Chapter numero dos. Basically meant to get acquainted with the characters in the story.
Kids Next Door Arctic Base
The new cadets stood shoulder to shoulder in a straight line, their arms at their sides and heads held high. Before the fifty-five cadets, stood a gruff looking twelve year-old, wearing an orange beanie and heavy red jacket.
"Alright maggots, if you hadn't of guessed it, you're actually here. Welcome to the Kids Next Door Arctic Training Base. For the next month I will personally train each and every one of you. I will see what you have to offer the Kids Next Door as the Seventh Age."
"You see." The twelve-year old began to pace back and forth as he looked over the cadets. "Once an operative reaches the age of thirteen, he or she is decommissioned in order to keep our secrets out of the hands of those who would do the KND harm. The Sixth Age, despite all that we've endured, is finally reaching the end of its line. And it's up to me to whip our replacements into shape in order to take on the great responsibility of protect all of kid kind from adult tyranny."
"You hear that, we've got a lot to live up to." The boy with dark hair whispered to the girl with red hair.
"Alright." The twelve-year old stopped before a girl with blonde hair and an orange and black striped sweater. "I guess it's time for introductions. I am Numbuh 68.06; I'm your drill instructor for the rest of our time together. You will call me 'sir', and I will call you by whatever I feel like calling you."
"But I guess we should all get acquainted though." Numbuh 68.06 pointed to the girl with blonde hair. "I want you all to shout your name and give us the main reason why you are here, starting with you."
"I'm Rachel T. McKenzie; I'm here to fight for kids everywhere, sir!" the girl with the orange and black striped sweater shouted for all to hear.
"By the look in your eyes, you definitely belong here." Numbuh 68.06 smiled as he walked down the line to a boy with dark hair and a cleft chin.
"My name is Patton Drilovsky, and I'm here to add a level of discipline to this fine organization!" The boy smiled.
"You…I like you." Numbuh 68.06 removed his orange beanie and handed it to Patton. "Here, consider it the only ounce of respect I'll hand out to any of you." Patton smiled as he placed the beanie over his head. Numbuh 68.06 moved down the line to a girl with red frizzy hair and plaid clothing.
"Ahm Fanny Fulbright, ahm 'ere ta fight adult tyranny, sir!" The girl shouted with an Scotch-Irish accent.
Numbuh 68.06 nodded as he moved down the line. "Josh Puncture, I'm here to prove I am not a waste, sir!" A kid with a near bald blonde head exclaimed as he held his arms behind his back.
"Abigail Lincoln is Abby's name and I'm here to be as good of an operative as my sister, sir!" an African-American girl with a dark long braided ponytail shouted with pride.
"Heh, I bet you'll live up to being Cree's sister." Numbuh 68.06 smiled as he walked up to the next kid.
"I'm Connie Ingram, I'm here to be tactical support for the KND, sir!" A girl with brown hair combed over her right eye exclaimed.
"I'm Doug Murphy and I'm here to kick all kinds of adult butt!" A kid with shaggy black hair shouted proudly.
"It's Gwen, Gwen Tucker, I'm here to be the best pilot the KND has." A girl with long brown hair smirked.
"I'm Thomas Topkins, I'm just here to see the stars, sir." A kid with headphones and sunglasses smiled.
Numbuh 68.06 leaned forward and glared at Thomas. "You disgust me." He spoke harshly, causing Thomas to frown.
"It's Ian, just Ian, and I am what the KND needs, sir!" A kid with a sweater with the number seventy-three, smirked.
"Sure you are, that is if you're a clone of Numbuh 100 or Numbuh 283, we need a lot more operatives like them." Numbuh 68.06 moved onward to the next cadet.
"D. Carmine sir! I'm here to follow in my brother's footsteps, sir!" A kid with a face obscuring hood saluted.
"Piece of advice, wear a helmet." Numbuh 68.06 grunted.
"I'm Vana Warhawk and I want to be the best equipment specialist, sir!" A girl with short brown hair smiled nervously.
"I'm Bob Johnson and I'm here to practice my aim on unsuspecting foes, sir." A kid with black hair used his fingers to mimic a gun. "Bang."
Numbuh 68.06 laughed. "That is if we even let you use a weapon."
"John, John Smith. I'd like to be a great KND operative, sir." A kid with a pocket bible smiled.
"If it wasn't for religious freedom, I'd have you ditch the book kid, those kind of beliefs don't mix well out there in the field."
"I'm Isaac Souster, my brother was an operative, I thought I'd be one too." An African-American boy smiled.
"A lot of siblings I see."
