Chapter 10

Pov Calla

I entered the forest about thirteen hours ago and the training started two hours ago. That means that everyone of the candidates has reached their starting position in the forest. I started heading towards the nearest flag to my position. It’s about twenty kilometers out still and it’s getting late. I intent to go through this exercise quickly but I still decide to make camp.

I have to spent couple of days in the forest anyway so it’s best to be rested when I get to the flag. I decide against on sleeping on the ground and look at the tree tops. There are couple of thick branches which could serve the purpose so I start getting ready for the night.

First I check the surroundings for anything to be wary off but there isn’t anything, so I’ll start making traps. They are simple ones for intending to get me breakfast. I cut a branch as thick as my wrist and place it leaning against a tree. Under the trees there are eaten cones that suggest me that squirrels should be plenty in the forest. From the bark of the younger and smaller trees, I weave a simple rope as thick as a pencil. It breakes easily but it should hold a squirrel.

I take the rope and place it in a loop above the branch I placed against the tree trunk. Now if a squirrel decides to climb the tree, it will probably use the branch first to get to the trunk. When it climbs the branch that’s leaning in a 45o angel to the tree it will run through the loop of make shift rope and it tightens around its neck, hopefully killing it, and if not at least trapping it.

I make three more similar kinds of traps and place some loops from a bit thicker rope to the ground in paths which looks like rabbits use them.

Now that’s food, but I got to do something to my security. The boys seem to dislike me, not that I care, but I don’t want to get caught unaware. If they can even manage that.

I place the makeshift bark ropes to the forest surrounding me, and tie their other end to a rock which gets suspended in the air. It’s simple and not very effective but it is enough for the night as visibility isn’t that great. If they walk from where one of the thin ropes is set, it doesn’t take much force to break them. When the rope breaks, the rock falls. The sound is going to be only a small thud but that is enough to wake me.

That ordeal takes me a few hours, most of the time spent to weaving the ropes.

I climb to a tree in the center of my perimeter and lay down on a branch as thick as me. I am confident that I won’t fall down during the night as this certainly isn’t the first time I have slept like this.

I close my eyes to get some sleep.

…

I wake up and survey my surroundings. I don’t see any threats and I check the time from my wrist computer. It is a little over 0500 in the morning. There aren’t any changes to the locations of the flags meaning that none of the flags has yet to be activated.

I climb down the tree and see that my rabbit traps didn’t have any luck but three of the squirrel traps has worked. One of the squirrels is dead and two of them is alive. I take them to my hands and snap the necks of those who were alive. I Start collecting the reusable parts of the weak ropes and notice that the final squirrel trap’s rope has snapped from the loop. Well I knew the rope was weak and three squirrels are enough.

I make a small fire with my tinderbox. Making a fire is always risky as the smoke, heat and light may give away your position but I do it anyway. It’s a small change that the other will notice it, and if they do, I intent to be gone by then.

Heating the meat and eating it doesn’t take long as the meats size is small and the edible parts of the squirrel isn’t much. After eating I put out the fire and throw some branches to cover the obvious campfire place.

Next course of action is to find water but that is easy as there are small streams shown on the map. I see the terrain goes down to my left and a hill can be seen in front of me. From the sun’s position and from the moss that covers the rocks and bits of the trees I know which way is north. Moss mostly grows on the northern side of things because it will be cooler and more damp there. Using the terrain and the hill as a landmark I ascertain my position on the map and start heading north, towards a stream and the closest flag from me.

…

I have walked about ten kilometers today. I am already half way to the flag and it has only taken me under three hours. I could move faster but there isn’t a point to it, and it would expose me unnecessarily.

I can hear the stream now. That is good, because I’m starting to feel the thirst now. I haven’t drunk anything after yesterday, before setting camp.

I quietly move closer towards the water, being careful. Water sources in the wild are excellent places to ambush people, although I think if somebody would want to ambush anyone here they would be near the flags or wait till one of the flags gets activated.

