapped his feet together, and stared straight ahead of him.

 

598 looked around. “Know what the worst crime a soldier can commit is?” he asked loudly.

 

No-one said anything.

 

On his rack, 494 propped himself up slightly, to get a better view.

 

“Treason. It means, betraying your squad. When it happened, it was up to the CO to punish the soldier, so that others would not do the same thing.” He looked around, then moved to stand in front of 511. “X5-511, you cheated in the capture exercise. You shot at a fellow squad mate. There is no excuse for this crime.”

 

Around the room, the soldiers stared at each other. They hadn’t known any of this.

 

494 glanced at Steve. He knew this wasn’t right. Biggs hadn’t shot 598.

 

“You are found guilty.” 598 smashed his fist into Biggs’ stomach. He groaned, and fell to the floor. “Get up.”

 

Steve moved to stand up, and 494 gestured for him to stay. Not yet. If that was all 598 was going to do, then he wouldn’t interfere. If he helped out now, Biggs would appear weak in front of the rest of the squad. Weak was bad.

 

“Stand up,” 598 commanded.

 

Biggs stood, and glared at his CO.

 

598 kicked Biggs’ foot out from under him, sending him back down to the ground. He kicked him hard, and Biggs felt something crack. He cried out. It hurt.

 

494 stood. That was enough.

 

“Stop it,” the voice came from the other side of the room. Even though the words were not meant for him, 494 stopped, and glanced over. 496 stood slowly, and took 2 paces forward.

 

“It was me. Okay? I shot you. You want to punish someone? Try me.” His tough words only just managed to hide the fear in his voice.

 

“I don’t believe you,” 598 replied. “I know it was 511.”

 

“He was on the other side of the clearing. By 494. He couldn’t have hit you from that angle.”

 

Biggs struggled to his feet, and 598 lashed out again, his foot slamming into Biggs’ face. Blood poured down the boy’s face.

 

598 then turned to 496. “Still say it was you?” 496 looked at Biggs, then back to 598.

 

“You fucking coward,” 496 commented. “I told you, I did it, not him.”

 

598 took a step towards him.

 

“Hit me, and I’ll hit you back,” he warned.

 

598 laughed. He had at least 4 inches on this kid. He moved closer to him.

 

Biggs moved towards him, and 598 turned again, raising his fists.

 

“That’s enough,” 494 heard himself say, and he moved to the centre of the room. “You want to touch him again, touch any of them, you go through me.” He stepped in front of Biggs, and crossed his arms.

 

598 stared at him. “Stand down,” he ordered. “Go back to your rack.”

 

“No.”

 

There was a slight mutter from the room.

 

“I’m in charge here,” 598 spoke desperately. He glanced around for support. No-one moved. They were in shock.

 

“Not any more. Not like this,” 494 said slowly.

 

He heard a sound behind him, and glanced over his shoulder quickly. Kat and Steve moved to stand behind him.

 

He nodded at them, and turned back to glare at 598.

 

“I’m the CO. I’m in charge.”

 

494 just looked at him. Then, slowly, he looked away. His gaze moved to 496, and he nodded slightly at him.

 

496 smiled, stood, and moved to stand behind 494.

 

“You can’t do this,” 598 tried one last time. 494 shrugged, and turned his back on him as he moved back to his rack.

 

“Why not?”

 

Winter, 2009.

 

It had been just over a year, Biggs thought to himself as he lay in his rack, staring at the ceiling. A year since 494 had told 598 that he didn’t care what he thought. Some things hadn’t changed. The barrack room still looked the same, 2 rows of 15 beds. The only difference was, the sleeping arrangements had changed slightly. Kat still slept by the door, but the other four of them had taken the racks nearest to her.

 

And as for the guards? They had known that something was up. Some of them had known from the start, even before he himself had known what 494 had been planning. The others? They figured it out pretty quick.

 

The morning after had been so interesting. 494 had purposely gotten out of his rack exactly five minutes before 598 would have called for them to get up. He was out the door before 598 had finished yelling for the lights to go on. In fact, he hit the lights himself, as he slammed out of the door.

 

The rest of them, him, Kat, Steve and 496 had been maybe 30 seconds behind.

 

The first hint that any of the rest of the squad had been affected by what had happened was when they had all made it outside. Standard procedure was that each soldier would ask the CO for permission to fall into formation.

 

About 3 soldiers requested permission from 598. The rest of them just looked confused and stood there. With about 10 seconds to go before the instructors would arrive, the first of them shrugged, and simply fell into the squad without asking permission from anyone.

 

That was the start.

 

At first, it was like the squad had split in two. There was 494’s squad, and the rest. It was still like that, pretty much. Manticore had done their job when they had taught their soldiers loyalty. But, the numbers were changing slightly. One more boy and two girls had, if not joined 494’s squad, then started to listen to him more, and show more interest in what he was doing.

 

Biggs grinned in the dark. Today had been a good day. His shooting score had been the second in the squad. Of course, 494 was first, but he could still remember how it felt to come last in the squad. Now, the instructors nodded at him, congratulating him on his ability.

 

He would follow 494 anywhere.

 

>>>>>

 

0117 am.

 

A siren shattered the silence of the night. 494 was on his feet immediately. “Kat, light,” he ordered.

 

The light flickered on, and 28 soldiers sat up in their racks, rubbing their eyes.

 

“Up and dressed,” 494 yelled as he pulled his shirt on and ran to the other side of the room.

He jumped onto Steve’s rack, standing on the headboard so that he could see out of the barred window.

 

“What’s going on?” Biggs stood beside the rack.

 

Around the room, several soldiers had jumped up on their racks to look out the few windows in the room.

 

Over the sound of the siren came the rapid fire of automatic weapons.

 

“On the floor!” 494 ordered, jumping down off the rack. “Form up, right now.”

 

They shuffled into position, unsure what was going on.

 

494 looked around. Kat looked scared. Her gaze kept flickering between the door and the window, as if she was waiting for something. He nodded at her, and touched her shoulder lightly, before moving to the front of the squad.

 

“What’s going on?” asked another soldier, mimicking Biggs’ question from before.

 

494 bit his lip. “Don’t know,” he replied.

 

598 snickered, then gasped as Biggs gained a slight amount of retaliation for the punishment he had taken a year before.

 

“Shut it.” He glared.

 

598, for the first time in his life, shut up.

 

“The siren,” 494 glared at them both, “is the perimeter alarm.”

 

“The perimeter’s been breached? We’re under attack?” one of the younger girls in the squad asked.

 

“Maybe. Heard a lot of gunfire. If it is, our guys are doing alright.”

 

“What are we going to do?”

 

“Nothing, yet. We wait for orders.” 494 looked around. “You three.” He pointed at Biggs, and two others. “On the racks. You’re lookouts to the north. I want to know what’s going on. You three, lookouts to the south.”

 

The six he had signalled moved quickly to follow his instructions.

 

“Steve, take three guys, secure the doors. Warn if anyone comes.”

 

“Sir.” Steve pointed to three guys, and they left quickly.

 

Kat moved to stand near 494. “Do you really think we’re being attacked?”

 

He looked at her for a few seconds. “Nah. Ordinaries aren’t that dumb. Take on Manticore? All of us? No chance.” He looked around at the others, who were eagerly listening to his words. “I think it’s a drill, for the older guys. But, we should act as if it is real. They may be watching to see what we do.”

 

>>>>>

 

0134am

 

494 heard a thud from the corridor, then a yell. “Steve.” He moved to the door, even as he heard three more thuds. The door slammed open just as 494 reached it. A guard moved through it, grabbed 494 by the throat and threw him against the nearest wall.

 

His head slammed against the brick, and he slid down the wall. It hurt. His head spun, as he tried to remember how to breathe. Slowly, when he could move, he raised himself to his knees, and looked up.

