Specimen

Planes whizzed over head in the first wave. Soldiers rushed onto the beaches from submarines off shore. The civilians had no chance of stopping the bullets and angry soldiers. Once the shores were cleared, giant carrier ships crashed through the sands.

During the second wave, the carriers launched Leopard 2 and Abrams M1A2 Tanks. Crushing cars throughout the cities as buildings crashed from the rounds the tanks fired. The military was quick to respond, but not at the cost of their own citizens' lives.

Fighting Falcons flew over head, dropping bombs on the tanks and carriers as they rounded around for a second attack. Anti air missiles from the carriers had them lost to the ocean. That didn't stop the ground troops as they slaughtered people by the millions. The entire east coast of the United States had fallen in an afternoon.

Every country on Earth felt the attack. Many began to pick up arms to combat the terrorists. The blockade placed in the Pacific ocean by the attackers withstood every naval fleet that came into contact. Sinking ships, submarines, and jets. Nothing could get through.

I was in Michigan at the time. That's where I lived for twenty years. I had never done much of anything in my life. I tried the army once and failed it. As their numbers depleted, their desperation increased.

Trying to escape fighting, I was taken from my family. My girlfriend and I were taken and enlisted. I'm not sure of my mother or siblings. At least at the time.

I remembered most of my training. I was a decent shooter and was still able to stay in shape. Though cutting cigarettes and marijuana out was a struggle, I spent a lot of time in the ward for bad withdraws of nicotine. Most of the tobacco plants and farms were little more than ruins or belonged to the enemy.

Unable to be properly trained again, they sent everyone into the fray. My first battle was in Cleveland, Ohio. Carrying a standard M4 and 1911, I marched through the broken city with my squad. It was quiet and eerie. I had visited Cleveland once or twice, but seeing it this dead was unnerving.

I can't quite remember what happened next. A bomb went off to our right, and I was covered in blood. The words, "Get the fuck down!" were heard, in which I jumped behind a car that hadn't been phased by the explosion.

The firing of the weapons had started as soon as we found cover. Bullets ricocheted and stuck into the cars. The gasoline from their tanks began covering the road.

"Into the building!" my squad leader commanded. We all followed and shut the doors behind us. I was shaken by the amount of blood all over me. Everything was fuzzy, and my mouth got dry. "No time for this soldier," my squad leader hollered. "Get up stairs!" he pushed me towards the stairs.

We hunkered down in a room and waited for the firing outside to stop. It took twenty minutes for them to stop shooting, and the now dead silence allowed us to hear their footsteps just outside. You never realize how loud your every day life is until the world has stopped.

Jacobs, one of the kids in our squad began crying because he didn't want to die. He was one of those kids who would shut down when he was told he wasn't doing a good job. Anxious and fragile, he tried his hardest to muffle his cries. But we were quickly found. Like I said. You never realize.

We had been taken to an HQ of some sorts. They didn't hurt us, just captured us. Which was a tad bit worse. Each of us were stripped of our weapons and our clothes. One by one, shackled in chains and a number tattooed on our necks. That was the last I had seen of all of them besides Jacobs. He was my cell mate.

I don't remember how long we were in the cell. We were fed, allowed to bathe, use the restroom. But we were treated like animals. Unable to see the sun, we could only measure time by when we slept and got fed.

Guessing it was about a month before we got to leave our cell. Taken to two different rooms, I, prisoner 21596 was put onto a table. A wooden stick was placed into my mouth and the panic began to set in.

They had strapped me down onto the table and lights were placed above me like they were about to begin a surgery. I closed my eyes from the light. I heard chatter from all sides of the bright room.

When the chatter stopped, I could hear my own heartbeat. They hooked me up to a monitor and began checking my vitals. Once they were done, I heard the "tink, tink" of a needle. My eyes shot open and began frantically scanning the room. The needle then got shoved into my arm.

At first it began to sting where the needle shot into my flesh. The liquid was warm, but I could feel it spread throughout my veins. It felt like I was laying on that table for hours. The ringing and beeping of the monitor stopped.

A single tear fell from the corner of my eye. My mouth opened and I could feel my breathing stop. I could still feel my body. Suddenly, my muscles tensed and I could feel my body seizing. Blood started flowing from the orifices as I flailed on the table.

Gripping the wood in my mouth, I screamed out in pain. It felt like every pore on my body was bleeding at this point. The heart beating in my chest felt like it was trying to escape. I was moving so violently that I could feel my bones breaking and pulling already. Every muscle was shredding.

I don't know how long I was in that table. I do know that I at least had breaks in between the seizing. When it finally stopped, I was no longer crying blood, I could feel the stinging of my own tears on my skin.

The monitor never kicked back on. Somewhere during the episodes, I had ripped off the wires that connected me to it. I couldn't tell if I was alive or dead. I no longer felt the tremendous amount of pain, I was just numb.

"He lasted the longest." I had heard from one corner of the room.

"It was a magnificent process. And look, you can even see him breathing."

"Ah yes! And look at his body. No bruising what so ever from his cuffs!"

"Have we finally found a specimen?"

Specimen..? Was I some lab experiment just now. The numb sensation went away and my jaw tightened around the piece of wood in my mouth once more until it broke between my teeth.

"I am not your experiment!" I yelled at loud as I could. My fists tightened and I strained to rip the cuff off. In spite of the pain once again returning, I heard the bolts of the cuff fall onto the ground.

One of my arms were free! I reached over to my other hand and ripped that one off with ease. I had never been so strong before. Once I got the cuffs around my ankles off, I jumped off the table.

By then one of the doctors hit the emergency button and soldiers rushed in. I stood face to face with a half dozen armed soldiers. My hands slowly went up and shackles slid on my wrist.

Walking by the room that Jacobs went to, I saw the crimson splatters across the room. My heart sank at the thought of what had happened. Was he alive? He had to of felt everything I did. With the amount of blood in that room. I didn't want to think about it.

Cell doors were shut behind me. My system of telling time was gone. I had no idea what was going on anymore. What once was silence amongst two, there was now silence amongst myself.