Tap Sapiens, page 7
part #1 of Reign of Sapiens' Evil Series
♠ ♥ ♣ ♦
Technically, Brandi fully regained her consciousness two hours later. But the abnormal state of faint, the unfamiliar room, the nameless nurse and the unidentified pills didn’t exactly help her to come alive. It was all one nasty headache, as though her brain had been extracted and put back the wrong way. A few more minutes of rest and Brandi was perfectly able to sit on the bed and comfortably drink a glass of water. In most cases, that would be a sign for “good to go” by military standard though there was a situation to be discussed before she could leave the infirmary.
“Good evening, Private.”
The voice of General O’Reilly came from the doorway and Brandi gave him a salute while still sitting on the bed because there wasn’t much left to lose anyways. If after so much had happened and still, she was getting kicked out for not standing up to salute the General properly, then so be it, she thought. Shortly after entering the room, sitting down in one of those cushioned chairs, he solemnly began filling Brandi in on her current state in the army.
“First of all, as General of this fort and as a man, I owe you an apology. The unspeakable behavior of Captain Johns was a total embarrassment to this army and in fact, the entirety of the Confederacy, I’d say. You didn’t deserve a mere second in his company and I take full responsibility for the awful mistake of allowing him in your presence, Private. This incident has shaken the institution to the core and certainly, was an outright abomination. Private Perry, I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to correct this, to make up for this terrible, terrible issue …” he said while she couldn’t help but notice a fiery conviction in his eyes in addition to asserting with aplomb.
“I have good news for you that Captain Johns has been suspended from the army for an indefinite period of time. Perhaps, knowing he’s currently in the Intensive Care Unit of this infirmary, could very well be music to your ears.”
Danny was unable to really hide an impish smile tugging at the corners of his lips, so he made the effort to look down and avoid the astonished eyes of Brandi.
“What?” she could only ask.
“Well, the commotion in the bathroom was enough to instigate a few Privates looking around and they found you unconscious on the floor alongside Captain Johns with his nose bloodied and battered. So when you’re back to your quarters, you may notice one or two girls with bruised knuckles.”
Brandi knew that those were most likely the three girls. At that juncture, he stopped holding back his laugh and his eyes lit up in a way that Brandi would have never expected from the General, it was enthralling. She watched for a second that felt like an eternity somehow until the light in his stare diminished, then he took an apologetic stance and got up from the chair.
“Well, all things considered, Cherry … you did punch a superior. What’s more, there were acts of sneaking out, falling asleep in your lectures, hostility against a fellow Private, getting involved in group fight and of course, the case of vandalism. As General of this fort, duty-bound and under the advice of my fellow high-ranking officers, I’m put under the obligation of assigning you to solitary confinement for a month. Nevertheless, at the end of this week you’ll receive, along with the rest of the Privates, the honor of becoming Private First Class. Next month, all New Boots will carry on with various training in order to determine the one career path they wish to follow in the army. From then on, they’ll specialize in one of these divisions, namely Air Combat, Navy, Intelligence, Communication, and the like. Anyhow, you’ll learn in solitude until the end of the training and promotions will take place subsequently. I wish you the best of luck, Private. The army regrettably owes you an apology and I’ll personally pay you for today’s hideous episode.”
Following Danny’s tedious speech as well as the diverse array of news and emotions from it, Brandi watched in a daze as he walked out the door and seemed to take so much air with him, leaving her breathless with the memory of his almost turquoise eyes.
CHAPTER
6
“Can I trust you, son?”
B EING PROMOTED TO PRIVATE FIRST CLASS was an event, typically of little importance that got overhyped many a time. As far as Brandi was concerned, it only meant two things. First, it would be harder to get by in the army. Second, they all got a cute little badge. The tiny thing was almost insignificant but the golden arrow meant at the very least that they had survived something. The ceremony was humdrum indeed – standing exhaustingly in formation for yet another hollow speech by the Drill Sergeant, a Captain and finally, the General. Not even Danny’s usual charm could make Brandi be deeply invested in the event. The whole function was nothing short of a rotten, meaningless thing. At the end of it, she could have sworn she wasn’t imagining the smell of burned plastic. That was what setting delusions on fire would have smelled like. If only she could compress the complete lies of the Confederacy into a plastic ball and toss it onto a pyre.
The only solace Brandi found was the warmth that spread in her chest every time she caught glimpse of her three friends’ bruised knuckles. She didn’t have to bear the sight of Michael again as he was driven out of the fort early that day, and she had heard enough to know that he didn’t stand a chance against the girls. The bruises on Cate’s hands were a little worse than the rest, yet to conceal the fact that she had shown an act of caring for Brandi, she decided to act distant for the rest of the day while giving her only a lukewarm salute when the time for goodbye came. Right after the small ceremony, Brandi went back to their dormitory, packed up her things in a bag and left for her solitary confinement.
