Chapter 21 : Emergency Changes
I've never been in a situation like this before. The atmosphere was tense even though there was nothing truly horrific and life threatening, except for the corpses lined up behind me returning to life and becoming werewolves. Sam got out of bed and backed up to the wall. The look on his face was pure horror. I went straight to him and tried to calm him down but he refused and even kept pushing away my hand that was trying to touch him.
It was the same with the doctor. He tried to restrain Sam's uncontrollable hand because he was worried that he would hurt himself.
"Move aside." Gerard said and we all moved out of the way.
Unexpectedly Gerard gave Sam a punch on the cheek without hesitation.
"What are you doing?!", I screeched unhappily at this showdown.
"People who can't be told through words, then there's no other way but through physicality."
"Stop it, you'll break his face!"
"Gerard! Stop Gerard!" , the doctor tried to stop it by holding Gerard's hand.
"What's going on? What was that scream?" , someone said after opening the door loudly.
We all turned around and saw Mr. Wymond standing there with an unhappy look.
Everyone was silent while Sam was in a semi-conscious state with blood coming out of the corner of his lips. Gerard had really knocked him out. It only took a few more punches to knock Sam unconscious.
Mr. Wymond looked at all of us one by one in silence, "Didn't you hear the siren? Quickly gather in the field. I have something important to tell you all." , he said and walked away.
For a moment I wondered if he was really Gerard and Sam's father. Why didn't he do something when he saw his two sons fighting like this? Okay, this can't be called a fight, because only one person beat up the other.
Is he trying to be professional by not mixing up family and work matters? No, he doesn't seem to be a very good father. I remember my Dad pulling the ears of my two younger brothers when he found them arguing and hitting each other. that's what a father does, just like all other fathers.
Mr. Wymond wasn't being a father. He was a dictator.
Gerald and I rushed to the field after the doctor assured us that Sam would be taken care of by him. Apparently it wasn't just the new recruits that had gathered on the field but the whole troops with the senior recruits on the left and the new recruits on the right.
The surprising thing is that our numbers are not as far apart as I imagined. 2 years into The Vigilante Union's existence, I thought the number of old troops would be five times more than the number of new soldiers. I see it's only about three times more.
Well, I know that The Vigilante Union's troops are not designed to fight in a big war like between kingdoms, but isn't this number still too small to fight a creature with many advantages over humans?
Our fight is more important than the fight between kingdoms because it is about human existence, not about power.
one of the soldiers from the senior section who stood at the front led us all to pay our respects and also sang the national anthem. Apart from the unusual sudden ceremony today, another unusual thing was that the flag of The Vigilante Union pride was only flown at half mast. It seemed that yesterday the flag was flying very high up there.
"Today I deliberately gathered you all because there are several things I want to convey related to changes in our schedule in the future."
Suddenly my heart felt uncomfortable. Remembering how precise a person like Mr. Wymond was with all the rules he had made. I thought he was a person who hated the change. But seeing him decide to change some things, I was sure this must be a critical issue.
I stood in the back row and watched as those around me looked at each other questioningly. Some of them nodded as if they already knew what to say.
Mr. Wymond took off his hat and exhaled a heavy sigh, "last night was a call for an attack on a farm. The farm was close to a forest that we suspected was a werewolf hideout. The call system we have installed throughout the place is the most advanced and the fastest. Although our troops have forced their horses to run as fast as the wind, all we found at the scene was a lifeless victim."
Mr. Wymond paused to show his disappointment at their failure so far. The sadness in his eyes, I can imagine how heavy the burden he carried when everyone in this kingdom gave their trust to Mr. Wymond to overcome all the attacks carried out by the werewolves.
"From last night's attack, six of our troops were killed by the attack of the creature. Nothing was in vain. Thanks to their sacrifice we got one valuable piece of information, which is that their attacks can move very quickly and invisibly."
My heart is beating fast and it's hard to swallow my own saliva. Reality is getting closer and I'm starting to feel the true horror. It's not only me. I can feel the same atmosphere from the other soldiers around me. Even though they are tight lipped, I'm sure in their minds they are thinking the same thing.
'Should I retreat now? This is absolutely impossible to do.'
"We can't retreat now,", Mr. Wymond continued as well as answering all the anxieties that were in the minds of some of the troops, "the public entrusted this to us and all the sacrifices our friends have made cannot be wasted. Therefore considering how much impact their attacks have had on humanity, starting today I have decided to accelerate."
I gasped and so did the people around me. Some of them whispered to each other saying that it was impossible to do.
"All the daily schedules that you have been given will be completely changed and we will start sending some troops to patrol some points in the settlement, especially the settlements that are located close to the forest. All troops will get their turn and the new troops will also be participating, of course accompanied by senior troops. I hope everyone here will help each other and start moving quickly. One thing you should keep in mind is that you should be proud that you got the chance to sacrifice. Don't feel sorry because that's only for losers. Let's all have a moment of silence to honor the victims and our friends who have passed away."
Mr. Wymond bowed his head and so did the rest of us. I'm sure no one actually observed a moment of silence for the victims. We were all mentally preparing for a tomorrow that had always been a mystery and was now becoming even more so.
Today was supposed to be the day for weapons training. But due to the recently announced total change plus the additional program for the troops, today became the selection day. Those of us who have just joined will be divided into two groups. The beginner and intermediate groups. Of course, this division is preceded by a series of ability tests which will then be considered in which group we will be placed.
Some people with little guts might expect to be placed in the beginner group so that they can spend more time at camp for training, but Mr. Wymond had anticipated this earlier. He emphasized that all shifts out of camp will be divided fairly. This means that if you are in the intermediate group, you don't have to worry too much if there is a surprise attack. Conversely, if it happened to those in the beginner group, they had to be prepared for the worst.
The statement indirectly forces all soldiers to do their best. Not only for others, but also for their own safety most importantly. To retreat is also useless, because in the event of an emergency, conscription will be imposed on all men of fit age. The choice was to fight now with all the skills they had been trained with or to fight later without any ability to fight.
Another important thing to know is that the daily schedules of those in the intermediate group and the beginner group are different. The patrol schedule is divided into two to maintain the performance of the troops. The first shift is from sunset to 11pm, and the second shift is from midnight to dawn. For those on the second shift patrol schedule, there is no need to join the morning training routine and are allowed to sleep until the end of the training hours. Those on the first shift, on the other hand, still had to join the morning routine.
Yes, our sleep schedules were all cut in half and we got a half-hour nap instead. Poor you if you're in the beginner group, as you'll be forced to run to catch up. There is no gentle treatment for beginners. Even if you get the second shift, you still have to attend the morning training routine to work on skills that are lacking.
Of course, that hell won't last long for those in the beginner group, if you want to get a reasonable hour of sleep, you have to work hard to get into the intermediate group.
The question on everyone's mind was, would those in the beginner group still get a chance to advance to the intermediate level before the werewolves came and carried out their attack in the middle of the night? The question lies between hope and despair.