The Patriots

CHAPTER 16 (THE FAREWELL TEST)

CANADA, 2017.

It was now more than two years since the kids arrived in Canada for the training. They longed to go back home even though they had grown attached to this place. Cecilia missed her mum and even Kelvin wanted to see his dad again. He hoped his dad was not dead by now.

One day, as they were going about their normal training, Del announced that he was leaving Canada with Anna.

"Wait, what do you mean? Are you leaving us here?" Cecilia asked, with eyes wide open.

"Oh God. No tu otra vez?" Del shook his head. He was not even done with the announcement. Now he had to let the cat out of the bag.

"I think you've completed your training course here. You'll be going back home soon."

Excitement and cheers filled the air when they heard this.

"But..." Del continued, "You'll be put to a final test to ascertain your preparedness. Anna and I will leave first to Colombia. We're going to give you a counter time to catch a plane. That'll be one part of the test. A hint, use your time wisely," he smiled.

"Any questions?" Del asked. No one answered this time. He looked at Cecilia and she looked away. She didn't want to open her big mouth again.

"Oh and I forgot this. You'll also get to tour Canada within your counter. Que te diviertas. See you in Colombia." Del said and left the training grounds with Anna. The kids were excited but still confused. They continued training till dusk and they all went to their various dorm halls.

After dinner, a big truck pulled up in front of their dorms, followed by a taxi. They watched as Del and Anna climbed into the taxi. Phyllis and Miles led them down as they unloaded the boxes from the truck. Written on all the boxes were the words, "A little incentive from the minister." They waved as the taxi and truck drove out of the base.

Each of them carried a box as they went back to their dorm halls. Phyllis said her good-byes to the girls and gave them the permission to open the boxes as she also packed her things and left the dorm. Miles did same in the boys' dorm. Most of them were sad that they were leaving Base 9, but "nothing lasts forever" as they say and they were trained soldiers now, so they were now strong enough not to cry.

When they opened their respective boxes, there was a pamphlet which listed a number of places they were to tour, things they could do and the time they were to arrive at the airport. The plane tickets which they would use were also placed inside the pamphlets. They had two whole days for the tour. They wondered how this was a test, because the only thing they saw in the pamphlets was just to tour, have fun and get to the airport on time.

After taking out the pamphlets, the next thing in the boxes were uniforms. It looked like the soldiers' uniform, but this one was all black with a red band on the left hand side. It came with black boots and they all marveled at them. The last thing in their boxes were other small boxes. They took it out and their eyes widened. It was a mobile phone. That too, the lasted IPhone. They were all excited.

They already had everyone's contact saved on it and Del had already sent them a message--"You did well. I'm proud of you." They were so happy, surprised that Del was truly proud of them. They all packed their stuff and waited for the next day. They were going to be tested and they were going to succeed.

While they were sleeping, there was a loud thud. They all woke up immediately. This happened in both the girls' dorm and the boys' dorm at the same time.

They did not bother to check and attempted to continue their sleep. "Bang, bang, bang." The sound came more louder. Someone or some people were hitting loudly on their doors. At first, they thought it might have been Phyllis who wanted to meet them. But no one spoke, it was just the loud banging on their doors. One by one, they all came out of their rooms.

"On your knees!" a man yelled and shot a warning from his gun. They all quietly went down on their knees. They didn't have any weapons with them, except their training sticks and they were next to the lockers.

The men were in different outfits, with masks on their faces, but they were not more than ten men in the girls' dorm. For the boys, they were even more than fifteen.

As part of their training, they were thought signals, sign language and defense. They couldn't think clearly at that moment but some minutes later, they realised this was part of their test.

"Gosh, these people have ruined my sleep. Couldn't they just start the test in the morning?" Cecilia grunted within. She signalled Vera when none of the men were looking in their direction and the action begun.

Vera was a good fighter and she was swift. She quickly and quietly run towards the lockers and took a stick. Before the person closer to the lockers could yell, he was knocked out by Vera. She threw one of the sticks to Cecilia and the rest of the men noticed. They focused on Vera and Cecilia, giving the other girls the chance to get on their feet and fight back. In no time, the girls had beaten those men up and took their masks off. They gasped when they realised the men were some of the soldiers who were already at the base.

Phyllis walked in and applauded them. She congratulated them on being able to pass their farewell test. She assured them not to worry about the men who were now moaning in pain on the floor. "It happens with all our recruits who come here just to train. We test them in different ways, but it's more like a ritual. I hope to meet you girls again someday. All the best," she smiled.

It was now 5:00 a.m. The boys had their fair share of the fight. For the first time, they came to the girls' dorm to see if they were okay.

"Such gentlemen we have, I had no idea." Vera teased. The boys rolled their eyes at her but no one dared to reply. You only reply at the risk of getting your jaw or nose broken.

They carried their things and went down. They couldn't sleep anymore so they decided to start their journey, so they could get more time to have fun.

There was a bus waiting at the gate of the base. They got a text from Del saying, "One of you can drive." There was a guy named Jesse who said he could drive. He always wanted to beat Kelvin at everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't get Kelvin to be his friend either. Because he was the only one who could drive, they all packed their luggage at the back of the bus and boarded it.

The sunrise from where the bus was parked was beautiful. The whole area, from the walls of the base, was lighted up with the orange rays of the sun. They couldn't help but take pictures of the beautiful sight. They would never forget this base and this moment as they drove away from the base; happy, strong and hopeful. It would be in their memories for life.

A/N: I'm sad we're leaving Base 9🤧, but we need to go back home. Thanks for reading!
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