Soldiers punished for a fault, neither too big for immediate dishonorable discharge nor too small to be ignored, got sent to some sort of detention instead. Retired from the center of the fort, dull and dreadful, waited four little houses – very little rooms with enough space for one. Brandi was expected to sustain herself in one of them for a month while her fellow Privates trained intensely to gain the necessary skill set that would put them on the distinct paths to various military careers. Brandi knew Mary was determined to enter Intelligence and hopefully, Cate and Abby would do well for themselves, too. Above all, she was most worried about herself with zero real interest in the army, what else could she look forward to? At the end of the month, she might as well remain a regular Private.
At the back of her mind, Brandi thought the lonely month would serve her almost as vacations unlike the last three. However, she still was required to participate in most of the activities like everybody else, aside from standing away from the group and dealing with the embarrassment of it all. Since everyone was taking up advanced training, she on the other hand, had a great amount of free time for rejoicing on the first day. Her bed wasn’t the most comfortable of all with the little room being depressing and she couldn’t even sneak out as she pleased, but resting for a few hours more was not something to be taken for granted. The luxury lasted only on that first day, of course.
After all of her usual duties on her second lonely day were fulfilled, Brandi locked herself in her lonely little room. The quietness lasted for a whole minute, until someone knocked on the door. All of Brandi’s rational thoughts went out of the window when she opened the door to find General O’Reilly standing at her doorstep; she barely completed the mandatory salute. For a second she felt as if living inside a dream, of a handsome neighbor named Danny picking her up for a date. Then, she remembered that her doorstep was akin to that of a prison cell entrance while Danny was the General of the fort that probably showed up to inform her of the change of mind and that, she was perhaps offered a full pardon here and now.
“Private Perry, good afternoon. Congratulations on your promotion to Private First Class, may I have a word with you?” both of them were caught off guard, knowing the General probably shouldn’t have to ask permission from a Private for no reason at all. Maybe he just was that much of a gentleman, though there was also an edgy vibe surrounding him. His eyes looked nervous but the anxious reflex of his clenched fists and furrowed brow looked a lot like repressed fury. He didn’t wait for her to answer.
“There’s still half a day left. Aren’t you supposed to train? You must excel in certain key areas so as to gain a decent promotion this upcoming month. Follow me.”
Through every sentence, Brandi’s expression altered uncontrollably. From being embarrassed to apologetic, to hopeless and ending up in confusion. Even so, she followed him. She shouldn’t have been eager to follow a man alone so soon after having to punch one in the face. But the mystifying eyes of Danny, his polite manner and humble authority with a dash of sincerity made him worthy of trust. What's more, he was the General after all and he gave her an order. A few minutes later, they entered an empty gym of the officers – one of them, at least. This was different from the one Brandi had seen, so it was obvious they had more than one.
“Eh, no one is working out here today?” she questioned the loneliness of it.
“Not if I say so.” he answered with certitude.
That absolutely did leave no room for more questions. Neither did the next several seconds as he ordered her to warm up and get ready. Brandi complied without hesitation, considering that she knew the routine. Once they were ready, he led her to one of the gym machines that could possibly worth its weight in gold. She wasn’t really expecting to seriously train with such fancy equipment but being ordered by the General, she couldn’t exactly refuse. For the next hour, they moved from machine to machine. In all of them, she was struggling at first partially due to being ignorant of the proper techniques involved and mostly, thanks to blushing in front of Danny each time. He explained to her everything with patience and pushed her to train hard, but he kept a reticent expression in his eyes. He was clearly distracted, apparently holding something back. Finally, when their session seemed to end, something snapped inside him.
“Alright, let’s start.” he clapped his hands once and gestured her towards a corner of the gym full of boxing gear.
“Start?” Brandi wondered.
He paid no heed to her while he was buzzing with energy, thrill. He held on to the punching bag as she hit it, shouting instructions and was as pumped up as she was. They both needed the release.
“Michael was my friend, you know?” he asked. Brandi worried for a second in all likelihood that he would blame her for Michael’s suspension.
“He was my top apprentice, in a manner of speaking. Now, he is my single most outrageous humiliation. I need to fix this, fix everything. I owe it to you.”
All through his speech, Brandi began punching the bag harder and harder as though they both needed her to. But at the last sentence, she stopped so suddenly. He almost stumbled to the ground several times, withstanding such running force while being unsettled by the unexpected absence of aggression next.
“You owe it to me? Are you sure you aren’t doing this for yourself? Helping me as in redeeming yourself? Because I’m …”
Brandi was heated, she paused just short of saying she was more than that and certainly wouldn’t want his pity. But her brain chose the right moment sensibly to remind herself that she was speaking to the General, thus biting the rest of her words in haste. Being unable to express herself with clarity always felt like having a little urge of beheading somebody.
