Six- Dakota

I clung onto my bag as I overlooked the lush green grass expanding towards the large building that was the Assassin Base. It still had the look of an old hospital- more like a psychiatric ward if anything. I didn't quite expect this place to be so humongous or look so out of place in the neighborhood. The community the base was settled in had a small town vibe to it, and it made me wonder how people didn't know about the happenings inside the large building.

"Colt, how do the Templar's not know about this?"
"Oh no, they know," he said nonchalantly.

"They know?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, "then why don't they try to attack it?"

"The Templar's may have the media by the balls, but when eye witnesses of the community go to social media and have an uproar on terrorism in their small community, it's a little hard to cover up."

"So what…you're all like…hiding in plain sight?"

Colt smiled widely, "that is the way of an Assassin."

Colt led me forward towards the base as he explained a few things about what to expect. Students here varied of all ages from all over the world. Some of these students were brought up with knowledge of the Assassin's their entire life and moved here after Assassin Camp liberations. Others, like me, started with no training or insight into the Creed. Colt handed me a map of the facility, and explained that the two main floors had more of the school-atmosphere components. The first floor was dedicated to the cafeteria, an auditorium, the library; two gymnasiums about two-stories high (on the second floor of the gymnasiums had observation rooms where the mentors could overlook the students), and about half of the "general education" classrooms. The second floor was mostly computer technology classrooms along with the biology labs.

The third floor held the IT and security rooms, a student lounge on the one side, and the health wing on the other. Student dorms were arranged on both sides of the clock tower, four floors above ground, and two additional floors that followed the schools complex underground. The second underground level was where I could find the laundry room and a storage supply room for basic essentials. There was enough housing that each student received their own private rooms, unless requested otherwise. Colt even let on that I had a larger room on the corner of the fourth floor, with my own bathroom included.

We walked inside where he popped into a small corner office quickly without notice. When he came back out a few seconds later, he had a folded paper in his hand which he handed to me. I opened it to find my schedule had already been made for my first six week module. I looked the schedule over and compared the class room numbers to the listed locations on my map.

Everyday

0600-0730: Breakfast- Cafeteria

1200-1330: Lunch- Cafeteria

1800-1930: Dinner- Cafeteria

Monday- Friday

0800-0930: American History- Room 110

1000-1130: Intro to Survival- Room 255

1430-1600: Combat Basics- Gym 2

Thursday

2000: Private Training- Gym 2

Saturday

0900-1100: Equestrian- Meet outside at Clock Tower

Sunday

1400-1600: Medical Aid Basics- 330

"Any questions?" Colt asked as he led me to an elevator bank.

"Uh…" I blinked down at the schedule, "do I start these classes tomorrow?"

He nodded as the elevator doors opened, "you've missed the first day of new classes, but that's alright."

I sighed as I stepped into the elevator after Colt.

Colt led me to my room on the fourth floor. He handed me a keycard for me to swipe to unlock the door; I walked inside and found the light switch on the wall. The room had white walls and a dark purple carpet. There was a single window, a wooden vanity set, a built in closet, and another door I presumed to be the bathroom. The bed was large, and centered on the far wall with white fluffy sheets and pillows. Next to each side of the queen bed sat two identical nightstands with small lamps; one side had an alarm clock. Moving my gaze around, I found that close to the bathroom door was a wooden desk and chair, and a bookshelf with textbooks labeled for the according classes on my schedule. On the wall above the desk hung a small flat screen television facing the bed; its remote was sitting on the desk.

"Welcome to the Assassin's Base, Dakota. Do you need anything before I go?"

I shook my head.

"Dakota, you should do yourself a favor and remove all of your piercings. In your combat classes, they are the first thing people will try to rip off your face."

I removed all of the piercings before Colt left the room, feeling too defeated to put up much of a fight.

The emptiness of the room reminded me of the empty feeling stationed inside myself. Something inside of me had changed more than the overwhelming depression amounting and the numbing sensation of heartache; I just couldn't put my finger on it. I started to unpack my clothes and hang them on the provided hangers in the closet. I moved into the bathroom to find that basic toiletries were provided and awaiting orderly on the sink. There was a clothes hamper in the bathroom, and a cabinet filled with fresh towels that made the room smell of linen.

