Red Wolf
By P.J.G.Eld

William was 16 years old and unlike all the other girls and boys, he had no history no story, his earliest memory was of being in Red Wolf Training learning how to fire a rifle, the memory had been played so many times in his head it was becoming worn out, questions like who was he shooting at could no longer be answered. Red Wolf was an army of children created by Raff Headrick.

After years of many wars, an event happened that changed everything, the event was for good and everyone was happy about it. This event was the signing of the world peace treaty, every country signed it and for a period of time there was no racism, no violence and no war. People cried in the streets hugging and kissing one another. For the people living in this new peaceful era it was a dream come true.

Inevitably the people soon grew board of peace, they began to fight and murder each other over the stupidest things. The civilisation that we all once knew had been forgotten, how long did they think world peace would last for? The need to hate and fight is found in every single life form on the planet. There were many bad side effects but one side effect would become a huge problem and change the world yet again.

This side effect was the children. They were losing their older brothers and sisters, their mums and dads; the Children were becoming orphans. The comfortable blanket of love and security had been pulled away. Young children had no options, they had to learn to defend and kill to stay alive in a world being destroyed and ripped apart by adults.

The need to fight would never go away, the need to fight could only vanish if there was no one left to fight with. Red Wolf was a haven to the young, it was the blanket of love and security. Of course Red Wolf was more like a place to toughen up the fragile, confused little children so they could live in these harsh times. They would become soldiers that had only one purpose, kill adults. Although Raff Headrick was an adult himself, the children seen him as a Santa clause type of figure and they would obey his every command. The children were perfect tools for Headrick, they could be easily brainwashed and controlled. Headrick did indeed have other adults working with him they were ex-soldiers and they were the voice of Headrick. The ex-soldiers were called Super Troops and they were role models to the little ones. The Super Troops would teach survival lessons, military type lessons and combat training on a daily basis. The Super Troops would face little combat however besides babysitting they would go out and scout enemy territory for information, they would mark on maps where they suspected enemies (adults) and take pictures of key targets. The Super Troops would then give missions to the children.

The bigger picture among this madness was positive; the adults now had a huge common enemy, the Red Wolf Children. The adults slowly learned how to work alongside each other, they didn’t have to fight one another anymore they could work together and be united. By the time the adults were at peace among each other their sons and daughters had fled to the one place they knew they could be safe.

The adults were now trying to rebuild what they destroyed and they were having new children and loving once more.

To adults Red Wolf was a plaster over the cut planet but it was a bad plaster that needed to be sorted. The need to fight would always remain.

Red Wolf started in England but before the adults had united once more to fight off this new enemy the army of children had advanced all the way into Europe.

Today was the 3rd of January 2190 and as William had guessed he had been picked to be among one of the attack forces going out on the next engagement. He had been assigned to a K.C Team (kill and clear) as usual. A K.C Team like all the other teams was made up of 4 Lives. The definition of Lives meant men, women real people but they weren’t men or women they were young, they were boys and girls from 9 to 18. If any of them made it to 19 they were transferred to S.T.O.R.W which stood for Super Troops of Red Wolf. Williams K.C Team was part of TERATOID. TERATOID was the name given to this certain attack force the name had no real purpose it was just a name and like all attack forces it was built of the 3 teams and they were called Team K.C (kill and clear), Team S.R (Spot and Report) and Team D.S (Distract and Survive).

There were two attack forces going out on the following morning, TERATOID and SANGFROID. These two attack forces had been especially made up of the boys and girls that had performed, best in all exercises throughout the week and the fittest survivors from the previous attack; William was always fit when he came back from battle this is why he was never surprised to be going out day after day. Red Wolf was 50 Years old tomorrow and to celebrate they would take control of Belgium. The Enemy was on the verge of losing the last Zone this zone was called C Zone, they just needed a hard, strong kick off the edge and TERATOID and SANGFROID were the boot that was going to kick them.

