Pillars of Glass Read online

  He looked down at his watch again seeing it displayed 1257 as Mr. Tillery could be seen coming from the back of the crowd to the front in order to start the nomination process. When he reached the front, the two exchanged smiles as his watch made a slight clicking sound, as it did at the top of every hour, to signify it was 1300, and on cue, Mr. Tillery spoke into the microphone.

  “As a reminder, you can not nominate yourself in these proceedings as a squad leader. The first ten nominations will be the ten leaders. After each nomination, should the individual accept, they will have the first pick of their second in command, and we shall keep that order until the final five selections who will be assigned by myself to a squad. That being said, let the nominations for squad leaders for this years games begin.”

  Behind Alex a quiet tussle that had lasted nearly the last half hour for those jockeying for position, nearly exploded as he reached for the microphone. Alex turned to see a slight shoving between a few members who had obviously either wanted to be in his sight as he was giving his nomination or had made deals with other individuals to help box out the other candidates as they moved to the front of the crowd.

  Without hesitation, he spoke into the microphone. “I nominate Ryan Kessell as the first squad leader of this years games.”

  A light cheer came from the crowd to the nomination as Ryan walked up to the front where his friend eagerly waited with the microphone still in his hand. When he arrived, Ryan smiled at Alex and took the microphone from him. Beaming with excitement he spoke.

  “I accept this nomination and name Alex Ehlinger as my first officer, if he so chooses.”

  Alex nodded simply and a buzz went through the crowd amongst the scattered cheers. Everyone knew that they would be the squad to beat, and to contend, the selections through their own draft would have to come close to matching the squad Ryan would be in charge of. As Ryan handed the microphone back to Mr. Tillery, there was a small grin that would seem to be hidden to those who wouldn’t know how to read the old man. Alex nodded at him as the two moved far to the left and waited for their turn in the selection process.

  Nominations and selections of the squad leaders moved along quickly with each nomination for squad leader accepting the honor. The time came for the fifteenth selection for Ryan’s squad. He looked out into the crowd of people gazing to see if there were any of the members he would have wanted to be apart of his unit. The heard had been thinned out and it was time to start making the selections based on how well they would listen to directions instead of the abilities they had. Ryan’s eyes made their way to Alex who was also looking among the crowd to help his friend in the selection of their next teammate. The two friends looked at one another and nodded in agreement, it was time to uphold the deal they had made for Ryan’s command, it was time to pick Aaron. Ryan made his way to the microphone and spoke into it calling out for his friend’s younger brother. Excitedly, the youngest eligible member of the entire school, made his way through the small group of people and up front to join his company. Aaron went to hug his older brother who instead stopped him before he got too close in an effort to remind him of the proper way to great him in this setting. It was an honor for such a young student to be selected for a squad and not a leftover, assigned by the faculty and Alex wanted to make sure his brother understood this and respected the others who were still yet to be taken. Aaron saluted his brother and Ryan, and then fell inline behind them with the other new members of his team.

  After the final students were placed, the Squads were dismissed to the direction of their commanders. Ryan had chosen the Company name as 202, and set them immediately to work. Alex oversaw the construction of the barracks and watched his younger brother take direction and criticism by the elder students around him. Aaron had made sure, that even if he knew better than the older students, that in a manner that was not as to the extremes of life and death, that he listened and assisted. It did not take them long to assemble the tent with both of the Ehlingers providing leadership. Company 202 finished construction first, and scored perfect numbers with the efficiency and integrity of the build, nearly missing record time by two minutes; it was a near flawless start.

  However, not all of the teammates were present for the build. Ryan had directed a few men of the squad to secure a place in the pre constructed mess tent, so that when 202 was finished with the barracks they could be one of the first to eat and establish their place in the only location during the exercises where the teams were even. Company 202 moved into the mess tent with the squad leader and first officer at the back of the line. While they were eating, bunks would be moved into their barracks and each student would then select where they were to sleep for as long as they were an active member of the squad. If one of them were to be tagged out, they would either be returned to their normal dormitory and await news there, or volunteer to help with the up keeping duties of the mess hall.

  They finished their meal as other squads were beginning to trickle into the mess area, and left to settle into their bunks. In front of each barracks, the two duffle bags each student had brought with them were paired and laid out in numerical order. Unlike other squads in the past, 202 settled into their bunks without a noticeable argument or issue. Each team member was content with the location of their bunk and started to square away their own area. As the night drew on, one by one, the youth stretched out and lay, seemingly lifeless in their personal vaults while they surrendered themselves to the safety of the night and the visions that would come from the blackness as they slept.

  Dreams are when the unconscious parts of the mind are recognized by the conscious, and the one Alex woke from that night was one of complete terror. In the moments after, frantic, he sat up in his bed, looking around and shook the cobwebs out of his ears as he tried to remember the rapidly fading images and conversations that scared him back to his conscious life. What he could remember was walking down the main highway in Aurorae that split the city north and south. It was the middle of the day and the city streets were buzzing with life. Vendors were on the corners peddling fruits, and other various nick-knacks to the passby However, none of the people were faces he recognized, all of them were nameless faces to him. Effectively, he still felt alone walking down the busy road.

