There's no sunlight in a concrete room to wake you up in the morning. No alarm clock to rip through the fabric of your dreams. What there was was the repeated banging of the flat end of a gun banging against the door with the repeated yelling, " Rise and shine Tom, get dressed will you. And meet in the training center."
Tom grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his sore neck, he waited till he heard Tord's echoed footsteps disappear then swung his feet off the bed and grabbed the uniform. He stared down the red sweater a couple times before coming to a decision, throwing it on his bed and placing the rest of the clothing over his blue hoodie. He rarely took the thing off and he wasn't about to change now.
The coat was scruffy and formal, but strangely comfortable. The boots fit nicely over his jeans, making them scrunch up a bit, but he didn't mind. There was no mirror to look over his appearance, so he just had to guess that he looked cool (as always).
He took a calming deep breath before opening the door to his dorm and into the hall. He looked down both ends of the seemingly endless hallways, trying to remember which way to head. A faint memory at the back of his mind said to go right, but he couldn't scratch the feeling that maybe it was left. He groaned in defeat, he had no idea where he was supposed to go and either way would surely get him lost.
Tom, focused on making a decision, barely noticed a soldier dressed in his same attire (minus the hoodie) walk past, eyeing him curiously. They had faded chestnut hair that clung to their face in waves. It was messy here and there, but overall tame. 4 unusual dots lined up in a diamond on the left side of their face. A strange constellation of freckles.
Tom perked up and shouted after them, " Hey! Um, you! You over there!" They stopped and turned to look at him in the doorway," Do you know which way the training room is, I-i'm new.."
The soldier smiled softly and pointed a single finger down the hall to the right," Down this way, I'm heading there too so I can show you myself. I know firsthand how confusing this place can be first go."
Tom stepped over next to them, reaching about their same height," Thanks," he said matching their pace and following them down the hall.
After a minute of silence they decided to speak up, " So, your the new recruit the boss was talking about then? Never seen him act like that towards new recruits, you must be pretty special."
Tom shrugged, looking down at his boots squeaking slightly with every step,"He's just, an old friend…." he cringed saying it, but he wasn't eager to explain his whole backstory with Tord in the hall of his base. Not yet.
"That would make sense then," They responded," You shouldn't hope on special privileges though, he'll actually probably go harder on you because of that."
"Well, didn't hope for the easy route when I signed up for this, did I?" Tom asked rhetorically.
"That's why we're here though, because we all want the hard way." They answered. And nothing more was said.
The training room was finally found, and the insides were strange. A flat, wood floor with carpeted walls littered with guns and other weapons. Wounded training dummies sat in the corner. Some with bullet holes in their chests, stuffing piling out in tuffs. Others with their heads blown off completely.
About 20 other soldiers were already in the room, two of them Tom recognized as Paul and Patryk. They were standing next to the wall, examining the guns to make sure they weren't damaged and that the safety was on.
"Come on, if you're done sightseeing let's line up for roll call," They said, urging Tom inside the room. Tom went and stood next to one of the soldiers he fairly recognized seeing on the way to his dorm, and his companion stood on his free side. Only mere moments later the door swung open and Tom's eyes immediately flung to the door. The rest of the soldiers stayed in their positions, so Tom knew he already messed up. He mentally face palmed himself and stood face forward again.
Tord walked slowly past them, observing, Tom could see him smirking out of the corner of his eye. He made his way in front of them and motioned for Paul to hand him a gun. He did, a long 50 cal Muzzleloader that looked ready to shoot anyone who got out of line.
"Okay, I don't want to stand here and bring you all back to Primary School, but we do have a new recruit we need to properly introduce." Tord stared directly at Tom and the others did the same. It made him feel smaller than he really was and he had to focus on something else to forget that all their eyes were on him.
"Well then, introduce yourself." Tord added.
Tom stood silent, his voice caught in his throat, he didn't know what to say.