 

If they were going after his squad…

 

“Don’t even fucking think about it. Stay down,” the guard ordered him harshly. 494 ignored him, lifting his head just high enough to see the room. Kind of. His head hurt, and he couldn’t seem to get his eyes to focus. The room seemed to be moving, and he blinked.

 

Another two figures came through the door. At least, he thought it was two. He couldn’t really be sure. He shook his head quickly, and his vision cleared up a little. Yeah. Two guys.

 

“By your racks. Right now.”

 

That was the Colonel’s voice. 494 lifted himself up onto one foot.

 

“I said, stay the fuck down.” The guard moved closer to him, and 494 felt the pressure of a rifle butt pressing down on his shoulder.

 

He lowered himself to the ground.

 

“Get him out of here,” the Colonel barked.

 

He felt an arm reach around his neck, and pull him to his feet. He struggled, unable to breathe, and he felt the arm simply tighten. “If you move again you little prick…” came the warning.

 

He stopped moving. Didn’t even bother to breathe. The pressure eased slightly. “Move,” came the voice as the guard shoved 494 over towards the door.

 

“531. 574. Front and centre.”

 

“Sir!” a boy and a girl, both small with blonde hair, stepped forward.

 

The other guard raised his rifle and pointed it at the girl.

 

“Both of you outside, now.”

 

“Sir!” their voices sounded as one, but the fear in them was evident. The Colonel looked so angry. The guard just looked blank. The girl didn’t know which was worse. She followed the boy out the door.

 

494 felt a hand shove him towards the door. He followed them quickly, not wanting to be hit again. Whatever happened, he needed to be alert. If he was too hurt, he wouldn’t be able to protect the other two.

 

As he neared the entrance, he saw the four kids he had sent out to guard the entrance. One was lying on the floor, not moving. The others were standing against a wall, staring calmly at the two guards that were holding rifles on them.

 

494 caught Steve’s eye as he moved past him. He moved his hand to his side, and signalled quickly, pointing one finger straight down, then clenching his fist. Finally he gestured back towards the barrack block.

 

Steve tried his hardest not to react. His fist clenched by his side, but that was the only indication that he had understood the order.

 

His eyes followed 494 as he was led outside, thinking about what 494 had just told him.

 

<You’re in charge now.>

 

>>>>

 

He could hear the footsteps in the hall. All night long, they had paced back and forward, never missing a beat. He had never see chinese water torture in action, but he thought it had to be something like this. Thud. Thud. Thud.

 

The guard was almost at the end of the hall. Soon, he would turn, and the sound would be slightly different.

 

494 rolled his eyes. He had thought that psy ops would be slightly different to this. He thought it might actually be painful. So far, it was just boring. They had left him alone. That was somehow worse than hurting him. All he could do was sit there, and wait for them to come for him.

 

>>>>>

 

Biggs lay in his rack, his eyes closed. Every sense he had was focussed on what was happening in the room. Four guards patrolled the barrack block. Another one stood at the door. He could hear them breathing, and muttering to each other occasionally. He just couldn’t make out the words.

 

He didn’t understand what was going on. The guards had said nothing, just ordered them into their racks again, and told them to go to sleep.

 

Oh, yeah. They had also said that anyone who left their rack would be shot. And, pleasant dreams.

 

He didn’t understand. 494 would know. Or, at least, he would suggest something plausible. Then, tell them what they should do.

 

He wanted to go after 494, find him, stop them hurting him. That was what 494 would do for him. But, he was scared. If he got out of his rack, he would be shot. He didn’t want to die. He felt like a coward for feeling that way, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t know what to do.

 

>>>>>

 

496 was scared, too. He was just ignoring it. He had shot 598 for his leader, what was a few guards? He grinned slightly, glad that the sheet over his face covered it.

 

As tempting as it would be to just take out all the guards, a plan must have at least a small, minute chance of success. 494 had taught him that.

 

5% success rate was okay. Worth a try. 0% was bad.

 

So, until he could figure out a way to take out all of the guards, or at least, most of them, he would just wait.

 

The pacing stopped, and 496 had to force himself not to open his eyes. After a few seconds, the footsteps begun again, moving towards the door.

 

There was a creak as the door opened, and then shut. They were alone. Maybe.

 

“Tav!” there was a hiss from the rack next to him. 496 turned slowly to face Biggs.

 

“Don’t do anything dumb!”

 

Tav rolled his eyes, before realising it was dark.

 

“You okay?” he asked Biggs instead.

 

“Yeah. Just want to help Him.”

 

“I know. Me too.” He rolled back over and stared at the ceiling.

 

They couldn’t do anything tonight. Too many guards. In the morning, well, he would hit up Steve, and keep bugging him until he came up with a plan. Shouldn’t take more than three hours. Maybe four.

 

>>>>>

 

Steve could see the figure in the bed beside him moving slightly. Shaking, almost. He had expected Kat to be upset, hell, they all were, but it looked like she was trying not to cry.

 

Damn them. Damn Manticore for doing this.

 

What were they punishing 494 for, anyway? Taking over the leadership role? Challenging 598? But that had happened a year ago, and the Manticore way was to jump on stuff straight away, not to wait.

 

He looked around the room quickly, then crawled out of his rack and over to Kat’s rack. Kneeling on the floor, he touched her shoulder lightly. “You okay?” he whispered.

 

“Yeah.” She replied, turning to face him. “Just worried.”

 

He could see tears welling up in her eyes. “This is 494, remember? He’ll be fine.”

 

>>>>>

 

The colonel slammed his fist through a window pane. For a non-transgenic, he had a lot of power.

 

“Report!” he demanded.

 

“We recaptured three,” the soldier reported, looking down with embarrassment. “We almost had a 4th, a girl, but another one attacked us, and they got away.”

 

“At least they learned to work together,” the Colonel muttered.

 

“Sir?” the guard asked.

 

“Nothing.”  He spun away from the guard, and slammed his fist on the table. “I want psych reports on all those that you haven’t recovered yet.”

 

“Yes, Sir.” The guard turned to go.

 

“And, one more thing.” He turned back. “FIND THOSE FUCKING KIDS!”

 

>>>>>

 

“Some fucking kids escape, and we lose our off hours to make sure no others wander off,” outside the barrack room, one of the guards bitched, as he leaned back against the wall.

 

“Hey, just be grateful that one of your twins didn’t escape, or you’d be pulling time in psy ops as well,” one of the others replied grinning at him, trying for a reaction.

 

“You saying there’s something wrong with me? Are you calling me a nomaly, boy?” his tone turned angry, and he took a step towards the speaker.

 

“Hey. Relax. I didn’t mean anything like that. It was a joke.” He raised his hands in surrender.

 

“Don’t joke about shit like that. Not tonight.”

 

“Yeah, sorry.”

 

>>>>>

 

Kat raised her hand to Steve, signalling him to shut up. Her rack was pressed up against the wall, and she could hear every word they were saying. She shifted closer to the wall, and used her hands to repeat to Steve what she could hear.

 

He shook his head in amazement.

 

It didn’t make sense, what he was hearing. Some soldiers had escaped? Jumped the fence, and gone to live in … that mess that was the ordinary’s world? Why?

 

There was something else wrong, too. He could feel it, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. There was something he should be understanding in what they were saying. He just couldn’t understand it.

 

Steve sighed, repeating the message in his mind, trying to memorise it. When he could, he would repeat it to Biggs. That kid seemed to understand things that others missed. Maybe he would know what was so weird.

 

Kat stopped signalling, and gestured that the guards had stopped talking. Steve nodded, and crawled back to his rack. If they decided to come back in here, and saw him out of his rack, that would not be good.

 

That was the other thing he had to ask Biggs.

 

He had to remember to ask him if he knew what a “Twin” was.

 

>>>>>

 

The quiet of the night was pierced by a loud, almost high pitched, scream.

