We Must Fight Monsters

    The camp buzzed with activity as the sun hung low in the sky, giving barely enough light for the evening’s assembly in the cold winter snow. My partner and close friend Ben was ahead of me, eagerly leading me to the center of the circle of soldiers, our boots crunching the snow underneath. In the center of the ring a large metal pole stuck out of the ground. Various chatter filled the air as everyone waited for the guards to bring the night’s entertainment.

      A sudden silence fell over the camp and the crowd parted for the prisoner. A burlap sack covered his face. He was led by a rope tied around his neck. The prisoner got closer to the inner circle and I noticed many cuts and bruises all over his body, no doubt from the interrogation. The prisoner was then tied to the pole and stripped of most of his clothing, allowing us all to see the red marks that covered his unworldly white skin. His hands bound tightly to the pole, a guard removed the sack from the prisoner’s head, revealing his fanged teeth and red glowing eyes.

      The Belvenite began to growl at us and struggle, his eyes bulging out of his sockets. One of the guards gave the order we had all been waiting for. We all began picking up whatever we could find off the ground and chucking it at the Belvenite, making it give out cries of pain. I managed to throw a rock directly at his face, causing droplets of blood to stream down his white chin.

As my hands grasped a very sharp rock, the large man with a bald head and uniform decorated in about a dozen medals held up his hand to cease the barrage. “Attention,” General Roy said in his usual loud booming voice, “it is time for the finale. Our interrogators have spent many hours deciphering this Belvenite’s grunts and growls and have deemed it no longer useful. So, to reward you for all of your hard work, we have prepared a little show for you.”

      General Roy reached into his pocket and began casually walking towards the growling Belvenite.  When he got close enough where his face was mere inches away from the Belvenite, General Roy pulled out a grenade and held it up high for all of us to see. “Let it never be said that we do not do our job of ridding Belvia of this menace thoroughly.” The general pulled the pin from the top of the grenade and shoved it down the Belvenite’s throat, remarkably pulling out his arm without it being ripped open by the fangs. The crowd stood in silence, staring at the Belvenite. He stared back at us. Cries of desperation were forced through the blockage in the Belvenite’s throat.  General Roy casually walked away to a safe distance.

      In a flash, the pole and anything attached to it was lost in a fiery explosion. Many of the troops covered their faces to protect them from shrapnel and other grisly particles. When it was over, I looked back to the center to see a smoking crater in the ground, with only a single, pale hand left behind. The general walked back to the center and picked up the hand, tossing it into the crowd so that one lucky person could have a souvenir.

      “I do hope you all enjoyed the entertainment for the night. We have another treat for you all. Report to the dining hall in five minutes, we have warm food and letters from home.” General Roy disappeared into the gathering of men and headed back to his tent, talking to some of the men from command, while the rest of us started to make our way over to the dining area.

      “Quite the show, eh, Jessup?” Ben said as he gave me a pat on the shoulder.

      “Yeah, did you see me hit him in the eye?” I replied with a tiny grin. “I do wish that I was the lucky one who caught that hand. The folks at home would have loved it.”

      “Wouldn’t matter anyway,” Ben remarked as he shrugged his shoulders. “There’s no way the higher ups would let you send it back. The radiation would probably mess up their heads.”

      It was well known that the Belvenites’ condition was brought on by a stash of nuclear weapons going off in one of their major cities. The explosion was large enough to break any kind of radiation measuring device that existed. Initially, we thought the radiation had killed them, instead we got something worse.

      I was only 15 when the news reports started coming in, showing footage of the Belvenites emerging from what remained of their houses. According to the reports, the radiation mutated them into man eating monsters, whose only purpose seemed to be death and destruction. What made it worse was that they seemed to still comprehend the art of war to the point of using guns and explosives. Recon photos also revealed that there were still a few nukes left in the isolated country.

      This was all within the first month. Over the past 5 years, more and more information has been released about Belvia, usually in the form of videos of a Belvenite gruesomely killing a soldier or news of a soldier doing the same to them. I can still remember the first time they showed a close up of one of the Belvenites on the news. My younger brother had nightmares for weeks. He would always wake up screaming in the middle of the night about crimson eyes.

      On the positive side, there was no shortage in recruitment. When people heard of what lurked in the country of tall trees and snow, every willing and able person signed up, either out of fear of a Belvenite attack or being shunned by their neighbors. It was good that so many soldiers had enlisted, but standing at the back of a very long line to the dining hall, I kind of wish they hadn’t.

      It took a while for me to get to the front of the line, but Ben was there to keep me entertained with his re-telling of his last raid on a Belvenite camp, the same raid that provided the prisoner. “There we were, in the dark of night outnumbered five to one. That’s when my boy Charlie let fly with the incendiaries, burning the tents down with the shit heads still in it. The attack got most of them, but I did see two run off into the trees. One of the ugly bastards had this huge scar across his face. The rest were easy clean up with all of the confusion. Even got to take one out up close with my knife. Cut him right through the neck,” Ben said enthusiastically, while making a cutting motion over his throat.

