A New Member with Old Bonds

 "CODE RED! EVERYONE OUT!" My eyes snap open and I'm up in an instant. I hear a loud klaxon going and shouting but something seems... wrong. I groan when I realize what it is. Zach had set the alarm last night, and being the movie nerd and tech genius he is, rigged our morning alarm into a scene from some '90s Sci-fi flick favorite of his. Not my way to start a Monday.

        "Zach! Turn that off before Jason hears it! and stop sucking your thumb dude, that's not how you get a date to the end of semester dance," I try to yell at him, which was hard seeing how I am barely awake, standing in the middle of our room in my boxers, and still hugging my pillow. Jason is the supervisor for this section of the dorms, and the hand to hand combat instructor. Regardless of being only a bit over five feet tall, he would not hesitate to throw us into walls with one hand if he found out Zach had tampered with our room's alarm system.

        Of course this wasn't the first time Zach had tampered with the academy's systems. Over the years Zach has: rigged the water fountains to dispense Kool-Aid, made the PA system make each faculty member sound like a different Disney cartoon character, caused the power to fluctuate so all the lights flashed for a student flash mob during an assembly, and countless other things he never got caught for. The kid has a natural gift with technology, I just love that he learned to use it as a master prankster.

        I drag Zach, Bishop, and Drew out of their bunks.  Only half of our bunks are filled but rooms are assigned according to squad and the bunks won't be filled until I either bring some more recruits into our squad or administration decides to throw a few more into our group. Administration has assigned us additional members before but gave up after everyone they brought in either kept getting hurt during war exercises because they couldn't work with our style, or Zach and Bishop had pranked them until they had to spend a few weeks in the academy psych ward.

        We all get dressed and ready for the day, putting on our nearly identical training uniforms which are only different because of our names printed on each of our chests and the squad leader pin secured to mine. After we finish getting ourselves ready we clean our bunks and stand at attention beside them waiting for the morning inspection. At 6:15 exactly, Jason comes marching through the door with a determined glare. I haven't allowed our room to fail inspection since I became squad leader and Jason always does his best to try to catch any little mistake I make. He stands in front of each of us in turn with a vicious look and inspects us head to toe. He becomes excited when he thinks he sees an unpleasant grease stain on one of Bishop's boots but is disappointed to find that it is only his own reflection. After he is satisfied that we have each passed his strict standards he inspects our bunks, checking everything from the angle of the sheets to the combat knives secured under our beds for emergencies. With a grim but satisfied look on his face he walks to our door and turns to face us.

        "Once again Blue team you have passed inspection. The only beds neater than yours were Onyx's because they hadn't been slept in. They've all been in the infirmary after an apparent 'tripping' incident Friday night," he announces with a discreet wink at me, "now go to the mess hall and then report to get your schedules for the day."

        We make our way down to the academy's spacious dining hall where we waited for the girls. They come down a few minutes later, are all dressed exactly as we were, and have another girl in tow with them. The girl is a little shorter than me, quite thin, has brown eyes, long brown hair, a face that looks like she spends most of her time laughing and smiling, and a gait that makes her seem as if she was about to start dancing and singing. She is strikingly familiar and I begin to wonder where I have seen her before. My thoughts are interrupted as Sarah walked up to me.

        "Administration sent us a new girl," She explains, "they felt we needed to increase our size so we would be more efficient. Apparently," she adds in an undertone, "they feel that the squad needs another reconnaissance member."

        I look over at Lydia. It's obvious that the new development has offended her. She keeps glaring at the girl and glancing at me with a look that obviously shows that she wants me to get rid of the new addition. However, I always reserve my judgment on our new members until I get to know them and besides, I need to find what about this girl is so familiar to me.

        I dismiss the topic with a shake of my head and a cutting hand motion then proceed to smile and extend my hand out to shake hers. "Nice to meet you," I say warmly, "Sarah tells me that you'll be joining us and working with Lydia on recon. It's good to have you on Blue team. What's your name?" 

        She smiles widely and shakes my hand excitedly, "I'm Cassie. I already know all about you Tristan. I can't tell you how happy I am to be on the team. I won't let you down."