Attack force TERATOID were taking cover in a tall building once called Tour Du Mindi, they were on the 20th floor in darkness, the other floors were an un-necessary risk. From the outside the floors above the 20th were practically none existing. It was 4 o’clock in the morning but they couldn’t use the lights and they didn’t work anyway, besides if they did manage to get power into the building and flick on a light switch the enemy would have them. Torches were also not to be used for the same reason but both attack forces had them just in-case. Jason and Marley 2 Lives of Team S.R (spot and report) raised their heads into the frame of the kitchen window which had a view of the city centre. The city was abandoned and had been for 8 years. Dark green plants climbed the grey buildings. The roads were cracked and packed full of corpses and burnt out car wrecks. The train tracks laid in front of the Tour Du Mindi were rusting and disappearing under thick grass. There were dark burns on the walls and pavements the after effects of explosions and fires. Bullet holes and craters could be seen to easily. Buildings that had been smashed into ruins and rubble were a common sight among the dead chaos in this city.

“What do you see Marley?” asked William.

“The same normal shit” Marley answered keeping his eyes on the view.

“Any Snipers Jason?” said William. William was the oldest in the attack force TERATOID and therefore was in charge, he also had his team to lead but the amount of time William had spent in battles had made all the responsibility second nature. William was crouched down among his team at the door of the small kitchen, Justin nicknamed Rustin was the leader of Team D.S (distract and survive) and positioned in front of Williams team. Team S.R were at the window of the kitchen, Freddy and Shaun remained crouched while Marley and Jason scanned the city.

“Probably. Binoculars Freddy now” whispered Jason holding his hand out impatiently. Freddy reached for his belt and clipped off the binoculars.

“Here” said Freddy abruptly handing the binoculars up to Jason.

“Thanks. I think there all sleeping, there’s no one in the open”

“Good, I’m going to be there nightmares tonight” said Jess.

Marley looked over his shoulder towards Team K.C and looked at Jess, “the only dreams you will be in are wet dr....”

“Marley shut it will you” said Rustin shaking his head. Rustin was 14 the oldest among the four in Team D.S.

“What you going to do about it Rustin, you ain’t in charge of me Jason is” said Marley in a teasing fashion. Jason punched Marley in the arm.

“Shut it and do your job Marley” ordered Jason breaking his eye contact from the binoculars. Jason was also 14 and was in control of Team S.R.

“Are SANGFROID in position?” asked William. Shaun got out his L.I (Location Indicator) which was hidden in his sleeve pocket. The device was a simple it was square and had one button on one side and two lights on the other. SANGFROID had this device too and all they have to do is press there button when they are in position and then a green light on the L.I in TERAFOID will light up. Shaun had already pressed the button on the L.I he had and the light next to the button was green, now they were waiting for SANGFROID.

“Darn it, why are they not there yet!” whispered Karl in a very angry tone.

“Quit moaning Karl, I hope you get it out there. Idiot” said Marley. Marley and Karl were like children and adults they hated each other. Karl was part of Team D.S; Rustins team. He was 12 years old, ginger haired pale and quite small. Karl had a shot fuse and when he exploded Marley was always the water putting him out with his cruel remarks.

“Yeah say that again Marley, to my face”. Marley spun round and stood tall over Karl, the others seemed slow to react to the situation giving Marley time to walk over and stand in front of Karl.

“I say, feeling brave Marley” Karl said rising from his crouched position. The two looked at each other for a moment, unspoken words becoming fuel to both their anger. Marley’s chubby face and brown eyes frowned down upon Karl’s Blue eyes.

“Marley, for crying out loud get here now!” ordered Jason straining to keep his voice at a whisper. Marley smiled at Karl, his missing front teeth and his bad breathe invaded Karl’s senses. Marley turned and returned to the window.

“I apologise Jason” said Marley looking at his feet.

“You better apologise to the whole attack force, you but all are lives at risk. If there was an enemy watching this building and they saw you stand we’d be over cooked meat pretty much instantly. Apologise now Marley, to all of us” said William in cool, calm spoken voice. Every one turned their heads from William to Marley.

“Sorry, guys” said Marley fidgeting with his helmet. No one said anything; they just accepted it and looked away. Marley got out his own binoculars and looked at the battlefield below.

