Part Ranger: Chapter 1 Begin

“What is the matter, honey?”

“I don’t want to have a child that is just going to be used as a war pawn! That isn’t how children should be!”

“You don’t seem to have a choice in the matter. One more child could be the victory we need. The child that could end it all.”

“BUT I WANT MY CHILD TO BE A KID! Not some war-hungry pile of flesh, moving around the worlds.” A man came walking into the room. His lab coat was moving as he walked.

“You don’t have a choice, Mrs. Silverman. You must produce a child for us or else we will have to take extreme measures.” The woman looked around the room. Test tubes full of chemicals and other machines surrounded the room. She had an egg taken out of her which interacted with the sperm of the man.

 

 

People just call me “The Mind Killer,” but my real name is Ranger. I have blonde hair and violet eyes. I went to school every weekday like any normal kid. They told us every day that we were going to fight in a war. Some of us will be simple soldiers while others will learn to command fleets. There was something inserted into my head when I was born. It shows me things and monitors my reaction to certain events.

My parents were beaten to death in different ways when I was five. I watched as my dad was beaten with a notebook. He bled out from the cuts that were created by the rings. My mom was beaten with a red metal shelf. Her brain was disconnected and flooded with blood. It came out from her eyes, nose, mouth and ears in the end.

A year has passed since that day. It seemed like a normal day when I left the forest. Because of that man, I was homeless. My main source of food was animals that happened to have ran by me and school lunches.

When I returned to my home this day, a familiar face was there. “We meet again I see! It is nice to see a welcoming person for once.” I smiled and stared at him. He glanced around the scene at what was around.

“How are you still alive? Shouldn’t you have died from starvation?” It looked like he was reaching behind his back for something. In his hands now was something that looked like a rock tied to a stick.

“Blunt weapons again, huh? The slower way is always more fun.” I started to chuckle at the thought of his plans. Did he think I was going to give up on life now? My body hasn’t quit on me now.

“How can you be happy at this time? I should be the one smiling.” He was baring his teeth now. His sleeves were also rolled up to his upper arms. The killer was now running up to me.

I stood straight and still as he got closer. My innocent smile was still planted. When he got close enough for me to surprise him with an attack I asked, “Blunt or sharp?”

“What?” We were both looking at each other.

“Blunt or sharp?” I asked again.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I only asked you a question. How can you not find the answer to it?” I tilted my head to the side a little.

“ENOUGH! I’ve had enough of your family. It is time to end this charade.” He lifted the weapon in his hand above his head. The setting sun made his face darker. The forest was also getting darker, which makes hiding easier. “Wrong answer.” My smile disappeared.

I reached into my bag and grabbed the closes thing inside. The object felt wooden and long. Whatever this was, he won’t expect me to win with it. “A RULER? What are you going to do with that? Measure me to death.” He began to laugh at my “harmless” weapon. I noticed that he dropped his own weapon and held his sides.

“You killed my father with a notebook! I’m sure a ruler can do the same thing.” Before he said something, I jumped into the air and slammed his head with the wooden stick.

“How did you-?”

“Looking for me? I could tell you how I learned to move that fast, but I’m sure you don’t want to meet the people who helped with that.” He started looking around. I had disappeared into the trees while he was recovering. The killer picked up his weapon and readied for an attack. “What have you done to my head?” The pain of my strike was taking its turn.

“Maybe it would be better to end this before it gets too complicated for you.” I jumped onto his back and started punching his head. When he fell onto the ground, I started to use the ruler again. “My mind games can ruin you if they went on long enough.” The beating continued until his head was a disfigured mess, blood was spilled around and my ruler was lodged into his skull.

I had a friend who was really smart. He couldn’t be me in a game of questions, but he worked well with fighting strategies. His name was Charles. He had brown hair and blue eyes. Charles always said that his brother wanted to be part of the UPBS (United Planet Battle Station) and how his sister wanted none of them to be part of the war. “You can’t run away from war Folina! Especially if it threatens your family and future family.”

His brother, Mark always lectured her about that. He really wanted to be part of the war, but was denied by the UPBS when he was ten. Mark also had brown hair, like Charles, with brown hair.

The UPBS takes in children at age ten when they prove that their strength and mind far surpasses anyone in their school. Charles was the next in his family to be evaluated. Mark was only a couple years older than us. Folina had failed a year after Mark because she wasn’t battle ready to begin with. She had brown hair and brown eyes like Mark.

“Mark has been pushing me to succeed in this evaluation. I know the UPBS is the best place for a war trainee to go, but I can’t think of how I would be there!” I placed both of my hands behind my head and smiled.

“We’ll go together, okay? You won’t have to go through the UPBS alone.” He frowned and looked down at the ground. We were walking to his house after this year’s evaluation.

“You know we both can’t go. Only one child a year is selected to go from each school.” I turned towards him. There are some things I kept a secret about myself from him. The truth about my parents, my house, what kind of person I was. Some subjects were things I kept secret from everyone.