Numbuh 68.06 went down the line of cadets one by one, introducing many such as Kimberley Adams, Matthew Garley, Billy Horvitz, Molly Abrams, a boy named Lex, Catherine L. Lazuras, Garret O'neal, Stevie Rotorson, and many other before reaching the boy with dark hair.
"You know the drill." Numbuh 68.06 spoke, slightly annoyed with having to go through fifty other cadets prior to reaching this one.
"I am Nolan York, I'm here to fight for kids, just like Q did for me." The boy smiled.
"Sector Q, hm…I've heard what happened to Numbuh 1772, hope you were worth the sacrifice kid." Numbuh 68.06 narrowed his eyes and moved on to the girl with red hair in a ponytail. "And you?"
"I'm Carol Pariuhs, I'm here to be the best the KND has to offer, sir!" A girl with red hair in a ponytail exclaimed.
"Let's see you live up to the bar you set on yourself." Numbuh 68.06 turned his back to the cadets. "Alright, time to show the lot of you where you'll be staying for the month."
The fifty-five cadets followed their instructor deeper into a hallway. "This is so exciting." The boy with dark hair, Nolan, spoke to Carol.
"It is." Carol smiled as she took notice of a glass window. Behind the window, KND operatives partook in a game of capture the flag. "That's exciting."
"Take a good look at these training rooms, over the next month this is what you'll be experiencing." Numbuh 68.06 spoke for all to hear. "Behind this door is equipment training. Behind this one is the Gym where some of our operatives are partaking in a team exercise, and behind this door." Numbuh 68.06 stopped at the door and smirked. "Behind this door is your final test, the final trust exercise, the pass or fail, the Rock Wall."
Carol felt a chill run down her spine as she peered through the window to the Rock Wall room. There, she spotted the final obstacle. It was indeed a Rock Wall, but not one she'd ever seen before.
"Pariuhs!" Carol snapped at attention at the sound of her last name being spoken by Numbuh 68.06. "Stay with the group, I don't want to fill out any paper work about losing one of my cadets." Carol nodded before catching up with the group.
It wasn't long until the group reached their quarters. "Five cadets per room." Numbuh 68.09 spoke aloud. "Room one will have Rachel, Fanny, Patton, Molly, and Abby. Room two will have Souster, Volt, Kimberley, Matthew, and Vana. Room three will have Carol, Josh, Nolan, John, and Thomas. Room four, Ian, Gwen, Catherine, Doug and Garret…" Numbuh 68.06 continued to assign cadets to their rooms until all had a room.
Carol entered room three, alongside the others assigned to the room. Within the room, Carol found two bunk beds, one single bed, five lockers, five pillows, and five blankets on a locked chest.
"Not exactly what was on brochure?" Carol turned to see Thomas laughing at his own joke.
"So, how're we going to decide who gets the single bed?" John asked as he opened one of the lockers.
"We can do this in a civilized manner." Carol spoke up to her roommates.
"I'm alright with a bunk bed." Nolan spoke up as he took the top bed of the bunk to the left ice wall. "Anyone mind handing me a pillow and blanket?"
"Catch." Josh chucked a pillow up to Nolan and soon followed by a blanket.
"I share a bunk at home with my younger bro; I can deal with a bunk bed." Thomas smiled as he sat on the lower bed of the bunk to the right ice wall.
"Meh, why not?" Josh shrugged. He grabbed a pillow and blanket before taking the bed above Thomas.
"So it's between you and you." Thomas pointed to John and then to Carol. "Who wants a bed alone or a bed beneath Nolan up there?" Nolan meekly waved underneath his blanket.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Carol suggested. John closed his eyes and held his bible tightly.
"Rock."
"Paper."
"Scissors!"
"Whelp…" Thomas scratched the back of his neck. "Looks like John won."
Carol frowned as she held her hand out in a ball, representing rock as John held his hand out flat, representing paper. "I'll be taking the single bed if that's alright with you." John smiled.
Carol frowned, having been beaten. She walked over to the chest and grabbed a blanket and pillow before taking a seat on her new bed for the next month.
"So…what do we do now that we've settled down?" Josh asked aloud.
"You'll all be reporting at the cafeteria in ten minutes for some grub." Numbuh 68.06 dipped his head through the doorway. "After that you'll return here to your rooms and get acquainted with your new roommates. Then we'll start your training tomorrow." Numbuh 68.06 departed to inform the others.
"This KND thing is cool." Thomas smiled as he lay on his bunk, looking at his reflection in the ice ceiling.
"It could be a little warmer." Nolan shivered underneath his blanket.
"Either way." Carol pulled her pack onto her bed. She looked around the room at her roommates. "I can't wait for tomorrow."