“Because you deserve better. I’m not … well, this is slightly off-topic. I’m sorry, let’s continue.” he looked thoughtful for a moment, then he resumed walking around with his intensity renewed in addition to being free from some of the bothersome, lingering fury against his apprentice that had him all worked up during their private training session for more than an hour ago.
“You broke his nose, great. But you should have knocked him out with all your might.”
The rest of the day was productive indeed. Danny’s energy had been restored for he was determined to mould Brandi into a perfect soldier. Meanwhile, Brandi had given up any resistance as well as skepticism against that man. Frankly, she was held spellbound by his blue eyes more often than not. Whilst she was there with him most of the time, she was noticeably able to keep her feet firmly on the ground with an open mind and attentive eyes. The lessons were crystal clear as Danny’s methods were rigorous in every way. Towards the end of the day, they were allowing smiles to slip, heaping compliments in a more casual tone. “Good, Private, repeat.” soon enough became “Great, Cherry, keep going!”.
They said goodbye when they had to part ways for dinner. But Danny did mention they were to continue hand-to-hand combat practice for a couple of days more until they could move on. Brandi didn’t miss the way he had nodded appreciatively at her, as if seeing her under a new light, a sigh escaping his lips. With his fascinating blue eyes, Danny took a piece of her with him that day and subsequently, every day that followed. Never in her life, not even after meeting Danny for the very first time, had she ever imagined the events of that day would take place, even less of a possibility that they would continue. But they did.
For three more days, all of their free time was spent within the four walls of one of the officers’ gyms. Trying out new techniques, training until their knuckles hurt, exercising until their bodies ached. There was always a barrier between them, either something about their ranks, someone possibly coming in or the strangeness of their situation in which things were kept from truly reaching an intimate level. But when they found themselves exhausted and tumbling down onto separate benches to restore their strength, the barrier reduced, layer by layer.
Danny smiled at Brandi on and off with much sincerity replacing mere politeness. She then started to take notice of his dimples, the turquoise tints of his eyes and the charming tone of his voice. He spoke in a calm, fluent manner, it was clear and confident while his authority was felt in each word and it reminded Brandi of a river – she was being pulled by the current and loving every second of it, moving along with it, smiling back. Danny couldn’t help but open up to Brandi, but he expected no reciprocation. He didn’t anticipate her to readily begin calling him Danny when it was just the two of them in breathless conversation after a rough workout. He subconsciously kept track of her every move, every flip of her hair, twist of her fingers and tilt of her head. Even when she blinked, it was like his heart skipped a beat whenever he lost sight of those hazel eyes.
If they both were to be honest, they’d reveal that their favorite part of the days was when Danny walked Brandi back to her solitary room. Only shy remnants of the emotional barrier were left and they would discuss the day and even joke together, just to hear the other one laughing gleefully.
“We’re changing things up tomorrow, Cherry. You’re getting too good at this.” he said while rubbing his hands, sore from receiving her punches; not as sore as her arms that felt on the verge of falling off.
“Yes, sir.” Brandi replied with a salute.
Although they knew it was a playful act, still it was the exact same gesture she gave him whenever she got frustrated during their training sessions of which those moments could be littered with sarcasm or even, a little hot under the collar. Danny discovered that Brandi was much more prone to losing her patience than he was. She let out a brazen side of her whenever things didn’t go her way; she was hot-headed, after all. The change in attitude usually made him beam, but he quickly learned that the slightest hint of patronizing her would surely result in ruffling a few feathers of hers. So he restricted himself to remaining serene, almost unresponsive towards her liveliness. Nevertheless, she found his entire energy refreshing and she never got tired of it.
True to his word, Danny started diversifying their routines. He attempted to include reviews on history and army’s values, but Brandi was unconvinced almost to an extreme cynicism that left him dumbfounded.
“Literacy rate was increased by twenty eight percent while poverty rate was reduced down to thirteen percent. As for unemployment …” Danny was reading from a crisp page of a book, seemingly carrying a brand new smell.
“Something funny?” he asked curiously.
“No, no … by all means, please carry on. I love a good fiction book.” Brandi replied, giggling after being caught chuckling at most of the things coming out of the book through Danny’s lips.
On other occasions, real discussions would follow beyond the shadow of a doubt.
“There’s nothing humane about war, General.” Brandi remarked with conviction while Danny noted how she avoided using his name at the moment.
“We keep things in order, we restore peace, we build new hopes.”
“By wreaking havoc, death and despair all over. What a coincidence.”
Danny fell speechless; he could only raise his eyebrows at Brandi’s audacity.
“There are fundamental duties you have yet to understand, Private. This is loyalty to the Confederacy.” he said while observing her as though she wanted to bombard him with more troubling, sensitive questions.
“What else would you join the army for?” he queried straightforwardly.
Brandi remained in silence, avoiding his question in order to trace some words in the book with the tip of her finger. A list of principles was highlighted on the page as they seemed like myths to her but she could hear in his voice as if they were sacred texts from his bible.