The L.I suddenly became slightly brighter in Shaun’s gloved hands; the second light was shining green.” SANGFROID are in position William” said Shaun.

William nodded at Shaun “thanks. Ok Jason, Freddy”. They both looked at him,”we need a UAV, launch Mutant Owl, we will provide cover from up here”. Jason still crouching grabbed Freddy’s collar and pulled him past the other teams and past William leaned back against the kitchen door to provide more room for the two of them to squeeze past.

“Good luck” said William looking into Freddy’s eyes, Freddy was 10. The remaining of Team S.R, Rustins Team; D.S and Williams Team; K.C looked at the two of them leave the kitchen wondering what may become of them if they get spotted. “D.S, get to the window, S.R” William pointed at the place where D.S had been crouched, Marley and Shaun swapped places with Team D.S.

Team D.S were now at the kitchen window waiting to see if they would have to use their weapons. TERAFOID was quiet they were thinking, worrying, excited about what might happen next.

Static from Rustins Radio interrupted the silence, “we are at the bottom and constructing Mutant Owl, over.”

“We here you” said Rustin in to the radio. Mutant Owl was a flying, night-time, unmanned surveillance system. It was fairly small and could be carried in a backpack. The Mutant Owl was to be made on sight and consisted of 5 pieces; the two wing’s, the tail end, the main body which was fitted with a mix of surveillance technology and the engine which was a battery with two propeller blade fixed to it. Once it was constructed you could simply throw it in to the air and tell it what to do with a remote control.

Freddy and Jason realised every moment outside in the freezing cold wind may be there last, they had been trained to deal with battlefield stress to the point that they knew about it but didn’t care, they really could stare death in all forms straight in the face and show it the finger. Snow began to fall it started off a little bit shy, after a minute or so it was over confident.

“Let’s get this baby in the air” said Jason. The two of them stared at each over crouched behind a wall then both smiled.

“Ok” replied an excited Freddy. Jason picked up the light Mutant Owl with his freezing red hands, Freddy stood putting his back pack on. Jason got up and walked a few paces back from the wall they had both been taken cover behind; he raised the Mutant Owl above his head and began to run.

D.S Team watched from the open window of the Tour Du Mindi di. He threw the Owl hard; the engine started and the propeller span. The Mutant Owl climbed silently to an unnoticeable height as Freddy and Jason ran. They had not been shot yet and neither had the Mutant Owl.

“Guess they were sleeping after all “said Freddy laughing. Jason said nothing, he checked over his shoulder in an attempt to see if they were being watched as they ran.

The rest of TERAFOID were alerted by their Palm Screens. A palm Screen was a real-time, touch screen computer that fitted into the palm of its holder. It displayed mission updates, objectives and could be used as a monitor to watch video footage from any source it was connected to.

Every one unpacked their Palm Screen. The screen had a flashing green button on it saying Mutant Owl; every one pressed their button and they were instantly connected.

“Heat Vision” William ordered, every one touched the red button at the top of the screen that said Heat. There were two other buttons beside the red heat one, there was a green one that said night vision and there was a black one that said echo-location.  TERAFOID were now seeing a bird’s eye view of the battlefield in heat vision. Whatever the Mutant Owl saw was recorded so it could be used as information to who ever needed it.

Freddy and Jason were now crouched behind a couch on the first floor of the Tour Du Mindi, Jason had equipped his Palm Screen and was watching it very carefully while next to him Freddy was using the remote-control for the Mutant Owl. The remote-control looked like one of those portable game consoles from back in the 21^st century; it had a screen and buttons on either side, apart from its thick rubber skin to avoid damage if dropped and a meter long shiny antenna it was identical.

Freddy could see what everyone else could see apart from he was controlling it. It was very user friendly and was hard to make mistakes with it but the value of the Mutant Owl made Freddy sweat and very cautious.

“Nice and easy Freddy your doing great” said Jason in a soft kind voice; he had noticed the sweat running off Freddy’s head.

“Rite, thanks”

The train tracks didn’t have any life on them but the houses flats and buildings beyond had heat signature of a groups of people and people by themselves.

