Undorn: The Beginning

Part Three

Beo, Region of Lufe

Location:  Camp Monmouth

Nothing about the camp was how Beo imagined it. Camp Monmouth, it was called. Beo had been conjuring up images of it is a center bustling with uniformed men dashing through obstacle courses, bullshitting at the guard stand, and firing AK47's in the shooting range. Beo imagined the place alive. But frankly, it was anything but.

The only signs of life were the 100 boys, Beo included, following behind their Captain. Ivy had covered tall brick buildings, tree roots had grown between the slats in the wrought iron fence that surrounded them, and there wasn't one warm-blooded body in sight. The place had clearly not been touched in at least ten years.

The Captain stopped at the gates to turn a key in the lock. The gate opened with a bit of a struggle, the Captain forcing the iron bars past the thick brush of weeds that had grown in between the stones in the path that led to the massive camp. That was all the camp had going for it, Beo thought. The size of the place was almost incomprehensible. The 8-foot iron bars containing the land stretched off for as far as Beo could see in each direction. Directly in front of the gate, Beo could already see six brick buildings (most likely barracks), a basketball court, and what looked like a tavern or pub behind the rest of the buildings. The grass was yellow and dried, the windows on some of the dorms had been cracked or split, and Beo wondered why on God's green Earth he had voluntarily signed himself up for this.

The boys trudged behind the Captain, following the stone, weed-infested path, back behind the first building and into a town-square type area. The path had led them to a plaza, three large brick buildings surrounding it. These, according to the Captain, were the residences for the 100 soldiers he commanded.

"You will be bunking with three other trainees," the Captain had this insane ability to make his voice sound like he was using a microphone. "Four to a room. Listen for your assignments. Our group will be taking over Block A, which is here," the Captain paused, pointing at the first building in the group of three. "OK, now listen up! Floor one, room one: Angus of Kastali, Lito of Orrosta, Nek of Lufe, and Carzin of the Fort."
The Captain continued like that, naming the occupants for the 3 floors and the 7 rooms per floor. Beo realized that for the first time in the past four days, he strangely felt alone. It was then he realized that Bones wasn't whispering profanity into his ear any longer. He glanced behind him, to his left and to his right, but no Bones. Upon further discreet observation, Beo noticed the boy was barely even paying attention to the Captain or the housing orders at all, and instead was transfigured with a bronze statue on the opposite side of the square. Beo turned his attention back to the Captain, internally disciplining himself for losing track of the Captain's assignments.

"Floor 2, room 7: Thomas of Orrosta, Taide of Orrosta, Biondi of Lufe, and Orwell of Kastali. Floor 2, find your rooms."

Beo bit his lip to keep from smiling. No Bones. He wasn't rooming with Bones, and that's all he really cared about. The other three could be ax murderers and Beo would be less annoyed with their presence.

He picked up the duffel he had set at his feet and smiled. Things weren't going as horribly as he thought they would be. The sun was even starting to peek out from behind the ebbing gray in the sky. He followed the flow of his new floor mates across the square to the main door of his new building. His dorm was the last door on the left.

Beo was the first one inside. He tossed his bag up on the top bunk of one of the two bunk beds. The beds had both mattresses and pillows, and quite frankly they were the cleanest things Beo had seen in the entire camp. He breathed a sigh of relief and lifted himself up on the bed.