I do not hear anything or see anything, but the sound of the stream and the birds singing on the treetops. Even the birds have failed to notice my presence as they still sing using the same melodies they used when I was nearing the area. Or then they aren’t the kind of birds to go silent or alarm if someone enters their vicinity.

I see the size of the stream now. It is a small river with clear water. Its depth is to the knees and width is about seven meters. I decide to take a five minute break by the stream. From the bushes next to the stream I stealthily drink the water, careful that the surroundings don’t get alarmed. After having my fill, I lean against a tree trunk and check the time. It is almost 0900 in the morning. I have made good time.

I wonder how Marie is doing… I hope she passes.

As I’m thinking that the birds change their singing. They don’t go silent but they change the melody from the long slow rhythmic tweets to a more rapid singing. I notice the change immediately and steel my nerves.

I hear footsteps from where I came from, but because the forest and the birds I can’t be sure how many are closing in.

Deciding to gain information, instead of leaving before noticed I look at the tree next to me. I can’t be sure if there is anyone on the other side the stream but I don’t think there are as there hasn’t been anything that would suggest it. I climb the tree on the side of the stream so that the people nearing wouldn’t notice me.

I climb to the height of three meters and wait, hiding myself to the thicket. I see five people coming to the stream, walking in a single file with 5 meter gaps. At least they know to advance tactically but in a group you get noticed so much easier if one knows what to look for.

“Let’s drink and go across the stream here. I think she used this way too.” One of them says. They are looking for me? How is that possible? They couldn’t have known where I would start and for which flag I would go. Or could they?

“Her camping site was just where he told us it would be. She has proceeded with caution seeing how hard it was to track her. There were barely any signs she came this way. Could she know we are hunting her?” One of them says.

Who the fuck told them where I was sleeping? And of course I didn’t know they were hunting me with a purpose other than the exercise. That is just how I move in a forest.

“I doubt she knows anything. Let’s just keep going on. We should catch her at the flag at the latest.” The one leading the group says.

How could anyone know where I spent the night? There is no way, unless they monitor the area.

“Yeah let’s. We could teach that other bitch too a lesson while we are at it, if we find her. Only thing a woman operator is good for is spreading her legs to get information, there is no need for them to train in OMEGA.”

At that remark by one of the following boys the others chuckle a little. What the fuck? He was using that filthy mouth to threaten Maria.

I think this is anger I’m feeling now. A strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong. Yeah, definitely anger if not rage. Rage should be the same thing except uncontrolled.

I need to keep my head cool. No point in making them aware of my presence in a fit of rage. I think cold calculated anger should do for now, although I’m tempted to show that spreading my legs for them isn’t really the thing I’m good at.

They start crossing the stream one by one, and continuing to tactically advance through the forest. I follow them carefully, keeping a visual only to the last one of their line.

They walk in silence, and I follow sneaking from tree to tree, from bush to bush, making sure they don’t notice me and I don’t lose them. At least they know not to talk while advancing.

This gives me time to ponder. What do they want with me. How they found my camp site and knows the closest flag to my starting position.

Well it is obvious someone is helping them. Otherwise they couldn’t have known my starting place. But who? There are three possibilities. The Alpha, which I think is unlikely. The Bravo, who is the Alphas assistant trainer but I didn’t see him before the exercise started and I think this is completely run by the Alpha. And lastly, one of the older candidates who helped the Alpha to organize this exercise.

But the older candidates couldn’t have known where I was camping. But then again, nobody could have. I’m pretty sure they have a UAV circling the area but it couldn’t have seen me through the trees. The smoke from the campsite then? No, it couldn’t have known it was me. Or was the starting positions that much apart that it could have been deducted?

We come across a another stream, and the group of boys doesn’t stop for it. I take a mouthful of water and continue to tail them. There should be only five kilometers to the flag. I need to figure out my next move by then.

The boys come to a stop few minutes after the stream.

“We haven’t seen anything to indicate she came through here.” One of the boys says.

The leader like boy ponders for a moment before answering:

“Let’s just keep going. Perhaps she took a different path or is moving more carefully but we still know the flag she is heading for.”

