Going Places

I think it was after the second hour of driving that I began to ask myself if I had just been kidnapped by the United States Army. I volunteered to enlist but this seemed different than what I expected. The quiet is killing me. The dull roar of the engine is lulling me to sleep. The rolling of the tires isn't helping. This guy doesn't seem to care or is instructed not to care. I lean my head back against the seat, closing my eyes. It all goes quiet as I drift off to sleep.

The van stops waking me up. The door slides open as another field hat looks inside. "Welch?"

"Yes?"

"Get out."

I step out onto the dimly lit road. It looks similar to where I was before but that just might be most military bases. The door to the van closes before the driver takes off. "Follow me." His voice is gruff but not nearly as violent as what I'm used to. I swing my bag back up on my back and follow him through a tile hallway. We head around to a barrack that has a quaint number of beds. It looks more like a shared dorm than a barrack. Waiting for me is a locker against the wall that has my name on it. "Load your stuff up in there. Get it organized. Tomorrow, you start again." Ah hell…

This has a lot more room than before. I'm able to get everything in with no issues. I can even see where everything is. I grab the rack closest to it quickly getting it made. I drop myself into it heading right back to sleep.

It's good to know that some things won't change. 5 am comes around and revelry begins to play on the loudspeakers. I shoot out of bed as the lights come on. No yelling, no screaming. I hear a few other murmurs as a few of the other beds begin to move. Out of the remaining five bunks, four emerge from the covers standing in line. A ferret, another fox, a mink, and an otter all shake off the sleep in a relaxed fashion. An instructor emerges from the office looking over us. "Good, get dressed. Get food. Get back here."

The ferret falls backward back into his bed with a groan. The rest start getting dressed. They all pull their uniform from their lockers. Blouses, pants, boots, done. I'm standing around waiting for the others to get ready until finally, one of them speaks up. "Who's the new guy?" That one sentence brings all four sets of eyes to me. The ferret sits himself up, "I know that look. He got the black site transfer from basic. You remember that Brant?" The otter groans out, "I don't think I could forget. Were they nice to you or did they shove a black hood on your head?"

I shake my head, "No bag, just a long van ride."

"Lucky!"

The mink takes charge again, "Well, welcome to Bomb Squad. I'm Ivy. The ferret is Garrett."

"Yo!"

"The fox is Terrison.

"What up, brother?"

"The otter is Brant."

"Welcome."

"And who are you? Last name."

I look them over as they're introduced. They all seem a lot laxer than the strict training regiment I am used to. "Welch. Why Bomb Squad?"

"Military term for a magic user is Mage Bomb. We're all magic users so we're all Mage Bombs. Thus! Bomb Squad."

The ferret pipes up, "Plus we're all pretty bomb."

There's a collective groan. They all seem to have a pretty good rapport with one another. "Get dressed, Welch. We'll get you caught up. Boots, pants, blouse, and cover." I grab my stuff and get sorted. The others all get their clothes together. All of them line up at the door with Ivy at the front. "Bomb Squad! Move out!" As they all pass through the door they slam their paw on a polished plank of wood shouting "Boom! Officer off deck!" I stop and stare in confusion as I pass. I head out, put my cover on, and follow the rest.

As they begin to turn to head down the stairs it hits me. I see the shine that was engraved into me that when I see I salute and give the proper greeting of the day. What do I do here? Everything is fighting to do it but they don't seem to be bothered. As we hit the main street they all kept in line as they made their way. The reality of the situation hit me when a group of two stopped, saluted, and yelled "Good morning, gentlemen!"

They all gave a weaker salute only to carry on their normal way. The two looked at me with confusion before they continued about their own business. The building they led me to looked familiar. It must have been built with the same layout as the mess hall back at Benning. Ivy held up a paw, "Four! No, wait. Five!" He pointed to me in the back. The lady clicked the counter five times and we were on our way. Same process as before. We lined up, got a tray, and walked down to collect our food.

Once again, Ivy led the group to a table before realizing that their normal spot of four wasn't enough. "Damn, throwing everything off there Welch." He grabbed a table that could sit six. I took a seat near the end and we all dug in. The conversation was light and I have no idea what. They all seemed to be in their own world. "God! Damn! I am not used to having a new member. Welch!" I snap up looking at Ivy. "First off! A proper welcome. Second, we'll have an orientation when we get back to the barracks. Enjoy your food. I'm sure you're used to eating fast but you can take your time."

"Thank you, sir."

"And none of that. We're all equal here."

I'm confused. It must show because Brant gets my attention, "They don't tell you anything when they move you here but you're no longer enlisted. Once today started, you began officer training. Your new rank is O-1, 2nd Lieutenant. You'll have to pay more attention to a person's billet rather than rank. Staff Sergeant Wegener, you'll meet him later, is in charge of our 'platoon' here. His job is to ensure we get to where we need to be and ensure we know our drills. It'll be pretty close to what you were doing wherever you came from. You're four weeks behind on our training so you'll have some catching up to do. We'll get you there."

