Page 21 of Unmade

“Yes, sir!”

I nodded once and handed the binder back to Coach, who went on to discuss the daily schedule, which was my cue to walk over to the front desk and grab their ID cards.

Gina smiled brightly, ready with the envelope. “Here you go, sir. It’s always so exciting with the newbies.”

More than half of them would flunk out.

“Thanks.” I accepted the brown envelope and returned to Coach’s side.

“And lunch is always between 12:00 and 13:00,” he said. “Same story with the cafeteria staff. Treat them with respect—and don’t ask if they have anything other than what’s being served. If you have any allergies, they should already be aware of that. And no, we do not take into consideration whatever diet’s trendy at the moment. Every day comes with two options and a salad bar. It’s ten times better than whatever you ate in the service.”

I opened the envelope and dug out the first handful of ID cards. “When I call your name, raise a hand. You will need your ID card on you at all times. Without it, you won’t get access to the schoolhouse, the training facilities—the elevators won’t move. Ortiz.”

Gabriella Ortiz raised her hand, and I extended her card. Grey, Jensen, and Travers were next.

“The IDs give you clearance to move between the basement, the first floor, and upstairs,” Coach said. “If you need to go to medical on third for whatever reason, just push the yellow button labeled ‘Medical’ in the elevators.”

I didn’t need to say Leighton’s name. I walked over to him with his ID, and he accepted it without making eye contact, so I held on to it.

Look up, kiddo.

He glanced up, confused.

I mustered a faint smile, because I didn’t want him to worry that he might be unwelcome.

“It’s been a minute,” I said quietly. “I’m thinking you’ll buy me coffee in the cafeteria later when you explain why you stopped texting me updates.”

Relief flashed in his blue eyes, and he exhaled a quick laugh. “You got it, sir.”

That felt better.

“Once everyone has their ID card, we’ll go to the dorms to leave your belongings,” Coach announced.

CHAPTER 2

August 5th, 2024

Leighton Watts

Coach hadn’t been lying when he said the food here was better than what we were used to. I kinda wanted to get a second bowl of soup. It was some spicy tomato soup with a bunch of vegetables and Italian sausage in it. Fucking delicious. The bread too.

I shoveled another spoonful into my mouth and went back to studying my schedule.

The other recruits seemed more intent on making friends, and I’d get there soon enough. But given all the information we were being bombarded with on our first day, I’d opted for an empty table in the cafeteria, and I had my back to everybody else.

The first class on the curriculum was ironic. Military deprogramming. A minimum of four years of service was practically required to apply at Hillcroft, and now they wanted to wipe the slate clean?

That class was the only one without an end date, so I guessed I wasn’t leaving until they deemed me deprogrammed. Actually, weapons training seemed flexible too.

The other classes came with more information, such as how many weeks they would last. With each one being taught for two hours every week. Second and third language assistance offered in Spanish, Farsi, Russian, Mandarin… That list went on. Basic intelligence, four different classes for communications, survival training, water quals, martial arts, primarily Krav Maga and Muay Thai, then various sports like wrestling and boxing, a lot of running, and navigation.

We would learn history too, focusing on the spies of the Cold War, various communication strategies used, as well as the development of decoding machines in the Second World War’s European theatre, and signal monitoring in the Pacific during the same time.

How to become a gray man, equipment guides and gear preparedness, geography with focus on conflict zones, culture studies, interrogation, logistics and mapping out escape routes and?—

“I see you’ve already forgotten my advice, kid.”

I sucked in a breath and sat up straighter. I hadn’t noticed how my pulse had spiked, but now it made me a little excited. Because maybe this would work? Maybe working at Hillcroft would finally make me feel alive?

---