September 30th, a day Felix had wished would never come. If only there was a way to go back in time and stop that plane from bombing the Dynasty Tower. Then he wouldn't be in this position. His hands trembled as he packed his few belongings into a suitcase. He couldn't stop the military truck arriving at his house to take him to the army base. His family didn't own a car, and they weren't alone. Sixty percent of Intermarium population couldn't afford a car. Felix grabbed his suitcase and left the house.
He couldn't look back at his house, too many happy memories. Anna followed him out, her arms crossed tight like she could physically hold him back. Kacy trailed behind, silent and wide-eyed.
"You don't have to go—" Anna started, voice cracking.
"It's prison if I don't," Felix muttered, wiping his face with his forearm. Tears didn't suit him, but they came.
Anna rubbed his back in slow, helpless circles. Kacy sat beside him on the dirt, pulling her knees to her chest.
The truck roared up, groaning like a beast burdened by guilt. An officer jumped out, all stiff posture and no humanity.
"Grab your stuff. Get in."
Anna stepped forward, defiant. "He shouldn't be forced—"
"If he refuses, I call the cops. Then it's bars instead of barracks." The officer sneered.
Felix stood. Hugged Anna. Her sobs soaked through his worn grey t-shirt.
Anna sobbed, "Please, take care of yourself. I'm going to miss you."
Felix let go and hugged Kacy. "I love you, big sister." He cried.
Kacy's blue eyes glistened and her lips corners pulled down. "I love you, too."
Felix clenched her plain dress. Her brown French braid ended at her waist. Grudgingly, he let go of her and he grabbed his suitcase. The officer yanked open the rusty back door, revealing fifty scrawny men packed onto benches lining both sides. Felix squeezed between two who didn't glance up. The door slammed shut, and he stared at hisblack shoes, sadness flooding his chest.
An hour later, Felix's t-shirt clung to his skin with sweat. The truck lurched over a pothole, nearly throwing him off the bench.
The truck stopped at a swing gate. A security guard in a booth pressed a button, and the metal gate creaked open. The truck parked, and the officer flung open the back door.
The truck stopped in the parking lot. The officer opened the back door.
The officer yelled, "Get out. Grab a map and go to the medical centre for the physical exam."
The officer held a folder of papers. Everyone disembarked and grabbed a map from the officer. Felix approached the medical centre and joined the line of people waiting for their turn to get in. The building's grey paint peeled and its black metallic roof panels were rusted. Grim and uninviting.
The guard approached Felix with his arms across his grey long sleeve shirt and pointed at the high-stacked pile of suitcases on the table.
He said, "Leave your suitcase on the table."
Felix was puzzled. "I can't take it with me?"
"No personal items inside the bunkers. Leave it on the table and we'll take it to storage for you."
Felix sighed and grudgingly left his suitcase behind. At least, his suitcase had his name tag on it.
The guard said, "Go to the examination room, down the hallway and turn right at the door."
Felix nodded and entered the room. Felix stepped onto the scale and his weight and height was measured by the elderly male nurse wearing green scrubs.
The nurse said, "Five-seven, 122 pounds. Congratulations, you're officially healthy enough to be cannon fodder. I'll tell the clothing organizer of what size uniform to bring with you. Go to changing room Five. Take all your clothes off. The doctor will examine you."
Felix's mouth dropped open. "I've to get naked in front of him?"
The nurse snapped. "Did you not hear what I said? You need to be thoroughly examined."
He entered the change room to remove his clothes. Afterwards, he'd jumped onto the examination table. His butt was cold on the stainless steel. Crossed his legs and used his hands to shield his groin.
The doctor entered and closed the curtain behind him.
The doctor said, "I need to examine you. Get off the bed." Felix jumped off the examination table and stood in front of the doctor, shaking nervously.
"You've no abnormalities. That's good." He'd put a stethoscope on his chest. "Your heartbeat is normal."
He opened the metal cabinet's drawer. He picked up a metal bracelet from the pile and clasped it on Felix's wrist. The bracelet's monitor had a blinking red light.
The doctor said, "You've to wear this bracelet." The doctor took out a key from the pocket of his black pants and locked the bracelet.
"Why do I've to wear this?"
"Bracelets are mandatory. If you go AWOL, an alarm on your bracelet will be sounded. The search team will find you and will shoot you for escaping military grounds."
The nurse entered carrying folded clothes. "This is for you to wear."
She put the baby blue tunic and pants on the table.
Felix gasped, "I can't put my old clothes on?"
The nurse shook her head. "No, you've to wear this uniform. Your name is sixteen."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "My name is Felix-"
"No, your name here is Sixteen. Your hearing and vision will need to be tested. You'll be sent home if you do not pass the medical examination. Leave your clothes on the bed, we'll store them away for with your personal belonging."
