The Rejected Alpha

Chapter 10

William could feel the defeat inside him, all the things he was told throughout his life, how he was not good enough, how he will never be anything in any-one’s life, all those feelings of neglect came rushing back. “I am truly not good enough,” William thought to himself,” not even the army wants me.”

“We wish all the people that made the final selection all the best,” the Colonel continued. “Now we will be dividing the rest of you into three groups. “

The one Corporal then took over from the Colonel and proceeded to read out the names into the different groups. When all of this was finished, and everyone was standing in formation again, the Colonel spoke again.

“The group to my right”, as he pointed to them, “after all the test has been done, you all have been selected to complete the Junior Leaders training. You will be doing training for the next nine months, at which time, should you successfully complete the training, become Non Commissioned Officers, or NCO’s as you will be called. This rank will be Corporal, and you will then be divided into groups again, where some of you will stay behind to do training to the new recruits, some of you will be moved to other military camps, where you will do training there and some of you will be sent to Angola, to protect the borders and fight for our survival.”

“Now”, the Colonel continued, “the group to my left, you will be sent to different military camps, where you will continue with your military training to become soldiers in the South African Defence Force. You will hand back all your military issued items, as you will leave tomorrow morning. You are dismissed to start your returns.”

Once they all left, he looked at the group in front of him where William was standing, the last group, “after your training you will also be divided into groups, the same as the NCO’s” he continued in saying. “You will however be trained to become the next Commissioned Officers of the SADF, or CO’s as we will be referring to you. The rank you will receive, should you be successful is that of Lieutenant,” he said.

“Good luck to all of you, and may God be with you,” the Colonel finished.

The next nine months training seemed to fly past, as William was enjoying the time in the mountains, and being a werewolf he was one of the fittest and quickest people around.

“William Von Tromp”, he heard his Corporal call him just after inspection, “the Chaplin would like to see you immediately. You are excused he said”. Everyone looked at William, as it is never a good sign when someone gets called to the Chaplin.

As William entered the Chaplin’s office, he was motioned to take a seat. “Good morning William”, said the Chaplin, “and how are you doing?”

“I am doing good,” responded William, still wondering why he was here.

“Is this William?”, he heard a voice from the doorway, and as he turned around he immediately got up and stood at attention, seeing the Colonel enter the room.

“Yes Colonel”, the Chaplin responded, “William has just arrived”

“Take a seat,” said the Colonel, as he took a seat next to the Chaplin. “What in the world is going on,” William thought to himself, “why is the Colonel here?”

“This might come to you as a shock,” said the Chaplin, “but we monitor every trainee from the first day they arrive. Not only do we monitor their physical and mental wellbeing, but we also monitor their incoming and outgoing mail as well as telephone calls. It has come to our attention that, since your arrival, you have had no contact from anyone outside of the base. You haven’t received any food parcels, nor have you made any telephone calls. We would like to know if your parents are still alive, and if you don’t have any other family.”

William looked at the Chaplin, then at the Colonel. “My parents are still alive” he said, “but because I decided to complete my military service, they told me to never come back. The day I walked out there, I had no family according to them”, William said, and the Chaplin noticed that there was no hint of sadness in William’s voice.

“But you would have been imprisoned if you did not complete your military service”, the Colonel said. “Did they not think of that?”

“They told me I could rather spend the two years in prison”, William heard himself say.

“Thank you William”, the Colonel said, “you may go.”

As William left the office, he wondered what was about to happen to him, did the Chaplin consider calling his family, and if he did, what would happen?

A week later, William received a telephone call, and as he walked to the phone booth, he wondered who would be calling him. “Hello, this is William,” he said when he picked up the handset.

“Hello William,” he heard Luna Delilah on the phone. “How are you?”

William couldn’t believe what he was hearing, why would his mother call him? Did something happen at home?

“Why are you calling”, William asked, not answering her question.

“We received a telephone call from the Chaplin”, she responded, “and we were told that you are doing quite well. We believe that you are to become an officer,” she said.

“That is correct,” William responded, not believing that his mother called him just because he was going to be an officer.

“Well then,” his mother continued, “you should come home this weekend in order for us to celebrate this achievement of yours.”

“Why,” William asked, “why now? You told me I am never to come back home, what changed?”

“William,” said Luna Delilah, “this is something you need to be proud of, and we would like to celebrate this with you.”

“I will think about it,” said William. “We are finishing our training next week, and if I am successful I will receive my Officer’s rank the week after. After that, I have been commissioned to go to Angola to fight in the war for the remainder of my two years military service. Maybe you could come and hand me my Officer’s rank on the parade ground, as all the parents will be there to do it.”