"Well, if he decides to be silent for once I'll have to introduce him for everyone," Tord said before Tom could even try to get his voice back,"This here is Sir Jehovah's Witness, you can call him Jovy for short. He sleeps with his toy be-"
"Tom! My name is Tom." He interrupted before Tord could say anything else about him he didn't want to be shared.
Tord smirked,"Well Tom doesn't have as good a ring to it, but if you want that nickname that's fine."
Tom growled under his breath which only pleased Tord more," Well now that we have that out of the way, today we'll be doing armed defense simulations. You'll each get a buddy and practise dodging each other's bullets. Don't worry, not real bullets, Patryk said that kills people. But I said it's just more motivation to dodge. I lost so we went and bought these "harmless" NERF guns. So knock yourselves out with them. They won't be harmless out in the field so don't get used to suction cup styrofoam hitting you in the back."
Paul and Patryk brought around bright yellow NERF guns, handing them out to everyone. It all seemed so childish for a group of armed soldiers preparing for possible war. But they didn't argue.
Tom got his along with 10 small bullets. He was still not sure how any of this had to do with training for war, but it wasn't his place to make judgement. Everyone was getting into pairs with the people they already knew and were setting off to their own place in the room. Even the soldier he had just met had found a partner and was already shooting aimed bullets for them to dodge and counter. Guess he couldn't expect to get the new guy treatment everywhere.
He felt a slight tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see who it was. It was the last person he wanted to see, Tord gave him an innocent stare, holding up his neon Nerf gun as if modeling it.
"How about it, old friend?" He said in his strong Norwegian accent.
Tom looked around desperately to see if there was someone, anyone else who needed a partner. No one, he sighed and steadied his plastic gun in his hand.
"I'm not your friend," It wasn't an answer, but they both knew he couldn't say no.
"Great, try and hit me," Tord ordered, stretching his hands out in a 'hit me with your best shot' gesture.
Tom shifted the gun comfortably in his hand and pulled the trigger, sending the small bullet spiraling in Tord's direction.
Tord dodged with ease and returned the gesture with his own styrofoam bullet which hit Tom in the chest, making him step back in surprise.
"Come on Jovy, you can do better than that." Tord teased,"pretend it's a harpoon gun."
Tom growled at the nickname and aimed again, this time from the side, another shot.
Tord dodged, but the bullet managed to scrap a crossed his left arm (the non injured one)
"Aw come on, trying to bust up both my arms?" He laughed, sending a bullet back at him again.
This went on for some time, Tom shooting, Tord dodging and firing back. Neither of them ever got hit by the others bullets for the duration of the training period.
"You're very good Tom, you have untrained skills in combat. I've trained for years though, this is your first day." Tord stated, huffing slightly
"Well maybe the newbie will have to teach you a thing or two then," Tom claimed, adrenaline rushing through him.
"Why don't we try something more exciting than Mr. Expert." Tord replied, grabbing his gun off the wall, " Dodge this."
Tom had no idea what really happened next, it went in a blur. He felt himself slam into the carpeted wall and grab something smooth and metal. The large bang from in front of him and his index finger on the trigger, pulling it down hard. The blast made him stumble slightly. His ears were ringing. His mind cleared slowly, his breathing still heavy and rapid. Tord was staring at him with a look of utter disbelief and confusion. When he looked around he could see the majority of the group doing the same. He didn't know what he did, was he dead? All he remembered was Tord grabbing his gun, shooting at him to dodge. He felt the small weight in his arms and recognized the rifle and the empty place where it once lay on the wall.
Then everything around him was noticeable. There lay a large hole in the wall behind Tord, written with dust and concrete wall. Then the floor. A small, hollow cylinder lay abandoned on the ground. Its edges ripped and shattered, like something had torn through it. And something did. Tom's bullet had caressed right through Tord's, and barely missed Tord himself and hit the wall. The remains of the bullet now lay at it feet.
And everyone stared like it was most spectacular thing they had seen in their small, little lifes.
He dodged the bullet, he countered the bullet. And the bullet was the simple reminder, of what could've been.
Who would've died.
And the gun fell with a clang.