 

494 jerked his head up, and looked around. The echo of the scream continued for a few seconds, and he struggled against the handcuffs that held him against a pole. He had to help them, whoever it was.

 

He just, he didn’t understand what he had done, what the other two had done. He didn’t have time to think about it.

 

The door to his cell opened, and two women in white coats walked in, followed by a man in fatigues.

 

“State your designation.” One of the women spoke.

 

“X5-494.” He replied, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

 

“Incorrect. State your designation.”

 

His head snapped up. What? “X5-494.” He repeated, slowly. What did they want? It made no sense.

 

“Incorrect. State your designation.”

 

“Sir?” 494 looked to the man for assistance. “I don’t understand, Sir.”

 

“Answer the question, soldier.” The man replied, his face completely expressionless.

 

“I… X5-494, Sir.”

 

He waited.

 

The man nodded, and the two women moved forward. One of them had something in her hands.

494 looked at it, vaguely interested in what it was. He couldn’t get away, he was handcuffed, so, instead of panicking, he chose to concentrate on figuring out what that thing could do to him, before it did it to him.

 

The blonde nurse grabbed his head, and held it steady, while the other fixed the device around his head. A cylindrical piece of metal was placed over his left eye, effectively blinding him.

 

“State your designation.”

 

“X5-494.” He emphasised each number, as if talking to a small child.

 

The darkness in his one eye vanished completely, to be replaced by a bright red light. It hurt. It felt like it was a laser, boring completely through him and out of the back of his head. He screamed.

 

“Your designation is 493.”

 

“Huh? What?”

 

“Your designation is 493.”

 

“No. It’s 494.” His voice was slightly less certain this time. Had they mistaken him for someone else? Apparently the guards thought they all looked alike. The problem was, he had never heard of another X5 with a number so close to his.

 

The beam expanded. It filled his entire vision, so that all he could see was red. Then, slowly, the red began to be replaced with something else.

 

Stars.

 

All he could see was stars.

 

“493 hurry up!”

 

493? He looked around quickly. A young girl, with the startings of black hair gestured to him from next to the window.

 

“Come on!”

 

He nodded, trying to figure out what this was. “Okay.” He crossed the room to stand beside her.

 

“Hurry up, we don’t have that much time.” She climbed out the window, and vanished. Shrugging, he followed.  What else could he do?

 

He climbed carefully out the window, and up a drainpipe. When he reached the top, he swung himself onto the roof, and looked around.

 

7 kids stood there. X5s, but he didn’t recognise them. He looked at each one in turn. Actually, one of them looked kind of familiar.

 

“Come on!” The same girl said again, pulling him over to where the rest were standing. “Quit dreaming. We’ll get caught.”

 

The kids stood in a rough semi circle around something. 494 pushed his way to the front, he looked down, and forgot how to breathe.

 

In front of them was a piece of cloth. It looked like it was torn from a uniform shirt. The bad thing, however, was what was on the cloth.

 

Teeth.

 

What looked like 4 teeth, lying there, the ends slightly bloody. As he watched, one of the boys reached into his pocket, and took out another tooth. He bent down, and placed it with the others. “It will make her stronger.” He commented, before stepping back.

 

494 saw the others nodding, and felt a sudden, desperate urge to throw himself off the building.

What were they? Nomalies?

 

He took a slight step back. The kid who had put the tooth down turned to look at him.

 

“Tell us a story, Ben.” He asked.

 

>>>>>

 

“State your designation.” The voice cut through the air as 494 stared frantically at the boy, trying to think of what to say. Then, he heard the voice, and his vision started to go red again.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was in the cell, staring at the two women.

 

“State your designation.”

 

“X5-494”

 

The nurse blinked. “State your designation.”

 

If this was torture, 494 didn’t know what was so bad about it. True, it was boring as hell, but if this was the best they could do… Although, it was really boring.

 

“X5-493.” He made it a question.

 

The nurses looked at each other, then nodded slightly. The man stepped forward.

 

>>>>>

 

27 soldiers filed into the classroom and took their seats. They had assigned seating, and they quickly moved to stand beside the chair they usually occupied.

 

The three empty seats were extremely noticeable.

 

496 couldn’t help but glanced over at the empty place beside him.

 

“Block up.” The instructor ordered. “Don’t leave empty places. It’s unordered.”

 

“Sir, there are soldiers assigned to those seats,” 496 commented, very slowly, trying very hard to keep his voice neutral.

 

“Not anymore. Block up.”

 

496 moved across to the empty desk, and said nothing for the rest of the day.

 

>>>>>

 

“Tell me about this soldier.”

 

The man shoved a picture in front of 494. he glanced down at it. 598. What was going on? Could they be angry that he had taken the leadership away from him? He realised quickly that they were waiting for an answer.

 

“X5-598.” He stated.

 

“Incorrect. Who is this soldier?”

 

Incorrect? How could it be incorrect. It was 598. Looked exactly like him. Why couldn’t these nurses just tell him what they wanted him to say? He remembered the images they had shown him, climbing up to the roof. 493 had been the correct answer.

 

He still didn’t understand any of that, what was happening, why he saw that scene in his head, why the girl had called him by a different number. But, if the designation they wanted for him had been one number out, maybe the same was true here.

 

“X5-597?” He asked. The red beam flashed through his head.

 

“Incorrect. Who is this soldier?”

 

He shrugged. He had no clue. Yet, he had to say something. He still thought maybe he was on the right track. The kid looked so much like 598. Maybe, he had just gone the wrong way.

 

“X5-599.” He guessed.

 

“And this one?” It was going to be a long night. This one, he was going to have to guess.

 

He just hoped they didn’t show him more teeth.

 

6 months later…

 

“496, if you get us in trouble one more time, you’ll be sorry.” One of the males shoved him against the wall outside their barrack block. “I’m serious you little nomaly, learn to keep your mouth shut.”

 

“Or what?” Tav looked up at the taller boy and smiled slightly.

 

“I’m not getting in trouble for you,” he repeated, pushing his arm against Tav’s throat.

 

“Nah, you can do that all by yourself. Figured out how to shoot yet?” The kid that was hassling him had been punished the day before for a low shooting score, and Tav knew it. He pushed away from the kid.

 

“Break it up, you two,” 598’s voice cut through the crowd as he moved towards them.

 

“You’re not in charge anymore,” The tall kid sneered. “Remember? 494 kicked your ass.”

 

598 took a deep breath. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Steve moved to stand beside him.

 

“What’s going on?” he asked quietly. “No, wait. I don’t care,” he continued, glaring at both of them.

 

Tav looked back, a hurt expression on his face. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

“You.” He glared at the boy. “If you have a problem, you come to me. You do not air squad problems outside the barrack room, particularly when it could be seen. Think about it. A guard sees it, we all get punished.”

 

“Yes, sir,” the reply was soft, almost angry, but it was the correct response.

 

“Get inside the room.”

 

The order was meant for all of them. As they moved to obey, Steve grabbed Tav by the arm, and held him there. When the corridor was empty, he turned to him. “Stop pissing people off.”

 

“Wasn’t doing anything,” Tav replied.

 

“Tavis, listen to me. I know how angry you are. I am too. We’re being watched, okay? They’re watching all of us. Don’t stand out, man, okay?”

 

Tav shrugged. He didn’t care. He hadn’t been doing anything wrong, he was still doing what the instructors told him. He couldn’t help it that he didn’t feel the same respect for them that he had six months ago.

 

They had killed three of his squad mates, including 494, and there was no reason for it. He pulled away from Steve, and headed for the door.

 

“What?” he asked as he took one step into the room and found that he couldn’t go any further.

The 25 soldiers who had entered the room ahead of him seemed to have moved only a few paces into the room, and then stopped.

 

He felt Steve move into the room behind him.

 

“Who killed who?” Steve asked Tavis, only half joking.

 

“Wasn’t me, I swear.”

