Joining The Military
“Wait a second! Don't shoot! We won't harm you!” The young man's voice sounded, stopping Phesx Caolia from just moving ahead and firing at anything that came out of the truck. Once he showed this, sounds of doors opening and people walking around the other side of the truck were heard.
“Put that down!” - “Kneel!!” - “Hands up!!” Soldiers walked around the truck with rifles pointing at him. Phesx Caolia slowly placed his rifle down and knelt, hearing footsteps behind him as he was shouted the second loudest in his life. His mother was always first…
“Wait! He has a bad injury on his abdomen, it’s very bad! He isn’t prei. He just wore that in case we met any of them!” Sofia’s voice loudly screamed. The soldiers continued towards him and cuffed him with a contraption spread to the back of his hands and coiling around his fingers. When trying to move them, he felt like his bones would dislocate if he continued trying.
However, the soldiers, who seemed intent on barging his face to meet the ground, slowed down and looked at each other but still separated Phesx Caolia from the group of civilians. He looked back at Sofia. Seeing she was being heard by the soldiers, whose uniform and helmets made them look taller and bulkier, he looked ahead at a young man with orange hair.
“Bring him in. We should report this quickly.” The young man said, giving Phesx Caolia a slightly long glance. Then, he nodded and went back into the truck. Its front had the driver seats and another 2 small rows for more people. The young man went to the one furthest to the back.
Phesx Caolia was shoved into the truck and also placed in the same row as the young man. The other soldiers sat beside him, with the rest still outside as they guided the civilians up the back. One of the soldiers returned to the car and sat on the driver’s seat, with a panel of controls between the seat and the co-driver’s.
He looked serious and had a bushy, relaxed, attractive black hair. Phesx Caolia looked at the soldiers sitting beside him. One of them was a woman. He realized that quite a few of the soldiers outside were also female. Then, he turned his head to the orange-haired young man.
“Don’t worry, I know you’re no prei. But I’m surprised you could escape back then and survive all along. Looking at the direction you fled, you went to the rich districts, right?” The young man looked to his right, at the young boy, and smiled a little. The soldiers on Phesx Caolia’s right noticed but didn’t say anything, letting them have a moment to chat while the back was filled.
The young man was white, with freckles. His orange hair, flat and short around his forehead and sides, contrasted very well with his obscure, striking eyes. He wasn’t too youthful, and was of regular height, but even the soldiers who seemed to be in service for years here listened to him. No questions asked.
Phesx Caolia nodded, saying not a word. The other 2 soldiers looked at him. So far, he has been very silent, but what they mistook as fear and cowardice seemed to not be the case anymore. The young man nodded maturely before extending his palm a little towards him.
“Paul. I’m an instructor of a Prequa military camp’s encampment, leg-grabber.” The young man said after Phesx Caolia looked at his right palm, facing the ceiling, for a few seconds. Phesx Caolia looked up and saw Paul’s little smile. He titled his head and asked with a soft, semi-broken voice. “Leg-grabber?”
“Eh,” Paul nodded, “You used my legs to shoot out of the crowd. I almost made a son with a brother over here.”
“…” Phesx Caolia’s widened his eyes, startled. He looked outside before staring at the driver, who looked at him from the mirror with eagle-like eyes. Phesx Caolia lightly exclaimed, “Ah.”
“Hahaha, don’t worry. He doesn’t bite. Unless you provoke him, ah?” Paul said, elbowing the young boy a little. Phesx Caolia couldn’t help showing a smile. Sofia, who just walked a little away from the line of people boarding the truck, was startled.
‘Kid, so you can smile.’ Her surprised eyes relaxed as she followed the others, with a soldier calmly guiding her back to the line. Paul smiled at finally seeing that young boy alive. He looked quite charismatic. Phesx Caolia tapped Paul’s palm out of compromising before saying, “Phesx. Thank you.”
