Ten

By: Isaac Oliver

Tshhhhh. The doors of the Alpha VII hissed open upon the commander of the ship stepping towards them. He marched into the control room, guards following to the left and the right of him. He looked to the various men and women who were controlling the spacecraft. “How much longer until we take off.”

“We are preparing the ship for take off as we speak. I’d expect a few more minutes until we leave.” As the pilot spoke, Captain Kali strolled over to the windshield. He stood at the front of the ship looking out over the runways. “Sir, we just got the go-ahead to leave.” He gave a slight nod of his head and they started to move along the runway. He watched as they pressed buttons, pulled levers, and talked into their headphones. It reminded him of the days he was a pilot in the Air Force before the world died. As the ship pulled up from the ground, Kali braced himself against one of the pilot's seats.

He couldn’t help himself from staring out the windshield and looking down at the world below. It was hell. There wasn’t an ounce of green that he could see, just different shades of silver, it was a metal jungle. The sun wasn’t out, just like any other day, the pollution was too hard to see through. As he was taking in the view, or the lack of one, he remembered the new guards he had behind him. He glanced back to see the young faces behind him. The guards were usually 18 or 19, fresh out of school, but some were probably as young as 15.

The military didn't care how young the guards were; most of the time, they wouldn’t even make it past their first mission. They were disposable. At the end of the day, it benefits the earth, less people grow up and have kids of their own, less people taking from the natural resources of the earth. Sometimes mothers threw fits, crying and screaming, but they could always be won over with a little extra cash. In today's day and age, everyone needs cash but it's not so easy to get your hands on, so everything has a price.

“Take a look below! This is your dying world, some of you will be lucky enough to make enough money after a year that you may be able to move out of these slums! Move to a nicer house! Hell, after 5 years you may get a patch of land outback that you share with 10 others! In 20 years you may be able to afford your own patch of land, definitely not an acre, but some grass to call your own!”

”Sir, what’s an acre?”

He slowly turned to see where the voice was coming from. It was a young boy, definitely not over 18. His uniform was a bit too big, piling at his boots and hands, he wouldn’t be coming home. “What's your name kid?”

”Ten, sir.”
”Like the number?”
“Yes, sir, I was the tenth child, my parents no longer care to name their children because most don't make it to 18.”
A pang of sorrow struck the captain's chest. He remained silent for a beat too long.

“Nothing, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend it even if I told you. Now, here is a simple fact! You are in this room with me because you have been chosen to escort the prisoners! Some prisoners guard our base and some guard the prisoner's base, then there are you guys! You guys will be taking the prisoners from point A to B! I wish you the best of luck.” With that, the doors opened and some older guards came to retrieve the young boys to debrief them before their big day.

”Sir, we will be leaving Earth's atmosphere in a few minutes.” Captain Kali made his way to his seat. “How many of them do you think are gonna make it out this time? There were quite a bit of strong kids in that batch, wondering what they are feeding them nowadays.”

”Nah, it doesn't matter if they're strong. The prisoners' guards aren’t tested for strength, they are tested for speed and how well they can shoot. I'm gonna say the strong ones are a good shot, the tiny ones are fast.

”What about the one kid, Ten.”

”Ha, I’ll be surprised if he even makes it out of the gates.” Captain Kali looked to his left, there was a young kid who looked like he was going to lose his lunch. “What’s wrong with you kid? You should be used to flying by now, they only send the best over to our team.”

”It’s not that.” He waited for Kali to ask again but realized that wouldn’t be happening. “Are they seriously not going to live?”

”No. We lose a lot of people out here. Mostly to the natives but sometimes the prisoners get the good idea to revolt. Don’t worry kid, we’ve never lost a pilot, at least not yet. I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when we're there.” He closed his eyes, shifting to get more comfortable in his seat before he was out cold.

Across the ship, Ten sat in a room with the other guys that Commander Kali had talked to. He looked around taking in the other guys. Most seemed taller, stronger, braver, in fact, he looked like he was the youngest one there. They seemed like they belonged on this ship, on this mission. An older woman walked into the room, catching the attention of the new recruits.

