Training

“RISE AND SHINE BEASTS!”

Isaiah sat up having spent all night laying in bed. He no longer needed sleep or sustenance. Still, the harsh screaming of his former pre-calculus teacher was pissing him off. He and Milo stood at the front of their beds as they had been instructed to for the past weeks. Entering through the doorway a man in his sixties, muscular with well-kept white hair, held a commanding aura. Students always knew how to get him off on a tangent, ask about Westpoint, or anything military-related. Now Isaiah held nothing but disdain for the bitter old man. Every day at 04:00 exactly he burst into the room. For three hours the teenagers were forced to run, complete obstacle courses, fight hand to hand, learn how to operate certain weapons, and speak other languages. All while being berated by a bitter old man, who hated monsters with every fiber of his being.

“Now are you gonna sit there and stare blankly boy? Front leaning rest position both of you. Teach your demonic ass to stare.” He stood there reveling in the discomfort shown by Isaiah. “What can you do when encountering a Wendigo?”

“STEAK ITS ICE-COLD HEART!” Both boys shouted at the man. Isaiah felt a deep hatred brewing inside of him with each passing second. He knew deep down if he released any of the power he had won from the Colonel there would be no stopping him. “Then you must cut it into pieces and bury them in places of great religious meaning. All parts must be separate so it can never reform.” Isaiah recited what they had learned two days previously

“Looks like I have a smart ass on my hands, repeating my lesson to me. One hundred push-ups right now.” He got on his hands and knees, pressing his face close to Isaiah “I bet you want to hurt me right now don't ya. By all means, come at me. I've killed demons ten times as powerful as you, without ever breaking a sweat.” Moving over to Milo he got even closer, “Now werewolf why did you not finish the answer like demon boy over there. You stupid or something?”

“NO SIR” Both boys shouted while finishing out their pushups. Standing up Isaiah and Milo stared their former teacher down. He turned, clicking his heels together and walking out. The two followed suit. In the past few weeks, Isaiah and Milo had noticed changes in their physique. Isaiah had always been a heavy guy but now could tell he had lost at least five pounds. Definition taking place around his arms. Even with his body not requiring nutrients anymore he had learned that it could still be positively or negatively affected by his choices. Milo had put on considerable muscle mass due to his transformation. Through all years of school, he had always been a twig, barely passing one hundred pounds as a freshman. He was great at track and could outspeed most opponents, but he started gaining muscle and strength not until joining a local gym and beginning MMA. At first, he gained about ten pounds. Now with his transformation and the training, they had been receiving for weeks he was at least thirty pounds heavier, all muscle. For the first few weeks, Zoë trained with them, and her physical condition seemed ok. As time went on she got sick, and sicker until she was confined to a bed. Milo felt bad for her, the effects of the vampire's bite were so painful he could not help but feel pity. Isaiah on the other hand felt indifferent, the deal he made with the Colonel was all he could think of. Trading his soul for the powers of a demon, effectively making him such had huge benefits but just as big downsides. Isaiah had to fight the urge to let go of his humanity daily, and Mr. Dean was no help.

“You beasts are lucky today. No classroom learning. No. Today I will subject you to hell on earth. The gauntlet is a twisted test of your strength, agility, endurance, and mental fortitude. I should know. I designed it.”

Being led through the compound Isaiah noticed the strange design, some parts were more modern, with electronics, and others were more like a medieval castle. Stone walls with torches. Mr. Dean led the two up a staircase, ending at a set of wooden doors. Emerging onto the surface they found themselves just off of the high school property. In the field where students usually ate their lunch stood a cinderblock building closed by a metal door with opaque glass. Behind was an obstacle course consisting of a seventy-foot tall wooden wall with a rope hanging down the other side. At the bottom were two rucksacks bursting at the seams. Then a pool of mud was followed by a field with metal bars placed intermittently at differing heights. Finally a range, with axes knives, and handguns on a table in front of it.

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“First you will wait five minutes inside the room over there. It is filled with tear gas, you will sit for five minutes, eyes open. If either of you makes any noise of discomfort another five minutes.” He paused smiling, “Then you will have five minutes to complete the course. You will find a way to scale that wall, then you will put those rucksacks on, and run through the mud while avoiding being hit by water balloons thrown by yours truly. Then you will swing from bar to bar, and finally, you will throw all weapons perfectly. Finally, you will disassemble and reassemble Kimber 1911 and take out all zombies.”

“Wait! What zombies?” Milo asked confused quickly finishing his statement with “Sir.” Looking he saw no zombies anywhere.

“Observant as ever. Drop and give me fifty for interrupting me. The zombies will be released by me once you hit all targets perfectly. If you do not complete the entire course in five minutes or under you will go back in the tear gas and start all over again. You can not help each other, but if one fails both fail. Now you may ask any question you might have.” Isaiah turned to him genuinely confused. They had run here every day for weeks and no building or obstacle course was ever there. The courses they had run were always underground in the complex.

“Um yeah, when exactly did this get put up?”

“Good question. I had time after finishing grading finals.” He stated nonchalantly. “Now both of you in the room.”

Entering the small cinderblock room Isaiah saw two spouts in the wall, Milo entered directly after him and sat on the floor. Isaiah followed his example. Instantly after the door closed a grey gas began flowing out of the spouts. Searing pain erupted the instant it hit his eyes and nose. Isaiah remembered that although it did not require anything, his body could still feel pain. Both boys sat in silence staring at the window in the door. After what felt like hours the door was flung open.

“Your time begins now.”

Walking out the fresh air stung their lungs and eyes. Coughing they both ran to the wall. Looking up there were boards that stuck out an eighth of an inch spaced intermittently. Milo ran and jumped landing about four feet off the ground.

Huh, no bonuses in his human form. I see. Isaiah thought to himself

Isaiah jumped a good fourteen feet off the ground and held on to the wall with two fingers. Isaiah rose inhumanly fast, while Milo was always ten feet behind. When the two boys reached the top one minute had passed. Isaiah grabbed onto the rope and began climbing down. A second rope was sitting coiled at the top. Tying a knot around his waist Milo began to repel down very crudely and burn his hands the whole way down. At the bottom, the rucksacks sat. Isaiah picked one up and began towards the mud, the weight slowing him considerably. Both continued through the mud until they heard a mechanical whirring noise. Standing at the side of the pool were Mr. Dean and a pitching machine.

“Couldn't make any water balloons, hope baseballs will suffice.”

The two managed to get to the end of the mud having multiple welts from being hit. Jumping onto the bars the sack on Milo's back began to slip. He managed to pull it back up and start swinging again. Finally, in the end, they found five knives each, five small hatches, and a Kimber 1911 each. There were ten targets all at different ranges with two moving ones. Throwing was the easy part they had been trained from day one. After throwing the last hatchet each Mr. Dean opened a horse trailer at the far end of the fenced-in range. Ten zombies spilled out and began slowly moving for the two. Isaiah grabbed the tool and loosened the front part under the barrel. A large spring shot out into the range. Milos did not.

“SHIT! Milo do not shoot me I have to go retrieve the spring.” Isaiah ducked under the table and ran. He reached the spring in time to see a decaying foot land in front of him. Isaiah grabbed the spring and went to punch the zombie when a loud bang came from behind. Turning he saw Milo shooting each zombie down. By the time he made it back and reassembled his pistol Mr. Dean came walking up.

“Congratulations, You two just earned yourselves another go around.”