The Game. Part 1.

         1

We’d been training for months, endless training. Finally, news.

The alert status had gone through the roof, rumours going around the camp.

We were going to war.

Regimental meeting at 1400hrs would confirm the rumour was true.

It was early July.

Wow, shock or what, the place was buzzing.

That night in the bar, the banter started. Six of us wouldn’t be going, our three-year contracts were up in two months. That gave us carte blanche to slag the guys who were going.

That night in bed, soldier (A) pondered.

From a very young age, he felt death around him. Always convinced he was destined to die young. This feeling became so strong, it took over his life.

So much so it would shape his entire world. Only his world.

He would later incorporate a system that controlled his total being.

The system, he would call the Game.

It would take over his life.

        2

The last month in school saw the Game in operation twice.

Mr Cunningham in chemistry had berated and ridiculed him in class, before continuing in his usual habit of thrashing his cane off the desk.

Mr Cunningham had unwittingly entered the Game.

It wouldn’t be today, though, for at half past three he would be trapped at the back of the school by a rival gang.

Four years of fighting were finally coming to an end.

You had to know how to fight to lead a gang. Big Brian knew how to fight.

They would surround him, and beat him to within an inch of his life.

If Brian saw total unconcern in his rival, he mistook it for bravado.

The pickaxe handle knocked him to the ground. He didn’t understand, that look was still there. The second blow split his skull. It didn’t matter after that. Brian would later suffer epileptic fits. The Game was unforgiving.

          3

He was facing the Black-board when the soggy ball hit him. Enough to send him into a frenzy.

 The cane smashed onto the desk several times before finally hitting the                

book, activating the five capsules below it.

Mary at the front was the first to notice.

Sir, there's smoke coming out of your desk.

He followed procedure. The class was evacuated.  He ran to open the windows, gripping both handles as he pushed them open.

At first, he felt a tingle, but as the power increased, his body began to shudder.

He couldn’t release his grip. The force would throw him six feet across the room.

He would later remark, in the staff room, that he could have sworn someone was wearing a gas mask and holding a device in his hand. He couldn’t be sure, though, tears were streaming down his face and his throat was burning. He did remember flying through the air, though.

End of school pranks, the teachers remarked.

The Game had left school.

He would never return.

Tomorrow, he would extend his contract.

He had a date with destiny.