“Take his cuffs off. Unless you want to try and see if he bites, ah.” Paul said to the soldiers sitting beside him. One of them looked at Paul before grabbing Phesx Caolia’s wrists. After what seemed 3 ticks in Phesx Caolia’s senses, the contraction around his hands were released, like a snake letting go of prey.
Phesx Caolia looked at the vile things, but they were only like one of those toys that expand and shrink, either to relieve stress or just to help spend time doing nothing. They didn’t even look like handcuffs, although they had a little mechanism at the center, where a tiny keyhole seemed loose.
“You’re just a civilian, but because you held a gun and pointed it at the army, you’ll be prisoner until new notice. It will be decided once we arrive at the encampment. Just keep quiet for now, alright?” Paul said with a neutral expression before the soldiers outside boarded the truck.
The driver looked back at them, and where a couple of spots were left vacant. The driver asked them, “They’re outside?”
“Yes, sir, they’ll take care of them.” A soldier said, slow and relaxed. His tone was at ease. The driver nodded before driving the truck in an u turn. They were returning from where they came from. Phesx Caolia looked back and then up ahead.
Noticing this, Paul tapped the boy’s shoulder before nudging his head upwards to the front. “We’re going to the outskirts of the worker districts. Many encampments are there, don’t you know it?”
“Know what?” Phesx Caolia asked with an indifferent face. Paul was a little startled, looking at the boy. One of the soldiers in front voiced, loosen up. “The civilians didn’t have time to steal or buy radios before each army acted, sir. Theirs are run by cylindrical batteries.”
“Ahh.” Paul exclaimed, finally understanding. He grabbed Phesx Caolia’s shoulder and began explaining with a heavy-ish expression, “The preis acted strangely out of nowhere. We found out there was a group that infiltrated them. It put them restless, immediately moving their troops in circles. It seems they lost 1 squad and a half in less than an hour, without anyone noticing.”
“…” Phesx Caolia lowered his head and looked at the floor. Paul continued, letting go of his shoulder. “Dunno what people in hell can be that crazy, surrounded by an entire 10,000-division around and another down the south, but they sure let Prequa take advantage. We destroyed most of their mechanized forces and forced them out, now, they’re just like rats trying to bite our tails.”
“Didn’t the preis won against… Prequa’s military?” Phesx Caolia asked, frowning. Paul titled his head and hooked the corners of his lips downwards for a moment. “There was a retreat, but a defeat? Haha. I forgot to ask, I’m just curious but, how old are you?”
“… 13.” Phesx Caolia took a moment to think before responding. Paul blinked a few times before nodding, “No wonder.”
From then on, their trip was silent, with Phesx Caolia occasionally hearing the soldiers chat with each other. However, it was nothing compared to what he’d seen compared to his classmates once upon a time. Paul also seemed very easy to chat with by his soldiers, as even the serious young man driving spent a few minutes chatting nonstop.
About 20-30 minutes later, Phesx Caolia saw the hints of civilization nearby. With many trees, hills, and steep, natural walls around the road, they moved to the left, nearest to the southern rich residential districts, but still 20-40 minutes from them on car.
What used to be a smaller worker district, separated from the center of the western worker districts, was now a massive encampment. Well, massive for Phesx Caolia, who barely even got out of his neighborhood since he was 12, and never went further away from his school before.
The entrance was open, as nothing else could be done with it in such modern times, but there were many towers with several, large strong lights installed around them. About a dozen people worked on the towers’ few floors, putting pressure in Phesx Caolia’s shoulders despite ‘being on the same side’.
“You don’t mind being separated from your group, do you?” Paul grabbed Phesx Caolia’s attention again, just as the latter looked around, bending his body and moving sideways, trying not to touch the soldiers and Paul.
Phesx Caolia shook his head before looking around, more calmly this time. A minute later, they drove from a few tents that seemed deserted to a really lively place. Before, the tents were small but amassed like walls, with only a few armed people walking around, alone or accompanied by another soldier or more.
