Life Nor Death

training (pt.1)

prospective elite board
1. harry maymeir - aggression & use of artillery
2. heath shank - deadly force
3. angel knight - persistent shooter
4. kaia stellark - precision
5. leo haywire - brute force

"Suits are on?" Christian asks, the leader of our group. We were the juniors, hand picked from our villages because of our statures and our looks. The state would rather have good looking soldiers, then emotionally strong soldiers. They are quite good at it though, spotting body types and such.

I mean that's why they have prolonged training, right? I've been in training for two years. The system chooses you at fourteen, to go live in a cement room with twenty five other children that are your age.  If you are labeled as elite, you move up to being a senior, early. Instead of being eighteen. If you aren't elite, you stay for the full four years, until you're a senior. Once you age out, you're a senior until your late twenties, before becoming a recruit. Which does undercover work in the city, or helps around the facility. Recruits have rights. All the rights.

"You're third on the board, Knight." Leo slaps my back, it's too early to be roughhousing with them. "Shut the fuck up. I can't hear shit he's saying." I growl.

I see Christian shoot me a look, and I keep my eyes trained on my weapon. "Stay in formation, and don't look back. We can't go back once we're down there." James barks, as he keeps his eyes trained on the door. James was a leader. Same age as a senior, older than Christian. He was Christian's mentor. All our order when he was around, were to him. It didn't matter if Christian was there because James was superior. He owned us.

We've been building our stamina, our brains and our bodies to finally go to the catacombs. Where the infected lurk underneath the city. I've only come into contact with infected when I was younger. Infected are the reason I have no mother. We can't kill them all, because we can't see them all. We have to go down here once a month, to regulate their growth. To make sure they don't overpopulate and overpower the city.

"What do we do if we're grabbbed?"Someone asks.

It's quite an easy answer.

"Pray to god you don't get eaten alive." James answers. The twenty of us standing in the elevator until it comes to a halt. You can guess what has happened to the other five.

"Angel stand in the middle, we need a shooter who doesn't go down." Christian tells me. I nod at the command and take my place in the middle of the line.

I leave the comfort of my friends to stand in the middle of the chaos.

"Whatever happens, never fucking look back." I tell myself.

Once you see someone getting dragged away, knowing they'll be eaten alive in mere minutes, it makes you sick. So don't look. It's always better that way.