The doctor said, "I'll need a urine sample from you. You can drop off the sample in the urinalysis room. Store it inside of the cooler labelled 'specimen collection.' His hand dug into the pocket of his white lab coat and put the container on the table.
"I've to go examine other patients."
The doctor and the nurse left. Felix sighed. There was no way to escape from this place. He was stuck like a fly in glue. They'd taken away his belongings and robbed him of his name. His identity was stripped away like ugly wallpaper from the walls. As if he was already dead, and he wasn't even on the battlefield. This place made hell look like a fun holiday vacation.
Quickly, he got dressed and stuck the container in the pocket of his pants. Left the change room and walked down the hallway.
The security guard stood beside the door with the exit sign. "Go down the hallway and turn left. You need to go to the door that says hearing examination."
Felix nodded and he left to use the washroom. Then, he'd entered the urinalysis room and dropped off his sample inside the cooler. Left to get his hearing checked. The doctor said his hearing was fine.
He entered the eye examination room to get his vision tested. After the optometrist finished using the phoropter on Felix, he said, "You're near-sighted. I'll make a note in your file."
"So, I'm disqualified from the army?" Felix grinned.
"No." The optometrist's tone was emotionless. Felix's mouth dropped open.
The optometrist continued, "Your eyesight is not bad enough to exempt you from the army. You just need to wear glasses or contacts. You need to go to the barber because your hair is too long for the army."
Felix groaned. "I don't want my head shaved!"
The optometrist chuckled. "You don't have a choice. Your hair needs to be short so you don't get lice."
Felix cried, "Please, can't you lie? I don't want to join the military-"
"I'm not going to lie on your medical exam. That would be unethical, and I could lose my job." The optometrist pointed to the door.
Felix rose from his chair and left the medical centre. His whims were ignored and he moped around like a lost dog. He took the map out of his pants pocket and examined it. On the map, it'd a tent that was labelled barbershop.
He approached the green tent and entered. The barber gestured toward the black padded stool, instructing Felix to take a seat. With a heavy heart, Felix complied, tears streaming down his face as the barber wielded his electric clippers, shearing away his beloved brown locks. His stomach filled with dread after he patted his head. He'd been given a buzz cut; it was not a flattering look on him. His wavy shoulder-length hair was gone. He jumped off the chair, looking pitifully at the pile of hair on the dirt.
The barber said, "Go to the cafeteria. They're serving lunch until 1 pm."
Felix left to go to the main building and entered the cafeteria. Stood in the line of people and grabbed a tray off the sheet pan rack. The room buzzed with conversation.
He grabbed a carton of milk, a soft biscuit full of cranberry sauce and a bun off the counter. The cook wore a brown-stained white apron over her grey dress. Felix gave his tray to the cook. The cook stuck her ladle in the rusted tin pot on the table. Lazily, she dumped the brown beans onto Felix's plate splattering his biscuit. She returned Felix's tray to him. Felix cringed; the soggy beans had soaked his biscuit the only thing that looked appetizing on his tray. If the cook wasn't so careless, his desert won't be ruined.
Three people on bench sat in front of a white table and Felix joined them.
"I recognized you from the grocery store. You used to have shoulder length hair." Felix said as he sat down beside the woman with short-faded hair-cut. Across from her were two men with crew haircuts, the same hairstyle the sergeants had. "You can have my bread."
"Thank you." She accepted the bread from Felix.
"I like your haircut." Felix said.
"Thanks. My brothers cut my hair before we came here." She pointed the man with freckles. "His name is Kip." Then she pointed at the man with the mole on his eyebrow. "His name is Fox and my name is Nova. We're triplets."
They did look alike: fair skin, wide lips, oval-shaped faces, and thin frames.
"Why're you here? The conscription isn't mandatory for you." Felix scratches his head.
"I'm here because my family can't afford to feed me or my brothers. The army makes sure we're well fed so that we're fit enough to fight in the war. They don't want people collapsing on the battlefield because they're starved." Nova said.
"How old are you?" Felix said.
"We're eighteen."
Kip said, "I don't agree with the military uniform we've to wear. When the sun shines against the white spots on our uniform, it sparkles making us easy targets for the enemy! As soldiers we need to blend in with the environment to protect ourselves!"
"What are Technations wearing as a uniform?" Felix asked.
"Grey and black spots. I know the war is schedule to take place at Grey Island owned by Technate."
"I don't agree why we've to fight in war. The tower was old and it needed to be demolished. It wasn't like there was anyone injured during the explosion." Felix grounded his teeth.
"That's could have been just dumb luck, that nobody was in the tower during the explosion. Technations are not smart enough to know the time differences in Intermarium. I think the plane arrived at the tower, at the wrong time!" Fox smirked.
"Technations are not dumb people." Felix replied.
"Oh, come with that!" Fox replied. "Do you know the difference between Technation women and goats?"
"A goat watches its kids." Kip laughed. "You've told me that joke before!"
