The Kidnap War

Information

Their eyes widened as the door opened. They almost couldn't believe what they saw. Kids. More kids. Hundreds of them. All between the ages of 10 and 16.
'Move!' One of the armed men commanded as he gave Chris a push.
'Yeah, yeah, we're moving already.' Chris growled back as he started walking. They joined the crowd of kids and looked around nervously. They were in a tall, white space. In front of them was a stage, tall enough so none of them could climb up. At the left and right were stairs. Leading up to floors of which the hallways could be used to look down into the room they were in. They could see seven floors above them, telling them they were either in a very tall building or on a floor that was underground.

'Where are we?' James asked panicky.
'Somewhere.' Adam muttered.
'Very useful answer.' Rush said sarcastically.
'Do we look like we know where the fuck we are?' Zalinki snapped.
'Not now, guys! We're all scared and nervous, but none of us is gonna do very well on their own. We got each other, these other kids and that's it.' Jaiden said.
For a moment they were silent. Nobody really knew what to say. Here and there kids were quietly talking to each other and some were even crying.
'Look, there are more.' Chris said as he pointed at the door. More kids joined. It kept going for a while. Nothing happened except groups of 6 to 12 kids that joined every so often. Armed people in military uniforms were standing everywhere, keeping a close eye on the scared kids.

After what seemed like an eternity, an unfamiliar man appeared on the stage. He was, you guessed it, wearing a military uniform and holding a fire weapon.
'EYES HERE, YOU MORONS!' He screamed at the kids. His voice was so loud, he didn't even need a microphone to be heard by everyone. His voice was so powerful, no one dared to disobey the simple order given.
'By now I assume all of you are wondering where you are. Let me tell you already that that's none of your business and you're not getting an answer, so you might as well stop asking. What we are gonna tell you, is why you're here. You're here to do as we say. You're here to obey or get killed. You're here to fight or get killed. You're here to kill or get killed. Outside of those walls, there's a war going on. I can see all of your stupid little brains trying to remember what all the locations in the world are where there's war. Well don't! I told you where we are doesn't matter. What does matter is that there is a war and we needed an army.'
The man stared at the kids, waiting to see if anyone dared to speak up. But all the kids were frozen in fear.
'One week!... That's what you'll get. One week of training. One week to figure out how the guns and bombs work and to build some muscle. Then you'll go straight to the frontline! But no worries. You won't be in battle 24/7. There is a reason there's so many of you. For the ones of you that actually have enough brain cells to count, you may have noticed there are seven floors to this bunker. The seventh floor is for us. The adults, the trained professionals, the people you need to obey. All the other floors are for you. One floor per team. Six color coordinated teams. All different times of frontline duty. Now listen close! You'll be separated into the teams. Every team has a lead officer. One of us. Do you have questions or important things to say, discuss it with them! But don't think they're any less hard than me! Now listen close before you miss your name! Once you hear your name, you go up the stairs to the floor of your team and wait for you lead officer to give you instructions!'

'How do they know our names?' Adam asked quietly.
'They stole everything we were carrying with us when they kidnapped us. Including phones and ID cards and stuff.' Rush whispered back.

'Okay! Listen close! First floor is team red! Lead officer is Ryder Wolfkins! Officer Wolfkins for you!' The man on the stage called. He started saying names, every time waiting until a kid reacted and moved. James wondered how long it would take to get through all the hundreds of kids. He hoped he wouldn't be on one of the last teams. Then a scarier thought came to mind. What if he got separated from all the others. He didn't really know them that well yet, but he'd never been good at making friends.
'Brantley, Christian!' The man called.
'That's me.' Chris muttered, his voice shaking slightly. 'Please don't let me stay up there alone.' He muttered before he left, nervously walking towards the stairs. A couple more unfamiliar names were called until...
'Dittfach, Jaiden!'
Jaiden didn't say anything. She just seemed a little relieved that she wasn't going to be alone with all strangers. At least she already knew Chris.
'Kimford, Zack!'
Zalinki took a nervous breath.
'Don't leave us waiting there, buddy.' Zalinki said, mainly to Adam. It made sense. They'd been locked in a basement for a week now. They probably got to know each other better already.
'Miller, Jordan!'
'That's me.' Rush muttered.
'Wait seriously? Why the hell did you say your name was Rush? That's not even close to Jordan.' Adam asked.
'Nothing wrong what a nickname that doesn't have anything to do with your real name.' Rush said before he walked away to the stairs.
'Just you and me.' Adam muttered.
'Just you and me.' James repeated.
More names were called. James was nervous. How big was the chance he'd actually end up with Adam. They were almost done with team red. What was the chance that he would end up with the last people in team red. And what was the chance that out of the five remaining teams, he'd be together with the one person left he already knew.
'Ortiz, Adam!'
Adam looked at James.
'I'm sorry, buddy.' He whispered before he walked away. James started panicking. He was alone now. He was all alone. He was gonna be in a group with all strangers and he knew he wasn't good at making friends.
'Rallison, Robert!'
Wait, did he say Rallison?
'Rallison, Robert! Listen to your fucking name!' The man on stage called.
'I... I actually prefer to be called by my middle name, James.' James said, feeling small under the piercing glare of the man on the stage.
'And I prefer to be the president of the United states. DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A FUCK! NOW MOVE!' The man screamed.
'Yes, sir!' James called as he panicked and ran away. He ran up the stairs and joined the others in the hallway.
'You made it!' Adam called as he ran up to James and gave him a hug. With all the stress and nervousness and fear he'd been feeling the past hours... James hadn't realized how much he had needed one. He felt his heartbeat and his breathing calm down. Adam let him go again as James's mind let go of survival mode a little more, so he could try to reasonably think.

