Chapter 15: Chapter XIV: Military Youth

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Half a loaf of moldy bread wrapped inside a plastic bag, half a dozen hardtacks too hard to go bad, and an ancient MRE for emergencies. Seeing the pitiful state of their pantry, Marcus’ stomach growled. The neighbors helped as they could, but nobody had much to begin with.

He grabbed a couple hardtacks and closed the pantry, when someone knocked on the door.

In the first few days after Olivia disappeared his heart might have skipped a beat, but now he just stopped at the noise and chomped at the biscuits.

“Coming,” Marcus said, walking towards the door with his mouth full.

He pulled the handle.

A government worker dressed in old military clothes. There was clipboard in his hand.

“Morning, kid,” he said, peeking inside over Marcus’ shoulder. “Where’s your father?”

“MIA.”

The man stopped peeking and turned his attention to him.

“Oh. Okay.” He scratched his eyebrow. “Is there someone else responsible for the property here right now? Your mother?”

Marcus shook his head.

“No.”

The man sighed.

“Alright. Well.” He pulled a sheet of paper from the clipboard. “Here’s your unpaid water bill with a fine. Give this to whoever comes around then.”

Marcus took the paper, unsure what to say. But it didn’t matter in the end, as the worker just left without a word.

He closed the door and wiped the crumbs off his mouth.

This was bad. He had no idea Oli had unpaid bills, and he had no money. What happened when you didn’t pay stuff like that?

Did the military government take your home?

His mind raced.

It was almost time for school. But did school even matter at this point?

There was just one person he knew that might have been able to give him some advice in this pinch, even if he wasn’t the nicest person...

Marcus prepared his bag for school just in case and left the house.

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Paris was polishing his jeep in front of his home. He seemed to love that thing. Marcus approached him.

“Morning,” he said.

Paris stood up and turned to him, a towel in his hand.

“What’s up, kid.”

Marcus shifted. Paris wasn't really a family friend, just a colleague of Oli's, but she seemed to trust him.

“I need some advice.”

Paris stared at him, cleaning between his fingers with the towel.

“Let me guess, you need to grow up too fast too quickly, now that Liv is dead. Bills and such.”

Marcus lowered his head.

“She’s not dead...” he muttered, not entirely sure if he believed himself.

Paris sighed.

“I saw how that mutant we captured was looking at her. She’s dead.”

“How can you say something like that? She’s been your colleague for years.”

He shrugged.

“If you’re going to suffer and mourn for everyone you lose in this world, you’re going to go crazy. Soldiers die. That’s it.”

Soldiers die...

“How did you know I had bills?”

“Well, because that’s what happened to me when my father died. The world around me just changed suddenly, and I had to adapt to it.”

It seemed he'd come to the right person after all. Marcus didn’t know Paris was an orphan like him, but that explained some things...

“And what did you do?”

Paris tapped one of the medals on his chest. It looked more like a pin than a medal, identical to the coming-of-age necklace he had, but with a lance between the wings.

“Military youth,” he said with a grin. “That’s where your life begins anew, and you’ll stop being a wimp for good.”

Military youth. Marcus heard some of the older kids bragging about something like that in school. And now that he thought about it, they were all orphans or came from destitute homes, but they began doing well after a while.

“Alright. Thank you. I’ll... think about it.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Yeah, well. Don’t think too much. I gave you the answer.” Paris waved, going back to his business. “So long, kid.”

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The place was easy to find. He’d seen the gray building before, a government facility between the school and the HQ, but he never bothered to know what it was used for until now.

Marcus stepped through the open gates into what seemed to be a reception.

Someone approached him immediately.

“Hello there!” she said with a bright smile.

The girl was four or five years older than him, redhaired with freckles. She had the pin on the lapel of her jacket. A name tag beneath it.

Veronica.

Still smiling, she raised her eyebrows in response to his silence.

Marcus snapped back to himself, realizing he might have stared for too long.

“Hi,” he said. “Is this the... Military Youth?”

“Guilty!” She opened her arms. “You found us!”

“Oh.”

He looked around.

The place seemed clean and comfy. Marcus imagined it would be a lot scarier, with military men shouting at you for not having your shoelaces tied or something. He wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Can I join?” He asked, giving it a shot.

“Sure.”

He frowned.

“Really? Just like that?”

She nodded.

“Pretty neat, huh? We just need to fill in some paperwork, then you can get acquainted with the family.”

“What about money?”

Veronica giggled.

“Money? We don’t pay members here. There are benefits, though. Like meals, clothes and such.”

Marcus scratched his head.

“It’s just that... I got bills...”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. We got you covered on that as well.”

He lifted his head.

“Really?!”

She winked at him.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Marcus blushed hard.

“Alright,” he said.

“Follow me,” she said with a smirk, walking towards the counter.

As she warned him, they went through paperwork. Basic stuff. Name, age, she asked about his parents, that sort of thing.

“And...” Veronica filled the last blank line. “We’re good to go.”

“What about the pin?”

“Pin?” She blinked, then looked down at her lapel. “Oh, this! The insignia is just for certain ranks upwards, I’m afraid.”

“Got it...”

She waved her hands in front of him.

“But don’t worry! You seem smart and competent. I’m sure you’ll get yours very soon!”

“Thanks.”

Veronica smiled and stood up.

“Shall we go meet the others?”

