The Expatriate-the story of a Prodigy

9. Identity Crisis

 "Into the forest?" Fawkes asked, confused. "But there are guards, Higgins. How-" "I saw a guard let them in, actually," A girl with  a dark skin tone, an Olivia, said, looking annoyed by the situation. Maybe she thought this was nothing and it didn't deserve attention, Alex thought. But the thing was, at least he cared about it. 

 "Sir, can I go look for them? As you said, I already learnt what we're going to train now," Fawkes looked to heaven for a second, thinking. "Alright, Alex. Just be sure that you don't get lost, and if you can't really find them, come to me or the guards. I should speak to them to root those who let them in out-" Alex was already done with the conversation and quickly turned away. He headed to the forest, where a line of guards stood firm. Alex Mars walked up right up to the biggest guy and looked straight at him. A few feet taller than the 16 year old in front of him, the man narrowed his eyes, confused and amused-his lips pulled up at he sides. "What you want, newbie?" He asked. He had this beard that looked like a buzz that danced when he talked. His hands stroked a gun at his side. "Did someone let a few new trainees in? You know, my team," It was silly, the whole situation, and the whole watching batch of guards wanted to laugh. But the boy was glaring."No," He said curtly, and his words were serious-even when he didn't even try them to be. "There are 2 in there, and my training general wants to find them," Alex said. "Hey, look, boy-" Alex Mars leaned into a tree. "Come one," He said and looked as if he would stand there all day.

  By now, all the guards were staring. Time passed, nervous, unclear eyes on each other, not amused nor bemused. Finally, the guard in front of him scratched his ear. "Well, we did let 2 boys in. But the first one, the big guy said it was the command of General Fawkes. The general had reportedly asked him to take the other boy there. Well, we disagreed, but the general is well respected here and the boy seemed to be telli-" "Thanks for letting me know your truth," Alex said solemnly, than rolled his body against the trunk of the tree, and even before the guards could stop him, he was inside the forest line completely. 

 This James had to be something, Alex thought as he ran.

 He rushed over piles of leaves, old rotting branches and twigs and pebbles and some mud thanks to a recent rain, and footprints. Ok, so where to look? With these leaves and everything, it would be very hard to be silent-

 Wait, footprints?

 He stopped and wordlessly examined those stuff. Boots that were irregular in pattern, and sliding dents beside and a bit in the front...

 An image of the burly Thomas dragging Andrew in front of him made him shiver. He started to walk slowly and silently(it still worked for him, though the leaves were irritating and it was gonna take a long time), allowing the tracks. Ok, nothing here, he thought. Just some-

 Then he heard them.

 "Come on, you fucker-I know who you are!" They were not even trying to hide themselves-well, at least Thomas was unafraid of getting detected by others. Alex Mars silently pressed his back to a tree trunk and listened with his Prod ears. 

 Someone dragged someone else's feet. The leaves crinkled. Skin and bone hit skin and bone, hard. Someone fell, clothes nagging and tearing on branches. Someone whimpered. The other growled. 

 His ears zoomed back to Prod-mode and he heard every detail. In his mind formed a clear image in accordance to the sounds he heard. Thomas had just hit Andrew. He was now on the ground, coiled in pain. 

 Well, I better get out there and interfere, Alex thought. He decided to make a grand appearance, surprising James. James usually didn't like the sight of Alex, so maybe he would fight back, or maybe threaten Andrew further, ignoring him...

 He heard a hand at Andrew's throat and his gasping, choking sounds. So Thomas knew those techniques already-an ideal candidate for the military, which Andrew had come by chance....

 "Alright, did Fawkes ask you to kill his 16 year old trainee on the first day?" Alex asked, swinging his body against the tree-his body slid from the back to the front of the tree, and he stared at James as if he had witnessed every part of the other boy's life. Well, james and Andrew were in the exact positions he had thought-James had wrestled Andrew to the ground, and half buried in wet leaves and mud, Andrew's throat was grasped in his hand. His eyes bulged at Alex and he gestured, making gurgling noises. 

But the thing was, James didn't falter his grip at all. Huh, he must be determined...

 Thomas stared t him, surprised, then smirked. "Oh, general didn't, Alex. But I am doing the right thing. Even when you two are room mates-you didn't realize that he's strange? And the general wants to keep track of...abnormalities," Alex watched as his grip actually got tighter. "Ok, but don't you think you'll get hurt more for skipping class on your first day and killing a fella who is a bit strange without order, even before the general make a order about it?" Alex said, stepping closer. To emphasize his friend's words, Andrew's eyes just rolled back into his head right at the moment, and Thomas saw it. He let go and rose to face Alex full-on. Here comes, Al, Alex thought.

