Delta's Mod | First Draft

3| The Pocket Knife

   
The cot I slept on was firmer than the thick mattress I was used to back at the facility. Although it was easy to adjust to, I knew that finding sleep would be harder than usual. For several hours I lay awake, replaying the scenes that had occurred during my first day on base. It wasn't as gray as I had pictured it to be, nor were the recruits as serious as I assumed. They were far more childish than the four of us newcomers, who happened to be actual children.

I pressed my hands against my eyes and rubbed away my thoughts. For the first time in my life, I actually felt anxious. It was a terrible feeling, coaxing me to do everything and nothing all at once. The feeling pitted itself deep in my stomach, twisting around its walls until I felt the need to vomit. I wasn't sure what had caused me to feel that way, and it frustrated me to stay in wonder.

There were very few instances in my life where I had felt something. Most of the time, I simply felt nothing. The facility I had trained in taught us to be emotionless. It was a flaw to feel emotion in their eyes, for it was a potential obstacle and distraction to the completion of our duties. So our doctors and mentors erased every feeling they could reach inside our minds, molding us to be as dull as they desired. Emotion was a weakness, and perfect soldiers didn't have room for weaknesses.

I would always feel my heart plummet whenever I acknowledged an emotion of my own; it made me feel vulnerable to feel anything at all. No matter how hard I tried to control myself, I'd always have occasions where my weakness would overwhelm me. I couldn't fight my emotions, and that was what made me weak.

Exhaling harshly, I sat upright and shoved my feet into my boots below me. The soldier on the cot next to mine groaned before shifting her weight, turning her back towards me. I made sure to step carefully around her before I made my way out of the tent, welcomed by the chilled gusts of the night.

Scanning my surroundings once, I began to walk down the gravel paths of the camp. I had hoped getting fresh air might calm my nerves, but the whistling voices of the wind just kept my body tense. I let out a sigh, my breath escaping with a sudden gust.

From ahead, I spotted a flat lined with sandbags and hefty bins. Eyeing the row of black-ringed targets from within the area, I came to the assumption that it was one of the camp's shooting ranges. Intrigued, I shoved my hands in the deep pockets of my pants and steered myself towards the range.

As I drew closer, I made out the numerous dents and holes that had been embedded into the targets. Most of them were embarrassingly inaccurate, surrounding the outer circle rather than the bullseye. It was clear that most of the soldiers on base weren't good with their guns.

Frowning, I approached a nearby bin and flipped up the lid. A set of handguns lay inside, all paired with their own rounds and individual silencers. After scanning them, I grabbed the one that sat in the middle and screwed on the silencer. After loading it, I pocketed the extra gun magazines and aligned myself with one of the targets.

With a deep inhale, I raised my arms and aimed for the target. Although I was several yards away from it, I could see it as clearly as I could've if I was standing right in front of it. Raising my gun, I curled my finger around the trigger and lined up my shot. My eyes grew tense as they locked onto the bullseye, ensuring that my shot would be accurate.

Then I pulled the trigger, and a muffled bullet spiraled towards the target. I could almost see the bullet in slow motion as it flew, despite traveling beyond the speed the human eye could comprehend. I watched as it struck the target, exactly in the middle of the bullseye. A smirk spread across my lips, yet I wasn't surprised by my accuracy. I had hit the bullseye from a distance much further than the one I stood at now.

As I raised my gun to fire another shot, I was surprised to hear a voice call out to me from behind.

"It's a bit late to be out here, don't you think?"