Phesx Caolia noticed the similitudes between these and the guards he saw before, especially on the bag on their backs. Now he understood that the ‘guards’ from back then were just soldiers in disguise with folded military backpacks.
However, after passing by them and entering a little further into the encampment, Phesx Caolia understood. That deserted area was perhaps a ‘wall’ in case they were attacked, at least from the outside. Now, Phesx Caolia watched as dozens of people were everywhere at the sides of a path, easily rounding up to hundreds for every 10 tents on each side.
They moved to and fro, mostly walking with bags or loose, long robes that kept some of their items safe from pickpocketing and to not unnecessarily carry bags or backpacks for light items. Phesx Caolia could also see credits were still being used as currency, but so were ‘coupons’ with writing and even drawings on them, all white and black.
There were many civilians, but the number of soldiers moving around wasn’t that far behind. They also wielded rifles, the same Phesx Caolia used, but also different models. Some were past versions of weaponry that led to the 3 supercontinents’ current weaponry, and looked more fearsome than the rest.
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The relations between civs and soldiers didn’t seem all that stable, though. At least, they peacefully lived and walked around these markets. All of this was in a semi-destroyed city, of what the previous worker district was, with only some tall buildings remaining. Although the young boy didn’t know if they were safe.
The truck stopped after another minute. The soldiers came out, arriving at a simple building that looked like a bakery store before the civil war. There were tents at the sides, where buildings should have clearly been standing tall, but were now all leveled to the ground and replaced by military tents.
Phesx Caolia was guided out of the truck and held by the 2 soldiers who sat beside him. Paul stopped beside him and said to him, “You’ll have to wait for some time elsewhere. I’ll go check what opportunities you have. Those people will more or less decide that, so you better be a good kid now.”
Phesx Caolia nodded before looking at the group of civilians who walked behind him just half an hour ago. One of them, another young boy, hurried to another soldier and pointed at him. The soldier looked down at that young boy make signs with his hands, pointing at Phesx Caolia at the end of each gesture.
“Come on,” a male voice reached his ears before Phesx Caolia felt his body pulled into one of the tents to the left of the bakery store. He was cuffed again, but there was nobody to save him from the sensation.
After entering the tent, Phesx Caolia was brought to a simple, metallic chair to sit down. Meanwhile, the other soldier talked to a receptionist, who was an old military officer, and constantly nodded at the soldier talking to him.
The one near Phesx Caolia remained beside him, standing with his long, squarish shaped rifle, with a long carrying handle that also worked as a near sight. With nothing to do, Phesx Caolia looked down and slumped his shoulders, hunching his back and spreading his legs. He felt really comforted in this position, somehow.
… About half an hour later, with Phesx Caolia spending most of that time not moving a bit, unnoticed by the soldier and the old military officer, another officer walked into the tent. “Phesx?”
Phesx Caolia lifted his face. He indifferently glanced at the man looking around the tent, there was no one else but him and the soldier guarding him. The old man at the reception nodded and gestured towards Phesx Caolia, to which the officer nodded and walked to him.
“Get up. You’ll be seen by a recruiter,” the man said before turning around, not waiting for any response. The soldier nudged his head at Phesx Caolia before he finally stood up. The young boy cracked his neck and back before following the officer.
Phesx Caolia was guided into the bakery store, where Paul waited for him, already inside at the entrance. The soldier was given a glare and was dispatched off by Paul and given a tiny, thin key before he took it from there. The officer looked back but didn’t bother and just continued walking.
“On the way here, the others were interrogated. You gave everyone a ‘noticeable’ impression.” Paul commented. “The odds were 50/50 against you, but our LT Colonel decided to talk to you himself. He’s a recruiter whenever he’s taking a break like everyone else, so don’t be offensive, or rash.”
It seemed like Paul became a little aware of Phesx Caolia’s behavior, whether he heard exactly what he did or exaggerated things. Either way, the young boy didn’t care as he nodded. He understood that, perhaps Paul spoke for him to that ‘LT’ Colonel, or that colonel happened to pity him. He was very young, after all. Of course, Phesx Caolia wasn’t really aware of things.
