This is War

Unnamed Chapter

Those bluish-grey eyes got even wider than they were naturally as he realized what he had just said.

"H-hell? Most likely not what I meant...No, indeed, this is a wonderful place of opportunity? Those gates over there, those are the gates of...em, fresh beginnings! Yes! Fresh beginnings indeed!"

His stammering trailed off, face becoming a bit flushed as Della shot him a death glare, fists becoming more clenched by the moment. He dared meet her eyes for a second, as if searching for approval, but she just huffed and stomped inside, again. What with all her frustration, I was truly surprised that she was put in charge of anything, much less two dozen time-bombs of raging hormones and emotion.

As she left, the gentleman seemed to regain some of his composure and confidence, flashing a quick grin at we girls, all in a clump, wondering what in the world we were ever thinking, signing up for this.

"All right then, ladies! Gather 'round! Listen up! We've got a lot to go over, so circle up, don't be shy, I only bite on Tuesdays!"

"It is Tuesday." A voice near the back piped up.

He flashed that grin again, laugh lines adorning his cheeks. "Exactly."

Once we all realized that he wasn't kidding, we were actually supposed to be listening here, we all sort of shuffled forward and formed a semicircle (I tried my best to be right up front).

"Very good. For starters, I'm David Leone. Mr. Lee-oh-nay," he sounded out each syllable. "Think you can all remember that? And, you've already met Miss Della Conley. We are the authority as long as you are on this premises. Our orders go above anyone else's. So, for the duration of your stay with us, I suggest you treat our every word as law--nay, as gospel. Understand?"

There was a general mumur of assent, over which could be heard my "Yes, sir!" Realizing that over-enthusiastic statement had slipped out, I clapped my hand over my mouth, my cheeks turning red as David glanced over, having obviously noticed that outburst.

"Trixie, you like him!" I heard Astrid whisper from just over my shoulder. I turned around and administered a quick slap to her wrist, which only made her devious grin grow wider.

The man cleared his throat and ran a hand through his slicked-back hair before continuing:

"So, in summary: Me. Della. Listen to us. Okay? Moving on...As you may have noticed, you're currently at Fort Caine. I suppose you'd probably all like to know some history on this place.

"Good old Caine was built way back in 1993. Back then, it was just your average millitary base. Then, in 2020, Staff Sergeant William Sharp got a hold of what must have been some seriously screwed-up drugs, things escalated, and, well...that one guy is still surviving on a third of his brain..."

A visible tremor ran through the small congregation, along with some version of "Ew!" or "Why haven't we heard about this before now?"

David made a somewhat apologetic face before continuing. "And, so, the place was shut down and locked up, because that's the unspoken protocol for that sort of occurace. They never tore it down, though, because, let's face it, this place looks pretty amazing. And then, when--" he guestured vaguely "--this came around, they opened it back up. And now you're here. Congratulations!"

He finished with yet another beaming smile, which was becoming a bit overdone at this point. Did I tell you he had such a nice smile? Well, he does. A bit too wide, teeth a bit to clenched, and the action sent about twenty little laugh-lines scattering across his face. He was trying to be nice and welcoming, at least, though everyone else's responses were some mixture of reluctance and revulsion, so I made sure to smile right on back so he would know his effort was appreciated.

"Any questions?"

Silence.

"All right, well, in that case...Official training begins tomorrow, and things will most likely be explained in full then, and it's going to be a VERY strenuous day, so I suggest you try to rest up. Your dormitories are right over...there!" He guestured around a bit as if trying to remember something, then pointed to a squat little building several yards off. "You've all been assigned bunks, so make sure you're in the right one. I trust you can all make it over there by yourselves."

He began to back away. "So, I'll see you all later, then."

Most everyone muttered some version of 'bye', before trudging off to aforementioned destination. Astrid was still grinning rather wickedly, walking at a bit of a forced-arch beside me. "You LIKE him!"

"I most certainly do not." I replied, fighting in vain the blush seeping across my face. "I respect him. As you can see, he's ambitious, intelligent, and has achieved a great deal in his field of expertise. And, since that field is now our field too, it would do one well to closely observe their superiors in this situation. Namely, him."

Her face was caught somewhere between a smile and pure disbelief, a stray copper lock coming loose at her temple as she shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Dude. You don't know if ANY of those things are true."

Someone threw the heavy metal doors open, and we all pushed our way inside.