Extinction (33 page)

The drill instructor—DI to the grunts—walked
through the ranks as he addressed them. “Oh. My. God! I could not have planned
a better night for PT! You all should thank Recruit Davies for his absolute and
utter lack of soldiering ability for this two a.m. wake-up call. Why don’t you
remind us all why we’re out here right now?”

“Sir, yes sir”, Davies tried to start.

“How about everyone rolls over and gets
on their backs for some flutter kicks! And keep those feet at least six inches
off the ground at all times. We will keep doing flutter kicks until Recruit
Davies finds his big boy voice.” Turning to Davies, he smirked. “You may
continue, cupcake.”

Davies took a deep breath and cleared
his throat. Raising his voice above the downpour, “Sir, we are out here because
while this recruit was on watch, he forgot to secure the fire door in the
hangar. In doing so, this recruit left the base vulnerable to intruders. Sir!”

“That’s exactly right, sweetheart. I
find it absolutely amazing that every time you fuck up, you are able to
perfectly describe what you did wrong. You’d think that with all of the
explaining you have to do, some of that information might actually sink into
your head and you’d start getting things right once in a while.” The DI
continued to pace up and down the rows of recruits still performing the flutter
kicks.

To make things worse, the DI had one of
his assistants bring out a cot and then ordered Davies to lay down on it.
Davies was digging his nails into his legs and trying to cause enough pain to
stay awake. Davies held out as long as he could but there was just no way to
fight the exhaustion that they all felt. Davies succumbed and even started
snoring. When it became obvious to his squad mates that he was sleeping, most
of them promised themselves they would kill him in his rack before the end of boot
camp.

Around six a.m., Davies awoke to the
sound of reveille. When he opened his eyes, he found himself still in the
courtyard with his squad curled up on the concrete grinder, shivering and
sleeping as best they could given the circumstances. As they began to wake up,
their eyes were finding Davies and making their best effort to kill him with
never before seen human telekinesis.

The DIs rotated every four hours to
ensure that they were always in peak condition. This also gave the impression
to the recruits that the DIs had superhuman stamina abilities. No matter how
obvious the mind games were, the recruits always fell for them.

The fresh DI stepped up. “Good morning,
ladies! I heard you had a wonderful PT session this morning with absolutely
perfect weather. The great part is, we’re already here on the grinder for our
morning PT. Fantastic! Thank you again, Recruit Davies! Everyone hit the deck!
Thirty eight-count pushups on my count! Ready...Exercise! One-two-three-four...”

Davies could feel the hate radiating
towards him as though a tidal wave of anger was hitting him over and over
again. He did his best to review every mistake he had made since arriving at
boot camp a little more than six weeks ago. There were so many at this point he
knew he couldn’t remember them all. But he tried anyway; he hoped that maybe
the mistakes and consequent punishments would help him to do better today. If
not today, maybe he could do better tomorrow. He felt as if he were fighting a
losing battle but he wouldn’t give up, ever.

After PT, Davies marched to chow with
the rest of his company and all of the other recruits in boot camp. The men and
women in his company were disciplined enough to not say anything to him as they
stood at attention in formation outside the chow hall. He knew that if he kept
making mistakes, they would eventually lose their discipline and dish out some
barracks justice some night after lights out. The thought of continually
disappointing his squad and company was more motivating to Davies than the
thought of them retaliating against him was.

Davies also had another form of strong
motivation: his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, plus another few
generations of men had all been marines. A couple were officers but most were enlisted
men. His father had retired as a major after starting off as a private and
moving his way through the most of the enlisted ranks before becoming a mustang
and going to Officer Candidate School.

Major Davies had never forced either of
his sons into service nor did he expect it of them. He had always been honest
and upfront with them about the good and bad of military service. The major told
his boys that he was proud of them regardless of their career choice but he
made no secret of the fact that he would love it if one or both of them became
a marine.