 

“To your racks, right now,” Steve ordered, and slowly, the soldiers moved to comply. Most of the soldiers. Kat hadn’t moved, and neither had Biggs. The others moved around them, heading to sit on their racks, their eyes barely leaving whatever it was that they were looking at.

 

Steve took a step forward. Tavis slowly followed. The four of them stood there, staring.

 

Staring at the boy who sat on a rack, Steve’s rack, gazing into space. Kat slowly took a step forward. The boy never moved.

 

“Hey, you. Soldier,” Steve spoke up.

 

The boy on the bed slowly turned his head to face Steve. Only his head. The rest of him remained perfectly steady.

 

Steve gasped. The boy looked like nothing he had seen before. His face was white, completely white, like the albino transgenics they had seen once or twice. His eyes were barely noticeable, black rings surrounded them, almost obscuring them totally. The black was the only part of his face that was not white. Even his eyes were, if not white, then a really light grey.

 

What was he? Human, but what else?

 

And the worst thing, was the expression on his face. Or, lack of. He looked like there was nothing human inside him.

 

Steve swallowed.

 

“Have you been assigned here?” he asked softly.

 

The boy turned his head slightly, as if thinking. Something passed over his face. The hint of some kind of emotion. It was gone too quickly for Steve to figure out.

 

“State your designation,” he asked. What was with this soldier? Had they really replaced 494 and the other two with someone who couldn’t talk and who didn’t seem to understand English?

 

Another expression crossed the boy’s face, and he turned his head back to face the direction he had been staring in before.

 

His face became completely blank. 

 

Steve looked at Kat, soundlessly asking for her opinion. She shook her head slightly, then stepped closer to the boy.

 

“Hi,” she spoke, sitting beside him on the rack. He didn’t move. “I’m 462. What’s your designation?”

 

No response.

 

“Okay.” She nodded at him, before turning to shrug at Steve.

 

“Screw this. You want his designation?” Tavis muttered, moving over to the other side of the rack, behind the boy. He glanced at the kid’s neck.

 

And froze.

 

“Steve, get over here,” he hissed urgently, his expression frantic.

 

“What?” Steve asked, stepping towards him.

 

Tav shook his head, gesturing towards the boy. Steve turned to look.

 

“494,” he read the final part of the barcode. “What?” he gasped.

 

He moved quickly around the rack to see the boy’s face.

 

“494?” he asked quietly, reaching out a hand to touch the boy’s knee.

 

He jerked away, but otherwise, gave no indication that he was aware of anyone.

 

Kat stared at the boy’s face. Now that Steve had made the connection, she could see the resemblance. It was just, without any colour in his face, without any of the expressions that made him 494, he just didn’t look much like what she remembered.

 

Behind him, Steve could hear the sound of someone moving. He turned.

 

598 was moving around the room, muttering briefly to each individual soldier, his voice so low that Steve couldn’t pick out the words.

 

Finally, 598 got close enough to be within hearing range.

 

“Get changed. Lights out in 5,” was all he was saying. And, the kids were responding slowly to his words.

 

598 stepped closer to Biggs.

 

“Go to your rack,” he muttered, touching his shoulder.

 

Biggs turned on him, his eyes blazing. “Get away from me,” he spat out.

 

Steve moved to stand up.

 

“Listen to me,” 598 continued to talk. “The guards will be here any minute. Don’t call attention to Him.” He nodded towards 494. “Get ready for sleep, go on.”

 

Biggs didn’t move, but his expression softened. “Biggs, go on,” Steve commented. He smiled briefly at 598, then turned back to 494.

 

“The guards will be here soon.” He kept his voice soft.

 

No response.

 

“Lie down,” Kat spoke to 494.

 

The boy followed the order, lying down on the rack.

 

“Two minutes,” 598 spoke softly.

 

“Everyone in your racks, now,” Steve ordered. He moved to one of the spare racks, and quickly changed. Kat slowly drew a sheet up over 494, touching him on the shoulder briefly.

 

“Lights out,” Steve ordered, with 10 seconds to spare.

 

Kat nodded, and stood up. “I’ll be right here,” she whispered to him. “You can sleep. I won’t let anyone near you.”

 

Steve hadn’t slept all night. He doubted anyone else had, either. He had spent his time staring at the door, then staring at 494 lying in bed, then back to the door.

 

He could feel the tension in the room, but he had no idea how to deal with it. His basic plan for everything had just been to keep everything the way it was, until 494 came back. He had never doubted that this would happen. He had just never expected that when 494 did come back, he would be like that.

 

He heard 494 cry out, and was out of his rack in an instant, moving over to kneel beside him.

Kat was already there. She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. 494 reacted instinctively. He jerked awake, throwing himself to his feet on the other side of the bed.

Steve’s eyes flicked to the door to see if the noise had attracted a guard. It didn’t seem to have. He did notice Biggs move towards the door, taking up a guard position. He nodded his thanks before turning back to 494.

 

“Take it easy,” he muttered slowly, not sure what to say to this kid who was, but at the same time wasn’t, the person he admired most in this world.

 

494 glared back at him, his eyes feral, distant.

 

“It’s okay. We won’t hurt you. We’re not like them,” Kat spoke softly.

 

494 turned to look at her. His expression softened slightly, and he tilted his head, as if trying to think.

 

Steve nodded imperceptibly, trying to tell her to keep talking. Anything that could get a reaction out of him, anything that could make him act like the 494 he remembered, had to be a good thing.

 

“We’re not them, okay? We’re a unit. We stick together. Do you remember the obstacle course?”

 

A flicker of something went through 494’s eyes.

 

“And, you taught Biggs to shoot, remember? So the guards wouldn’t punish him?” As soon as she said that, she realised what a mistake it was. Mentioning the guards was not a good plan.

494’s face reverted to blankness, and he stared through her.

 

598 moved up behind them, moving slowly so that it was obvious to 494 that he was there.

 

“Two minutes, man,” he whispered, meaning, two minutes until they had to be up.

 

Steve turned to stare at him. Then, he nodded towards the other end of the room, indicating for 598 to follow him.

 

When they were out of transgenic hearing range, he whispered

 

“What are we going to do? If the guards see 494 like that…” He shook his head. The guards would destroy 494, take him back to Psy Ops, or wherever he had been for the last 6 months.

But, how could the guards not see him? It wasn’t as if they could hide him until he became normal again. The guards must know that he had been released.

 

598 shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied. “Why did they send him back here? I mean, he’s useless as a soldier like this.”

 

“Nomaly!” Steve glared, throwing a punch which 598 easily deflected.

 

“What’s your problem?” 598 asked. “What are you attacking me for?”

 

“He is NOT useless.” Steve took a step towards him again.

 

598 backed off and raised his hands. “I didn’t say that. Listen to me for a second. He can’t function as a soldier like this. Tell me why they would put him back in here?”

 

Steve paused, and thought. He looked slowly over at 494, then back to 598. “I didn’t think of that. I guess… I guess I assumed that he tricked them, or something.”

 

598 shrugged. “5 minutes until formation,” he reminded him.

 

“Oh, just great.” Steve looked around the room. The whole squad was awake, and watching either them, or 494. “Get up,” he spoke quietly, and they all moved.

 

>>>>>

 

Tav slowly followed Steve’s order, pulling on a shirt. This sucked. He thought, once 494 got back, everything would go back to the way it was. Steve would stop pretending he was in charge, 598 would get what was coming to him, everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

 

He ran his fingers roughly through his hair, pushing the short strands into place.

 

Now, he was beginning to see why the others had run away. He wished he could, too.

No matter how bad the outside world was, no matter how polluted, how dirty, it had to be better than this place.

 

Tav pulled his shoes on and turned back to look at 494, trying to keep any emotion off his face.

494 sat on the side of the rack, his hands on his knees, his gaze focussed on something straight ahead of him.

 

Tav shook his head, walking over to him.

