The mess hall was crowded as always for lunch. Loud voices echoed through the halls and the sound of clinking silverware filled the space in between conversations. Isaias stood near the end of the serving line wondering about what it was about Marco that truly attracted him. Maybe I shouldn’t have told Zen and where did she find a pineapple and an orange? She knows I’d pick an orange they’re my favorite fruit.

The drill sergeant walked into the large room calling for attention. He should have been listening closer but his mind was too cluttered to think of complicated sentry duties. Marco sighed and stepped on his foot causing some reaction in him as the sergeant began to talk.

“Tonight! You and one other will be given the role of guard to one of four sections. North, South, East, and West Quadrants will be overrun by the Eskeleto gang and your job will be to find what is lost and bring it back to headquarters safe and sound. This is a real test. The people will be real. The killing will be real. Do not freeze out there or your lives are through! Is that understood?”

“Yes, drill sergeant!” Screamed the trainees.

“There will be competition and you are allowed to hurt each other as there is only one thing to bring back to headquarters! Friendly competition is allowed! Killing is allowed on the enemy, not your comrades! Am I clear!”

“Yes, drill sergeant!”

“Dismissed!”

The Guerreros and trainees went back to eating lunch except for all conversation now revolved around the test.

“I wonder what we’ll have to fetch?” Marco asked before chewing his hamburger.

Isaias dipped his fries in Mayoketchup and chewed shrugging. “I bet it’s some dignitary or something.”

Marco’s eyebrow rose. “They wouldn’t trust trainees with a dignitary, Isaias.”

“Well then maybe a treaty of some sort? We won’t know until tonight. Let’s go to the library after lunch since we don’t want to tire out before the mission.”

Marco nodded and took another big bite of his hamburger.

Isaias watched as he blotted out a bit of ketchup with a napkin. At least he isn’t a pig.

He was still trying to figure out what attracted him to Marco in the first place.

While he and Marco were scouring the library, looking for anything about the Armargaritas. Isaias’s father wasn’t a nobody as he had thought and he was convinced there would be more hidden within the archives. As he traversed the library on one side, Marco traveled on the other. Isaias almost passed it if it wasn’t for the big Amargarita sign on the book cover. A raven flying into a sunset. It was a large tome, an old tome titled “Historical Lands of the Amargarita.”

Hey, Marco, I found something!

Marco stopped perusing his side and came over to Isaias who had opened the book and was staring wide-eyed at the contents. Isaias glanced at Marco and shoved the book at him. Marco took it confused. He closed it and studied the title, eyes wide.

“I can’t believe this was hidden from me! This could have helped me when I was thirteen and defending my family. I didn’t have to join a gang and be treated like trash before Nathan and Shea found me. I could’ve done something for myself and my family--had some shelter at least while we healed from dad’s betrayal,” he sighed gripping his hair. He looked at his timepiece.

“We better have dinner. We don’t want to go to the mission on an empty stomach.”

Marco placed the book on a nearby table and approached the distraught teen.

“Isaias, life never works out as we planned it, but you’re right. This book,” he tapped the cover of the tome, “was meant for your family. Do you have any idea who would like to hide your heritage away?”

Isaias turned to Marco shaking his head. “Not a clue but that they hid it is a given. That it was hidden here of all places...it points to a Guerrero helping at least.” Isaias grabbed the tome and placed it in his dimensional pocket.

“Let’s go. We have an exam to pass. We can figure this out later.”

The inky fog of night greeted them as they lined up to board the big hallowed trucks. They had been refurbished to carry Guerreros to and from the battlefields. Isaias boarded the truck and scoffed.

“You know for twenty-five thousand Guerreros I expected something nicer. These are just benches nailed to the floor of the truck!”

Marco shifted on the hard bench and couldn’t help agreeing. This was the first time they were using the trucks. Usually, they wouldn’t need them till the end of the trainee exam, exactly four months away, but with this test popping up out of the air, the trainees were being given an honorary standby to use the trucks.

[And a good thing too. It's about three leagues to the military spaceport.] Signed Isaias

[We’d be tired before the mission began, Isaias].

[Yeah. Do you know where the mission will take place, Marco?]

[Somewhere near the Deadlands like our simulations always denote, is our best bet.]

[Mmhm, Most likely]

They were quiet for the rest of the trip. They piled into lines and boarded the big planes. These planes were solely for the transportation of military personnel and weaponry in case of war. They were painted a rustic black. Their emblem of a masked rider on a white steed with its legs kicked off the ground, in a battle stance was painted on the side of the hundreds of planes waiting to be loaded. Inside the hull was gray and the seats were standard bucket seats. Isaias grabbed one. Again Marco sat beside him and they conversed through the two-hour ride to the battlefield where they were shuffled down the gangplank and into groups of two. The two were separated and given separate partners. That meant that they were enemies on the battlefield.