Paul directed Phesx Caolia around the small building, chatting to him a few times about the things to consider when he talked to other officers, almost as if he believed Phesx Caolia can remain here, unrestrained. Phesx Caolia silently pondered, believing he’ll just disappoint the fella.
“It’s here. Just go in and don’t think of anything. It usually goes better that way.” Paul showed him the door without forgetting to give Phesx Caolia random advice. Phesx Caolia just nodded before Paul did as well and uncuffed him. Then, he opened the door for Phesx Caolia after knocking.
“Enter.” A loud voice emerged as soon as the door opened. Phesx Caolia inadvertently raised his face to stare at a brown, aged, short man. Entering the small room, Phesx Caolia felt a little more comfortable before sitting down on the chair, trying to shorten any possible talk.
“So, you’re Phesx?” The officer spoke, looking at a few documents, and writing below them as he held them with his other hand. Phesx Caolia nodded, before realizing he wasn’t being stared at and softly spoke with a semi-broken voice, “Yes.”
“Okay,” the officer put some glasses on and looked at him. “I’ve found your files. Who would’ve thought you were that kid.”
“…” The corners of Phesx Caolia’s lips arched downwards, and his eyes became indifferent, slightly lowering as well. His fingers found each other on his lap as the officer continued, “State your name, officially, and your age, height, and address.”
“… Phesx Caolia, 13, one-seventy something tall, and I don’t know my address.” Phesx Caolia said with his eyes still lowered slightly. The officer nodded once and took notes as he spoke, but looked up after hearing the last few words. “You don’t…”
“Sigh…” The officer briefly glanced at another document at the side before writing on the one he noted Phesx Caolia’s official statement. Then, he lifted his head, took his glasses off, and looked at the boy. “Let’s get on with something else. Where and how did you get those weapons?”
“…” Phesx Caolia’s eyes darted up and down a few times before sitting straight and facing the officer. However, he looked at above the officer’s left ear, not at his face. “The rifle… after finding a man, a soldier, in my house. I was just returning from the congregating point, when all of this happened. After brawling, and nearly dying, I… found a very small explosive and used it to kill the man.”
“…” The officer looked at the young boy with his left hand supporting his chin. Phesx Caolia kept staring at the void beside the officer’s head until the latter frowned and asked, “You killed a man like that? To overpower a soldier in a brawl, how did you achieve it?”
“I didn’t… He hesitated a few times. Even though I could have died, that gave me enough… to live.” Phesx Caolia neutrally said. The officer nodded before briefly pointing at him, “Is that how you got the rifle? What about the small pistol?”
“…Mmm, when I went to check my cousin’s house, I found another 2 soldiers. I al- shot them with the rifle. My cousin’s family were dead.” Phesx Caolia caressed his left arm with his right hand as he spoke up to here.
“Mm, I see.” The officer nodded again, he looked down at his notes before lifting his face again. He seemed… unconvinced? He opened his mouth again and asked, “Why didn’t you take the pistol from the first soldier?”
“I wasn’t thinking straight, I was also injured.” Phesx Caolia said, pointing at his abdomen. The officer nodded yet again and finally noted down twice. Phesx Caolia noticed it was a single word, and that the officer wrote twice, one below the other, further below where his official statement was written.
“When you killed those 2 civilians, did you feel regret?”
“I didn’t. I wouldn’t know what could have happened. But it would have been probably the worst, from what… I saw so far.” Phesx Caolia said, slightly stopping amidst his words to remember which to use, slightly confusing the officer. However, he narrowed his eyes before sneakily glancing at another document at the side.
“Sigh.” The officer relaxed a little before continuing, “You also threatened more civilians again before you were seen and brought here by a squad. Why did you do it?”
“I saw a gun, and I felt like I should… like… let ‘them’ know I would act. That I’m not going to do what they tell me nor want me to do.” Phesx Caolia said, relaxed and leaning back on the seat. The officer stayed quiet for a longer period of time now.