”Listen up! I'm sure Commander Kali has given you folk a rundown of what’s going on, yeah?” A few nodded their heads while some mumbled some unsure yeses. “If you feel like you're not prepared,” she paused for added effect, “welcome to the club. They toss us out here with very little instruction hoping that a few of us make it out. I'll be honest with you, most of you won't.” Whispers started to spread through the crowd of boys but the lady, who had not given her name, stopped them. “Yeah, yeah, so scary. I'll tell you a few rules before it's time for your first mission. One, always listen, especially to me and Commander Kali because we're gonna be the ones telling you what to do. Two, trust each other, you're the only family you guys have now. Three, if you're told to shoot, shoot. Any questions?” Ten could see the confusion and questions blooming on the faces of the boys but they didn't make an attempt to ask a question. “Alright then, the door behind you will lead to beds. We will be going into turbo speed any minute now so we’ve got a few hours until we reach the planet, where we will go over the mission in more detail. Goodnight.” The lady walked out of the room leaving the boys on their own.

It didn't take long for groups to form. Common interests and fears bringing one another closer. Ten approached a few of them but no one seemed to be interested in him, always opting to push him out of their groups. Ten walked up to another group, the last group, determined to make at least one friend but as soon as he stepped up to them the ship jolted forward. Ten flew back, away from the group, and he took that as his sign. He walked to the bed furthest from the door and got ready for bed.

Ten opened his eyes not too much longer. He glanced around the room noticing that most of the boys had already gone to sleep, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't force himself back to bed. He slowly got out of bed and sneaked out of the bedroom and through the common room. Once he was out he could hear light laughter down the hall. He followed the sweet sound until he reached a common room with older people such as the lady who spoke to them earlier. He took in the sight in front of him for a few moments before a hand grabbed his shoulder. “What are you doing out here kid?” It was the lady from before.

“I'm sorry, I couldn't go back to sleep.”

”Ah, don’t be sorry. I was like that the first day as well. Come sit with me, I’ve got some cake you can have.” He followed her to a small table on the other side of the room. They sat in silence both eating small pieces of the cake. “Can I ask you something?” Ten broke the silence.

”Shoot.”
”What’s your name?”
”Oh, my name’s Tilly.”
”How old are you?”
”28. You?”
”My name”s ten, I'm 14.”
”14, god, they’ll send anyone out here anymore won't they.”
“Is it normal to be scared?”
Tilly took a deep breath, a look of fear in her eyes. “Yeah, but don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Go back to bed now alright.” Tilly kept her eyes on the boy as he fearfully walked back to his room.

The closer they got to the planet the more restful the ship became. People wouldn’t sit still, more and more kids were emerging from their rooms, but not Ten. Tilly kept her eyes out for the small boy, wondering if he would wander back out, but until then her mind was busy. She was tangled up with her thoughts of the boy. He reminded her of her younger brother who was sent out to this hell of a planet and never came back. This time was different though because she was here. She was going to make sure he got back to his mother and father. “Now arriving at Planet IO7263,” the sound of the intercom pulled Tilly out of her head. She marched back to the common room and gathered the young guards.

He watched as others got to the door and gawked outside but he did not feel the same. To his left was a beautiful dense forest but to his right was a thick city, it reminded him of earth. The other kids stood and stared at the city remarking about how it looked just like home but ten couldn't pull his eyes off the forest. It was lush and beautiful, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

After taking in the sites of the new planet they followed Tilly to one of the huge buildings. There was nothing special about it, in fact, there was nothing special about any of them. They were all tall buildings with little to no windows. “If this is what our building looks like, I'm scared to see where the prisoners will be staying.” Ten spoke up to the other kids, hoping for at least one person to agree with him but the only attention he got in return was a snarl from another boy.

”You should be thankful that they brought you here, it's much better than the slums we came from.”

I wonder if we're looking at the same building? Ten didn't dare say out loud.

They followed Tilly around for a tour of the building and their floor then a small tour of the city. When they returned she went over the rules and the guidelines for their mission. The next day was when they would be heading out.

Ten did not dare speak for the rest of the day, matter of fact, no one did. By now it was common knowledge that not many of the prisoner guards made it out alive. A sense of self-mourning went around their level of the building, but by the next morning, it was gone. Early into the morning, they found out that there were bets on who would come back, some of the prisoner guards started betting themselves as well, the odds weren’t good for Ten.

Ten quickly got ready in his new military-grade uniform and hurried down to the exit gate. Upon arrival, he noticed that they weren’t the only ones. A hundred or so men and women were lined up by twos in front of the gate, they were the prisoners. They had cuffs on their ankles and wrists, down the center of them was a chain that linked them all together. The guards were instructed on where to stand, the veterans in the front and back, and then they were given their guns. Ten knew how to shoot the gun but not well. He looked to the older people around him and positioned the gun just as they did.

Before they left Tilly came over to Ten, “Be safe out there kid. Just follow the person in front of you, the guy in the front knows where he’s going.