 

“Stand up,” he told him.

 

No response.

 

“Stand up, now, soldier.” He made his voice an order, mimicking the guards.

 

494 stood up, standing to attention.

 

Tav looked at him in surprise.

 

He hadn’t expected that.

 

Oh well, if something worked, stick with it.

 

“Get dressed, soldier.”

 

494 turned, knelt beside his dresser and pulled out some clothes. He dressed quickly, then moved back to attention.

 

Steve moved slowly over to Tav’s side.

 

“Look at me,” Tav ordered. 494’s head turned in Tav’s direction. “You will follow all orders given to you today. Do you understand?”

 

494 tilted his head slightly. “Yes,” he replied, his voice wooden, but with a slight hint of something in it.

 

Tav rolled his eyes, and turned away. “Don’t ask him how he’s feeling,” he muttered to Steve. “Just tell him what to do. Whatever it was that made him our leader? It isn’t there anymore.” He turned and walked off.

 

This, he couldn’t handle.

 

>>>>>

 

They were running through the woods, a timed run. 494 ran mechanically, tripping occasionally on a twig or stone.

 

Behind him, Kat kept pace, keeping an eye on what he was doing. They had been doing that all day, in shifts, her, Steve and Biggs. Making sure he was okay. So far, he was doing exactly what Tav had told him to do. Following orders.

 

The path they were taking took a turn, and Kat sped up, so that she was running beside him.

 

“How are you?” she asked.

 

He didn’t reply, but slowed down so that she could keep up with him.

 

“See that?” She pointed ahead of them. Through a gap in the trees, she could just make out part of the obstacle course. Maybe if he saw it, he might remember.

 

The path veered towards the course, coming out at the final obstacle, the 10ft high fence.

 

494 stopped running.

 

What was this? It looked like something he knew, once. Or, maybe it was just a dream he had had.

 

Like the girl. He had seen her in a dream, too. A good dream.

 

He had… what was the word?

 

The dream hadn’t hurt him. He hadn’t minded having it.

 

He looked at the wooden structure.

 

“Remember? We had to climb over it?” Kat asked. She heard Steve and Biggs jog up behind them, and stop, keeping back slightly.

 

She was nice. In the dreams with her in them, they talked sometimes, and nothing happened to him. No-one hurt him for talking.

 

The dreams were the only time he wasn’t scared.

 

Maybe, maybe he could just pretend he was dreaming. Just for a while. He could always stop when he was punished.

 

He turned his head, really slowly.

 

No-one hurt him.

 

His eyes met hers.

 

“Remember how we got Herscheys to eat when we got over it?” she asked softly, unable to stop the grin on her face at his response.

 

“How?” he asked, his voice raspy.

 

She looked at Steve and Biggs, not sure of what to say.

 

“It’s high,” he tried again. Maybe, she didn’t like him anymore. Maybe he shouldn’t have spoken. Maybe, she wouldn’t visit him in his dreams anymore.

 

“You told us how.” Biggs stepped forward.

 

494 didn’t turn his head, but he moved his eyes towards the boy.

 

“You told us, that if we work together, we can do anything.”

 

Now, he turned his head. Maybe this was a dream. None of them had been hurt yet. He could probably risk it.

 

“I said that?” he asked, unsure.

 

“Yeah, and you were right, too. We got over it. All of us.”

 

494 looked at the fence for a long time.

 

“No,” he told them. “It’s too hard.”

 

>>>>

 

It was 3am. 598 was awake, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, and thinking about many things. Mostly, about 494 and what he had been like since he had returned from psy-ops.

He missed the old 494. He never thought he would say that, 494 had frustrated him for years, challenging him, making him appear weak in front of his men.

 

But he no longer felt that way. The first time he had seen 494 after the return, he had been completely stunned. The possibility of seizing command of the squad back from him was attractive. It was not like there would be any opposition.

 

He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He had to admit it, the squad had worked a lot better together after 494 had taken command, gradually, from him. And, no matter how he felt about 494 personally, he didn’t like seeing anyone look like that. Like there was nothing left inside him.

 

There was a noise from across the room, a slight thud as if something had touched the ground. If he hadn’t been awake, he wouldn’t have caught it. He glanced across the room.

 

494 stood slowly making no further sound. From his dresser he grabbed a shirt and pulled it on along with a pair of shoes. Slowly, he moved to the door.

 

598 watched him leave, then reached for a long sleeved shirt before following him.

 

By the time he got outside, 598 thought he had lost him. He had had to go slower than he would have liked, as he made it halfway across the floor, Steve had moved in his sleep, as if he was about to wake up.

 

598 had stopped still, not even breathing, hoping he would go back to sleep. He did, and 598 breathed a sigh of relief. He waited a few more minutes before moving again.

 

598 saw a shape, moving towards the woods, and he followed it. 494 seemed to know where he was going, moving with purpose through the woods, not pausing for anything.

 

598 just concentrated on following him, staying out of sight. Was it possible the kid was trying to escape? Nah, there were other boundary fences closer. If he was going for a fence, he was heading for the furthest one possible, and that really made no sense.

 

494 kept walking for another ten minutes, then reached his destination, and stopped. He looked up.

 

What the hell? 598 hid behind a tree and watched him. Why was he at the obstacle course? Why go to that stupid wall? He exhaled in frustration. This kid was seriously screwed up.

 

494 heard a sound and spun around. “Who’s there?” he asked, his voice sounding strange through lack of use. There was no point pretending to hide, he was standing right out in the open.

 

“Easy,” 598 told him, and moved out from behind the tree.

 

“I know you,” 494 told him slowly, looking at him in the moonlight. “You’re in my squad?”

 

“Yeah.” 598 nodded, stepping forward. “My designation is 598.”

 

“You’re the squad CO.” That was what psy ops had told him, anyway.

 

“Kind of, well, not exactly.” 598 shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

 

494 looked back at the wall, then to 598. “Nothing.” His face went blank.

 

“Hey, listen. I’m not gonna turn you in, you’re not in trouble. I just want to know.”

 

494 looked at him and thought hard. He didn’t know whether it would be safe to talk. Probably, it wasn’t. But, well. “I had this dream. I keep having this dream. Over and over.”

 

“About what?”

 

“I know you,” 494 repeated. “From…before?”

 

“Yeah.” 598 sat on the ground slowly, and gestured for him to sit too. “Do you remember much? From… before?”

 

494 thought. Not really. He couldn’t remember much at all. Except, pain. Lots of pain. And, weird stuff. That couldn’t be what this kid wanted to hear about. There was one thing he remembered.

 

“That girl. I remember her.”

 

“Kat,” 598 filled in. “Yeah, you two were friends.”

 

“Were we? Friends?” 494’s voice went slightly higher than normal. It contained interest, kind of.

Friends were something that it sounded good to have.

 

“Not really.” 598 smiled slightly. “We kind of hated each other.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“So, tell me about the dream?”

 

“A few of us climbed this wall.” 494 looked at the ground. “But, I dreamed it before I saw it. So I thought, maybe…”

 

“Maybe it was real? The dream?”

 

“Yeah.” He looked over at 598 and smiled. Maybe he could understand. “There was a mark in one of the bits of wood. An X, at the top. I saw it in my dream.”

 

“So, you wanted to know if it was really there?”

 

494 smiled slightly. “You sure we were never friends?” He stood up and looked at the wall. “That other kid, Biggs, he said that we climbed this thing once, that we helped each other.”

 

“I never climbed it. Never got over it. You, Biggs, Kat and Steve were the only ones who made it.”

 

494 turned to look at him. “Why don’t you have a name? The others, they have a name and a number.”

 

“Just don’t,” 598 answered shortly. “So, you want to climb this thing or not?” 598 sighed, then grinned. “I never did get over it.”