      “Aren’t you worried that you’ll catch some kind of disease from that?” I asked with a hint of jealousy in my voice.

      “Nah, it’s like the general said, as long as we take the Radilsion, we should be fine.”

      That’s what made it possible to fight in this irradiated country and not end up dead, or worse like the Belvenites. With news spreading about the condition of Belvia, our country’s top scientists were quick in figuring out a solution to our problem. The result was Radilsion, a little pill that protected us from most doses of radiation as long as we continued to take it on a daily basis. All of this in the little red pill dropped onto my metal tray, right next to my dinner.

      There was no chance that I was going to find a seat in the crowded dining hall and Ben had been pulled away by other soldiers, asking him to once again tell his story about the raid. I decided to head back towards my tent, making sure to pick up my letter from home on the way out. My tent was located on the edge of camp, right where the clearing ended and the tree line began. I didn’t mind, I liked the quiet after the evening’s events. It was a nice spot to read my letter and eat in peace.

      On the way back I looked at the various bunks that belonged to the other soldiers. They all had their little touches of good luck charms and photos, but a constant feature was the poster that was plastered on every street corner back home. It was a picture of a man in armor that matched our national flag swinging a sword at an exaggerated Belvenite. The Belvenite in the poster was about twenty times larger than reality, with its fangs jutting out of its mouth. Above the picture, in large, white letters was printed, “WE MUST FIGHT MONSTERS” and at the bottom, “TO PROTECT WHAT MATTERS.”

      By the time I reached my olive green tent, there wasn’t a single other soldier in the area. Most of them were probably at the dining hall, that I could still hear from so far away. I set my tray on top of my cot and proceeded to tear open the letter from home.





Dear Jessup,

      How have you been? Everyone back at home has been worried sick about you, especially with all of the pictures they keep showing on the news. Although, I’m sure that the things you’ve seen would probably be more horrifying. I know that it’s your job to fight Belvenites, but we just want you to come back safe. On our end, everything has been going well. Grandpa Jim has finally recovered from his hip surgery and went fishing with your father the other day. They spent most of the time complaining that they were too old to go with you. Cindy hasn’t stopped calling to ask when you would be back in town too. I guess, after three years of going out, she’s willing to wait until you get back. We also celebrated your brother’s birthday last Saturday. He’s only sixteen and already talking about going to join his brother. We all hope to see you again when you get leave time next month. Just remember, be safe and we all love you very much.

      Sincerely,

      Mom

      P. S. I hope you like the picture.

      It was a picture of my younger brother Rob, standing in front of his birthday cake, with a big smile on his face right beneath his blue eyes, brown hair, and young looking face. My relatives were all standing behind him, mouths open, no doubt singing out of tune to celebrate his birthday. I missed them, but what kind of man would I be if I gave up now?

      On the last night before I got shipped out, there was a party to send me off. During that night my grandpa told me his old war stories, but my mom told him to stop whenever he got to the more gruesome parts, which was disappointing. Late that evening, after Cindy gave me a kiss and went home, I found Rob sitting on the back porch. He asked me why the Belvenites were so focused on destruction. I responded saying that they were nothing more than monsters. He asked why I had to go off to fight them. I replied, “Because it is our duty to kill monsters, no matter what.”

      “Then I’ll go with you,” Rob said standing up, his eyes looking right at me. “When I’m old enough, I’ll help you kill them all.” I smiled at those words.

      I taped the picture to the side of the tent, wanting to be able see it whenever I felt like I needed some motivation. I was just about to take my Radilsion, following the nightly routine, when I heard something rustling in the trees. I jumped out of my bed, placed my hand on my gun, and I started walking over to the tree line. “Come out, I know you’re there,” I yelled, straining my eyes to see into the forest.

      From behind a tree stepped out a Belvenite, hands high in the air, scar across his face, and red eyes glaring at me. I raised my pistol, ready to take a shot right between his eyes, anticipating the praise I would get for taking out a Belvenite. Then I felt something hard bash me on the back of the head. I fell to the ground, catching a glimpse of a Belvenite standing behind me. Before I lost consciousness, I saw the Belvenite with the scar growling into a two-way radio.

      I awoke, who knows how long after, in a small room with only four gray walls lit up by a single light bulb and  the chair I was sitting on. My arms were tied to the back of the chair with rope. The knots were tied haphazardly and were loose enough where, with enough struggling, I could easily break out. Then I noticed a faint buzzing in the back of my head, the same buzzing that they warned us about in boot camp. The buzzing that signaled that time was running out on that last dose of Radilsion. I panicked and tried to think of when I last took a pill, but I was interrupted as the only door to the room opened. In walked a Belvenite with a book covered in strange symbols in his hand. He was accompanied by two guards holding AK’s, their red eyes all on me.

