Marilou looked out the bus window, watching as the dead cityscape faded by. She tried to concentrate on anything but the smell of her current whereabouts. The smokey, sweat smell clung to everything only rivaled in strength by the smell of sickness. Marilou's seat was hard plastic to make it easier to clean when the maintenance crew actually hosed the buses off after a body was discovered on a bus or a breakout occurred. These buses were the only transport for most of the people still alive in the world.
The other passengers were one of two types of people, homeless and covered in ammonia scented rags, or recruits, like Marilou, going to sign onto a mission in hopes of getting a decent pay. they all wore different cloths, not given their issued uniforms yet. Most were boys her age, just too green to be called young men. They all had the same haircut, a dirty shave with a dull razor to keep lice from infecting their heads. The few girls that were going into the military were very small in number. They all had their hair cut as short as you can get it and still manage to pull it back into a tight ponytail. Not an utterance escaped the passenger's lips, knowing all to well that no matter where you were stationed, you had a low chance of making it past your first assignment. Most people were assigned to battle duty, although a few were designated to police the populous. Marilou had no preference, she knew it would be hard being a minority as the weaker sex than the men who would be battle hardened and crude. She looked around at the faces, looking for anything to entertain her even if for just a small moment. Her face stayed hard, noticing the same grim look on all the other passengers, even the homeless.
Marilou's gaze rotated back out the window. A tall dark forest was coming into view, along with the camp she hoped to occupy for training. The trees stood, more like garish thorns erected out of the angry ground. They seemed deathly and looked to be harbingers of horrible nightmares that would haunt the dreams of all the trainees that would be housed just outside their frightening branches that loomed over the barracks. A sigh stripped its way out of Marilou's chest, breathing her frustration at not knowing what her future would be. One day, she hoped to be giving trainees orders at some far off obscure place.
The bus crawled down the dirt road to the "Welcome" station to the side of the largest building to the right of the barracks. The breacks squealed, matching the rough skittered halt hat the bus cam too. The doors opende, slinging dust out as they slammed open with the sound of an un oiled cofffin hinge. Marilou shuffled off, not having any belongings to cary with her, along with the other freshmen.
"IN YOUR SHOWER!" a man standing in a brownish green uniform commanded. He pointed hatefully at the wooden shack with a women's and men's door. They hustled in through the doors, Marilou being the only girl in the batch, stood in the strange room alone. As she looked around in confusion, nearly scalding hot water rained down upon her. Marilou threw her cloths off adn grabbed a soap bar off the shelf and franticly cleaned herself. The water stung as it hit ant her body turned gradualy deeper shades of read with the heat. As she finnished, she hurried out the second door, a rack of towels matching the grungy green of the man's uniform was right outside the door. she grbbed one and through it around her as she noticed that the showers let out into the same grey concreet walled room. Another man stood, looking at the group with disgust as they filed out and lined up in front of him. The man snapped his fingers and giant fans blew strong winds down upon the lean frames wrapped in towels before him. After the distraught teens seemed satisfingly dry to the man, the fans were turned off.
"Get your uniforms and walk along the path to the barracks!" The man ordered sharply, his voce hard and unkind. The group scurried like frightened mice towards the door. Marilou grabbed a uniform bag out of the box and hurried across the lawn to the long concreet building ajacent the one she just came through. She clutched her towel to her, not willing to give up her last shred of privacy. she claimed a blanket and pillow on the ground firthest from the door she entered and looked around for confirmation that she had to change in front of the others.
The heavy metal door was shut behind the man from the drying room and he turned around. Marilou followed his pointed gaze to a small group of boys that had begun to pull their cloths on. "I did NOT say to get dressed!" He yelled, stomping over to the frozen boy in the middle of the room.
"Sorry, Sir," the boy stuttered, shock and confusion claimed his face.
"Don't apologize! Fix it!" The man demanded loudly. The boy knocked his cloths back to the ground and replaced the towel. The green clad man took the cloths from him and all the others that halfway dressed.
"Get dressed!" The man commanded. Everyone pulled on the cloths they had quickly, getting dressed as the offending group stood in their towels. Their gazes terrified and directed at the ground.
Marilou pulled on her clothing quickly, dressing top to bottom and tucked her shirt in her pants before wrapping the belt aroundr her. The trainee uniforms were more of a gras stained sandy color. The hue patchy and faded to simulate camouflage. The belt was a solid sand color with two metal loops on one end. Marilou looped it tight to her waist. When she finished, Marilou stood straight an looked to the man who had given the order. Now that she actually looked at him, she noticed his stature. The man had wide shoulders but was of average height if not a little short. His face was rather square and was clean shaven. A round hat sat on his head, the brim even all the way around it, casting a showdown over his face to make his face more intense as he glared at them. The man seemed disgusted as he finished looking over the entire group within the large room littered with blankets and towels.
"Everyone outside! Now!" He bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls as the trainees all scurried out the door. The unfortunate few clutching their towels, their dignity falling away with each step. The man lead them to a path and flung his hand down it sharply as if a solute.
"Run until you can't anymore and then continue to do so! Am I clear!" He demanded.
"Yes sir!" The group chorused as they took off down the dirt forest path.
YOU ARE READING
Under A Rose
Teen FictionNewly recruited to the military, Marilou Blake is chosen to be an undercover agent. Her assignment is to go infiltrate the group called Nyx. Not much is known about the group, what is known is that their name is found in almost anything from drugs a...