         This catches me off guard. “She knows me? My name has gotten around a bit over the years just like everyone else but this girl looks at me as if there's a lot more to it than just a few stories she's heard. Also, what's all this about being so happy to be on the team and not letting me down?”

        I don't let my confusion show and continue to smile at her, "Well it's good to know you're glad to be with us, and you don't have to worry about letting me down. We're a team, we're all equals and we're all in this together. I'm just the one command yells at when something goes wrong," I assure her.

        We introduce everybody then get our food. When we sit down Bishop starts telling the story about Jason and the grease stain and everyone starts laughing. We all eat our food and Cassie rarely stops looking at me. I pretend not to notice and focus on talking to Sarah. From the way she glances at Cassie I can tell she has noticed her looking at me and doesn't like it. I try to distract her by asking about Lydia and Drew, who had some kind of problem over the weekend and were talking to each other uncomfortably.

        After we finish eating we head over to the area where we get our schedules for the day. The academy has found a way to stamp our arms with a schedule that is entirely resistant to any weathering and has a timed degrading period so it disappears as we sleep without leaving a trace. After I get my schedule I see that our first class is militarized history and strategic planning. We grab our bags from our squad lockers and head to the classroom.

        We arrive and head to our usual table in a back corner of the room. Once we sit down Cassie pulls out a pencil and paper and immediately starts working what appears to be drawing. I try to look at what she's drawing but she has it hidden behind her binder.

         Our teacher, Ms. Deja, walks in and greets the class. She smiles and looks around with her grey, knowing eyes. In class she loves to teach about old armies and strategies so the joke about her is that her lessons bring a sense of déjà vu. Today she started teaching us about the pincer maneuver.

        Apparently a general had fought an army far superior to his by assembling all of his weakest fighters at the front with his stronger fighters behind them and the cavalry in the back. The army fighting him cut through his weak fighters and continued to charge until they reached his better fighters. From there his main soldiers were pushed back by the opposing army who continued to blindly charge. Once the opposing army had driven his forces into a small valley he had his cavalry come from behind the enemy. By the time they realized what had happened, it was too late.

        I listened intently and took notes as she spoke but Cassie's rapid hand movements caught my attention. I looked over at her paper and saw that she had an incredible rendition of the battle Ms. Deja was describing. She had everything from the rocks fired from the slings to the expressions of the horses that were charging into battle.

        "Cassie!", I gasped, "That's incredible! Where did you learn to draw like that?"

        She started when I spoke but shyly smiled at me. "I had a lot of time to practice in the infirmary after the fire, but I'm sure you don't remember it. Nobody really remembers me for long." She pulled out another drawing and my eyes widened when I saw it. It was a scene showing a face that was clearly mine at a younger age. I looked confident and determined as if I was in the middle of something vitally important. I had my hands above my head, holding up what appeared to be a burning piece of wood. Then all of a sudden I remembered where I knew Cassie from.

        When we were all about ten and eleven the administrators had come up with a special test for us. They had us all lined up at the edge of a forest. We were told that on the other side of the forest was the academy. They then told us that the last person to reach the end had to come back here then run back to the academy again. They had us start running into the forest and then did something to give us a bit of motivation. They set the forest on fire.

        Immediately chaos erupted; everyone was screaming and people were tripping over each other in an attempt to get as far away from the blaze as possible. I was running as fast as I could but I could already feel the smoke stinging my eyes and making it difficult to breathe. Pulling my shirt to cover my mouth and nose, I sped up and kept my head low.

         After a few minutes of this I stopped to catch my breath and heard a noise. Someone was calling for help! I followed the noise until I came to a small ditch. As I got closer I saw that the person calling for help was a lanky girl that had gotten caught under a falling tree. "It's okay," I assured her, "I'm going to help you." I came closer to her and assessed the damage. The tree had apparently been burning and collapsed as she was running by. It had landed on her leg, which was bent at an odd angle. Thankfully the part of the tree that had landed on her had begun to smolder and hadn't burnt through her pants. After assuring her that I was going to get her out of this, I squatted and put my arms under the tree and lifted.  Unfortunately the part I was holding was still white-hot and I could feel it searing my hands and forearms. I lifted it over my head and tossed it to the side.