“Shouldn’t we get more training? I don't feel like I know what I'm doing. Maybe I can go out next time?”

”No one knows what they're doing out here kid, it just comes down to luck. Just remember, if anyone stops you, shoot. And if they fight back, run.”

With that, the line started to move, and Ten followed. They slowly marched into the forest which immediately put everyone on edge. The people that have gone on missions before were scanning the forest but the new kids fumbled through the forest with a sense of fear. But Ten was more focused on the forest. The trees seemed to tower over them, much larger than any of the buildings he had ever seen. The grass danced with the slightest bit of wind. And in the distance, there were some animals that seemed to resemble deer. Four legs and antlers, but pink fur? As they got closer to the deer-like creatures Ten noticed that their fur seemed to glow in the sunlight. Everything in him was telling him to go over, get closer, figure this animal out, but he couldn't.

His daydream came to a shattering end as he was splashed with water, “Get down!” The men dropped to the ground, finding trees and logs to hide behind. The prisoners dropped to the ground screaming. They tried to run but they were all tied together and couldn't quite figure out what way to run. But Ten did none of that. He stood in the center between bullets and arrows staring down at his feet. An older man lay there, bloody and dead. Ten reached for his face and wiped the water off the side of his cheek, but his fingers came out red. The sudden realization that they were aiming for him shocked him back to reality. He dropped his gun and fell to the ground. Tears started to form in his eyes but he couldn't do anything. He lay on the ground praying that the fighting stop, praying that it was all a dream.

After a few minutes, the guns stopped shooting and the leaves stopped dancing. The world was calm. Is it over? Ten thought. He sat up, taking in the forest until he noticed the thing in front of him. It raised its bow, if they fight back, run. He shot up, headed back the way he came but he was abruptly stopped. Another one of the things dropped from the trees above. It looked human, in a way, but it wasn’t. It had the build of a human but taller and lankier, and it was covered in that soft pink fur. Its ears resembled a deer's and in between were two antlers budding from its head.

“Sah, Sah!” This thing yelled to the one was the bow.
“Pa tǎ!” It snapped back.
”Tǎ may!” Another shouted while emerging from the trees. “Tutu ente!”
”Sah, takk.” All three of them stared at ten. The one from the trees stalked over. This one had deep purple fur. Ten went to take a step back but the light pink one put a hand on his back and raised a hand “Sah,” He commanded him. 

“I don't know what you're saying.” The purple one circled him, taking him in before making a clicking noise, all three nodded. The pink one moved his hand to the back of Ten's neck and started to push him. By now they had gotten the prisoners free and they all started to trudge through the forest.

They walked for hours and by now the forest had gotten thicker and animals were more abundant. In the distance, Ten could hear more of the unfamiliar language. As they progressed more and more of these creatures started to appear. Once Ten saw their home he couldn't help but gawk. There were huts built far up into the trees, threaded together by a rope pathway. In the center of their fortress was a rope ramp threaded between two trees. The creatures walked up, along with the prisoners and ten followed.

The creatures welcomed the prisoners but refused to look at Ten. He sat in the common area waiting to be told what to do. After a while of waiting another human came up to him. “Are you alright?” Ten nodded. “They're trying to decide what to do with you.’

”Why didn’t that kill me?”

”Taley, the pink one, said you looked like a child. They refuse to hurt any children. ”Can I ask you why you did it though?”

”Did what?”
“Join this operation and hurt people like me?
”I didn’t choose to join. They paid my parents for me. And anyway, we're told it's ok because you guys are prisoners.”
”Ha, prisoners. I don't know what they're telling you about us but I never did anything wrong in my life. Yeah, I had some debt but who doesn't anymore? I was just at home with my wife and baby when they came knocking on my door.”

”I didn't know that.”
”Seems like no one's being told the full story here, maybe neither of us are the bad guys. A hand rested on Ten's shoulder which caused a jump out of him, thinking it was another creature but he turned to see a familiar face. ”Tilly?”

"C’mon kid, we're getting out of here.”
“What are you doing here?’
”I didn't want to leave you in the forest so I’ve been tracking you, but we need to leave.” A gunshot rang out snapping Tilly and Ten's attention.
“Did you think you could sneak off base without anyone realizing?” Commander Kali asked while raising the gun to Tilly.
”C’mon man, you know me. I just came to get the kid.”
”You never-“ Kali abruptly stopped. He looked down at the blood blossoming on his uniform. He fixed his stance and shot again. Tilly dropped to the ground, lifeless. Kali raised the gun to Ten but dropped dead as another arrow pierced through his heart.