 

Working together, the two got to the top. 598 boosted 494 up, and he grabbed hold of the top of the wall. 494 pulled himself up and swung one leg over the top, straddling the wall. He then leant over, and grabbed 598’s hand as he took a running jump at the wall. With difficulty, 598 pulled himself to the top.

 

“Here,” 494 muttered, tracing his finger over an X that had been carved into the top. “It was real.” He bit his lip.

 

“But, that’s good, right?” 598 asked, seeing the devastated expression on 494’s face.

 

“No.” 494 swung his other foot over the wall, and dropped down to the ground. He started to run back in the direction of the barrack block.

 

“Hey!” 598 followed him, and sprinted to catch up.

 

He grabbed 494 by the shoulder, and spun him around. “I don’t understand. You wanted it to be real. Kat, and all that.”

 

494 clenched his fist as he looked at the other boy. “Don’t you understand?” he asked, shaking his head.

 

“No.”

 

“If Kat was real, if we did get over that wall, and all that was real, then it means that everything after that was real, too.”

 

598 nodded, his hand relaxing on 494’s shoulder.

 

“Tell me what happened. After.” He kept his voice really low.

 

494’s eyes filled with tears.

 

>>>>>

 

Tav grabbed his breakfast plate and moved to take a seat. He was first in line so he had time to watch the others grab their food and find seats. 494 was looking slightly more human every day. He was starting to show some emotions. It was just a shame that the main emotions he was showing these days were fear and hesitation.

 

The rest of the squad seemed to be picking up on it, too. Shooting scores had dropped way off, other results were down.

 

The guards were getting annoyed.

 

>>>>>

 

494 took his tray from the pile, and followed 598 to grab food. He reached the front of the queue and held it out to the serving lady.

 

“Feeling better?” the lady asked quietly.

 

494 looked at her quickly.

 

“You were sick for a while, I heard,” she continued.

 

He nodded slightly at her, and moved on. Then, he stopped, and turned back. He watched her for a few seconds, feeling like he had missed something, but not sure of what.

 

Finally, he shook his head, and moved to his seat.

 

She watched him leave, a sad expression crossing her face. “You’re welcome,” she muttered, as she turned her attention to the next kid in line.

 

>>>>>

 

In two straight rows they marched in to the barrack block, each coming to a halt next to their racks.

 

Steve was the last to come to a halt, and he looked around the room quickly. 494 was following his orders. And he was following them well. Somehow, it was more disturbing than when he did nothing.

 

“We have half an hour free until evening lessons,” he spoke slowly. “You will know the material before then. No-one fails the test tonight. Or else. Carry on.”

 

The kids moved to their racks, grabbing textbooks to study for the test that evening.

 

The last three nights, several of them had failed each test. The Colonel had strongly suggested that no-one else fail a test for a long time. Strongly suggested in a way that made them want to run for cover.

 

494 sat on the floor, leaning his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes. He needed time to think. He couldn’t think during the day, there was constantly someone watching him. He couldn’t let his guard down for a minute. He would not go back to psy ops, not for anything.

 

“Hey,” a voice cut through his thoughts. He didn’t need this.

 

“Go away,” he spoke softly, not opening his eyes. He heard the soft sound of someone taking a step back.

 

Then, the sound of someone taking a step forward. “Screw this,” the boy said. “You aren’t in charge. I don’t have to do what you say.”

 

“You think?” 494 sighed, and stood up. “I’m busy. You are annoying me.”

 

He forced his face to go hard. Not blank, like he had been for days, but hard like he had seen from the guards in psyops.

 

The kid took a step back.

 

494 sat down, and closed his eyes again.

 

Tav looked up from his book, and smiled. That was more like it. Maybe 494 was still in there somewhere.

 

>>>>>

 

3am

 

494 jerked awake. He fought to control his breathing, biting his lip until he tasted blood.

 

It didn’t work. The images were still in his mind. He had to get out of the room, get some fresh air, or something. Just get out.

 

He moved carefully out of the room, hearing a quiet sound behind him, and he knew that 598 was following him again.

 

That was fine. He had expected that, even wanted it in a way. He headed for the woods, knowing that 598 would follow him.

 

>>>>>

 

“You make too much noise,” 494 commented as he heard 598 approach.

 

“You knew I was following you anyway,” 598 commented.

 

“That doesn’t count. You’d still be dead.”

 

598 shrugged and sat down, leaning against a tree. 494 was acting kind of weird. “You never finished what you were saying last night.”

 

“No.”

 

494 said nothing else, just stared into space.

 

“Did she have a name?” he asked finally.

 

“Who?”

 

“The girl. The one from our squad, who was taken to psy ops with me.”

 

598 looked at him  for a long time. “Not that I know of.”

 

“She cried.”

 

598 said nothing, just waited.

 

“All the time. She was in the room next to mine. She was always crying. They used to try to do stuff to shut her up, I could hear it. But she wouldn’t. They hooked her up to this machine, it showed her pictures, inside her mind almost. Pictures of things she had never seen.”

 

“Really?” 598 was interested, but he didn’t like the language 494 was using. Past tense. “Did she tell you about them?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Again, there was silence for a long time.

 

“They brought her into my room after a while, put us together. I think they thought it would be fun to make us watch them torture us. We’d talk, sometimes, about what they showed us.”

 

“What…?” he left the question unfinished.

 

“There was this one time, they made her watch this one scene, over and over again. So many times. I don’t know how long, but a long time. After a while, she started screaming, but they just ignored her. She was so loud.”

 

494 lapsed into silence again.

 

598 pretended to be incredibly interested in something on the ground.

 

“I think the guards were ignoring her. They weren’t watching, they can’t have been. They used to tie us down, so we couldn’t move at all, but she had managed to get free somehow. She got a foot loose, then the other. She managed to stand up, and stagger a few paces.” He clenched his fist, and stared down at it. “She managed to get to a wall, a concrete wall.” He looked over at 598. “She just wanted it to stop. The pictures, she wanted them to stop. But they wouldn’t. She was trying to remove the thing over her eyes that showed the pictures. Her hands, they were still tied behind her back. I think she thought that she could dislodge the thing by knocking it off.” He was breathing faster, his heart racing. He didn’t want to say this, but he had to. It had to be said. “I don’t think she meant to hit her head that hard. I think she was just trying to get the thing off her eyes. But she couldn’t, so she had to keep trying, over and over, harder and harder.”

 

 598 swallowed hard.

 

“All I could think about, as the guards took her away, was that, at least they weren’t going to make me watch the images for a while.”

 

>>>>>

 

They were outside again, with the instructor who had sent them through the obstacle course. Lt Grey, he had finally introduced himself as. Not that it mattered, they would address him as Sir. It was just nice to have a name to put to the face.

 

“Listen closely,” he started. The squad suddenly looked a lot more interested. Maybe he was going to tell another story. “There are going to be some changes around here. Big changes. How you deal with him will reflect on you. Do you understand?”

 

None of them did.

 

“You will. When the time comes, you will.” He looked around at them, his eyes resting for a minute on 494. “When you have to, you will know what to do. Trust your instincts. Act fast, don’t think.”

 

494 looked down at the ground.

 

“Right.” Grey’s voice changed, became less serious. “In a week, you will get your first real challenge. Blanks, not real ammo, but anyone who gets shot will wish the ammo was real.”

 

27 confused expressions looked back at him. It wasn’t like they hadn’t done this before, many times. Why was it a challenge?

 

494 looked calmly back at the instructor. Waiting.

 

“Your opposition will be another X5 squad, C squad. It will be a simple capture the flag exercise, but you will be closely watched. Do not mess up.”

 

The entire squad looked back at him with interest.

 

“Right. Break off into two teams, we’ll run a practice round. 1^st team stay here, 2^nd team, follow me.”

 

The squad instantly split in half, one side of the barrack room against the other.

 

>>>>>

 

Steve’s side won, and he grinned in satisfaction as he shot the last of the opposition. Victory was sweet. He signalled his squad to return to base.

