One Tortured Soul

Chapter Seventeen

"Come on, trainees! Move it!" Barked the drill sergeant. Her voice carried over the dome-like room and rang off the walls. We sluggishly picked up our pace and turned down another stretch of the training court, our breathing hard.

Commander Sythe had been pushing us to our limits for the past four and a half hours. The other soldiers and I could hardly keep our gaits straight, much less speed up. But we did our best nonetheless, knowing her wrath was worse.

I had been training here for several weeks now, and I felt like I've gotten nothing done. Every day was filled with heavy combat training, gun training, physical exercise, and everything in between. We only got a hour a day for all three meals and were forced to report for training at four in the morning. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, we weren't done until seven forty-five.

But putting that all aside, the training system wasn't that bad. They were certainly organized. And this whole underground rebellion thing was a lot more planned out than I had originally thought. They had drill sergeants, commanders, and everything was planned to the T.

"Come on, sissies, your grandmothers could do better than that!" Sythe roared, clearly enjoying our pain far too much. She stood on a wrestling mat in the middle of the training ground, her strong legs parted and her arms crossed. Sythe certainly was suited for war. Her whole body screamed muscles and strength. Her silvery grey hair, although showing she was older, was no less threatening. She always kept it locked in a tight braid around her head, not a single strand out of place. But that wasn't what made her so forceful or piercing. It was her eyes. They were bright, green orbs that once locked onto you, made you want to crumbled. I don't know how she did it, but everyone was afraid of her to some degree. And apparently, she liked it that way.

[]

After our last training session for the day, I headed straight for the showers. My whole body was drenched in sweat as usual and although I was hungry, my need to be clean was stronger.

As I entered the large locker room of sorts, I was greeted by my fellow cadets. They chatted loudly amongst themselves as I passed by.

"Did you see Karas today?"

"Yeah, man, she was looking fine."

I tuned the conversation out, used to hearing such talk in here with all the guys. But as I passed a particular group of guys who I knew better, I heard something that caught my attention.

"...another raid."

I slowed my steps, listening more closely.

"Yeah, I hear it was a success. Said they liberated all the specials and prisoners."

"They even found some kids that were being tested on."

"That is so sick."

I took a step back and turned towards the group. "They found kids?"

Marcus, one of the cadets who actually talked to me, nodded. "Yeah. Apparently there were a bunch." He scratched his rather large ears, sending a strand of wet, brown hair across his face.

"Do you know if..." I didn't finish. All the guys knew of my situation here at the compound and why I was being trained. They knew I was fulfilling my part of the bargain in exchange for my kids whereabouts.

"No, sorry, man. I didn't hear anything, as far as your kids. Maybe you should talk to the commander," Marcus said.

"Thanks," I said before turning away. I quickly headed to the showers before I could think further on what Marcus had told me.