Davies was the older of the two boys by
five years. His brother, Carl, was always talking about becoming an officer in
the corps, even wanting to get some of his dad’s previous assignments. Davies
really hadn’t wanted to join the military and he was happy that his brother did
so their father would have at least one Marine Corps legacy. If his brother
ever changed his mind, Davies knew he would enlist, get his four-year contract
done and then move on.

The day came for Carl’s graduation from
Officer Candidate School and the whole Davies family was in attendance. There
was marching, a military band playing, and all of the pomp and circumstance anyone
could handle. If you weren’t a fan of the Coalition, you would be after
witnessing the ceremony they put on that day.

When everything was over with, the newly
appointed officers were released to meet with their friends and families.
Grandpa Davies had retired as a sergeant major so he had the honor of giving
Lieutenant Davies his first official salute. Lieutenant Davies returned the
salute to his grandfather, who was standing at full attention in his dress
blues.

The lieutenant then turned to his father,
who outranked him, and rendered a salute. Before he returned the salute, Major
Davies stated without any hint of a smile, “You better outrank me someday,
Lieutenant.” He then sharply returned the salute.

With the traditional salutes finished,
there was a round of hugging and backslapping from the rest of the family.
Davies grabbed his younger and smaller brother in a bear hug and lifted him off
the ground. “I’m proud of you, Carl.”

“Thanks, brother. I know you think Dad
was my inspiration for joining the Marine Corps but he wasn’t. You were.”

“What?” Davies thought his brother was
teasing him for some reason.

“I’m serious. Dad is my hero but you’ve
always been my inspiration. Dad is the action hero that every kid wants to be
and dreams of having for a father. We were lucky to have him growing up. Even
though you have no desire to join the service, you embody everything that it
stands for and everything it tries to be.

“I want to give to my enlisted men what
you’ve always given to me. Direction. Stability. Honor. Fairness. Loyalty.
Brotherhood.” The lieutenant saluted his older brother.

“Holy crap, I’m gonna cry, you little
prick.” Davies couldn’t help but wipe at his eyes. “Go talk to Dad and Grandpa.
They have some words of wisdom they want to pass along before you ship out.”

The lieutenant gave a crisp about-face
and then jogged to where his father and grandfather were waiting for him. As
the trio walked away arm-in-arm, a fireball erupted on the ground and
obliterated any trace that they ever existed.

Davies was barely starting to register
what had happened when the fireball started to reach out for him from the
epicenter of the blast. Luckily for him, the shockwave hit first and threw him
far enough away that he wasn’t burned to a crisp.

Shrapnel, fuel, and fiery debris rained
down all over the parade field. Six other people had been killed and many
others seriously hurt when the fighter jet malfunctioned and crashed on its way
back from its performance in the graduation ceremony.

Davies didn’t even try to go to where he
saw his lineage vaporized; he knew they were gone. Instead, he gathered his
family and took a head count to make sure no one else had been lost. Once
gathered, he ushered them to the cafeteria where he knew there would be food,
water, and shelter. The cafeteria was near the parade grounds and was ready to
receive and feed the hundreds of people in attendance at the graduation. It was
a good choice for shelter and he knew where it was thanks to the graduation
program he had in his pocket.

Davies was barely holding it together
but he was in survival mode now, a frame of mind that his father had always
drilled into his sons. The major had always told his boys that when the world
seemed like it was ending, it was time to step up and do your part: be strong
for the weak and guide those who were blinded by fear.

With his family secure, Davies told his
mother that he was going back to the field to see whether he could help in any
way. He felt bad about leaving his mother but he had no choice but to try to
live up to all of those things his brother had just said about him.

Davies reached the parade ground a few
minutes later and found that rescue efforts were already underway. Corpsman
were attending to the injured and setting up a triage and treatment area. He
realized that his help wasn’t needed here. The Marine Corps was no stranger to
tragedy and they had reacted quickly and efficiently to the unforeseeable
event. Even though the circumstances were horrible, Davies was thoroughly
impressed with how things were being handled.

