First Day at Barrack

On the first day at the barrack, I'd meet people of 'my age' which meant some younger people, probably at the age of conscription. The uniform that I wore was fairly decent, with a desert camouflage pattern and quite a thick fabric resembling the modern uniform of my world. On my left shoulder was the Enclave Flag insignia in black stitches. It was a normal American flag with the Enclave symbol instead of the regular stars.

Eventually, after some walking in the military section, I arrived at Barrack #2. I pressed the button to open the vault door. The door slid up, revealing a bedroom with two bunk beds, alongside its occupants. All of them were male, and all of them immediately shifted their gaze at me.

"Wastelander, welcome to our humble home. We call ourselves Calbour Team, albeit the more official unit is called 69th Training Team. I'm Private Kohler, the others are Herbert and Callahan. Callahan is the one wearing glasses, Herbert is that telephone pole," Kohler said.

"Thanks for the welcome, my name is Private Rockwell," I said.

Kohler was another trainee, taller than me, bulkier than me, and bigger than me. His hair was bald, the same as I did, but probably for different reasons. The other people were also bald, probably because of military regulations that required them to be bald. The only difference that I could find was that one was wearing glasses, and the other didn't.

Callahan looked at me, "Damn, can't believe we'd receive a wastelander in our team," he said.

"Callahan, c'mon, don't be like that, show him some respect. You know that he rescued some children from the Legion, don't you know that?" Kohler said.

"Well, yes, I meant, why a person like that doesn't join SOCOM immediately, especially after that reckless action?" Callahan commented.

"SOCOM? Special Operation Command?" I asked him.

"Where did you learn that, Rockwell?" Kohler asked, seemingly not believing that a mere wastelander would know about the special operation command. Of course, I'd know because that organization was quite famous back in the United States of America.

"See, what I told you. Rockwell already has known everything," he said.

Kohler sighed, "Callahan, c'mon, you don't want to get Sergeant Kyle to give us 100x push-ups for the lack of cohesion with the wastelander. Anyway, welcome to our team, Rockwell, enjoy your stay. If you have any questions, feel free to ask before tomorrow's physical training session."

"Thanks," I replied.

I closed the vault door and put my bag near one of the empty beds. There were indeed four bunk beds alongside four lockers in that room. There was only one table, and that didn't have any chairs whatsoever. There was another small vault door in that room, probably for the bathroom. Well, a good thing to have here, I guess?

"Rockwell, put your belongings in the locker in the most left section!" Kohler said.

"Sure thing," I said as I opened the locker. It was empty, of course. I opened my rucksack and put my belongings there. There were six spare uniforms, three sleeping fatigue, and some underwear. There wasn't anything civilian in that locker.

Thinking about it again, none of us was wearing Pip-Boy. Maybe it was because military trainee wasn't allowed to have anything civilian with them. Then again, I'd not know better, my Pip-Boy was also gone. The Enclave must have taken it all off, damn, my bottlecaps are gone now.

After putting all of my belonging in my locker, I sat down on one of the bunk beds. I could assume that the only empty place was the top bunk bed. I was right. The only empty bunk bed was the one on top of Herbert's bed. I climbed up top and sit down there.

"Anyway, Herbert, can you tell Rockwell what we always do in the morning?" Kohler asked him.

"Sure thing, boss. So, Rockwell, in the morning, we began with physical training for two hours. In that time, it'd be the ordinary exercise, push-up, sit-up, back-up, you know the rest, followed by a one-hour run across the entire Vault, up the stairs, down the stairs, I'll lead the way. After that, we'll report to Sergeant Kyle for further orders," Herbert explained.

"What do you usually do after that?" I asked.

"Well, for the most part, it's either classroom subjects, or straight back to the simulated field for further training," Herbert said.

"Ah, how many weeks left do you have to spend in basic training?" I asked.

"Probably around six weeks left. We have gone through the worst part of it all," Kohler sighed. He then looked at me. "I hope you can help us in the upcoming marksman qualification."

I wouldn't think that I'd be the best example for these people, especially since I wasn't born from military background nor had anything to do with the military before joining the Enclave. I just so happened to be fighting a bunch of football players acting as Rome.

"I'd not think that's a good idea," I said.

"C'mon, why not? You are a good teacher, besides, I also heard that your usual rifle is not that different from our training rifle," he said.

"Oh, you're using AR-15 as well?" I asked.

"AR-15? Well, if you call your rifle that way, then yes," Kohler nodded.

"Good to know then," I nodded.

If the Enclave was also using an AR-15-style rifle for their training, I'd be at a great advantage knowing that I had some familiarity with the weapon system. However, I hadn't seen any weapon in this barrack, well, the weapons were probably in the armory from what I knew.

Looking around, there was no form of entertainment either, it was all so dull, probably because of the basic training. I also noticed that the whole barrack was pretty spotless without any dust whatsoever. They must have cleaned it thoroughly.

"Tell me something, what's going to happen after basic training?" I asked.

"Well, we either do logistic duties or send to the world above for reconnaissance. Of course, it's not like there wasn't any session where we are required to practice outside during the basic training. After all, navigation required a vast amount of land," Callahan commented.

"Navigation? Outside, what you're talking about?" I asked.

"Well, we'll be sent outside to get a picture of a dangerous area, then return here. It's called Operation Field. Without Pip-Boy, without any backup, and without any assistance whatsoever. We pack what we pack, and we must avoid outside intrusion," Kohler intervened.

"Oh, some kind of SERE mission?" I asked.

"See, why this person isn't joining JSOC yet?" Callahan commented. "How the hell does a wastelander know about SERE?" Callahan asked.

Kohler sighed, "Callahan, there's a bloody republic out there hunting us down, why don't you consider that an outsider knowing everything about us to be an entirely ordinary circumstance? Always assume your enemy knows your tactic, so you can adapt, from Law of War by Inggrid English in 2065."

"Alright, alright, I understand," Callahan rose his hand, to make Kohler stop saying anything to him.

I already had an idea that there was still a slight underestimation of an average wastelander in terms of military knowledge, which was quite understandable. Well, I'd have to stay with these people for the next few weeks, good luck to me.