After I finished packing, I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand to find it was going on six o'clock and dinner was going to be served. I judged that if I headed down to the cafeteria early, not many students would be there yet; I could quickly slip in and eat without dragging too much attention to myself. I hurried myself to dress in something a little nicer, brushed through my hair, and put some makeup on just in case I did run into people.

By the time I reached the cafeteria, it was already completely full of students. I looked around the large room set up with circular tables near the center, and the buffet style serving stations around the outsides. Students were both sitting at tables with trays of food, and others were still standing in line. I followed suit of a student who grabbed a tray near the threshold of the cafeteria and moved into line. I was well aware that people were looking at me; they discovered the new girl in their mist. With the slow speed of the line, I looked over my options at each buffet station and only found a few things to eat; a dinner roll, a small serving of pasta, and a tossed salad. I grabbed a water bottle from a cooler at the end of the buffet line, and turned to find a seat. I scanned the room for opened options, and moved slowly through the crowd. There was only one vacant table near the back, and I went for it. I sat my tray down and glanced around the room again, but everyone seemed to stop caring I existed.

I started to eat my dinner when a group of students came to the table and sat down. They were all caught up in a conversation, not paying any mind to me. I stopped eating from sheer social anxiety. One of the guys, tall with blonde hair, made eye contact with me and smirked.

"What? Do we intimidate you?" The blonde asked.

I blinked and looked around at the strangers, "Uh…"

"I think that might be a yes," said a red haired kid with an English accent.

The group looked at me and chuckled.

I could feel my face turn beat red as I dropped my eyes to my tray.

The group had no intentions on talking to me. I slowly started to pick at my pasta and salad, but soon found that the presence of the students diminished my appetite. I picked my tray up and left the group, but before I threw away my food I picked up the untouched dinner roll and unopened bottle of water to take to my room.

The next morning, I dressed and headed down to my first class, skipping breakfast and awkward interactions all together. With my map, schedule, and American History textbook in hand, I moved through the Base to the classroom on the first floor. There were students waiting outside the door; I kept my distance and looked down at my feet until the teacher, a middle aged looking women who was short and walked with attitude, unlocked the door. As everyone piled inside, the teacher stopped me at the threshold.

"Dakota Verdi?" She asked softly.

"Uh…yes?" I answered nervously.

"I'm Mentor Deborah August. Welcome to the base," she smiled and held her arm out as to usher me into the room.

I found an empty seat near the back of the classroom as Mentor August situated herself in front of the class to begin the lecture. She instructed us to open our books to Chapter Two- The Seven Years War. As the lecture went on, I quickly discovered that I was learning a lot more than just French and Indian War, but the struggle of the Assassin's and Templar's during the time period. About halfway through the lecture, I realized my mouth was slightly agape in shock of what holes of history had been filled; everything made sense. Like Edward Braddock for example- a Templar gone haywire even for their standards. Who would've known! My mind was blown for the entire class.

When first period ended, I slowly fumbled my way to Intro to Survival class. I was among the first few people inside the classroom, and took a vacant seat in the back. About five minutes before class was to begin, the mentor walked in and started to shuffle papers on his desk. He was a tall man with blonde hair and wore dark jeans and a blue and green checkered shirt. Suddenly the man stopped what he was doing and looked up at me. I quickly tried to avoid eye contact, but in the quick second it took me to look away, I watched his dazed expression turn to a smile.

The mentor made his way towards me.

"You must be Dakota," he stated nicely with a smooth British accent, extending his hand.

I looked up shyly and shook his hand, "I am."

"Mentor Dustin Brook; just call me Mr. Dustin. It's truly a pleasure to have you here. Come to my desk after class and I'll give you a typed copy of the notes you missed yesterday."

"Uh…thank you," I said as he turned and moved back to his desk.