 

Grey nodded as the soldiers made their way out of the woods. “Good work,” he complimented them. “494, 462, you two just volunteered to return the weapons to the armoury. Rest of you can head back to the barrack block.”

 

They saluted as one, and moved off.

 

494 and Kat moved towards the rifles the squad had placed on the ground, and knelt beside them.

 

Grey watched the others, waiting until they were out of range, then turned to the two still there.

 

“462, start carrying them back. 494 will catch up in a minute.”

 

“Yes, Sir.” She grabbed two rifles, and moved towards the armoury across the quad.

 

494 turned to face him, and waited.

 

“You okay?” Grey asked in a low voice.

 

“Yes, Sir.” He replied, his expression blank.

 

“You’re a tough kid. Take some advice from someone who’s been there? It doesn’t suck forever. One day, you’ll sleep through a whole night.” 494 grinned, then instantly sobered up. He couldn’t help it. It was almost the exact opposite of what he had expected. Grey touched his shoulder lightly. “And, talk to someone.”

 

494 nodded.

 

“Let’s get these rifles back, then.” Grey leant down and grabbed two rifles, handing them to 494.

 

>>>>>

 

As the squad headed back to the barracks,  Tav increased his pace so that he caught up to Biggs. It was safe to talk, no-one was around. No guards, anyway. “What do you think he meant?”

 

“Not sure.”

 

“Something big, he said. Something huge. What could it be?”

 

“Tav, I don’t know,” Biggs told him calmly. “Breathe.”

 

“Why aren’t you excited? We get to go up against another squad in a game, and something else, something big, is coming.”

 

“I just think that not everything that happens is necessarily good. And I think that if Manticore thinks it’s good, it may not be.”

 

Tav sighed. “You could have let me dream for a while, you know. You could have pretended it was something good.”

 

“Sorry, man.” Biggs grinned, not really sorry at all. “We do get to shoot people, though. That’s gotta be fun, right?”

 

“A soldier that looked like 494 escaped, right? That’s why he was in Psy Ops. What if we have to shoot kids that look like us?”

 

“So, I get to shoot someone that looks like you. Maybe several people that look like you. Sounds fine to me.”

 

Tav glared, then smiled. “That’s weird. I still think the big thing is gonna be something good.”

 

“Optimist.”

 

>>>>>

 

“Talk to me.” Steve fell into step beside 598 and looked at him. They were at the back of the squad heading back, and Steve slowed his steps further, so that they fell even further back.

 

“About what?” 598 looked unsure.  He had never really gotten on with Steve, it had been kind of an uneasy alliance since 494 had been taken. Alliance was maybe too strong a word. They had both tried to look after the squad as best they could. That basically put them on the same side. But, they had never spoken about it.

 

“494. He’s talking to you?”

 

“Not really.” 598 shook his head. Was that jealousy in his voice? Interesting.

 

“I saw you two leave last night. Where did you go?”

 

“Nowhere.” 598 looked down. That was close to a lie. He didn’t like that. “He needed to talk to someone,” he continued talking. “I was there, so he spoke to me.”

 

“What about?”

 

“No. I’m not telling you. He told me in secret.”

 

Steve nodded. Maybe this kid wasn’t so bad. At least he understood loyalty.

 

“Is he okay?” Steve asked slowly.

 

598 nodded. “Sometimes, when he talks, I can see how he used to be. That sarcastic grin? He made fun of me last night for making too much noise when I followed him.”

 

“Really?” Steve looked hopeful.

 

“I think he’ll be okay. We just all need to talk to him, keep talking to him. Kat especially. He’s mentioned her a few times.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“We’re all on the same side here,” 598 told him. “I think, sometimes, it’s us against them. Them being Manticore.”

 

Steve nodded, then smiled. “We have a shot then. If we stick together.”

 

They reached the door to the barracks and Steve opened it. A familiar sight greeted them. Most of the squad, standing in a group, staring at a rack.

 

“You think they released one of the others?” he asked 598.

 

598 had this horrible mental flash. The girl sitting on the rack, the same way that 494 had been sitting when they first saw him. Everything normal until they stepped closer and the girl turned her head. What was left of her head.

 

He shuddered, and Steve glanced quickly at him.

 

“Please, be the boy,” he whispered.

 

The words would come back to haunt him.

 

The rack was made up. Sheets stretched across it, perfectly folded in the corners. All ready for use.

 

The rack that had been vacant for over 6 months now. Ever since 494 and the other two had been taken to psy ops. “What does this mean?” Tav spoke up. He looked around at the others.

“One of them is coming back? Which one?”

 

The door to the barrack block opened, and they all spun around. Kat and 494 walked in slowly, then looked at the rack.

 

“What’s going on?” Kat asked.

 

“Hmm,” 494 muttered, pushing his way through the gathered kids to his rack.

 

“Wait,” one of the girls called out to him.

 

He stopped, and turned to look at her.

 

“You never told us anything about the other two. You must know. Which one is coming back?”

 

494 just looked at her. “No idea,” he told her, waiting passively for the next question.

 

“You don’t even care, do you?” she asked angrily. “They’re part of our squad, and you don’t even care that we might be getting one of them back.”

 

“No.” He shook his head, and walked away. Then, he turned back and glanced at 598. “If you’re taking a poll, I’m hoping for the girl.” His tone was light, but his eyes were hard as he looked at him.

 

598 nodded slowly.

 

494 threw himself down on his rack, turning himself deliberately away from the rest of the squad.

 

598 glanced at Steve, then moved over to sit on the rack beside 494. “Do I want to know what happened to the boy?”

 

“I have no idea,” 494 replied, rolling onto his stomach and burying his head in the pillow.

He muttered something, but 598 couldn’t make it out.

 

>>>>>

 

28 kids stared at the screen in front of them. Images flashed across the screen, so fast that normal kids would not be able to see them. Even transgenic kids were not doing too well, but they were learning.

 

Traitor was a word that appeared, although that one was too fast for them to catch. Mission. They saw that one.

 

They also saw the door to the classroom open. And, they ignored it like good little soldiers, keeping their attention on the screen.

 

The instructor’s head snapped around, and he stared at the newcomer. “Take your seat,” he ordered.

 

Tav’s eyes flicked in the direction of the soldier. He had to know. It wasn’t like he was the first to do so. He had heard 494’s sharp intake of breath, which was quickly masked.

 

The boy. 574.

 

He hadn’t really taken the time to know either of them, so it didn’t matter to him one way or another. That was kind of strange. 9 years with the same 29 kids, and they were strangers to him. But, it wasn’t like he had the time, or the interest.

 

All he had cared about was whether 494 came back. And he had. Of the other two, he would have preferred the girl, for no other reason than she was a girl.

 

Chivalry was also not a Manticore-taught trait, but he had picked it up from somewhere.

 

The boy took an empty seat, and stared at the screen, immediately engrossed in the fast images.

 

Tav felt 494 kick his foot, and quickly directed his attention back to the screen.

 

>>>>>

 

Back in the barracks that night over half the squad gathered around the boy, wanting to find out what had happened.

 

494 wandered over to his rack, and glanced at 598 and Steve, gesturing them over.

 

Steve took a seat, saying nothing. So far, 494 had only talked to 598. If that was the way he wanted to play it, that was fine.

 

“I don’t trust him,” 494 spoke in a low voice, looking at both of them.

 

“Why?”

 

“I never heard him scream. Not once. In 6 months, he never made a sound.” 494 looked down. “I screamed, a lot. So did the girl. Before…” he paused. “Well, she screamed. Him? Never.”

 

Steve looked over at the boy. He stood in the centre of the group, not saying anything. Something about him just didn’t seem right. “What do you want us to do?” he asked.

 

494 shrugged. He started to smile at the stupidity of the question, then saw both of them staring at him, waiting, and sighed instead.

