The Greatest Lie

Lost Hope

It was easy for M Corp to hide the truth about what was going on when most of the soldiers who were forced into this never ending war ended up dead. The lottery was a new set of recruits that M Corp desperately needed and they easily saw the manipulation that was possible by adopting this idea as their own. The few soldiers who were able to make it out alive were sworn to secrecy and guaranteed a job with M Corp that would take care of them for the rest of their lives. In the event that someone could not keep their mouth shut, it was easy for them to be labeled as crazy. No one was going to believe that monsters really walked the Earth, and people could rationalize it as some sort of post traumatic stress induced by their experience during war time. This war did start at first with humans fighting other humans, while some nations still tried to keep their allegiance with the monsters. The resulting death tolls were greater than any other wars fought on Earth as countries poured all their manpower and resources into winning. Countries were desperate to get the creature on their side, believing that they could use the creature's abilities and technologies to gain an upper hand on other nations. Some countries had grown increasingly sick of the United States involvement as the world police. Wars had always been used as a means to gain finances, resources and control, and as contradictory as it seemed, war was also profitable.

It smelled like a camp fire throughout the army base, especially when the wind picked up. One of the duties of the soldiers was keeping the ring of fire burning by replenishing it with wood everyday to protect themselves. This had resulted in devastating deforestation around the base, leaving it a barren wasteland of stumps and ash. Besides trying to hunt and find the creatures, the main daily tasks of the soldiers involved traveling further and further away from the base to cut down trees and have them flown back by the helicopters. The fire had been burning for years without ever going out, and thousands of acres of trees had already been removed to provide the necessary kindling. The creatures had witnessed this in confusion and bewilderment that humans were willing to destroy their planet all in an attempt to stop something that meant them no harm.

As Russell investigated the bunk and sleeping quarters, he realized that everything had a little layer of black soot on it. He first noticed this when he saw that the palms of his hands had turned black from touching something in the room. He couldn't remember what it could be from until he had grabbed onto the railing of the bunk and saw the hand print that was left behind. This was not something that Russell expected to have to contend with, but he decided he should try and do something productive while he was waiting for the other soldiers to arrive. Taking the shirt that he had worn to get here, Russell began going around the room and dusting off the surfaces. He imagined this would be a nice gesture that the other soldiers might appreciate, while also realizing quickly that it was a battle that would never be won. His attempt at cleaning did nothing more than spread dark streaks on everything as his shirt had become caked in the soot after just a few wipes. He had nothing else to do to pass the time besides feeling sorry for himself, but his wasted effort was short-lived before he had company.

He heard the other soldiers coming before he actually saw them, and they were not laughing and joking with each other like he had hoped to see. It sounded to Russell like some of them were crying, and that was exactly what he saw when the doors to the sleeping quarters were opened and everyone funneled inside. He had never seen his father or any other grown man cry and he had been told from a young age that it was a sign of weakness. These men did not hold back as some of them let out loud wails of despair, completely not realizing or caring that there was a new recruit waiting for their direction. The men that weren't crying were stone faced and not showing any emotion, and it was apparent to Russell that something awful must have happened today. Most of the men went straight to their bunks and some of them curled up into the fetal position as they clutched onto their blankets and sobbed into their pillows. One of the emotionless men plopped down on the cot across from Russell, not even acknowledging that there was a fresh face next to him. He could tell that this was a somber situation and not the right time to begin introducing himself. Trying to act like he was invisible, Russell sat down on his cot and quietly observed the room. Within a few minutes, Russell's eyes met the soldier on the cot next to him, who had finally become aware that something was different.