Animal Theater

Nutrient Slop

When McKendrick got to the briefing room he saw four other guys from his unit sitting there. They clapped for him sarcastically. He apologized for being late and sat down. "You five men are going to prison." One of the intel officers at the front of the room said. "You'll be transferred into isolation cells in a Nestle prison in Nevada. This particular prison will be the subject of an attack shortly after your arrival. All prisoners, including you, will be liberated and taken into California and made citizens of the UPSA. From there you are to join enemy forces and await further instructions, is that clear?"

"No," Harris said, "it's not clear. There's other ways to get us into California that don't involve sending us to prison."

"We need your background to look impeccable. Ex-cons who want to join-up get the benefit of the doubt."

"But the other prisoners will know that we got there just before the attack. That'll put a lot of suspicion on us."

"That's why you're going into isolation." The intel man said. "The prison's files will show that you've been isolated from the general population for over a year. You'll be shown to have been arrested for unemployment originally, and your isolation will be shown to be for either escape attempts or inciting violence. This should appeal to the military recruiters, it'll tell them you're fighters."

Ryan looked around. "Why us?" He asked. "Why were we chosen?"

"You five have the right combination of factors." The other intel man said. "No one in this room is a dumbshit, first of all, and you all tested high on emotional and physical endurance. Also, none of you are essential to any upcoming operations."

"We're expendable." Ryan said.

"That would be one way of looking at it." He said.

The other one continued, "From here you will all go into surgery where you will be outfitted with a tracking device so we won't lose you. This device is for your protection, it's a bio product, so it wont be detectable by any scanner. You will fight for the enemy to the best of your ability, and you'll try to achieve promotions. The higher up the food-chain you get, the more useful to us you will be."

"Getting promoted would mean killing our own, wouldn't it?" Peters said. "I didn't become a militiaman to shoot other patriots."

"I don't care why you became a militiaman, and how you feel about your mission really doesn't matter." He looked at each man in the room for a moment. "Listen, war is fucked up, okay? I don't have to tell you that. Yeah, you might have to shoot another militiaman, so what? The mission is more important than your fuckin' feelings. The fate of the free world is at stake, so you'd better make it look good. When the time is right, and no one would ever question your loyalty, you will be activated. We'll ask you to do something, sabotage maybe, assassination, who knows? You boys are a pack of wild-cards, and the USA will ask you to prove yourselves someday, and just remember, it's an honor to die for this country. If you die you'll be joining the ranks of the revolutionary war soldiers and the marines who stormed the beaches of Normandy."

"Are there any other questions?" The other man asked. There were no questions. "After surgery you will be given a sheet with the name and all relevant information about your new identity. Memorize all of it. Sargent Gill will take you to surgery now. Dismissed."

"SIR!" All the men shouted.

The five men followed Sargent Gill toward the medical building. Ryan was walking next to McKendrick and they shared a weary look. "They promised us adventure." He said.

McKendrick woke up from his surgery feeling like his sinuses might explode. He could feel the backs of his eyeballs scraping something that felt like sandpaper at the back of his eye sockets. He also found a small incision in the back of his head and another at the top of his throat. He thought they would put a tag under his skin on his leg or something. Leave it to the Well-Armed Militia to opt for overkill. He pushed a button releasing pain medicine into his system and went back to sleep.