Marcus nodded.

She led him to the door opposite the entrance. This one was closed, muffled shouting coming from it. That bothered him a little, but he kept a polite smile for her sake, nonetheless.

Veronica pushed it open, revealing the many open sport courts beyond.

Kids of varying ages played all kinds of sport. Older ones practiced physical conditioning in groups by running, lifting weights and other exercises he didn’t even know existed.

Someone stopped at edge of the football field ahead. A kid his age.

“We need one more!” he said. “Hurry up, rookie!”

Rookie? Well, fair enough, Marcus was rookie here. But when it came to football, he was a veteran.

He looked at Veronica, checking if it was fine for him to go.

“Go on,” she said.

Marcus nodded and ran to catch up with the ongoing match.

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Sweat ran down his face after the game was over, the sun right above them. His team won. Marcus went to grab his bag, but at this point he was already too late for school.

Some of the boys that were in his team approached him. They looked one or two years older than him.

“Hey, Rookie, want to go grab something cold to drink?”

“Something cold?”

Another kid appeared, waving at them from the reception. He seemed to be in a hurry.

The boy nodded at the gesture, then turned back to Marcus.

“Yeah, like lemonade.”

He glanced up at the scorching sun.

“Sure. Seems good.”

They joined the new boy and left the training center.

“I thought there was lemonade inside,” Marcus said, frowning.

“Oh, no. The good stuff is elsewhere.”

He looked at the other boys, who grinned.

“What is this really about?” Marcus asked.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re here already.”

They led him towards an alley.

His shoulders tensed up as he stepped in front of the entrance. It was dark inside.

There was figure at the end, slumped on the ground.

“Who’s that?” Marcus asked.

“Nobody. Just an animal.”

“An animal...?”

Marcus looked again.

It seemed like a person. A wounded, barely conscious person.

The boy rummaged inside his bag for something.

“Here.”

Marcus stepped back, eyes widening, as a makeshift revolver appeared in front of his face.

Someone grabbed him from behind before he could retreat any farther.

“W-what’s this for?”

“Hey! Stop being a wimp. Nobody is here to kill you.”

The other boy laughed.

“Yeah. You are here to kill Nobody.”

Marcus’ eyes rolled to the figure at the end of the alley.

Something green caught his attention now that his eyes adapted to the darkness.

Green skin.

“Wait. Is that a... mutant?”

The kids cackled, then they handled him the gun.

It trembled between his hands.

“It’s one of them spitters. Shoot the bastard.”

“W-why?”

They looked at each other with puzzled faces.

“What do mean why? Didn’t the mutants kill your father and your tutor?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with you, Rookie?”

Marcus panted. He looked at the mutant.

They are right... The mutants killed dad. And Oli...

He remembered what Paris said.

“I saw how that mutant we captured was looking at her. She’s dead.”

His teeth groaned as they pressed against each other.

Oli too.

Marcus pulled the hammer with both thumbs, aiming at the figure.

“You want to be one of us, don’t you? Veronica is never going to give the pin to a mutant lover. They killed her parents as well.”

He swallowed as his finger brushed against the trigger.

“I’m not a mutant lover...”

“That’s what we’re about to find out.” The boy grinned. “Are you Rookie, or Military Youth?”

He tried to steady his aim, but his arms were shaking uncontrollably.

The mutant lifted his head slowly, squeezing a gasp out of him as Marcus saw the white of his eye.

Marcus’ eye snapped shut as he pulled the trigger.

“I’m Military Youth!” he said, as the alley echoed back the loud bang of his shot.

“Shit. I think he’s dead.”

His hand holding the gun dropped limp to his side, as he couldn’t believe what happened.

The mutant stopped moving.

“Did I... kill him?”

The boy scoffed, snatching the gun back from his hand.

“No. Your aim is trash. You almost hit your own feet.”

Marcus exhaled.

“Then how...”

“Oh, we have been playing with Nobody for a while now.”

“It’s over, though.” The kid spat on the ground. “Rest in hell.”

“But well done, Marcus. You’re not a mutant lover as we thought.”

They walked off, leaving him and the dead mutant behind.

Marcus couldn’t stop staring at him.

“I... shot him. With a gun.”

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It was already darkening when Marcus left the Military Youth Center. He spent the whole day there, as there didn’t seem to be anywhere else accommodating for him after what happened. His old friends would panic if he told them.

He walked home alone, passing through the same places with a different issue in his mind.

Paris and his jeep had left the front of his house.

What would Oli have thought about this whole Military Youth thing?

Marcus didn’t remember Olivia ever showing any affection towards the mutants, on the contrary. She might’ve approved it.

His tutor was most definitely not a mutant lover.

He arrived home and placed his hand on the door to push it open, when someone called him from behind.

“Marcus.”

Marcus turned, his jaw dropping as Olivia stood in front of him.

He stared at her in silence, unsure how to react.

She was different, though. Her eyes, her expression... they were warmer. A completely different person stood in front of him.

“Oli,” he said at last. “You’re alive.”

Olivia placed her hand on his cheek.

“My God, you’re pale. Did something happen while I was gone?”

Marcus opened his mouth but stopped himself.

She was too different. She might’ve gotten mad and yell at him like she did back then.

“No,” he said. “Nothing happened. Welcome back.”

Olivia smiled a smile he’d never seen before.

“I’m glad to be back.”

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