I listen as they try to track and ambush me for whatever reason.

“I think we should just be on the safe side and ask her location?” One of the boys says

My location?

“No. The Alpha told if there isn’t anything to go by that only then we should ask him for assistance as there is a change the communications gets picked up by the HQ.”

The Alpha?

The boys nod to each other and slowly continues onward with me on their tail.

So it was the Alpha. But why? No, that’s not important yet, the how comes first. How could he know my location? They must have a tracker on me aside from the UAV which tracks the whole forest, but where. the wrist computers can be tracked but that isn’t a secret, and it is easily avoidable. I check my computer and confirm that the GPS is not activated. When using the GPS I could see my position on the map but as that is indeed easily trackable, they told us not to use it in the training because we won’t be using it in live operations either.

I have checked the clothes I’m wearing. Multiple times, as I’m cautious. But there wasn’t anything. It must be something they gave before the start of this training exercise. I check the knife, and the tinder box, but they are clean. I know it isn’t my pistol as I have taken it apart many times to check and clean it.

That only leaves the clip with the rubber bullets.

I inspect the clip while following them and find that there is something at the bottom which shouldn’t be there. Now what to do. If I take it out, the clip comes apart and is no longer usable. If I don’t, then they can monitor me.

They once again come to a stop.

“We are only a few kilometers away from the flag. Let’s take five minutes here to rest. If she gets to the flag we start hunting immediately and if not, we’ll lay an ambush for her. Make sure she dies.”

Dies? They want kill me?? What the fuck. Why the fuck.

They are going by the instructions of the Alpha. They are obeying their instructions like I did for so many years. And the Alpha is obeying someone else’s instructions, because there wouldn’t be any other reason for him to do this. I don’t know who’s for sure but I think I can rule out the J.A.T.F. as they are avoiding the communications because the HQ could overhear. But I can’t be sure if the orders came from within the J.A.T.F.

Everybody is always following instructions. Did they even question them or are they mindlessly obeying. Well, I did that for years.

But no more.

Fuck the orders and fuck the instructions.

Fuck the chain of command. I never vowed to fight for the J.A.T.F. and for the national peace they represent as the others did when they were privates. And now in the first month here my comrades are already hunting me down.

Fuck this. I’ll forget my orders and the exercise for now. Time to get some answers. And save Maria from a beating while I’m at it. She and Linda are the only things I’ve liked here anyway. And it’s not like I’m betraying anybody.

I leave the resting group of targets and head to the flag.

Now, how should I play this. I need information from them… well, one of them, the leader should suffice. They intent to kill me so I’m not going to hold back, even if I knew how to do that. And the one with the filthy mouth which threatened Maria is going to need a dentist at least.

They will rest for four minutes still and by the speed I’m moving compared to them that should give me ten minutes at the flag before they start laying their ambush. Should I place an ambush of my own? Yes, but not by the flag as they are going to surround it and never go near it.

As I come to the flag I have decided my course of action. I take the flag and start heading towards the edge of the forest with the fastest speed I can go, while still minding my surroundings. I was very careful when taking the flag and leaving the area to not to leave any tracks. The flag will give them my position anyways after two hours.

After I’m about thirty minutes away from the clearing where the flag was, I place the flag down and walk so that I leave some tracks but nothing obvious. I walk for a few minutes, leaving a broken small branch here and a visible footprint there. After that I start building traps meant for humans. They are simple but hard to detect if you are not looking at them. One step can break the rope that is ten centimeters from the ground. When the rope is broken it releases the bent branch that straightens itself then. At the end of the branch is a sharpened wooden stick, about fifteen centimeters in length and as thick as a thumb.

I make couple of traps like that and look at the time. I still have an hour to prepare before the signal is sent. They must have noticed that I took the flag but they can’t be sure which way I went as I was careful not to leave tracks in the vicinity of the clearing.

I dig a few holes in the ground, about thirty centimeters in depth and diameter. I make sticks with both ends sharpened push them to the holes so that they are sticking from the bottom and the walls and all pointing towards the sky at some angle. I cover the holes with moss and leaves so that when they step on them, their own weight will push the sticks to their flesh.

