Taking Sides

Chapter 4: Preprations

It was then that the argument lapsed into silence, and my attention was again drawn to the arguing trio, half expecting a dragon to come swooping out of nowhere to burn us all to a crisp…

However, the real reason was thankfully far simpler. They had realised that the entire battalion had come out to watch their loud argument, with a general air of bemusement. It was as if everyone had been waiting for something like this to happen, to at least release some of the tension.

Then, the trio burst out laughing, and we followed soon after, laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing. There we were preparing equipment for a war, and they were arguing about <i>parking space</i>. The three then seemed to come to an agreement, and the driver went back to the truck and shut off the engine.

The quartermaster then went and ordered his men to clear a path for the truck, while shouting up to us, “Show’s over. Go back to your bunks! Jokers.”

We then all went back as ordered, albeit slowly, half hoping for something else to happen to further ease the tension…

...Then, a siren went off and all hell broke loose.

The first thing that happened was that one sergeant came running over and told us to go down and get our weapons, then take cover. When asked what the siren meant, he responded with, “Attack. Not a drill. MOVE!”

Of course, this resulted in pandemonium. No matter how long we had to serve, we were still conscripts, and ultimately just a bunch of civilians wearing a uniform and playing soldier for two years. Yes, we were trained, but compared to a regular armies, we were a joke. There was a bottleneck at the staircase, as everyone rushed to get downstairs. I was carried down with the huge press of bodies.

On the way down, I saw someone fall. I tried to stop and help him up, shouting for the rest to slow down at least. However, my words fell on deaf ears. Everyone was obviously in a panicked state of sorts. I ended up pushing him to the side, away from the trampling feet, while I, myself was carried away by the tide of bodies before he could say anything.

We all spilled out into the parade square, and raced to the armoury people, who were scurrying around, trying to find everyone’s gun… It was a mess, and on top of that, none of us was in uniform. Most of us were still in our PT kit: a singlet, shorts and whatever shoes that we could shove onto our feet during the rush. That meant less protection and less camouflage. I toyed with the idea of going back to grab my proper uniform. However, I had to scrap it when I saw the quartermaster lock everything, including the gates at the staircases.

At least I wore boots, which happened to be the first thing that I grabbed and crammed my feet into.

The armoury personnel eventually got used to the rhythm of things and gave out the weapons quickly, along with two fully loaded magazines, one of which I had to shove into my pants when I was issued my weapon.

However, just as I turned to leave the line, weapon in hand, I heard a ‘woosh!’ ahead, and saw a shadow suddenly blot out the sun.

They were here.

I bolted, and took cover behind the company building, knowing better than to stay out in the open. I found myself hiding behind a large bush, right next to the building itself, squatting in the grass. In the distance, I heard shouting, and the rumbling of truck engines, yet my mind dismissed it all, insisting that I stay put. My gut told me that this was where I was supposed to be, yet my mind protested, trying to get me to get up and look for the rest…

Meanwhile, what remained of the queue dispersed quickly, along with anyone else in the parade square, as the shadow grew larger, and a large red dragon landed smack in the middle of the parade square.