He reached over and socks me on the shoulder. Breakfast goes by with no issue. It's rather strange to have time to take a breath. The weird sense of freedom is nice. We head back to the barracks where Brant starts getting me the rundown of what goes on. It seems like it will be close to what I was already doing. We'll be doing morning classes but instead of general education about the Army and whatever else they feel we need to know, it's going to be structured classes about combat, magic, and tactics. Ivy is our squad leader. He's in charge of us to a degree. How this works is they are swapping off on a weekly basis so that we are all getting hands-on experience with leading a squad. I was warned that my first week will be rough.

Ivy grabs me and brings me to the office. He slams his paw on the polished wood block on a beam by the door. "2nd Lieutenant Ivy reporting for Staff Sergeant Wegener!" He gives me a nod and stands at attention. I stand next to him as the door opens up. The old-looking eagle stares at Ivy, "What?" Ivy drops his shouting to a conversation level, "Welch needs his new equipment. Tags, brass, that nonsense." He stares at me, looks me up and down, and waves for me to come in. Ivy pats me on the back as I pass.

I'm pointed to a chair to take a seat. I'm tense. I'm all nerves. He sits across from me and looks at the computer screen on his desk. "W-E-L-C-H, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll get your tags ordered. Have one of the guys take you to the PX to get your brass. Did they give you a debit card?"

"Yes, sir."

"OK, you'll have to buy your own but they're like $7 for the cheap ones."

I sit waiting for the next thing. He looks back and forth between me and the computer screen. He finally pauses, "That's it. Get out." I stand up, do an about-face, and walk myself out. I hear him mumble something but I don't catch it. This whole thing is a mess. I was adapting and getting used to what I was doing but this is just off the wall.

Once I was back on the floor, Ivy grabbed me to take me away for a trip. "We have to get you stuff and show you where everything is." His tour was quick as he had to get to the morning classes. He let me know I was excused for the day to get myself sorted. We stopped by the PX, I got my brass, and he showed me how to wear them and keep them clean. "You'll have to get used to people saluting you. You'll get desensitized to it soon enough." He showed me where the laundromat was. "We can do laundry whenever we need to during our downtime. We have about three hours a day. I would reserve one day a week to just sit here and clean your uniforms and sheets."

We passed the mess hall again. I'll remember that pretty quickly as we should be there three times a day. He showed me the path to the PT field but to the field. We'll be there most afternoons for a few hours. We still have to keep in shape. I was assured that as long as I could keep up with my magic classes that it was basically a free ride to graduation. That was the emphasis that they pushed on them and now me.

"Aight! Welch! I have to get myself and the others to class. If you need stuff for the shower or whatever, just go to the PX. Until you're more familiar with the area I would suggest you stick around the barracks for now. Otherwise, you may get called upon to do something. You have brass now." He tapped the bar on my collar before shaking his paw at me. He ran up the stairs yelling for the others to get their nonsense together. They had to leave! They all passed me with a "good luck" before they lined up and walked down the street.

I took the stairs back to the barracks where I took a seat on my rack. I looked around trying to figure out what had happened. Everything shifted so quickly. In my wallowing, I didn't notice the time fly by. Terrison slammed on the wood by the entryway yelling "Officer on deck! Welch! We're going!" I grab my cover and follow him. We both slam on the wood and head down to the street. To the mess hall! Ivy yells out there are five of us, we get in line, and make our way to our new table. The food goes down and we head out back to the barracks to change for afternoon PT.

I do my run and get yelled at a bit by the instructor there whose entire job is to keep us moving. Once he's done with us we are dismissed and we have an hour to clean and get reorganized before dinner. We march back to the mess hall where Ivy calls out our five again. We quickly eat and we once again return to the barracks. Staff Sergeant Wegener has us line up for drills but there's a quick realization. I have no weapon. Mine was left at a table. Ivy offers up his as a loaner since he's got flag duty this week. As we march around to Staff Sergeant Wegener's orders, it gives me a sense of safety to see more of this base. There is a lot more security here. It seems a lot more isolated. This is what I was looking for. Somewhere away where Reed couldn't get to me. After my shower, the rest of the evening is mine. I got my uniform ready for tomorrow already. Ivy drops off my tags with my name on them. I'll have to iron them on but that's easy. The barracks have one in the utility closet. Takes maybe 10 minutes total for it to heat up and for me to get them on.

Revelry plays at 9 pm signaling it's time to hit the rack. I lay my head down and feel the weight of the day just melt away. I have a moment to reflect before sleep takes over. I have to remind myself why I'm here. I have to remember that I made this decision not for myself but for the better of someone else. Madam Odette… Just her name makes my heart feel heavy. I hope she knows that I made this decision for her. Well, I hope she never finds out that I made this decision for her sake. If she did there's no telling what she would do.

I guess that's part of being an adult. Making decisions that are difficult and not always what you want. There's no question that I would be happier back at the manor sleeping in the large bed at my cabin. It'll be waiting for me when I get the chance to return. For now, I have to do what I have to for her safety.

I shift in the rack as my body gets tight and uncomfortable. I roll onto my side where I find relief. With a deep sigh, I let everything relax, and off to dreamland I go.