Now it’s time. The flag sent out a signal so that others can see my position. I take the flag from where I placed it and carefully take it through the path I had just trapped and hide it behind a tree. The flag means nothing to me now but it still works as bait.

They will see the place the signal was sent and from there they can find some of my tracks heading to the forest. Without me or the flag in sight, they want to proceed quickly if they are idiots, and calmly if they are not. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t have high hopes for the traps anyway.

I climb the tree next to the place the signal was sent. I want them advancing towards the traps while I’ll come from their back.

Now I’ll wait.

…

“The signal came from here” The leader informs. I watch as they look around the area below me.

“There are some tracks heading this way” One of them says. They are talking quietly, thinking they will get the drop on me. The leader nods and they start following the tracks. They spread out a little but that is good for me as the traps weren’t all in a single pathway. Two at the back, then the leader and two at the front.

“We should deal with her quickly and head for the other flags. This is wasting too much time” One of them says. The leader hushes him to be silent and indicates the others to stop.

“What’s wrong? We are closing in?” The on at the front left says.

And the leader answers:

“What’s wrong? First we barely keep up with her, advancing for kilometers before a sign of her passing there can be seen and now all of the sudden there are visible tracks just after where the flags signal was sent.” So not a complete idiot.

But I trust his friends are.

“Perhaps she moved quickly rather than quietly when the flags signal tells her place anyway?” The one on the back says. Their formation is now is a square with the leader in the center. I have silently come down from the tree and I’m now following them just a few meters behind them.

I chose this area because the ground is silent to walk on and the traps aren’t easily detectible. Also the trees are big and there is only few meters between them at most so it is easier to follow them undetected at close range.

I watch as the front right guy is walking towards one of the traps. They already passed the first one, and by luck they all avoided it. I slip from tree to tree, avoiding being on the open when the guys on the back glances their six. But it shows that they really should be paying more attention to behind them, even if they think they are the ones hunting.

“Perhaps, but she still wouldn’t want us to know to which way she heade…” ”AAAAAAH” The leader is interrupted by the front guy on the right side as he steps to a hole and his calf and foot on his right leg is pierced by the sticks.

During his loud scream I jumped from behind the tree and stabbed my knife to the neck of the right side guy on the back and simultaneously aiming with my left hand, I shoot the other guy on the back. The silenced shot is covered by the loud scream and it hits straight to the eye of the guy. Blood gushes out as he falls on his back, and I pull the guy I just stabbed behind the tree to my right.

The guy I shot falls behind a tree too. Lucky that there was a tree just next to him. I don’t know if he died, but at least he lost his consciousness. Rubber bullet to the eye will hurt enough to pass out and the impact itself should cause the loss of consciousness when hit to the head.

The dude who walked to the trap has now shut his mouth and is kneeling and taking his belt of, probably to use it as a tourniquet.

“I will fucking kill that bitch!!” He screams in anger. Or is it rage? Looks like rage to me.

“Fuck, retrace you footsteps and get in to a single file.” The leader says as he turns around to look.

“Where the fuck is Tom and Pierre?!” He yells as he notices his missing companions.

I don’t care that the other one is dead and the other is probably dying. Like I earlier thought, I won’t give them mercy when they try to hunt and kill me. Besides, as much of a big deal Linda made from pointless suffering and death in our talks, I really don’t see it as that much of a big deal. It’s the way of the world.

Still hiding behind the tree with a dead Tom or Pierre by my feet I think. The remaining three went to the one who stepped in to the trap, they are probably trying to get his leg free. I notice that the one with the filthy mouth is the other one besides the leader who is left unhurt.

“Are you here Calla!! Stop this now!” Damn. I’m right next to them so there isn’t a need to yell but they don’t know that.

Three left, one of them cannot move. I could end it easily with three shots but the rubber bullets takes away the certainty of that plan and I still want to talk to the leader. Perhaps now is a good time?