        I crouched down to her side, "Can you walk?" I asked.

        "No," she moaned, "I think my leg is broken."

        Trying desperately not to hurt her, I put one arm under her knees and another under her back and lifted her. "Don't worry," I assured her, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're going to be fine. You have my word," I managed with a grin. “Now, wrap your arms around my neck," I grunted, "this isn't going to be a smooth ride."

        We arrived well after everyone else and nurses immediately came rushing to us with a stretcher for the girl. She looked at me and said, "Thank you. What’s your name?"

        I grinned and helped her onto the stretcher, "I'm Tristan," I replied, "Tristan Porter."

        The nurses began to wheel her away but she managed a weak wave goodbye as the nurses took her to the infirmary. As another nurse bandaged my arms I wondered who the mystery girl was. Glad I had been there to find the girl; I turned around and began my run back through the forest.

        I glance at the drawing again and then looked at Cassie's face. It's hard to believe that I hadn't recognized her before now. I must have a strange look on my face because she blushes and looks away. This catches Sarah's eye and she looks over at us suspiciously. I decide to talk to Cassie about the matter later and turn my attention back to the lesson. We all take notes about the mentality of the warriors and what we would have done differently in each leader's position until the bell rings, signaling the end of class.

        "Remember your homework!" Ms. Deja calls, "I want three different strategies and outcomes of the battle by tomorrow!"

        In one fluid motion, excluding Cassie, the squad packs up and walks out of the classroom. We head over to an empty space of hall and Zach and Bishop start talking about the lesson. I pull Sarah away from everyone and quickly explain everything about Cassie.  After I finish telling her about what had happened in the forest her face softens and she gently punches me in the shoulder.

        "Never could resist playing the hero, could you?" she asks. I'm about to make up some comeback but she hugs me before I get the chance. "You did an amazing thing for her," she whispers in my ear, "just remember that you're MY knight in shining armor. Coming to her rescue is only a part time job."

        I laugh and hug back "I'll try to keep that in mind," I whisper back, "I seem to be in pretty high demand lately."

        We laugh and she kisses me. It's moments like this that remind me of how lucky I am to have her. No matter how crazy things are she's always there to make things seem clear and simple. She always knows what's going on in my head and what to say to make me feel better. Whenever something like the situation with Cassie happens she always understands and jokes around in a way that lets me know that she trusts me completely and will back me up regardless of the circumstances.

Whenever we’re together one thought always comes to me, what would her life be like if she hadn't come to the academy? Would she be going to some public school and worrying about fashion and make-up with other girls? Then the thought that sends chills up my spine finally comes. What would MY life be like if we had never met?

        I shake the thought from my head and walk her by the hand back to our group. Everyone is chatting and seems to be in a good mood and apparently they had been playing hacky-sack with one stress balls I had them all start carrying around for exams, homework, or live-fire exercises, or any of the other everyday situations where you might need to take a breath and calm down. When they see me they get quiet and wait for me to say something.

        "Alright," I say, clapping my hands together, "next class of the day, close quarters combat." This gets excited shouts from all the guys, some grins and eye rolling from the girls, and a nervous smile from Cassie. She almost looks like she’s been waiting for this and has something in mind. What’s she planning? Pushing the thought aside for the moment, I start walking down the hall and wave for the others to follow.

        On the way to class we walk in a loose group and as I look back I notice that Drew and Lydia are about as far apart as they can be without leaving the group. They both seem thoroughly aggravated. I nudge Sarah but she just shrugs and gives me a look that says she’ll find out later for me.

        The close-quarters-combat class is in a fairly large, domed building about a quarter-mile from the main campus. We walk up to the main double doors where a few other squads are already waiting. Jason doesn’t like to leave the doors unlocked any longer than he has to. We all know it’s just another kind of militaristic paranoia he turned into a punishment. Everyone goes in at once at the beginning of class and then the doors were locked until the end of class. Anyone who doesn’t make it on time doesn't get in and has to “spar” with Jason after class as punishment. Everyone makes it a point to never late for class.