The rest of the class filed inside while Mr. Dustin wrote notes on the board. On the very top of the whiteboard "DAY TWO" was written in red while below that had words such as gather, hunt, store, and locate. I opened my notebook and started to write down what Mr. Dustin was putting on the board exactly as he had it set up. When he finished writing his categories, he opened his lecture with a recap of apparently "day one" of being stranded or lost somewhere. He reminded the class that humans are able to live without food for a little more than three weeks, three or four days without sleep, and only three days without water. Mr. Dustin also commented on the conditions of when and where a stranded person's lonely predicament; if caught in a harsh winter environment the chances of death without shelter is unavoidable. For this particular episode, the class was focusing on being stranded in the woods.

"Now class, what body temperature is considered a hypothermic state?"

"Anything under ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit or thirty-five degrees Celsius," I answered automatically before I could stop myself.

"Good, now what happens when you reach that state, Dakota?"

I felt as if the entire class was looking at me; my face was turning red. "Well…when your body is that cold your nervous system, heart, and other organs can't function properly. So the body systems start to shut down."

"Can you tell me some tall-tell symptoms?" Mr. Dustin prompted.

"Well…how severe are we talking?"

Mr. Dustin smiled, "let's say moderate hypothermia."

"Well…you'll shiver, of course. You start to lose your coordination, your speech could be slurred, confusion, and low energy. As your systems start to slow, so will things like your pulse and breathing rates."

"It sounds like a drunken person," Mr. Dustin joked to the class which let out a low course of laughter.

"A very cold drunk," I commented mostly to myself; those close enough to hear snickered.

Mr. Dustin went forward with his lecture and continued until the end of the period. I stopped at his desk as I had been instructed to do so earlier. Mr. Dustin handed me the typed outline of notes of "DAY ONE," along with a class syllabus that broke down every day in the six week module. He took the time to explain everything to me, including his belief that learning to survive was a matter of hands-on learning, but the first week was meant to engage the students and make them aware of how to survive five days on their own. I looked over the class calendar; week one was indeed a breakdown of what to expect each of the five days in the wilderness. Week two started the hands-on portion such as learning how to make fire, finding or making shelter, and how to find a proper water source. Week three, the midterm week, called for stepping out of the classroom with the goals of learning the difference between plants that can harm you and the plants that you can eat. Week four would include learning how to set traps and snares, while week five was committed to the ways of properly packing a hiking backpack, and how to set up a campsite correctly to animal-proof it. The final week was the most surprising- either the student's choice between a paper test on Friday, or taking a camping trip with Mr. Dustin and the rest of the classmates who take this option.

"And other teachers are okay with this?" I asked about the camping trip.

"Some are and some are not. That is why it is not mandatory to go, but if you did decide to go along you have to make sure it is okay with all of your teachers. The trip starts Monday morning and we would return Thursday afternoon."

I nodded, "okay. Well thank you, Mr. Dustin."

"Not a problem, Dakota. If you ever need anything let me know."

I went back to my room to drop off my belongings before heading to the cafeteria, where I simply grabbed what I wanted to eat and returned to my room. I quietly ate my food and channel surfed on the TV before settling on some daytime hospital soap opera. Once I finished eating, I readied myself for my Combat Basics class. I was most nervous for this class, since I have no background in fighting or any previous training. The thought of getting my ass kicked in class on a daily bases was terrifying to say the least.

Slowly, I walked to Gym Two, where people were already filing into what seemed like locker rooms. I stood near the door for a few moments and examined the gym. It had a high ceiling with metal rafters hanging from above. The floor and walls were completely covered in thick blue padding, excluding the far left wall that was made into a climbable rock wall. The second story of the gym had a small catwalk around the perimeter beside what seemed to be mirrors.

"Two way mirrors," A man said from behind me.

I jumped and turned to look at the man.

He raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Mentor Erik Ackermann. You're Dakota Verdi, no?"

I nodded, "I am. Do you teach this class?"

"I do, along with Mentor De. He helps teach martial arts to students struggling to grasp the concepts in class."

"Well…he might be seeing a lot of me," I sighed, looking around the room again. "Two way mirrors, you said?"

"Yes, the recruiters and mentors like to observe the progress of students. We also film each class session and take careful notes on everyone."