“I’ve been following you ever since the stream this morning. Mind telling me what are your orders.” I answer from behind the tree. I just gave away my position but the terrains advantage is still mine and even if they have the numbers, it’s quality over quantity now.

“To… To kill you. The Alpha said nothing more, only that you are a threat to the J.A.T.F.” The leader manages to answer me.

Heh. How unprofessional.

“Well perhaps I should do the J.A.T.F. a favor and kill you instead, as it seems you cannot even keep your orders a secret.” I reply with merry voice. Really, operators, as I understand are experts in secrecy and clandestine work and this idiot screamed his orders after the first question.

“You wouldn’t” And as he says that I step from behind the tree and shoot aiming the man that threatened Maria. After the shot I jump behind a different tree. The leader was ready with his pistol, but I’m too fast for him to aim proper and he misses me.

“AAAGH” A muffled sound comes. It sounds disgusting really. I can hear as the blood bubbles in his mouth. I shot straight through the teeth of the filthy mouth. He will need a dentist. Well, if he survives.

The leader seems to realize that he isn’t a match for me as he starts escaping from me. I though he was smart but in the face of danger he is just like the rest of them as he starts running straight to the path they were following earlier.

“AAAAAA” He screams. I walk next to him and see that he ran straight to my trap, breaking the thin rope made of bark that was holding the branch behind a tree in place. When the rope was cut, the branch straightened and stabbed the stick tied to its end to the leader’s thigh.

“Now, is there anything I should now about your orders that you didn’t tell me?” I ask while pressing the stick on his leg deeper.

“AAA… No, nothi…” I apply more pressure “AAAAA… huff. huff. You crazy whore! AAAAAAAA” I pressed the stick all the way through his thigh.

“So anything else. Anything?” I ask, smiling to him. I know there is more like the fact that they can ask my location. I already know it but still, I need him to be honest.

“He told that he can track you and if we needed help we should contact him. That’s all, I promise!”

*BAMBAMBAM* “AAARGH” I fire a few shots to his leg and side. The rubber bullets are pretty handy in a situation like this after all.

“Really? What about if you had killed me?” I asks the whimpering mess of a candidate.

“Nothing, we should just proceed with the training. I don’t know anything else…” He’s practically crying now. How pathetic.

*BAM* I shoot him in the middle of the forehead.

Now let’s see. The guy I shot to the eye seemed to have died. The guy I stabbed is dead. The guy who stepped in to the trap is passed out, he will probably bleed to death seeing he didn’t manage to tighten the tourniquet before he passed out of the blood loss. Seems like the guy who threatened Maria is currently suffocating on his blood, and is too unconscious to do anything about it.

The leader is alive, just passed out. It seems that the headshot wasn’t enough to kill him. Well I didn’t intent that anyway, just wanted to knock him out fast and effortless when I was done with him. He won’t die of blood loss either as I pushed the branch through his leg. He would if I were to take it out but there isn’t really a reason to do that. He was just doing as told.

Deciding what to do, I tighten the tourniquet on the guy who stepped to the trap, probably saving his life. And that’s it. The leader will live too and that’s enough. I cast one last glance at the guy who is choking to his blood and teeth. I think about how easy it would be to save him, just turn him from his back to his side.

But I won’t do that. Call it illogical, immoral or cruel. I won’t save him.

I check the magazines of their guns and see that they have a tracker on them too. So this is just their way of monitoring us. The alpha is likely watching the signals.

I empty my clip, putting the remaining eight bullets to my pocket and leave one in the chamber. I drop the empty clip to the ground, to a place the others won’t notice it when they wake up, just to be sure. I search them quickly and conclude that they would have communicated with the Alpha through their wrist computers.

I take them all and break them. Now when the Alpha watches the signals, he will think I have died here and took them with me. Then the other two wakes up and as they have no means of contact to the alpha nor maps they can only start heading for the edge. But they won’t do that straight as they don’t know how many traps I have made. The Alpha will think they are continuing the training as instructed.

Now, let’s go see what the Alpha has to say.