“You grabbed many supplies from other houses, and also nearly threatened another 2 civilians, one of which helped your wound, right?” The officer asked, and Phesx Caolia answered with a nod. His voice remained semi-broken and soft, “Yes.”
The officer said nothing more and wrote down again, adding the third word. Phesx Caolia couldn’t see it entirely, but he could make out ‘daring’ and ‘tactician’ already written from this angle. He couldn’t see his statement or the other words above it, though.
The third word seemed to be ‘committed’.
“Fine, so. What about your address? How come you don’t know it but still found it after escaping the congregating point?” The officer asked, but Phesx Caolia’s eyes shone imperceptibly, ‘Escape? So I was right?’
“I can walk to it from memory… photographic, or something like that. I used to do it when I went to school for several years since I was a kid.” Phesx Caolia calmly responded. The officer nodded, not taking much importance to such a ‘feat’.
“Do you feel regret now? After killing people who weren’t enemies?” The officer asked. He seemed very interested in this answer. Phesx Caolia felt a detaching, weird feeling of someone being attentive towards him. He simply answered, “No, I do not. It’s good that I did. If I didn’t, that event before being caught would’ve been different. It made sense in the end. But also…”
The officer raised his chin a little, ever more attentive to listen. Phesx Caolia voiced in all tranquility, glancing at the officer indifferently and with lowered eyelids. “They were my enemies.”
“…” The officer looked at Phesx Caolia without saying a thing for several seconds. Then, he tilted his head and noted down a fourth word. Phesx Caolia read it as ‘rebellious’.
‘Wow, I like that one.’ Phesx Caolia looked down at it and felt the officer’s gaze, realizing he could read it, but he didn’t shy away from it. Instead, the young boy smirked a little. He looked childish.
“Phesx Caolia, would you be interested in joining the military?” The officer asked, slowly standing up. In response, Phesx Caolia blinked and calmly jerked his head backwards. The officer nodded before asking him at the side of the desk.
“Would you kill those who ‘sold you out’ in the radio if you knew they’d do something like that?”
Phesx Caolia looked at the officer with upturned but still narrowed eyes before answering, “It depends on what happens to me here, I think.”
“Hahaha!” The officer uproariously laughed, making Paul, who stood outside with his upper back against the wall beside the door and with crossed arms to open his eyes, baffled. Then, the officer shook his head while staring down at the young boy with squinted eyes. “Okay, what if you knew that could happen, but the ones to take that message were all preis?”
Phesx Caolia didn’t respond immediately. His silence caused coldness to fill the room before finally saying with upturned, decisive light black eyes, “Kill, of course.”
The officer said nothing else and nodded with a neutral expression, letting Phesx Caolia think whatever he wanted.
“Please, stand up.” At last, the officer gestured to Phesx Caolia. The young boy followed instructions and casually stood with a slightly bad posture. The LT Colonel gently flapped the document where Phesx Caolia’s statement was written on the desk before elaborating. “This is your recruitment form. Very few things are necessary as requirements, and these are all to pre-evaluate you and identify you. Whether you’re recognized later on is up to you.”
“I understand,” Phesx Caolia nodded. The officer kept a strict face and spoke after a long pause, “Phesx, what do you think about the world, about people?”
“I don’t like people.” Not even thinking about it, Phesx Caolia looked at the officer’s military shirt’s buttons and replied. The officer was left speechless, but also somewhat awestruck. After showing himself in such a state before a kid, he bent over his desk and wrote the fifth word. This time, he was quick enough to not let Phesx Caolia know what he wrote.
He placed the sole piece of paper in an obscure, black-gray folder, which looked like leather and metal at the same time, resistant yet flexible and wobbly, before calling out to the outside. “Paul, bring this new recruit to the military zone!”
“Yes, sir!” The door opened immediately and so did Paul come in right away, feeling contented like a cheeky dude.
…