  He remembered that gradually, the day gave way to a dark cloud that grew from the hills and forest behind him. Turning to look at the clouds, he could see flashes of light behind the grey smoky mist that continued its march through the heavens towards him and the city. It had all the makings of a thunderstorm, except for the sound, which wasn’t present. The flashes were silent as they appeared and vanished, intensifying as they moved closer and closer to the city. With each passing flash Alex could vaguely see objects fall from the storm. The thunderhead kept on building slowly lowering as a wall of fog coming to a stop fifteen feet in front of him on the now desolate road. After a few moments of darkness, one final flash lit up the sky around him, engulfing all he could see. The wall retreated backwards and bit by bit gave birth. What looked like dark poles protruding from the ground at a high angle to an unknown object when directly in front, fifty feet away from him the head and all the horrors of the monster pierced the placenta of night.

  Alex, frozen and alone, was face to face with a giant arachnid standing over a half story off the ground above, looking through the windows of his soul with every single one of its atrociously large eyes. Alex looked behind the monster to see that there was no sign of the people who were once on the street with him. Relics of the market such as the fresh fruit stands had vanished with the fog, not even footsteps in the dust and dirt remained.

  Making eye contact with the terror again the spider sat back quickly before it began its charge forward to the frozen teen. As it left its feet launching itself forward, Alex had awoken. He looked around the dimly lit tent at all the peacefully sleeping classmates. He had hoped their dreams that night weren’t as unnerving as his own, that they would wake in the morning ready for the f
irst day of the trials that tested the knowledge, readiness and resolve of everything they had learned in classes until now. On the windowsill across the narrow tent, Alex could see a faint line drop from the top as a spider no bigger than a clump of breadcrumbs had started to build its web in the moonlight. He watched it for a moment before lying back down in his bunk. The quiet trumpet of dawns light would sound to wake them in the morning. Until then, Alex would have nothing to fear except the small spider, spinning it’s silk, trapping the dreams of the children in its web.

  The entire bunkhouse rattled from some sort of explosion near the makeshift foundation causing the students inside to wake. Some were screaming as Alex looked around and found his friend Ryan sporting a dumbfounded expression on his face. Both of them, as well as several others in the bunkhouse, had participated in at least one of the games while they had been going to the school. However none of them had began like this, and experience told them something was dreadfully wrong. Hysteria ensued as some of the younger children started to run around in a panic. Alex ran to the closest window to see if there was any indication as to what was going on outside.

  It wasn’t quite yet daybreak, as the sun was coyly hiding itself behind the shield of the horizon. Dust had been kicked up into the air around the window and Alex ran to one end of the temporary housing unit and looked out the now missing doorway. Through the falling dust he could see some of the heavy machinery being moved while older men were shouting and directing the traffic around them. As he looked up, he saw things slowly drifting to the ground, like a feather moving in the wind, back and forth until it finally found its perch. Hundreds of men, vehicles and supplies fell from the heavens and had begun working mischievously in the main courtyard.

  A grizzly fog slowed the racing thoughts through his mind. One of the men who had fallen from the skies turned and saw Alex watching them. The two locked eyes from fifty yards away for only a moment, but it was more than long enough for both of them to realize the true gravity of this situation. He raised his firearm and had it pointed in the direction of the youth and the bunkhouse, and opened fire. The pure horror in Alex’s thoughts as he dropped to the ground was compounded by the need he felt rested upon him to get his classmates out of the area as quickly as possible.

  After the first barrage of lead, he looked up to see others on the floor around him. He motioned to Ryan and a few of the older boys to check on those who were down, to see if they were alive. Looking over his shoulder he could see the man was satisfied with him self and ran over to secure another package falling form the sky.

  “Ryan, get all the younger kids back to the dorms as quickly as possible,” He Alex said getting to his feet. “Find whatever clothing and quickly move towards the city.” He turned looking for his brother. “Aaron!”

  He found his brother already running with a few of the other children, grabbing his helmet as he ran up to Aaron and seized him by the shoulders.

  “Aaron, you stay close to Ryan, and help get everyone into the city as fast as possible.”

  “But I wanna stay by you!” Aaron said through the fear streaming down his face.

  “Go with him and I will catch up. I’m going to go to the command station and get a few guns to help protect everyone, and I have to go alone or else they’ll catch us. Go now!” Alex shoved his brother away in the direction that Ryan was motioning. Aaron stumbled and looked like a cur that had just been yelled at by his master. Ryan and Alex exchanged looks, knowing what the other had to do and took off in separate directions with the same goal in mind: do not get caught.

  Running for his life, Alex bolted for the command station two hundred yards away from his current location. A few shots were fired in his direction, but none of them were on target. He couldn’t think of the rounds flying near him, or the yelling going on somewhere in the distance, not if he wanted to live. His only thought was getting to the command station and meeting up with Ryan to help protect as much innocent blood as he could. That was the only way he was going to survive the day, the only way his brother would survive.