      The Belvenite unfolded a chair given to him by one of the guards and sat in front of me. He laid the little book on his lap and began to speak. “Regraw retra gera thez.” I just stared at him and he stared right back. Our gaze was interrupted when the single light in the room suddenly went out, instantly shrouding the room in darkness.

The buzzing feeling in the back of my head seemed to intensify. I heard the Belvenites talking in their rough growls and the opening of the door, but I didn’t pay it any attention. The buzzing seemed to grow and grow, moving towards some kind of apex. Then it vanished. It was just gone. I feared the worst. I thought that in a few minutes, I was either going to fall to the floor dead or feel my teeth being sharpened into points.

      Suddenly, the door to the room reopened with what I assumed to be the same guard, holding a flash light. The Belvenite sitting in front of me took the flashlight and pointed it right at my face, giving me a tiny amount of light to look around. I expected to see the red eyes once again contrast against the pale skin. Instead, I was met with two irises of blue.

      The light in the room turned back on and I began to see that he wasn’t the only Belvenite that was different. Each one looked like a normal person, most with blue eyes, and their skin had lost the unworldly paleness and red marks. The Belvenite in front of me made a noise to get my attention. I turned back to him to see him holding the same book as before. In a slow, and heavily accented voice he spoke, “You…un…der…stand…me?”

I nodded my head in a vague sense of understanding.

      The Belvenite looked into his book and spent a few minutes flipping through pages. “You…drug.”

      “What do you mean?” I said in as slow a voice as possible.

      “Pill…ill…u…sion,” responded the Belvenite after another break of looking up what I assumed to be translations.

      I barely understood what he said, but what I heard shook me to the core. The Radilsion had no doubt left my system, yet I hadn’t died or produced radiation marks anywhere on my body. I had never actually seen the results of someone going so long without the pill. Did the pill really protect us from radiation? Did it do something else that the higher ups weren’t telling us? My thought process was interrupted when another person opened the door and yelled something to the others in the room.

      The translating Belvenite got up from his seat, picked up the chair, and in the same slow, heavy-accented voice said, “Back…soon.”

      The Belvenites left and I found myself alone in the room. I had so many questions that flowed through my mind, but I had to push them aside for the moment. I was in an enemy base and I needed to make escape my priority. My plan was simple, risky, and not well thought out, but I knew I had to leave and I had to leave now.

      I started to wriggle my arms free from the simple knots and in a matter of minutes I was free. While getting up, I accidentally knocked over the chair, causing a loud crash that echoed around the room. A guard rushed in and yelled something at me in gibberish. With little time to think, I rushed at him, catching him by surprise, and knocking him out, stone-cold onto the metal floor. I picked up his rifle and spare ammo and proceeded to run out of the room, praying no one else had heard the commotion.

      I ran down one of the hallways and heard footsteps approaching. Wanting to avoid conflict, I ducked into the nearest room. Thankfully it was unoccupied, save for a few filing cabinets. When the guards passed by the room I looked around and noticed a map hung up on the wall. The symbols scribbled all over were indecipherable to me, but I recognized the layout. Of special interest was an area marked by a large red circle that appeared to be my camp. According to the map, my camp couldn’t have been more than ten klicks from this complex, giving me some hope for safe haven. What worried me, was how close this place was to my base. It was only a matter of time before they mounted an assault on the camp.

      I ripped the map off the wall and did my best to shove it into a pocket, as I heard guards running down the hall. I ran out of the room and took a left, my right eye catching a glimpse of armed guards. I ran at full speed with bullets going past me, with a few coming within inches of my ear. Whenever I felt lucky I fired off a few shots behind me, hoping something would hit.

      After what felt like an hour of running and dodging bullets, I came upon a door with a tiny window that had daylight shining through. I slammed open the door as fast as possible, the sound of boots crashing onto the floor still echoing behind me. I took one step out the door to be greeted with more of the same scenery of trees and snow, which was a relieving sight for me.

      I took a step toward the tree line, but a light growl caused me to look towards the corner of the building I had just risked my life in. Standing before me was a young man, blonde hair, blue eyes, looked to be around Rob’s age. He aimed his rifle at me and I aimed mine at him. Both of our fingers were placed on the triggers, but neither of us were willing to take the first shot. Large sweat drops began to drip down both of our faces. I could only guess as to why he didn’t shoot me, whether it was out of fear or some idea that I was worth something. However, I knew exactly why my finger didn’t move another inch. All I could see was my brother, staring at me with a rifle in his hands and his face fearful of what would happen next.

      A minute passed and neither of us made a move. My attention was so focused on him that I didn’t notice the door behind me open again. I felt the butt of a gun smash me on the back, and I fell to the ground, dropping my rifle. The Belvenites picked me up by my arms and began to drag me back into the complex. The last image I saw of the outside was that same boy, his face still my brother’s.