"I don't think the joke is funny, but offensive." Felix replied.
"You got no sense of humour!" Fox replied. "There's nothing wrong with war. We can't have peace in our country until our enemies are destroyed. You gotta change your mindset."
A security guard approached their table when they finished eating.
"I'm going to show you your assigned barrack. Twenty-four, you have to stay here because you are not allowed in the men's barracks. Sixteen, one hundred, and three hundred, come follow me." The guard folded his arms across his grey t-shirt.
Nova nodded. Kip, Fox, and Felix followed the guard. They entered a room with two hundred triple-decker steel metal bunk beds. The white walls were plain and tasteless, like low-fat yogurt. They walked down the rows of bed; every bed was assigned a number.
The guard said, "Follow me to the locker room." They followed the guard. The guard dug into his fanny pack and gave them their padlocks for their lockers.
The guard said, "Everyone is assigned a locker. It's your job to store all your clothes and hygiene products, in your locker."
Kip asked, "This is all we get?" As he opened his locker's door looking at three sets of folded clothes.
The guard nodded his head. "If you want more clothing, you've to buy it from the military. Otherwise, that's all you'll get is three pair of uniforms and one pair of pyjamas."
Fox raised an eyebrow. "How much is a uniform?"
The guard said, "Five hundred dollars."
Kip shook his head, "Ouch. That's asking too much from me."
The guard said, "Then you're stuck with what's you got."
"What?" Felix mouth dropped. "But this isn't enough for seven days."
The guard said, "The laundry machine is available for you to use. Let me show you." The guard opened the door to the room with two laundry machines and dryers.
Felix mouth dropped. "This is it? We've to share this with six hundred trainees?"
"You're only allowed to do laundry once a week and you must wash the sheets from your bed as well."
The guard dug into his black duffel bag and gave them a sheet of paper.
The guard said, "This is your schedule. You must follow it or else you'll be punished. A security guard is always outside of your door. There is a washroom with fifty stalls."
Felix asked, "Can I use the phone to talk with my family?"
The guard said, "All contact outside of the military base is forbidden."
Felix gasped, "What? I can't talk with my family?"
"No visitors are allowed to come to the base. You've to go to the training centre and undergo a fitness exam."
Felix let out a frustrated groan, feeling as though the military was determined to make his existence unbearable. If the Devil were to witness this ordeal, he would undoubtedly applaud the military's efforts.
Felix followed Fox and Kip to the gym. In the gym, Felix had to undergo fitness tests. On the treadmill, he'd to run at his fastest speed. Afterwards, he'd to lift weights to show how strong he was. He was timed on how many push-ups he could do in under a minute. Felix could see the disapproving look on the trainer's grimace face when he looked at the time on the on his pocket watch. His limbs felt like jelly, from spending hours of the fitness tests with the trainer. He'd stopped doing jumping-jacks.
His trainer said, "Sixteen, you did poorly on all the tests. You'll need a lot of training before you are ready to fight in the war. Now, you've to go to the theatre."
Felix smiled. "Do we get to watch comedy movies?"
"No. Only government-sanctioned movies are allowed to be played in the theatre. You'll be watching a film called The Battle of Technate. Every night you will spend one hour in the theatre."
Entering the musty theater, Felix settled into a worn red seat next to Fox and Kip. The two-hour film depicted Jacob Kennedy's chilling plan for the genocide of Intermariams in Technate, showcasing the Technations' intent to trap inside a room and gas them to death.
Felix's mind pounded. He didn't know if the film was factual or propagandist bullshit.
Felix asked. "Fox, what do you think of the film?"
Fox smiled. "It reminds me why I need to fight in this war. We can't let them start a genocide."
Felix raised an eyebrow. "But why? Why do the Technations hate us so much? It's not like we've done anything to them, to make them hate us."
Kip shook his head. "Weren't you paying attention to the movie? Technations want to kill Intermariams because we eat rabbits! Technations are scared that the Technate Blue rabbit is going to go extinct!"
"But there are hardly any Technate Blue rabbits in Intermarium! We eat Marium Blue rabbits which is a different breed of rabbit!" Felix flew his arms in the air.
Kip said. "Yes, but the rabbits look very similar and the Technate Blue rabbit is a critically endangered animal!"
Fox said, "Technations are against eating rabbit because they believe rabbits are companion animals."
Felix said, "Intermariams are too poor to raised pigs or cows. Marium Blue rabbit is the main staple of a Intermariam's diet. Are you scared of war the, Fox?"
"I'm not scared because I'm courageous. Now, let's return to the cafeteria before the food gets cold." Fox answered.
Felix nodded and followed his friends to the cafeteria. It'd only been a couple of hours and already he was homesick. He wished he could teleport himself out of this hellhole.
He'd come to the realization war wasn't about him. It was about politics and he was just a pawn to be played in a game. The government didn't care if he lived or die.