I'll see you at the end of this thing, Isaias.

[I plan to win it.] Isaias signaled smirking.

“We both know who the winner will be, and it won’t be you.”

Isaias smirked. “Challenge accepted, Marco.”

“Depends on who our partners are,” replied Marco as he searched the group of trainees hoping that Alicia Mequinte was not a waste of space.

“I got Pablo,” Isaias moaned and stomped up to the group.

“Pablo! Let’s go!” Isaias yelled pulling the gangly male from a group of trainees and lining up at the line.

Marco grinned and stepped up to a pretty brunette. “Hi. We’re partners,” he said extending his hand.

The girl scoffed. “Oi who put me with the princess! I want to win this thing!” She said glaring at Marco who was inwardly cursing up a blue streak. Was he never going to get rid of that nickname?

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Once everyone was partnered up and in the correct directional quadrant, their Don’s voice was heard coming out of their comms.

“I don’t expect anyone to pass this test but anyway, you are to find Juaquin Santana, and bring him unharmed to the headquarters on the northern side of this island. You have two days. You will be timed! Friendly fire is accepted against comrades. Killing is expected against gang members. The more you kill the higher the points awarded. Now, Begin!”

The trainees all headed in different directions.

Goodluck Isaias

“Good luck Marco,” he heard but was too far away to confirm as his partner began hoofing it to the hills a few meters away.

Isaias hung back with Pablo, letting everyone go first before choosing a direction and starting out.

“Hey bonehead! Everyone’s in front now! Why did we wait?” Pablo asked as they jogged to a patch of large grass.

“If someone finds Juaquin first there will be a lot of infighting. Do you want to be caught in that?”

“So you’re saying wait out the chaos and then grab the guy?” Pablo asked scratching his head.

“That’s the plan.”

###

“Pablo! Snap out of it!” yelled Isaias as he shot another Eskeleto through the head. It had turned into a literal bloodbath as the Eskeleto gang began actively hunting down the Guerreros. Many hadn’t been ready for this. Isaias aimed and shot again while slapping his partner into the world of the living. Pablo had been staring into empty space for over thirty minutes now. His psyche couldn’t handle killing a sixteen-year-old. Uncle forgot to tell us that these guys were our age! Just what was he thinking? We aren’t ready for this. Well, most trainees aren’t.

He shot an Eskeleto running towards him with a bloody machete. That thing has already seen blood tonight.

Pablo screamed and fell back forgetting his training as more people dressed in skulls attacked them.

Marco was in a similar bind having to carry Alicia because she had been knocked unconscious due to a pipe to the head after freezing on her first kill. The trainees weren’t anywhere near ready to battle people their own age or as the case was younger. To the death. We have only had simulation battles. Our first real battle wasn’t scheduled for another few weeks. This is too much!

Marco fled the battlefield to find a place to set Alicia down. He found one in the eddies although it was occupied.

“You too, Marco?”

“Yes, Isaias. What happened to Pablo?”

“He fainted after freezing on his first kill. It was a sixteen-year-old by the looks of it.”

“Alicia got whacked by a pipe after freezing from killing a twelve-year-old girl”

Isaias sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “They could have warned us we were battling kids. I mean what the hell is this Marco?”

“I don’t know but if I had to guess, we are in the isle of exiles populated by orphans left after WWV.”

“Then all we’re doing is killing unwanted kids?”

“Looks like.”

Isaias slammed his gun down. “No. Uh uh. I ain’t killing another defenseless kid!”

“They aren’t defenseless.”

“They’re protecting their home from intruders which we are! They aren’t a fearless gang! They’re kids!”

“They have guns, pipes. Machetes and…!”

An explosion goes off near their right.

“Add bombs to that list,” muttered Isaias as he stalked past the rock cave that was their defense and watched some Guerreros crawling without direction.

Marco stood up and followed Isaias.

“We should help them,” he said.

“Yeah,” muttered Isaias before he left the outcropping and herded the wounded men and women to their hiding place. A trainee was sobbing. From the elbow down she had nothing left on her right side. She was holding her gun awkwardly. They took her shooting arm.

Isaias led her to the back where Marco immediately began to administer a pain-relieving shot. The side effect was weariness and he hoped her partner could fight off the kids for her. Isaias stood watch as the trainees got medical attention from Marco. He watched the fields for intruders and almost missed the small body trying and failing to get away from some Eskeletos.

[Stay here. I’m going to check something out real quick.]