"I see," I nodded slowly. "How are we graded in these classes, actually?"

Mentor Erik smiled, "we grade based on progression and attitudes. Your final consists of performing one skill for me and Mentor De to grade upon."

"Attitudes?" I asked, confused on how an attitude could possibly affect a class grade.

"If a student is refusing to learn or is fearful in their own abilities, we will have them repeat the course. One is to make the student understand how strict we can be, and the other is to reinforce while building confidence."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

Class started a few minutes later. Mentor Erik started to pair every student with a partner, but soon found out that he had an odd number. I just happened to be the only one without a partner, and I felt as if everyone was staring at me.

"Dakota, you'll just be paired up with me then," Mentor Erik smiled.

My eyes dropped to the floor in embarrassment, "okay."

Mentor De stepped into the middle of the gym and began reciting instructions. We were learning how to defend ourselves, or as the Mentor's called it- 360 Self Defense. We were instructed to keep moving at all times during the drill, otherwise a weakness could be found. Mentor Erik explained we needed to use our arms to defend blows, and keep them at a particularly wide angle. He stressed that we all needed to keep our hands open and flat during this exercises as a building block to what else was to come in our lessons. Everyone was instructed to practice defending their partner's blows for two minutes. I turned to Mentor Erik completely petrified as Mentor De started the clock.

"Please, God, don't hurt me," I said.

He laughed, "I promise I won't."

Mentor Erik started the exercise easy; bringing his extended arms down slowly as I deflected each with my own arms. He started to pick up the pace and would switch from swinging high to low and vice versa. By the end of the two minute drill, we were fastest two in the gym. Mentor Erik smiled at me and offered praise. I simply smile, really not knowing what I did so well. The class moved onward in lessons on how to see a punch coming, how to throw a punch, and progressed into how to defend yourself in a headlock. At the end of class, my arms felt heavy, and there was an ache in my hands from punching life-like dummies. Mentor Erik was impressed for how well I did on my first day, and I nervously laughed; I simply didn't want my ass handed to me on my first day of class.

Through the next few days, I learned about the Templar influence over the colonies and the American Revolution, how desperate you have to be to survive in the wilderness, and how to properly defend myself against a knife and pistol. I started to make friends with a few people in my history class, too. The first person I befriended was Marc, an Assassin-bred kid from Canada. He introduced me to Amy, a British girl who, like me, was new to the Assassin's. They accepted me enough to invite me to sit with them at meals, where I met the rest of their crew. There was Sofia from Spain, who was an Assassin for five years and placed at the base to refine her IT skills. Secondly, there was James, an Assassin from the state of Washington who had been rescued from the clutches of the Templar's at Abstergo Industries. I was happy I had people to talk too, my room was getting quite lonesome by Tuesday night's dinner, but I still wasn't quite myself around these new acquaintances.

Thursday was my first private training with Colt in Gym Two. We refined things that I had been taught in my combat classes according to what Mentor Erik and Mentor De had written about me in my progress notes. Once Colt went over the things I had learned in class, he moved onward to running and climbing. He timed each running and climbing exercise I did and made note on my execution and timing. The goal Colt set for me was to improve my running and climbing times before moving on to more complicated things such as parkour and wall ejects. For the remainder of my private training, Colt took me to the weight room to work on my strength and conditioning.

The only two classes I still needed to participate in were Equestrian on Saturday and Medical Aid on Sunday. Both were easy, to say the least. Saturday morning I met with the rest of the Equestrian class and learned how to take care of the horses. Afterwards, we were all able to go out on a small ride to get a feel on what it was like to ride a horse. Medical Aid was with Doctor Means and his head nurse, Ava. They went over basic things such as medical instruments, proper hand washing, and how to sterilize equipment. About every question the two instructors asked I had an answer too, regardless if I spoke out loud or not. It was a lot of recap from my nursing program at the university; the topic came easily to me. Doctor Means promised the class that it would get more in depth in later lessons, including CPR and phlebotomy. I couldn't wait to get into the more hands-on topics the class had to offer.