'Okay, that's all for team red!' A man in military uniform called. James assumed it was their lead officer, officer Wolfkins.
'How this is gonna work is simple! You don't do anything unless I command you to! Now the first door in this hallway is the cafeteria. Meals are eaten there if you get one. Second door is the sleeping hall. That's where you sleep, obviously. And that's where we're going now! Those two are the only two rooms you need to know for now. You'll be informed about other locations such as armory and training grounds later.'
A girl, seemingly 12 or younger, nervously raised her hand.
'What?' Officer Wolfkins snapped.
'What about bathrooms?' She asked nervously.
'There's a bucket in the sleeping hall if you need it!' Officer Wolfkins called.
'And for hygiene? Like, showers and a place we can brush our teeth before we go to bed?' A boy next to the previous girl asked. He looked a lot like her and James thought they might be twins.
'THIS IS A FUCKING WAR! DO YOU EXPECT TO WAKE UP EVERY MORNING TO A NICE, LONG SHOWER AND FRESHLY WASHED CLOTHES!?! BE GLAD WITH WHAT YOU GET!' Officer Wolfkins snapped. The boy quickly turned to look at the floor, tears glistening in his eyes.
'Any more questions?' Officer Wolfkins asked.
Dozens of questions were racing through James's mind, but he didn't dare to ask them. He didn't wanna get screamed at. Apparently, all the others felt the same, because everyone stayed quiet.
'Good! Now get into the sleeping hall. You'll need the rest before training starts tomorrow morning!' Officer Wolfkins called.
They all silently followed him to the sleeping hall. Once they all entered, they heard officer Wolfkins lock the door behind him.

They were in a giant room with about 30 bunk beds. 15 on each side. Everyone just nervously stood there, not really knowing what to do. After a minute or five, Adam started making his way towards the middle of the hall.
'What are you doing?' Zalinki asked.
'No one knows what to do, but I'm not just gonna stand here and wait until they wake us up tomorrow morning.' Adam said. He climbed onto the top bed of one of the bunk beds that was on the left side near the middle.
'Okay, listen up!' He called, grabbing everyone's attention easily.
'So, I have a feeling they're gonna wake us up early tomorrow and I think it's probably best if we try to get some rest. I suggest everyone just picks a bed and tries to sleep a bit. I know we're all scared and nervous, but there isn't much else we can do. Good night.' He called before sitting down on the bed he was standing on. He gestured to his friends to let them know they should come over and pick a bed near him.
Chris and Zalinki took the bunk bed left of Adam, Jaiden and Rush the one right of him.
'I guess I'll sleep under your bed than.' James said as he sat down on the bottom bed. Adam peeked over the side of the bed and looked at James while hanging partially upside down.
'Just don't snore too much, okay.' He joked.
'Make sure you're not too loud yourself.' James replied.
Adam chuckled before he stood up on his bed again.
'Okay, does everybody have a bed? Good! Can someone near the light switch turn off the lights so we can go to bed? Maybe you, the blonde girl there. Okay? Thanks!' Adam called before he layed down on his bed. A couple seconds later the room was pitch black. James layed down and tried to sleep a little. It didn't go well though. Now that his mind had some rest and answers, he started to fully realize what situation he was in. He was in god knows what country and he was about to get just a week before he was send into a full on war. A fucking war! People were gonna die. All James could do was pray that it wouldn't be him or his friends. Apparently he wasn't the only one coming to that realization. Soft sobs could be heard from different directions. Many kids were crying. Both the young ones and the older ones. Some quietly, others a little louder. James felt the bed shock slightly. Was that Adam that was moving? It almost felt like the shocks of someone sobbing. When James focused more on where all the crying sounds came from, he heard it. One of them was Adam. A part of James wanted to get up and comfort him, but the blonde was fighting tears himself. As the thought of never seeing his family again and the realization of what was about to happen to them settled in, he couldn't help himself as he softly started sobbing as well.