Army of Humans and Monsters-The Book

Chapter 2

*Note, (X) indicates who is speaking)

Jenkins found himself waking up somewhere. The room was white, and he was wearing what looked like a hospital’s toga, and it looked like he was on an examination table.

As he tried to sit up, he felt someone put a hand on him.

“Whoa boy, not so fast,” said a familiar voice. “You need to wait until the sedative wears off.”

“Where am I?” Jenkins asked. “Am I alive or dead?”

“Well boy, you are alive. As for where you are, you’re at boot camp.” (Familiar voice)

“But the sergeant, he pulled my heart out and killed me.” (Jenkins)

“Are you sure about that, Private Jenkins?” (F. voice)

At this, Jenkins carefully turned his head and saw, standing beside him, was the very man that killed him. Then, he felt for his heart, and was amazed to find his chest intact.

“Don’t worry kid,” the man said. “If you think finding your heart in your chest is amazing, imagine what it is like to find yourself alive after you’ve been burnt to ashes.”

*****

The werewolf then placed some fatigues on the table.

“I’ll help you get dressed if you feel that you need some help,” he said.

“I think I’ll wait before getting dressed, um, sir,” Jenkins said, placing his head on a pillow. “But, I do want to know, what was that that I experienced, and why did what you did seem, and feel, so real?”

“It seemed real because you thought it was. As for what it was, it was a bit of magic.” (Werewolf officer)

“Magic, what do you mean by that sir?” (Jenkins)

“The moment that you entered, you were knocked out and carried to this room. The medic-mage found out that the race that you feared the most were werewolves. That was why all the instructors you saw were werewolves. As for me kid, you and me have quite a bit in common.” (Werewolf officer)

“Like what Sir?” (Jenkins)

“Well I know what it is like to lose a loved one, especially a sister.” (Werewolf officer)

"What do you mean by that, sir?” (Jenkins)

“My father was a werewolf, my mother, she was human. I was the firstborn child, and I was born in my werewolf form. My sister was born seven years later, and she was human, with no werewolf form at all. Well, I was seventeen when it happened. We were walking home from school when I stopped to chat with a friend of mine. I had told her to wait, but she always had a slight hearing problem. By the time I was done talking to my friend, she was long gone. I rushed to find her, tracking her down with my nose. But, when I finally found her, well, it wasn’t pretty. Her clothes were torn and covered in blood, and then I saw him, a rich, fat, bastard, who had my sister’s blood on his lips, licking them clean. When I confronted him, he just laughed, so I killed him, in anger and hatred. I pulled my sister’s remains from his stomach, and buried them, stole a blank tombstone, and carved her name into it.” (Werewolf officer)

At this, the werewolf started to sob.

“I should have never stopped to talk to my friend. It was about this girl he had slept with anyways,” he said. “Anyways, the authorities found me huddled over my sister’s grave. They arrested me and dragged me before the judge, who sentenced me to be executed within the month. However, my father had a friend in the military and went to him for help. Well it turns out, that if one is owned by a member of the military, or is part of it, they are exempt from having to follow civilian law. Of course, as I said before, I was seventeen, and you need to be eighteen to enlist. So, I had to choose between being my father’s friend’s slave, and being executed. Now, I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to join the military, or have any part of it. However, I wanted to live, so I took his offer. However, like the judge and the man who had ate my sister, he was a dragon, and while I could deal with the man, I could not deal with the dragon. But, that’s enough about that sort of stuff, for now. What you saw from the moment you entered the barracks until now was, in simple terms, a very realistic dream.”

“Wait, if the whole thing was a dream, how long have I been asleep?” (Jenkins)

“Not even an hour, the record, previously, was twelve.” (Werewolf officer)

“So, what was with all of the deception?” (Jenkins)

“The military wants soldiers that care about their squad mates for who they are, and not what they are. Most of those other recruits you saw in your dream are not even human, not even those with magic in them. Now, tell me. Why were you willing to throw your life away like that?” (Werewolf officer)

“Well the guy next to me seemed to be getting tired and was several dozen pushups behind me, and I cared about him.” (Jenkins)

“Well, that recruit next to you, the one that you gave your ‘life’ for, is actually a dragon.” (Werewolf officer)

“You mean that, I did that for a dragon. I thought that he was a human like me.” (Jenkins)

“Actually, that’s the beauty of the magic, the instructors are the race you fear the most, and the other recruits are of your race. Also, it is safer than if we just put you all out on the grounds and expected you all to behave yourselves, because by the time the instructors got there, half of the recruits would have been eaten, and Uncle Sam doesn’t like to lose potential soldiers like that. With this, you learn to feel sympathetic towards the others, and willing to do whatever it takes to help them out, including giving your life for another.” (Werewolf officer)

*****

“So, where are the others?” (Jenkins)

“Oh, they are fine, each in their own rooms, with someone watching them for safety reasons.” (Werewolf officer)

Then the man started to cough, which lasted a few seconds.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “My throat’s a little sore. It makes it so that I end up sounding like my father, instead of my mother.”

*****

At this, Jenkins took a closer look at the man and was that he was really a she.

“Gosh,” he said. “I thought that you were a guy.”

“You won’t when you see my human form,” the werewolf said, hunching over, as the tail, fur, claws, and muzzle began to recede into his, no, her, body, and she became somewhat shorter.

“Can you tell now?” she asked, with her voice still rough, and her uniform threatening to fall off.

“Yah,” Jenkins said, as he looked her over.

At this, the woman just smiled, as she shifted back into her werewolf form.

“I noticed that you liked what you saw,” she said. “Maybe if you make it through training, you and I can go out to dinner. But for now, I am your superior officer, and, while Uncle Sam doesn’t mind relationships between one soldier and another one, he frowns upon those between those of different ranks, especially when they are part of the same unit. After all, sometimes superior officers have to issue orders, that could get those of the lower ranks killed, and it would be an emotional difficulty for them to issue an order that could result in the death of a loved one, which is why that sort of relationship, while not against the regulations, is highly discouraged.”