Chapter 6: Mountain Range

Chapter 6 - Mountain Range A few hours later, the storm finally came to a stop, the animals and organisms which had adapted to the extreme climate started to come out of their holes.

Back at the field of rocks, the level of sand had increased making the rocks seem rather small, on one of the heaps of sand a hand shot out, followed by a struggle to dig itself out.

Gasp!

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Kieran coughed furiously, spitting out some of the sand that had gotten into his mouth. After a few minutes of intense coughing, he got to his feet and tried to dust the sand on him to no avail.

Getting out of the heaps of sand, Kieran shivered at the memory of the past night.

Even after getting to the rock which protected him form the hurt of the wind, he was vulnerable to the cold, and the rising level of sand didn't help, at first, he was able to cope by shaking the sand off him after a certain level of accumulation but that solution wasn't able to keep up with the rate at which the sand increased.

Luckily for him, the storm ended soon after. If not, he'd have died buried by the sand.

'This desert isn't safe, the only hope I have is to reach the boot camp before the time limit.' At this thought, Kieran looked at the white canvas in front of him which was now spotted with rocky figures at random.

'A new scenery! I guess that's good'

Kieran thought, letting out a chuckle as he resumed his journey in the direction the watch pointed, he had no time to waste, he had already spent a day and the storm made him waste a few more hours, he had less than 10 hours left

...........

About fifty kilometers away from Kieran's current location, stood a military base built into a mountain range which extended into the distance.

MONITORING ROOM

In this room were some soldiers who sat in front of computer holographic screens and in these screens different figures were displayed in the desert, Kieran was one of these figures!

"The storm was sudden and more dangerous than usual, how many of the applicants were affected" the powerful voice of their superior resounded in the room

The soldier in charge stood up and gave a salute reporting the situation

"Of the previous 135 participants, 60 failed to protect themselves from the storm and 3 died while the rest are no longer able to continue and are being rescued by the soldiers"

"The remaining 75 are in condition to continue, some have already started moving"

Upon hearing that 75 participants survived the storm and were still in condition to continue, a hint of surprise flashed across the supervisor's eyes

'Seems we're going to have a batch of interesting recruits'

He thought with a slight chuckle at the feeling of having some new toys to play with.

After walking for about 8 hours and crossing approximately 48 km, Kieran had long since left behind the sea of white sand and stepped into a domain of rocks, a few kilometers in front of him Kieran saw a massive mountain range which extended into the distance, his vision incapable of determining it's starting point.

Kieran was pretty good in his academics and he had was sure earth didn't have such a huge mountain range, some part of it even pierced the clouds.

He was more astonished to discover that his watch pointed in that direction which implied that the camp was at the mountain range

Feeling more motivated with his target in sight, Kieran continued his walk getting ever closer to his destination.

On getting to the foot of the mountain, Kieran almost felt his jaw drop, with countless sentries and patrol vehicles stationed at different positions within 2 kilometers from the camp, these sentries ignored him after seeing the watch attached to his wrist and the navigator which was still active pointed him to a direction at the foot of the mountain

What shocked him wasn't the extreme security of the camp but the structure of the camp itself.

'Shit! Don't tell me this whole mountain range is the camp!' Kieran thought disturbingly as he looked at the camp which was built into the mountain range.

The camp was nestled in the shadow of the towering mountains, it's walls blending in with the rocky landscape. From the camp's entrance, the mountains seemed to stretch on forever, their peaks disappearing into the clouds. The air was dry and hot, but a cool breeze carried the scent of pine and earth. Water cisterns were scattered throughout the camp, and shaded tents offered respite from the sun. The sun beat down mercilessly on the camp, its rays reflected off the sandy ground. The air was dry and still, save for the occasional gust of wind that whipped up clouds of dust. The sparse vegetation was withered and brown, its leaves crinkled and brittle.

The camp's residents were dressed in sand-colored uniforms, their faces weathered by the desert winds. Despite the harsh conditions, the camp was a hive of activity, with soldiers training and drilling in the scorching heat.

A sense of purpose and determination hung in the air, even as the sweat dripped from the soldiers' brows.

