THEM: ARMAGEDDON (Book Three)

Chapter Four

     Shane felt encouraged as he headed down to where the scientists were held up. He knew that Willis likely would have prioritized the soldiers, so he liked that he had the chance to pick the scientists. In a mad world such as it was, a small little kindness in a decision meant a lot. They sent out a signal in Morse code, flashing just briefly enough to signal that they were coming for them. 

     The other group replied, and they headed out. The sun was lowering, and the shadows cast across he ground as the trio caught up with the others. Shane walked forward, expecting to see the scientists but instead seeing a military group.

"You are the military team?" Shane asked in surprise.

"Yeah," the head soldier replied. "My name is Derrick, and this is my unit."

     Shane did not know what to do, he realized that Willis had wanted him to go after the military group all along and the idea of free choice was an illusion. This was the man that had been separated from his friend, the man with a beard that got shot over his insistence of waiting for him. There was not much to be done that night as it had grown dark. Shane and the others handed out some supplies and set up a camp in the shadows of the hills. Shane sat at the fire, looking over at the tall man. Unlike his friend, Derrick was strong and disciplined, not the wild man his friend had been.

"You look pretty green," Derrick said as he looked up to Shane. "I take it that you are no soldier."

"Not many of us are," Shane admitted. "We all just kind of have to do what we have to do."

"I know that well," Derrick replied. "I am a soldier and have worked with a lot of people trained into it and a lot of people forced into it. Normally it would be a thing unheard of, but this is the world we live in now."

"I agree," Shane admitted. "I find myself discovering skills in myself that I could not have known I had."

"Well, such things are a surprise to us all," Derrick admitted. "Normally, we learn things much differently."

"How so?" Shane asked.

"Let me tell you a little story my new friend as we seem to have the time," Derrick began. "Once when I was young, I really got into martial arts movies. I was a small child, considered weak next to my peers so my mother embraced this new obsession of mine. I would go into the back yard and punch boxes and chase around imaginary attackers as if I were the hero of my very own action movie. I had no idea what I was doing of course but that didn't stop me. My mother decided that if I was so passionate about it, she would support it."

Shane laughed, thinking back to his own youth when he really got into superheroes. "I think we all had those time when we dreamed of fantasy worlds, we were the masters of."

Derrick nodded. "I can't say where my mother came up with the idea, but she did some research and decided that I should learn Judo. It was an ancient and respected martial arts discipline and seemed the most practical. It was not just punching and kicking but throws and sizing up opponents that were bigger than you and finding their weaknesses. She told me I would learn Judo and I could not be more excited."

"Sounds like a dream for a kid who wants to be an action hero," Shane agreed.

"She took me to the dojo and I could hear the people inside doing motions and chanting along in Japanese," Derrick continued. "Neither of us really knew how it worked but I could not be more excited to try. My mom bought for me a Judo Gi, which is what they call that white uniform they wear in training. We did not know really how it worked but saw all manner of belt colors hanging from the wall."

"I used to do Tae Kwon Do," Shane commented. "Didn't much enjoy it but got to wear a Gi."

"The old man working the counter in the dojo gladly set out a Gi in my size, but my mother pointed to the black belt," Derrick recalled. "To her it was the most striking, most dignified and she saw the strongest wearing it. She demanded that it be what her son would wear. At first the man in the dojo was confused, thinking that perhaps she had another son who was more advanced, and I was following in his footsteps. She insisted it was for me and she would see her son wearing the black belt. I was six at the time and the man behind the counter laughed, and took out the white belt, the belt for beginners."