        At 8:45 A.M exactly the doors open and we all walk inside. After everyone changes into their sparring clothes, which were just black boxing shorts and a matching compression t-shirt, we meet up in middle of the main room. The main room is about the size of an average gymnasium but the floor was entirely covered with wrestling practice mats and the walls were covered with padding except for six ladders which led to an elevated combat training course hanging about twenty feet above the ground. Jason was in the middle of the room and when he sees that everyone is here he claps his hands together.

        "All right punks!" He shouts, "Today we're going to going to have a little fun. It's time for a little one-on-one king of the mat!" This got mixed groans and grunts from the crowd.

        "That isn't fair!" one of the guys in the crowd yells, "Blue team's guy already sent all of Onyx team to the infirmary! And that was a four to one match! That team’s full of psychos! I’m not going against any of them!"

        Zach and Bishop start patting me on the back but Jason only scowls.

        "Does that mean you're wimping out Rodriguez?" Jason shouts back, "Maybe you should just go against me if you're so scared of Tristan."

        Everyone is suddenly very quiet.

        "That's better," Jason grunts with a satisfied grin, "now do we have any volunteers for the first match?"

        Everyone is silent until something is said that shocks everyone.

        "I'll go first!" Cassie says, raising her hand, "I'll take on Tristan."

        Everybody is stunned into a silence which is broken by Jason laughing.

        "All right then," He announces, rubbing his hands together, "you all heard the lady. Porter! You and Putman get in the circle. Basic rules, no cheap shots, no biting, clawing, and if you can help it, don't kill each other. That's a lot of paperwork for me, and I HATE paperwork. Besides, nobody wants to have to mop up anyone's blood." He smiles, obviously pleased with his humor, and has everyone clear the space so we can get ready to fight.

        Cassie has a smile on her face and pulls her hair back into a ponytail as we step into the middle circle. I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the look she had on her face earlier but push the thought away as I get myself ready. When Jason gives us the thumbs up we shake and I back up into my stance. Normally this is the best plan, but Cassie decides to come running at me. At first I think she's going for a quick punch and I get myself ready to duck under it but when she's about two feet away she turns a bit to the left, pulls her leg up, and kicks me straight in the stomach. Then I start to fly.

        I feel like I've been hit by a cannon.  For a couple seconds I'm in mid-air and can't breathe. All I can do is wonder what just happened. That is, until I hit the wall that, just a few seconds ago, had been about fifty or sixty feet behind me. Thankfully the padding is there; otherwise my spine would have been crushed. I have just enough control over my body to push with my arms and put my legs out so I slide to the ground in a sitting position. Immediately everyone rushes over to me.

        "Tristan!" I hear someone say, but it sounds distant and echoing, like I'm in an empty tunnel.

        "Sarah?" I think. I try to tell them that I'm fine but all that comes out is "Nice kick."

        This gets some laughs which I'm pretty sure are from Zach, Bishop, and Drew. "He's fine," someone says. It's Zach. "Just back up and give him a minute to get the air back in his lungs.”

        When I can breathe and my vision and hearing clears I can see Jason and my squad standing over me while everyone else stands at a distance. Well, most of my squad. Sarah is in the middle circle screaming at Cassie about trying to kill me. I stand up with a little help and stumble over to them.

        "Sarah," I grunt, "I'm fine." She looks at me and immediately forgets about Cassie and wraps me in a hug that forces the air out of my lungs. After I get her to step away I look at Cassie. "How?" I ask.

        With a grin on her face she leans over and pushes on a section of her right shin.  Immediately the section slides away and I'm looking at wires over what appears to be a steel rod. She looks at my expression and the smiles gets wider.

"I lost the leg after the forest incident,” Cassie starts almost giddily, “Thankfully, with the academy's funding, I didn't have to settle for a regular prosthetic. This thing has a prototype hydraulics kit, so as long as I land just right, I can fall from any height without getting hurt. There's also a modification that allows me to apply a little extra power into my kick, as you just saw." She gives me a wink, "sorry if I scared you."

        Jason, who had been standing right behind us, immediately starts howling with laughter. "That's a nice little trick there kid. Now that we've all had a little excitement; I think it’s time for you all to go get some fresh air. Class dismissed."