The Spirit Guardians Book 4: Liberated

Chapter 9

Conny felt he had left the quiet confines of the cabin as soon as he stepped onto the military base. Soldiers were moving left and right while shouts of commanders filled the air. Conny gulped, turning his head back to see the Francesco's truck kicking up sloshy snow as he drove away. Conny clutched the handle of his bag, hoping this had been the right choice.

Lately, Conny had watched a series of teenage movies that always depicted a young student entering school for the first time with all eyes on him or her. It was different watching such a trope from behind a T.V. screen than dealing with such nerves in real life. Though he knew all the soldiers were focused on their own tasks, he felt as if everyone were looking at him and judging him, wondering, "How could that small boy be joining our military?"

Conny slowly approached the main building of the base until a burly looking man stopped him dead in his tracks.

"May I help you?" he asked in a tone that made Conny quiver in fear.

"I-I'm new," Conny explained. "I have my identification," he said, shakily reaching into his bag to retrieve it. The man quickly grasped onto it, eyeing it with suspicion for a few moments before gesturing for him to follow.

"You'll be in the barracks on the far right. Your squad should be waiting to meet you," the man said, leading Conny away from the crowds. He felt himself settle some until he stepped inside, finding cramped quarters and the eerie silence.

"This way, cadet," the man said, leading Conny down to a room at the end of the hall. He glanced at the line of uniform bunkbeds, already beginning to miss the privacy of his own room and the comfort of his soft double bed.

"You're right here," the man said, patting a somewhat dusty bed. Conny set his things down and glanced around at the empty quarters. There truly was a lack of privacy in this place. Not to mention there was a lack of comfort altogether. The floors were cold, the beds squeaky, and it looked like the ground had not been swept in months judging by the layer of dust.

"Now it's time to go introduce you to your squad," the man continued, leading Conny out of his living quarters and back down the hallway until he turned a corner and opened a door, leading outside to where a group of people were gathered. There was a different man with graying hair, light skin, and brown eyes speaking to them. At the sound of the door opening, heads immediately turned. Conny felt his heart race at the eye contact.

"Commander Kane, I believe this is your new recruit," the still unnamed man leading Conny stated.

"What's your name?" Kane asked.

"C-Conny Haddad," he stammered, trying his best to stand tall and appear unafraid. The stuttering of his voice surely diminished such a stature though.

"Ah, yes. I did get word you'd be joining my rank. Thank you, Commander Watts," Kane said. The man, Commander Watts, turned around and left without a word, leaving Conny to smile awkwardly at his squadmates.

"Let's make introductions, then," Kane grumbled, as if it were a chore.

There were about a dozen in his squad, ranging from young and old, to male and female. He tried his best to keep track of everyone's names, but they went out of his ears as quickly as he heard them. The introductions ended on a young woman with light brown eyes and dark brown hair that had been pulled back into a ponytail. Her muscular figure suggested to Conny that she could beat him up in an instant, but she gave him a kind smile.

"I'm Carly Anderson," she said, reaching her hand forward and shaking it.

Conny grasped onto it, her smile lessening his anxiety some. He weakly smiled in return, then stepped back, staring at the others.

"We're set to start our training session in a few minutes. This way," Kane said, leading the group away from the lawn and down the hill to more buildings.

"Why did you join the military?" Carly asked curiously as Conny walked in the back of the group with her. "You look like a cinnamon roll that Kane will surely crush in a day's time."

"Gee, thanks," Conny grumbled. He took a deep breath. "I wanted to do something more than just sit around in a cabin all day while all my friends amazingly contributed."

Carly tilted her head. "You live with a group of people?"

"Oh...yeah. Do you know Cassandra Black?"

"The human-spirit!" Carly gasped. "She's an inspiration to us in the poorer hiding places. She held a rally near where I was living awhile back. It motivated me to join the military. Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"N-No," Conny stammered. "She's marrying my brother actually."

"Oh. I see what you mean then by being surrounded by great people. It's a little tough starting out, and you'll probably get your ass kicked a few times, but you'll get used to it soon enough. I can't wait to see the look on Lynch's face when we show up to his headquarters with an entire army in a few months," Carly said gleefully.

"I'm looking forward to it too," Conny admitted, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked along the snowy pathway.

"How old are you?" Carly wondered.

"Nineteen."

"A baby!" she gasped.

"What? How old are you?" Conny asked, assuming she had to be around his age.

"Twenty-one. You're one of the youngest in our squad, I think, which means you'll probably get incessant teasing," Carly warned.

"Didn't you already just tease me?" Conny asked.

"I guess so. I've started it then. We'll have to get the others on it too. Now, don't look so upset. Everyone always has a flaw that we have to tease about. Mine is that I'm tall," Carly stated.

Conny tilted his head. "You're the same height as me. I know a girl taller than you."

"Well, I'm taller than most of the girls here anyway. They'll tease about my height, we'll tease about your age, though you probably will get some slack for knowing Cassandra. She's well-known around here. What's she like?" Carly asked.

Conny gulped. There had been a time when he could perfectly describe Cassie's personality and gush loving things about her, but she had since lacked the same importance in his mind.

"She's brave," he said.

"I think we'd know that already. You're really bad at describing people. I guess that's my last time asking you about someone's personality. Either way, we're getting close to the training facility, and Kane will want us to shut up. You can eat dinner at my table tonight. It's the cool kids' table."

"Oh, thanks," Conny muttered, growing quiet as the building grew nearer.

He watched the way tiny snowflakes landed on top of Carly's hair, finding the contrast between the white flurries and dark waves to be beautiful. He felt his cheeks warm all of the sudden and cleared his throat, staring ahead at the training center.

Perhaps it had been a good decision to join the military after all.