  His legs took him to the destination quickly. Still in stride, he picked up a softball sized stone and through it through the glass window of the station. Jumping in through the small window, and to his surprise, he saw that no one was manning the station. The night watchman, who was supposed to be making sure the students were in their proper place, the one who is scheduled to be replaced at 0900 had fled for his own safety, and left the children to fend for themselves. Alex rushed into the back room and found a rifle and the key he was looking for. A key for the shooting range armory located southeast of the encampment, the way Ryan was leading their classmates. He opened the back door and ran in the direction of his friend, hoping to meet up with them quickly and get weapons in the hands of the eldest before they were shot at again.

  The adrenaline pumping through his system blocked out the fact that he was barefoot, running through the morning dew and mud. His toes found all the traction he needed not to slip and fall as he could see the stragglers exiting the supply area three hundred yards away from him, now clothed in random shits and shoes until they could make it to the safety of the city. The rifle harnessed on his back continued to bounce as he made contact with the ground, causing his mind to focus and follow the beat like a metronome instead of having it wander asking himself the dangerous, self doubting questions.

  “Ryan!” He yelled from seventy-five yards away. Ryan turned and looked to see Alex waving him down. Ducking inside the building quickly, Ryan grabbed a pair of shoes and threw them at his friend, who slowed his stride to put them on and continued. As Alex reached his friend, they two exchanged gifts, the rifle for a flack jacket. Putting it on, Alex filled his friend in on the plan.

  “On the way to the main road, we have to go by the firing range, I have the key to the armory there, I want you to run up and gather about twenty of the oldest guys and grab several boxes of ammunition and at least one AR for every man and a few hand guns, grab one for me and I’ll take everyone else into the city, and wait for you all at the theater on seventh. Load things up in whatever duffle bags you can, hurry.” Alex tossed his friend the key and he took off sprinting for the front of the column.

  “Company 202 on me!” Ryan yelled running up the side of the column. “Company 202 on me!” when they heard him and saw the other members of their unit forming around Ryan as Alex raced passed them, they knew the top two people in their class had an idea, and immediately followed the order.

  Alex ushered the younger kids along while looking back to see Ryan splinter off from the group and take the men past the guard shack of the shooting area. There were a few transport trucks off to the side of the road, and Alex could see little hands and eyes peering out form them.

  “Continue down the main road guys, I’ll be right back.” He shouted as he ran over to the transport.

  Opening the back hatch he could see another twenty young men hiding in fear. Alex tried smiling and being as calm as he could lowering the tailgate.

  “Hey guys you know who I am right?” He asked the blank and scared faces looking back at him. Several of the kids nodded while a few more gave a weak ‘uh huh’. “Well I’m getting everyone to a safe place. You all want to follow and trust me?”

  Timid at first, one child stood up and Alex helped him down. Then the other nineteen kids stood up and rushed to jump off and join the other kids escaping towards the city. He watched each one come out of the transport and checked the other two, incase others were hiding there as well. Both were empty. He jumped into the lead transport and noticed that the keys were still in the vehicle. Knowing that Ryan wasn’t too far behind him he moved it into the middle of the road way, left it running and opened the back cargo area so they could easily jump in and catch up.

  Hustling back to the column, Alex saw one of the kids he just rescued and slowed his stride to take to him.

  “Where were you all hiding?”

  “Well some of us
were in the mess hall, and some of us were in the barracks when men came in and started to shoot into the air and scare us out of the buildings. We ran to the jeeps and that’s where you found us.”

  Alex didn’t let the image of terror stick with him. “You all are safe now with me. You know where the movie theater is on seventh inside the city?”

  The eleven year old nodded at him in affirmation.

  “Well that’s where we are heading right now, we’ll be safe there, ok?”

  The idea of comfort brought a smile to the boys face as Alex kept running to catch up with the front of the line. As he passed by, the kids would look at him and smile, pushing themselves knowing that Alex Ehlinger was going to get them out of harms way.

  Reaching the front, Alex slowed his pace a bit but could see the city a few kilometers down the road. Keep running, he thought to himself; we’ll be safe soon. Then the thought finally took over in his mind. He had only fifty or sixty kids with him and as many as eighty when Ryan and the older boys caught back up. He tried blocking the rest of the thought out, but it already had a foothold in his mind and pushed away every brick till it made it to the forefront of his mind. Where are the other two hundred classmates? He knew he couldn’t go back looking for them now, the kids would be too afraid to continue. People in the street would stop them as soon as they reached the city, and no one would warn those people as to what was marching their way.

  The sound of a vehicle rapidly approaching caused him to turn around to see the transport he had left in the middle of the road, starting to catch up with the column. He recognized several of the men jumping off the back as it made its way to the front, each man armed and smiling at their younger classmates, giving them hope and reason to smile back. When the vehicle caught up with Alex near the front of the column, Ryan was hanging on the outside his feet resting standing on the running boards. He playfully saluted Alex and jumped off, while the vehicle continued on picking up speed once again moving towards the city.