“Snipers” said Rustin.

The Mutant Owl covered a mile and then Freddy hit the return button, it would find its own way back to where it took off but someone would have to go back to collect it.

Team D.S were now syncing there on screen maps with the enemy position recorded by Mutant Owl, William ordered his team to do the same.

“Marley, Shaun; do I have to tell you as well”. Shaun and Marley quickly began to update their maps with the enemy positions.

William unclipped the radio from his belt; “Jason, Freddy what’s your status, over”.

“Collecting Mutant Owl, over” replied Jason.

“Return to us when you have it, over”.

Team D.S had their rifles aimed at enemy positions likely to spot the one collecting Mutant Owl and were ready to open fire if need be.

“Me or you Jason” said Freddy stuffing the remote control into his back pack.

“You, I’m not that crazy” he laughed.

“I wish you were” said Freddy standing once again to get on his back pack.

“I’ll cover you from here and I’m sure Team D.S will be watching too”

“Wish me luck” said Freddy turning his head hearing the Mutant Owl crash into the pavement.

“Get outta here kid”. Jason aimed his rifle through the smashed glass doors carefully looking at the Mutant Owl in the distance.

Freddy left the couch and ran to the wall on the right side of the smashed glass doors. He held his rifle closed to his chest, his breathing was fast; the warm air could be seen leaving his mouth.

“Come and get your toy little child, it’s just over there” whispered a prone sniper from the safety of the shadows. His telescopic lens magnified the broken glass doors.  A head popped from side, the person cautiously checked out the scene that would unknown to him soon be his death bed.

Freddy brought in his head “please don’t let me get killed” he whispered looking up at the ceiling.

Static! “Freddy get a move on” ordered Jason watching from the couch.

The head slowly reappeared and this time so did the rest of his body. The kid checked left and right as he progressed, his rifle was out in front of him pointing at nothing in particular.

The shadowed sniper sniggered “that helmets way too big”.

“Attach silences now” said William, Rustin nodded at his team.

“I see an adult, a sniper I think” said Karl tightening his silencer.

“Just a little closer kid, your toy is just there”. Freddy threw his rifle over his shoulder and bent down to pick up the Mutant Owl.

“Playtime’s over”. The shadowed sniper began to apply pressure to the trigger.

“Shoot him” said Rustin looking at what Karl was aiming for.

The grin on shadowed sniper turned nasty, his face tightened. The dead guy in front of him had been shot again. The shadowed sniper took in what had just happened and shot Freddy without further thought.

Jason noticed a burst of light from a wrecked building and saw Freddy drop to the floor. “Freddy, no”, without thought he attached a silencer to the end of his rifle and jumped to his feet then over the couch. He flicked off the safety as ran through the shattered glass doors.

“What do we have here?” said the shadowed sniper quickly taking aim. Jason stopped, in one breathe he lifted his rifle until his eye met the scope; he aligned his crosshairs with the target and began to pull the trigger.

“Freddy’s dead said Alexia” the only girl on Rustins team.

Team D.S looked down at the unfolding scene, Jason was stood next to Freddy’s body.

“Did anyone see the sniper” demanded William. There was a breeze of silence that engulfed TERAFOID.

“Jason did” said Rustin. The rest of Team D.S looked on in agreement. Williams’s radio crackled.

“Got him” said Jason’s serious voice, “over”.

William smashed the radio as close to his face as possible “This is not some story Jason, there are no heroes and there is no happy ending. Get the flaming Owl and return to your cover now, over”.

Marley and Shaun looked at each other and then William looked at them “When he gets back you are dismissed you have completed your objective.

“Arr come on William, can’t we cover you or something from up here” said Marley looking more than angry.

“Don’t be stupid that isn’t how an attack force works, you know that. If a Team has finished its objectives it retreats back to the HQ” said William suddenly cool and calm. “In fact meet Jason down stairs and get out of here”.

Marley punched the floor with all his strength “you prick. Come on Shaun lets go”. Marley and Shaun squeezed impolitely through Team K.C and then were gone. 

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