“I know something you don’t know and I won’t tell you!” I sang that and ran ahead of him. “Why can’t you tell me Ranger? It is not like there are many secrets to hide.” I frowned and bit my lip. He wouldn’t understand now about any of the things I know. I disappeared into the forest ahead.

A group of boys stopped Charles before he left the school grounds. They started pushing him around the circle encasing him. “What do you want Skylar. Does it matter now if you are dumber than I am?” That made their leader angry. It was always the same reason each time they confronted Charles.

I walked out of the shadows with my hands behind my back and a big smile across my face. “What are you doing here? Come to get your a*s beat like smarty-pants Charles here?” My constant target, Ray, was walking towards me. He was the one person who also knew about my parents. We told each other that if Skylar and Charles were to be enemies, we would pretend to hate each other too.

“No! I only came to play a game.” He began to laugh. Ray didn’t understand the reason to these games enough to see my true self.

“You and your games! Why must you always play them?” We both started walking in a circle. I was on one side and he was on the other.

“How would you feel at seeing someone you love die in front of your eyes.” He kept quiet. I didn’t expect him to answer this truthfully since he has never experienced seeing death. “How about killing someone for the first time?” There was more silence from him. I made motions with my hands to show Ray what I meant.

“What is the point of this? You sound like these are normal, everyday questions.” I started to grind my teeth. My emotions were trying to come out even though I was suppressing them. It would be my last day on this planet for a while. There was no need to go out with an explosive bang.

“How would you feel to mercilessly beat down your enemy with a blunt object? The RUSH of violence inside you. The adrenaline coursing through you the longer it takes.” He started shaking from thinking about the question. I had no weapon on me, but to him it seemed like I did. “It feels more exhilarating than just simply stabbing someone or shooting something.”

I was smiling again. “The best part about blunt weapons is that if you knock them unconscious before killing them, you can wait for them to wake up and torture till they die! There are way more options if that happens.” I kept chuckling the more I continued.

I DON’T GET IT! WHY ARE YOU FASCINATED WITH SUCH CRUEL ACTS LIKE THAT?” He stopped walking and fell to his knees, screaming. Other kids did the same thing when they could picture themselves on the wrong end of my questions. I walked up to him and put a hand on his cheek.

“The options of what you can do are plenty. Blunt weapons can make you feel alive if you do it the right way.” Ray looked up at me, rapidly blinking his eyes. He probably thought that this would be the end of his life. I noticed Charles had gotten himself into a fist fight with Skylar a couple feet away from us. Skylar’s face was bloody when he got up. The group of boy ran away with him afterwards.

I walked with Charles to his house. He had a few scratches on him, but nothing that was to worry about. “What are you thinking in that head of yours? It is like you are always thinking of murder and torture when you get like that.” I stopped and looked at my feet. Could I tell him about my plans?

“It’s the way war is. You can’t stop it from being murderous and evil like that. The war has changed people, driven them crazy over the fact t something has found us and wants us dead!” I looked up and saw he was looking at me stiffly. He always did that when my anger showed itself to the world.

“There are some things you will learn soon. The secrets are waiting for you to be ready.” I smiled and walked the opposite way. Tomorrow would be the day I left and it needed me to be ready.

The next morning, a man in a suit drove by me. I had fallen asleep on a bench looking out at the street. “Get in! You already know why I’m here.” He was someone who took ten year olds that completed the evaluation and passed. When my parents died, he made me sign something for him. It said I had to help a boy become eligible to join the UPBS and then to join the UPCS. He drove me to Charles’ house.

I followed him to the door and waited for and answer. His mother was there. Her eyes widened the moment she saw us. “RANGER! What are you doing with this man?” She cared for me whenever I was over. Charles’ parents and the man talked in the living room. I sat by myself and listened to their conversation.

Charles came in, alone, after the adults finished talking. “Ranger? You were selected to go?” I looked at the man and at his parents. They each nodded to let me know I could tell him.

“I told you, didn’t I? You won’t go through this alone!” I smiled to try and comfort him. He was told about what the station was like and what they did there.

“You won’t be a normal child still even after the war. Your studies won’t be the same either! There will be simulation battles that are made to act real.” Charles thought about whether or not he would accept this offer.

Children got to choose if they wanted to go to the UPBS or just be a regular soldier. If you chose to be a soldier, you had to wait till you were 14 before they decided to take you in. The high schools were no longer used and destroyed because of this age acceptance. “You won’t be able to come back to Earth until you are 18. Only do this if you can wait that long to see them again.”

You had to go through eight year of simulated battles and training before coming home again. “I accept.” He looked over at me. “Was this easy for you to decide Ranger?”

“It was like being told to enter a car that you didn’t have a choice if you said no.” We both laughed. That might have been the last time we could laugh like kids together. We said goodbye to the Borgensons and drove off to a space shuttle.