 And it did come, afterall...

His ears detected the punch even before his eyes, and for a second, he was 100% purely glad and proud as his body automatically ducked. James' hand hit the tree behind, eliciting a huge crack, but he didn't cry out. He got even more angrier, and Alex licked his lips. Now this was gonna be fun, he thought. 

 When James kicked, he danced out of the way a bit, then tackled from the side, and the other boy started to look frustrated. Alex wondered how he was being so courageous today-maybe he wanted to make the lines of leadership in the base among the team excluding him and Andrew clear, just like how dogs do with the fire hydrants to mark their territory, though Alex himself loathed the idea of joining his group at all-Tommy seemed to be having a few false ideas...

 "Come on, what did I do wrong?" He asked, never out of breathe. Well, James had intended him to suffer-now he himself was out of breathe, fists blistered, frustrated. james seemed to want to say something threatening to end the fight on territory when he just decided to say something otherwise. "Just don't tell the general, Mars. I just wanted to be recognized-against you and him," Then he whirled around, shoulders still heaving from his performance. "Wait-what did Andrew do to you?" Alex asked, now him frustrated. James groaned. But he paused before answering in  a voice even Alex thought wasn't possible for the big boy.

 "He might be a Prodigy, afterall-and that's terrifying. A Prodigy in the base, in here," Thomas sputtered out, then ran off through the leaves, mud, and branches. 

 Alex Mars stood with deer's eyes for the second time of the day, innocent Andrew still out cold at his feet.

 Alex Mars didn't tattletale about james to the egenral. He was just a bit sore for the big boy since he wanted to be happy at the army-but he main reason among others was because the matter might lead to James making excuses to save his life from the general-that one of Alex and Andrew was a Prodigy. And he didn't wan that. 

 He didn't help the general train the other newbies, nor did Andrew participate. Alex took him to the nurse and just ditched his traing at the side of Andrew's bed. In his head whizzed around thoughts once more.

 Huh, it was the first day, and so much had happened...

 But the real, main thing was this-Alex himself had no trouble hiding himself. But the pronblem was not him-the problem was Andrew. He wasn't a Prodigy for sure, but because of his damn serious habits and style, the others were now believing that he was a Prod. Not Alex. 

 Well, and Andrew didn't deserve to be in constant danger from the hunting hands of the army and the others, Alex thought. 

 It was all his fault-he shouldn;t have come to the army at all. He should have just lived with little money but hide himself well in his hometown.

 It was 5 in the afternoon when Andrew got his senses. The sun was setting and threw shadows of Alex and the bed's shadows onto the hospital tiles. Alex sat still as Andrew shook himself up. He was still occupied mentally. 

 Alex finally noticed him and turned to him, intending to say something when Andrew held up a bruised hand. "No, no. I know. I'm in the military, You're Alex Mars, and-wait, I'm not sure of the time, though. did I ditch training?" A;ex gave him an amused smirk. "It's about 5, and you ditched the entire post-lunch session. Well, thanks to you, I also ditched," "Um, I;m sorry, it youdidn't have to stay here-""Well, it's a class on martial arts. A major field, but one of the most boring at the same time," Alex assured him and got up. Andrew also got up, rubbing his head. "Well, I think I have a memory stick problem here, Al. Or maybe I bonked out before anything major did happpen, I guess," Alex sighed mentally. He was still wondering whether Andrew should know the world about Prods and the cruelty of the gov. "Well, I think James just considered to have a prank and took you to the forest. Bet you know that part, at least. So you guys caught back and forth till I catch you two in the scene, and James finishes throttling you, then see that you've been bonked out. The general had made me look for you two, so i had found you-so I hauled you to here while Thomas went to train the lame arts," Alex said quickly. Well, part of it was the truth. "Uh huh, right. But I still am not sure why Thomas did that to me...well, I;m gonna hope it was a joke as you said. We had been actually buddies a few years ago," Andrew said, now rubbing his sore throat bitterly. 

 Alex, once more, had nothign to say-nor wanted to. 

 They strolled out of the place and right away went for dinner. They found their team at the same tables as before, and the general didn't question them except raising his brows. Alex glanced at James. He was just stuffing food into his mouth, forehead crinkled at his tray. Maybe he got away, Alex thought. Everything would be great-unless he tattletales the Prodigy part himself...

 He sipped water into his mouth and sighed. He had just so many problems to solve-from the first day. What was gonna happen in the days after?

 Well, he's not Muhammad the Phropet like me. 

 And he was going to learn.