Complete silence had fallen over the yard. Not a single soul dared to make a noise as Leya approached the body that laid still. It was that of a scrawny kid, definitely 16 years old like the majority around here. From the distance I couldn't discern much outside of his black hair and pale skin tone. I didn't know the kid, so he wasn't one of those that came from my city, outside of that he was but a nameless figure in the group that had entered this field with me. Leya lowered herself next to the body and placed two of her fingers in his neck, after holding them there for a bit she stood back up and looked at two of the privates standing on the sidelines.
“Dead, get the body out”
The tone was even, there was no hint of surprise in her voice, as if this event wasn't unexpected. It was a tough pill to swallow, I had witnessed the uglier side of humanity, and most of the people here with me should be no different, yet some of them still trembled, perhaps realising their worth in the eyes of the present ecosystem. Sensing our lack of movement, Leya this time turned to us.
“Stop staring and get back to your posts, you're not dismissed until we say so.”
Her chilling voice commanded the movement that followed. Everyone turned back to their posts, some clearly unfocused now. The reminder of the session was completed in dead silence. Even those that cared the least about the death maintained the solemn tone the field had taken. I realized that we had been lucky to have the obstacle course first, the other exercises were shorter, and we were allowed to return to the barracks before the last group had finished. As soon as we made our way to the barracks I parted ways with Mayla, and the rest of the group and headed towards my bunk. Vicky had also already gotten back and was looking at me with dubious eyes. I tried my best to ignore the look, as I wanted nothing more than to lay down and let my sore muscles rest, but upon laying down I noticed her head peak from the side of the top bunk. She asked in a questioning tone.
“What do you think?”
“What do I think of?”
I figured she wished to talk about the incident, but frankly I didn't care as much as maybe I should, right now I just wished for some quiet. Clearly unhappy with my response Vicky pouted her lips and was about to speak up when we both heard a shout.
“How could this happen? How can they let this happen!”
The shout came from a young man, who shared similar features as the dead body. He had black hair, though the shouter kept it longer than the corpse, and his skin, while also pale, was clearly that of a slightly older person.
“And they just told us to move on? How can this be acceptable.”
The pale young man had tears in his eyes, and his tone was almost that of a plea, a plea directed at the people around him. Some simply turned away and returned to what they were doing while some nodded in agreement.
“We deserve an explanation, let's go get it.”
He finished his tirad with that and started heading towards the door, a few listeners following right behind, when it suddenly slid open. From it emerged the figures of Major Opal and Sergeant Steve, the latter harbouring a look of disgust in his eyes. However, it wasn't him that spoke, instead it was the former, Major Opal that cleared his throat.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Today one of you died during the drills. It is an unfortunate reality of our job, we are always at death's door, these are the risks this job incours. You will have to learn to accept this reality.”
While his words were sympathetic, his tone was as monotone as it can be. It almost invited the listener to feel his disinterest regarding the events that transpired. The listeners jumped at the bait, their eyes slowly filling with rage.
“I hope an unfortunate accident won't destroy your opinion of our establishment, we still wish to provide you with an environment where you can give us all your worth.”
Still the same tone, while honestly I wasn't too perturbed, the shouter from earlier spoke up. His voice used with anger.
“His name was Renard, he wasn't just an unfortunate accident.”
Major Opal's eyes turned to the voice that had just spoken, his face still unphased and responded in his dry monotonic voice.
“All of you rats come from the most despicable holes humanity has to offer. A death here has offered that soul a more dignified end then he would've ever obtained staying in the sewers he came from. Make that bring you peace in his death.”
The room was left stunned. No one dared to follow up that statement, and Major Opal, sensing the looks of shock in the barracks, simply nodded, clearly satisfied with the reaction.
“Looks like you have all understood. Very well, Sergeant Steve will give you your group assignments. You will be further divided into subgroups that better fit the level you showed today. These groups will evolve as your individual assessments determine their fit. Steve, take it away.”
With that he turned away, and left the room, leaving the still shocked herd with the Sergeant in the room.
“Very well, you will be further divided in 10 groups, the best performing will be in group 1, the following bunch in group 2 and so on until the bottom 10 as evaluated by our assessors will be in group 10. As Major Opal said, these groups will change throughout the course of your camp here, and a small piece of advice, you do not want to remain in group 10.”
He seemed genuinely content with the atmosphere in the room, his attitude struck a shiver down my spine. He then proceeded to call out the first group, and started listing a bunch of names. I wasn't part of either group 1 or 2, I had hoped that my performance in the obstacle course would've lifted me higher. However the ultimate result wasn't too bad either, as my name would soon follow.
“Group 3: Wilson, Zoraya, Ralf, Mayla, Pesté, Cerny, Minnie, Freya, Andrés, Stefan”
“Hey, we're in the same group!”
Behind me Mayla's voice whispered into my year, likely she didn't want to be heard by the Sergeant. She seemed very relieved for her placement, and I knew why.
“See, told you you'd be able to make up for the obstacle course”
“Yeah, I’m glad”
I was happy to see that someone I had already talked with was in my group, as for the others, I recognised a few, and didn't know anything about the others. I'd probably find out more about them later. The Sergeant swiftly ran through every other group before concluding with some last additional info.
“All groups will have their respective rooms in the barracks, a waste of resources if you ask me, but apparently upper management considers lower group recruits murdering members of higher groups in their sleep to climb up the ranks as something worth avoiding, as well, starting tomorrow you will eat in the general camp's cafeteria. You are not the only group currently in camp, other groups that arrived earlier and groups that will arrive later will share this space with the lot of you. That's about all you need to know so clear the intake barracks and scram”
I slowly went to pack my stuff from my bed. It had been an intense first day, but I was glad it was coming to an end. We left our stuff in the new room. It was very simple, 5 bunk beds and 1 bathroom for the 10 of us. There weren't many complaints as most of us were used to it. We were given rations as the cafeteria was closed given that our intake had taken longer than usual, and most of us went to sleep shortly after.