 

Steve watched him bite his lip, and felt a sudden surge of hope. Maybe this was it. Maybe 494 was returning.

 

“We watch him. Constantly. Make sure he does nothing weird,” 494 decided.

 

Steve nodded. “We’ll get the others involved. Kat, Biggs, Tav.”

 

“No,” 494 said quietly. “I have plans for them.”

 

598 looked up, over 494’s head, and caught sight of Tav watching them. He signalled for him to join them, and to bring the other two. He nodded, and headed over, brushing past Biggs to get his attention.

 

“What’d’ya need?” he asked, throwing himself down on the rack beside 598 and glaring at him.

Kat smiled at 494 and sat beside him. He nodded at her, almost smiling. Biggs stood by the side of the rack, facing 494 but also able to see the crowd.

 

494 looked at them. They were all watching him, trusting him, waiting for him to tell them what to do. He had a sudden flash of understanding of what the girl had gone through. He too wanted more than anything to just bang his head against a wall until he passed out, or died.

If only they would stop looking at him like they believed in him. He clenched his fist, and forced his emotions down deep inside him.

 

“Kat, I want you to start working on the others. This exercise we have with C squad, we have to work together. It’s the only way to win.”

 

“It’s an exercise. Tell me why we care?” Tav challenged.

 

494 shrugged. “I don’t. Couldn’t care less, in fact.”

 

“So?”

 

“Tavis, think,” 494 told him, leaning forward. “Remember Lt Grey? Something big is coming? By the time it comes, we have to be working together, or we’re screwed. That’s your job.”

 

“What is?” Tav looked interested.

 

“We have to know what it is. Before it happens. You and Biggs, you seem to be able to pick up on stuff the rest of us miss. Try to figure out what’s going to happen.”

 

Tav grinned. “I can do that. It sounds like fun.”

 

Biggs nodded, still watching the boy.

 

That hadn’t been too hard, 494 thought to himself. He had told them to do stuff, and they had agreed to do it. He looked down at his fist, which he had clenched in his effort to act like they expected of him. His entire arm was white from the effort.

 

“You alright?” Kat asked softly, noting his expression.

 

He looked up at her, and forced a grin on his face. “I’m always alright.”

 

>>>>>

 

494 lay on his rack, his eyes open. He knew that Steve was awake, could sense him. Steve was watching the boy. Him and 598 had taken that responsibility pretty seriously over the past three days. One or both of them had been watching him at all times.

 

And, it wasn’t as if he was doing anything weird. He was acting like the rest of his squad. That was the problem. 6, almost 7 months of psyops, and this kid acted like it hadn’t even been a day. He didn’t trust that.

 

494 rolled over, looking in the opposite direction. Several others were awake in the room, which was strange. It was as if they all were waiting for something. This big event that Lt Grey had hinted about?

 

He sighed, moving onto his back, staring at the ceiling. He should sleep, he hadn’t slept in days and he knew he needed the energy. But every time he closed his eyes, he was back in psy ops. With the girl.

 

>>>>>

 

Biggs was one of the ones awake. He wanted to talk to 494, but there hadn’t been time that night. Their training had been getting harder, and longer, for some reason. But, despite that, he had found time to learn some stuff.

 

He glanced at 494, then shrugged.

 

The guy was his friend, kind of. If he wanted to talk to him, he should be able to. Besides, 494 had told him to find out anything. All he would be doing is reporting to his superior.

 

He rolled out of his rack and moved over to 494’s.

 

Steve raised his head, seeing the movement. He nodded to him, and Steve turned back to watch the boy.

 

“What’s going on?” 494 asked quietly, not even looking around.

 

Biggs knelt down beside him. “Do you know what diazepam is?” he whispered.

 

“No.” But he sounded vaguely interested. “Why?”

 

“I heard one of the nurses talking, she said something about using it on everyone next week.”

 

494 rolled over, and leaned his head against his hand. “All of us?”

 

“Yeah, all the Xs, anyway. She said it wouldn’t work on the others.”

 

“Next week?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay, thanks.” 494 leaned back on his pillow, and closed his eyes.

 

“Okay,” Biggs replied, confused. He had thought the information was vaguely interesting, and possibly important. Yet, 494 had just brushed it off. He sighed, heading back to his own rack.

 

>>>>>

 

494’s mind was racing. Some kind of medication? That would affect all of the Xs? Why? The only explanation could be…

 

No. Surely not. They wouldn’t do that, would they?

 

That would be so bad.

 

Like hell he was going to get any sleep now.

 

>>>>>

 

The squad gathered on the parade ground, now only missing one member. She was either dead, or suffering from one hell of a headache.

 

Lt Grey strolled up to them, and they turned to look at him.

 

“Outside the armoury. Now.”

 

Several of them looked around at each other, confused. What was going on? 494 moved off towards the armoury, falling in step beside Kat.

 

“You ready?” he asked her.

 

“You think this is it? We’re going up against the other squad?”

 

“Biggs thinks the big thing that Grey talked about is going to happen soon. Next week. So, yeah, this competition has to happen before that.”

 

Kat nodded. “I spoke to some of the other kids. They’ll follow you.”

 

494 stopped walking and looked at her. “Follow Steve, you mean.”

 

“No,” she replied, confused. “They’ll follow you. You’re in charge.”

 

494 grabbed a rifle as it was handed to him, and turned away, moving back to where Grey was waiting.

 

When the rest of the squad had assembled, Grey looked them over quickly. “Capture the flag. Your squad against C squad.” There were several soft mutters of excitement, that were quickly stifled. “Move to coordinates 45312043. Start time is 15 minutes from now. Carry on.”

 

“Yes, Sir!” they responded.

 

“One more thing. Don’t lose.”

 

“No chance.” Tav muttered, loud enough to be heard.

 

>>>

 

“I’m not in charge,” 494 told Kat firmly as they moved into the forest.

 

“Of course you are,” She told him.

 

“Steve is. I turned command over to him.”

 

“And, he gave it back.” She shook her head. “The other night, you gave us all orders. Of course you’re in charge.”

 

494 shook his head. “You can’t give command back, this isn’t Christmas, you know.”

 

“What’s Christmas?” she asked, pronouncing it carefully.

 

“Human tradition. Something about a dead body. I think maybe they killed people and gave the bodies to other people. And there was a donkey, and a sheep.” 494 shrugged. “Don’t know. The point is, Steve is in charge. Not me.”

 

“We’re here,” Biggs commented, the one with the map. “Three minutes until we get to start.”

He looked to 494 for instructions.

 

494 pointedly looked to Steve. Steve looked back at him. And waited.

 

494 shook his head. He did not want this. He did not want to be in charge.

 

“Two minutes,” Biggs commented.

 

494 looked around. The whole squad was looking at him and Steve, waiting.

 

“What’s the plan?” 494 asked.

 

“To follow your lead.”

 

“This is your squad,” he repeated, his voice getting slightly higher.

 

“No. Never was.” Steve stepped closer to him and put his hand on 494’s shoulder.

 

“One minute 30.”

 

494 turned and glared at Biggs.

 

Biggs smiled. “Better tell us what to do, Sir,” he emphasised the last word. “Lt Grey will be annoyed if we all get killed standing here. Oh, and 1 minute.”

 

“What do you want us to do, sir?” Tav stepped forward, coming to attention.

 

494 looked frantically at 598, the only one not to have spoken. 598 shrugged, and stood to attention.

 

Around him came the thud of twenty-something soldiers snapping to attention.

 

494 took a deep breath. “Fine,” he spoke loudly, strangely thrilled that his voice wasn’t shaking. “You want me to be in charge, fine. But it means this. You do what I say, when I say. You question me, even slightly, and you’ll wish you hadn’t. Anyone have a problem with that?”

 

No-one moved.

 

Then, Biggs stepped forward and spoke softly.

 

“30 seconds.”