Fine. But you better come back, Isaias

[I will]

Isaias made his way to the group of Eskeletos hiding behind another smaller grouping of rocks.

“You’ve brought us nothing but misery Juaquin,” yelled a big male.

“Yeah! Because of you our island is under attack and we’ve lost many good people defending it,” cried a young girl. She was trembling from head to foot and launched out to slap the little boy, Her hand connected with a loud smack that turned Juaquin’s face.

A dark-haired boy barely eight was crying. “I don’t know why my father has sent an army to get me! He doesn’t care about me! Hasn’t for years!” He cried at their feet.

“It doesn’t matter! They did and that’s what matters. We’ll just give them a body to find instead,” said the boy aiming his gun at Juaquin’s head. He closed his eyes. A shot hit the pistol in the boy’s hand knocking it to the ground and all three kids turned to face Isaias who still had his gun out.

“Ok, there’s been too much killing between us as-is. I don’t know why we were pitted against each other but we can come to a deal. It’s Juaquin we are searching for so give him up and no one is harmed,” Isaias said as he approached the children. The big boy couldn’t be older than him and the girl seemed thirteen years old. Juaquin seemed between eight or nine years old.

The girl kicked Juaquin in the ribs. “Here, have him and get off our island!” She screamed and headed in the opposite direction. In the light of the moon, her dress was coated in brown sludge and Isaias realized it was blood he was seeing. This girl had killed tonight. Probably many times in defense of her life. Beside her, the big boy was cleaner but that didn’t mean he was scot-free of kills. He had probably killed more than the girl. His way was a bit cleaner was all. On the ground, Juaquin was crumpled like the small child he was. He groaned when Isaias turned him over.

Dark eyes glared into his. “Why are you here? You’ve ruined everything!” He screamed rising to his feet gingerly. The kick to the ribs had dealt some damage.

Isaias sighed. “Look kid, We trainees have been through hell trying to search for your sorry butt. It was our mission and we needed to finish it. We didn’t come with the intent to harm kids. At least I didn’t sign up for this crap. Let’s go see my partner and set those ribs alright?” Isaias said scooping up the boy and settling him on his back.

“Hold on,” he said as he ran back to the cave, Marco was making his way out to see what was taking him so long. They made it back in less than ten minutes and Isaias gave Juaquin to Marco.

“This little guy needs his ribs set. He’s the guy we’re looking for, he bears the Santana beauty mark so he must be him,” he said. Marco took the kid and smirked.

“You spared those kids didn’t you?” he asked as he led Juaquin into the darkness of the cave. Hybrid light led the way and the kid saw the Guerreros giving him nasty glances. Isaias picked him up again and carried him to the end of the cave where Marco was preparing a pain-relieving shot. Juaquin saw the needle and began to fidget in Isaias’s arms.

“Is that necessary? Can’t you bind them without it?” He asked becoming more agitated as Marco came closer with the needle.

“Scared of needles kid?” Isaias asked smirking.

Juaquin fidgeted. “I don’t like them.”

“Never cared for them either. Once it took five people to hold me down and I still escaped.”

Juaquin turned curious eyes toward Isiais forgetting about the advancing Marco.

“What happened?” He asked.

Isaias grinned. “I ran security all over the center trying to get me. In the end, my mom gave me a mighty spank and I behaved marginally hehe.”

“And...oww!” Juaquin turned to a grinning Marco who was injecting the pain reliever into the flesh of his arm. He pulled the needle out and placed it in the emergency kit ejecting the needle into a plastic bag.

“See, that wasn’t so bad. It was like an ant bite.”

“I hate ants!”

“Then mosquitos.”

“They itch...and sting. I don’t like those either.”

Isaias smirked. “Agreed little buddy...they suck.”

“At least that pinch will be gone in a few minutes. Bug bites last for days,” Marco muttered smirking.

Isaias chuckled and put Juaquin on the small cot. The small boy was falling asleep from the meds in his system. As he slept, Marco gently reset his ribs. A task that would have had the boy screaming if he hadn’t been given the pain relief med. Isaias was conscious that healing eight Guerreros and one small boy had taxed their emergency kit and if they were in a bind later on they would have to go without one. Well, there is always borrowing from neighbors. Isaias noticed Marco was a bit tired.

[Sleep Marco. Everyone has been healed to the best of your abilities.]

You noticed huh?

[You walking like a drunkard? Of course, I noticed. Sleep!]

What about you?

[Someone has to stay awake and guard the cave. I have the most energy and when my partner wakes he can take over. He’s the least hurt after us.]

Marco cuddled up to a stalagmite and closed his eyes. Isaias sighed and turned once more to the cave opening. It wasn’t three hours later that everything went to hell again.