Davies decided to go back to his family
to make sure they were still all right. As he was walking, he came across a
folding conference table that had been turned on its side with paperwork and
pamphlets strewn out on the ground around it. Without even thinking about it,
he went to turn it over and clean up the mess. Later he would wonder why that
table and mess were important to him to clean up and he would never be able to
answer that question. Maybe it was because he saw something that he could
actually fix, regardless of how small and insignificant the act was; it was a
chance to do something.

As he began to lift the table, he heard
a voice, “Excuse me, son, please leave the table on the ground.”

“What?” Davies turned to see a staff sergeant
looking at him.

“I’m sorry, son. I appreciate your help
but the accident investigation team likes to have everything left alone so they
can do their job better.” The sergeant put his hand on Davies’ shoulder,
seeming to know that Davies wasn’t just upset about the accident. “Did you lose
someone in the crash, son?”

“My brother graduated today. He was
standing with my father, Major Davies, and my grandfather, Sergeant Major
Davies, when the plane crashed into all three of them.” Davies was holding one
of the pamphlets in his hand and looking absently at it.

“I’m sorry, son. There are no words for
a shit-storm that big.” The sergeant was no stranger to death but he was
clearly at a loss for this circumstance.

“What was this booth for?” Davies was looking
around at all of the Marine Corps paraphernalia on the ground.

“It was a recruitment booth. We always
get about twenty or so new recruits after a graduation ceremony. The kids, and
even sometimes the older adults, are so filled with patriotism after the show
that they sign right up.” The sergeant looked around at all of the mess. “Probably
not so much today, though.”

Davies put down the pamphlet he was
holding and picked up one of the recruitment forms. “Well, you’re going to get
at least one today. Do you have a pen?”

The sergeant looked into Davies’ eyes. “Son,
you just had the biggest loss you will ever have in your life. I’m not allowed
to take an application from anyone that I deem is not emotionally able to
understand the commitment they are making by filling out that form. Look at
line number twenty-nine. It even says you can’t sign the form if you are under
emotional distress.”

“I won’t say that I’m fine, because I’m
not. I’m pretty damned fucked up right now. I know that. You know that. But you
don’t know me or my family. If I don’t sign up with you right now, I’m leaving
here to find the nearest recruiting office and do it there. I NEED to sign up
here. Now. The last place I was with...them.” Davies started rooting around the
ground, trying to find a pen that he knew had to be there somewhere.

The sergeant sighed. “Son, I’ll tell you
what. Let’s fill the paperwork out, right here, right now. Then in one month,
we’ll meet for a beer. If you still want me to turn in the paperwork then, I
will. I promise.”

Davies stood and took the pen the sergeant
was holding out to him. “Okay.”

When the paperwork was done, Davies
handed it over and shook the other man’s hand. “Thank you. Sergeant?”

“Sergeant O’Connor. Mike O’Connor.” The sergeant
handed him a business card. “I’m done with recruiting duty in five weeks so
give me a call in three, so we can set up a time to meet. I’m sorry for your
loss, son.”

The two men parted and Davies went back
to his family. A month later, Davies was seated at a table in a bar when Staff
Sergeant O’Connor walked in. Davies waved to him and Mike sat down to a beer
that was already waiting for him.

“So, you’re ready to take the plunge?”
Mike took a drink from his beer.

“Yes, sir. Absolutely.” Davies was
nervous despite himself.

“Okay. First things first, don’t fucking
call me sir again. Second, let’s have fun tonight because you’ll be leaving for
boot camp in the morning.” Mike smiled at the shock on Davies’ face.

“That soon, huh?” He raised his glass. “I
guess it’s as good a time as any.”

They drank for a few hours and were just
about to call it a night when a group of women walked into the bar. Davies
thought he recognized one of them but wasn’t sure where from. After looking at
her for what seemed like an inappropriately long time, he thought he figured it
out.