The Unpocalypse Series - Volume 1

Willem - Conscripted into War

A thousand miles away in the rural heartland, in the small town of Fort Schilling, the war machine controlled by the Enlightened was selecting more players to act out its latest war. Willem Cooper had just turned 19 and was making plans to move out of his parents' house. It was the fourth year of the war with the Jinni, the standing army had been worn down considerably and the volunteers were trickling down to nothing, so the parliament passed The Conscription Act. Willem was just the sort of recruit the Ministry's Conscription Officers were hoping for when they came knocking on his parents' door in 1074. He was tall, well over six feet, and though he was thin, he had a lean strength that was obvious. Above all, he was young.

Willem had just returned from the store with his mother and was helping to put food in the pantry when three sharp raps rattled the small glass pane in the front door. He went to the door and opened it, almost unable to process what he saw. A short thin man in a military uniform was standing right on the threshold, almost pushing in as the door opened and forcing an envelope into Willem's face. The uniform was the kind you'd see in a parade, with ribbons and brass buttons, shiny bits - so many shiny bits that Willem knew he was some sort of officer.

"You're Willem Cooper, yes?" the officer asked. The young man took the proffered envelope in shock and gave the officer a nod. He at first supposed it had something to do with his brother, who had been conscripted less than a year before. Before he could finish the thought, however, the visitor continued, "You are hereby conscripted into the New Anglian Army. You will report to basic training in Bastion in six weeks. You will find your formal notice of conscription inside that envelope, as well as a train ticket with the date and time of departure. Do you have any questions?"

Willem tried to form a thought, any thought. He looked down into the officer's face, then noticed for the first time that down on the front sidewalk, another officer, older and more stern, waited. He had an immediate, certain sense of resignation. This was real and no getting out of it.

"Uh, no...no questions" he managed.

"Excellent. You should know that it is a great honor to serve. Also, if you do not appear at the train platform on the date and time listed on your ticket, you will be arrested." Willem's eyes darted back to the officer on the sidewalk. The older man gave a grave nod at this last statement. The two officers were walking briskly down the sidewalk before young Willem could say anything.

He closed the door and sort of floated to the settee in the living room in a fog of disbelief. His mother came into the room, with eyes wide, and a jar of preserves in each hand. She tried to speak but it came out a shaky whisper, "Did he say what I think he said?"

Willem gave a weak nod and held out the envelope. She crept toward him and began to weep. The jars dropped from her hands. One shattered on the floor, the other just thudded and rolled. The smell of strawberry rhubarb jam wafted up from the floorboards. He felt numb.

"We already lost Victor!" his mother sobbed as she grabbed the conscription notice from him and threw it down into the red puddle of jam and broken glass. His older brother had just been shipped off eight months before and was killed in combat almost immediately after he arrived in Jinn. It took several months for the army to process the notification and send a messenger, so the news, and the grief, were still very fresh, hanging heavily over the house.

Worse still, Willem thought of Marie, the pregnant wife his brother had left behind. She had delivered a son, who she named Jaye, just a few months after he left. Victor and his son Jaye would never meet.

Willem's brother and Marie had been renting a small house nearby before he shipped out. To save money and to help with the baby, his mother insisted that Marie move in with their family. It was bittersweet. Having a frightened, grieving young widow and single mother in a house already bursting with grief was difficult, but that baby also brought a lot of joy.