Tape 2: Field Trips

Back to where I stopped for a second. My 7th birthday was at midnight so they deployed me at midnight I was partnered up with another kid just like me that struck his 7th birthday as well. We were given a officer to overlook us during a mission.

I was partnered up with my own instructor thankfully. So during that time I wasn't worried about some unknown officer guarding me taking off some of the stress out of my shoulders. The mission was to take out a terrorist leader somewhere in a northern European forest. We were dropped off different sides of the base since both of us had different missions.

I entered the base with my instructor over watching me from the distance keeping checks and informing me around the base. My only weapon was a single knife and I was dropped off to a heavily armed terrorist base. Sounds great right?

"Vaughn, you have to do your kills as quickly as possible. Take down any witnesses, as much as possible no one should know you were there. Your target is one of the bosses of that terrorist base. Don't trust anyone, don't believe anyone there in that base. They are all your enemies." Said the Instructor over comms.

I entered the base from the back service area where barely anyone was guarding it. There were a few guards but I quickly took care of them. Slitting their throats is the fastest way I could take down anyone so I chose to be as efficient as possible. So far I was entering the office of the boss that I intend to take down or is my objective.

Suddenly I heard the alarm as the a heard of footsteps clambering. My Instructor immediately stopped me from engaging.

"No, Vaughn that alarm wasn't for you. Stay there and lay low." Said the Instructor.

I hid around the boxes as soldiers come and go across my view as they seemed worried for a second. I didn't think twice and immediately went for the target's office which I found him reading through his papers with his back open for the kill. I covered his mouth and stabbed him 3 times on the chest then slits his neck.

After that I immediately escape the facility while everyone there is on a panic when my instructor radioed me for a sudden request.

"Could you do the mission that your partner failed to execute. I give you permission to go loud if things get hairy grab a weapon from the fallen guards in that place and go finish what he failed to do." Said the Instructor as he sounded pissed.

Grabbed one of their rifles and some magazines and left the office as I was given instructions to the office of the next target... Where I came across the body of my partnered riddled with bullets. Lying on the floor with a knife on his hand. So I grabbed his knife as my secondary weapon.

"You see that Vaughn. That's a dead body of a failure, I know you're smarter than most of the kids that went through my instructions Vaughn. But remember that you might be smart if you think you're a bad soldier remember this dead body in your head. You don't want to be that dead kid on that floor. Follow my orders." Said the Instructor.

It was the first dead person I ever stared at for more than five seconds. I had to stare and remind myself that I have a mission to do. After a few seconds of scrambling to get some of the documents my dead partner has and continued his unfinished mission.

The base has become a bit hot-blooded after his mistake. I entered the office room of the target he was suppose to kill. And it is quieter than the other office probably because the guards aren't inside the room at the moment due to the sudden raise of alarm.

I headed to the officer's office and finished what he couldn't do. I quickly escaped the place just enough time where they started panicking once again after finding both of their head officers killed. My Instructor was proud but he wasn't surprised but then again it was just a field trip.

That was my first kill and first field exposure. After that I continued on with my studies and training. Then on the weekends I did field work mostly just to support the older kids. Since I specialize in explosives I did what I could.

But during one of the field trips I had with a small group of older kids. I had to get cover on a bridge while we were taking on fire from both directions. I saw a man there bleeding to death and asked me something.

"Hey kid are you a soldier?" Said the bleeding old man.

I only nodded to respond to him.

"Do you like war kid?" Said the bleeding old man.

I nodded again.

"You got brains kid I can tell, you're not like the rest of them. Throwing themselves into blind fire. Say do you like, smile? At least once? A child like you should be smiling and not at war." Said the bleeding old man.

"But what if I liked war?"

Those words stuck in my head. It was weird of course but that descended me into madness. I was fed with more of the VR Training this time. Directly learning violence into my brain. The sensation was like going through a book at lightspeed learning everything with no pauses.

But I had to live with it until I fall sleepless. Every night the insomnia is getting worst and worst. So their way of fixing it is by injecting some kind of medicine that forces me to sleep. And it wasn't a fun experience.

Through out my 7th years of living in the factory I've been seeing kids being sent out on a truck. All wearing bulletproof vests and weapons I have never seen before. I asked my Instructor which thankfully he replied too without scolding me.

"They're the finished product basically Vaughn. Soon you'll become like one of them. But you're a smart kid the price on your head is probably 3x of anyone here in this school of war ridden children." Said the Instructor.

It was the first time I saw the Instructor like that he never told me anything deep about the place I'm in but I slowly understood this facility and lived with it because I can't fight it. If I defy them I'll die. It was a decision of no choice I had to become a soldier. I have to be soldier of fortune.