Blindsided

<CHAPTER X>

Junior Paramilitary Division, Tumaini Campus, 3:04 am

Victor woke up with a start. The alarm was blaring incessantly outside the hostel door, with others audible from around the school. He cursed when he looked at his watch, realizing that he was late for the team prep they had set for 3 AM on the dot. The ringing alarm meant that they had gone ahead without him.

Jumping down from his top bunker, he pulled on his clothes in seconds and dashed outside. A group of confused and excited students stood huddled outside the door, debating.

Outside, the sky was an inky black expanse. A million stars glinted down at the campus, blinking rapidly with the knowledge of the goings on. Some of the haughtier ones streaked across the sky and disappeared into nothingness, unwilling to witness the depravity about to go down. His eyes having adjusted to the darkness, Victor made out the hulking tuition building fifty feet away. It stood out from the surrounding tree lined landscape illuminated the lights on the other side. The four residency halls faced its backside in a neat row, leaving just enough space for the circulation of fresh air and hanging lines for cadets to hang the daily laundry of their uniforms.

Even with layers of clothing, the chilly Dundori air made Victor shiver. His bare hands were cold immediately he stepped out. The ground was covered with a thick layer of dew. Having spent his life in that climate, he was rather acclimatized to the freezing cold. It did not affect him as much as it did the others. He made a dash for class B20 in the tuition block where he was to have met his team six minutes ago. His heart and mind were racing in excitement.

"You're late man, what's up with you? We made a plan!" Cise admonished irritably as soon as Victor had crashed through the doors.

"Two things... First, I was in the ring less than nine hours ago, getting my head bashed in. Two, you promised to come wake me up in case I overslept!" The statement sounded juvenile as soon as it left his lips. The only female member of the group was a tough-looking tomboy who wanted to leave the academy so that she could become a soldier. Her dream was to join the Special Forces. Victor had little doubt she would excel at it, she was tough as hide. She rolled her eyes. Cise raised his eyebrows, slightly amused.

"It doesn't matter. Can we get a move on now that everyone is here?" He continued quickly.

The seven men and one lady nodded eagerly, faces flushed with excitement.

"It's time to get us some justice, hey!" Cise bumped Victor's shoulder as they walked out of the classroom. He looked to be in good spirits this morning, there was an extra bounce in his step and he was grinning from ear to ear.

Victor nodded vigorously, excited yet apprehensive. He realized that there was no turning back now. Once the strike had started it would be swim or sink to the very end. It felt alarmingly like these waters would only bring about the worse of the two. What he was doing was basically sacrificing his career for the sake of others- they all were. As noble as that made him feel, it still felt lonely to throw away the only dream that had kept him going through his misfortunes.

Thinking about the suffering that the system had put him through, however, he felt the usual rush of red hot anger wash over him. Unlike in the past where he always tried his best to quell the monster, he let the anger feed his resolve and motivate him.

Clenching his fists as he walked, he felt his mind fill with indignity, felt the red hot poison flow in his veins. It was in his arms swinging by his side. In his feet that propelled him forward. It was in his lips when they trembled with unspoken words. His eyes when he fixed them straight ahead and felt the stinging of tears that he would never let flow.