The camp's inhabitants moved with a slow, steady gait, their movements conserving energy in the heat. Their skin was tanned and leathery, their eyes squinting against the sun. The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out as the soldiers practiced their drills, the clangor echoing off the mountainsides.

The earthy scent of pine and dust mingled with the smell of sweat and leather, creating a heady aroma that was unmistakably the camp.

As Kieran stepped across the barrier into the camp, coming to face this, he licked his dry lips as the scent of sweat along with the dry air hit him, making his nose twitch.

Still following the navigation device, he was led to a small side entrance leading into the mountain.

There, stood a soldier who seemed to be waiting for something or someone, upon his arrival, the soldier spoke up

"Kieran Callum?"

"Yeah"

Frowning at his response, the soldier looked at him with a dark, sinister gaze

"You aren't home any longer kid, you're a recruit now and you better start behaving like one"

"First lesson! If you're asked something, you answer: sir, yes sir! is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Smart kid, now follow me!"

Happy at Kieran's quick response, the soldier led Kieran into the mountain.

The passageway was looked like one of those ancient underground tunnels talked about in school, the surface of the walls was rough and the roof wasn't to high either, but he didn't any issues passing through, the passageway was wide enough for two people to walk shoulder by shoulder

After being led into the mountain for a while and having made a series of turns, their current passageway expanded into a bigger one, the rough walls replaced with cold, smooth metal, the roof higher with vents for flow of oxygen, brighter lightening fully displaying how far the Earth's technology had advanced, it was no easy feat to build a base of operations inside a mountain, Kieran couldn't imagine how long it must have taken to get this place up and running.

After walking for a few more minutes, the soldier led Kieran to what seemed to be a dormitory area and turned to him.

"Your room number is 104, you can get some rest and take a shower to wash off the dirt,"

The soldier said, his tone more expressive than before, he seemed to have been satisfied with Kieran's conduct.

'The kid took those words to heart'

Smiling, the soldier gave one last set of instructions,

"You'll be contacted when it's time for your briefing. The navigator on your wrist will lead you. It was harsh out there, but you've made it here. Good luck kid, I'll see you around!"

"Here's your key, now leave!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Kieran replied with a salute he had seen some soldiers perform, due to his lack of familiarity, his pose was rather funny.

Satisfied with his performance, the old soldier watched Kieran move down to his room, only to leave a few moments later.

Following the navigator, Kieran made a series of twists and turns and was now standing in front of a door with a bold label which read '104' on it.

Using his key, he unlocked the door and moved in. The room was compact and bare consisting of a single bed with a uniform, training suit and a change of clothes neatly folded on top of it, a table and a chair located at the far end of the room beside.

Kieran didn't have the patience to look fully at the features of the room only taking a glance before walking towards the bed, picking up the towel and moving towards the bathroom at the side of the room. He had business with that place.

Coming out of the bathroom with stream coming off his body and his satisfied expression betraying his hot bath, Kieran took the change of clothes and didn't bother to complete his inspection of the room. Landing on the bed which was soft compared to the rock he slept on in the desert, he fell into the embrace of sleep in a matter of seconds.

A few hours later, Kieran woke up groggily, with a slight headache, feeling a little less tired with several parts of his body aching. Sitting up, he took his time to study the room and noticed the small bookshelf hanging on the wall beside the chair and table, the absence of a window which pointed that the room was located deep into the mountain.

Standing up and walking towards the table, Kieran noticed a document, a few pages thick and a chip on it. Ignoring the chip, he picked up the document, sat down and read through it.

It was a document about the rules of the camp numbering almost a hundred and thirty and although the rules weren't that difficult to follow, the consequences of violating one of them made him shudder, with each one more severe than the last.

The document also explained the use of the chip on the table. Picking it up, Kieran scrutinized the thumbnail sized chip and couldn't discern anything from it. According to the document, the chip was to unlock the full function of the watch on his wrist, which seemed to be more than just a navigator.

Inserting the chip to a vacant space at the side of the watch, a loading bar showed up on the black screen of the watch and looking at the rate of progression, he estimated it'll take a few hours before completion.

Looking at the table once more, Kieran noticed a food pack that had escaped his perception at the edge of the table.

Growl!...

His stomach growled at the sight, the rations he had earlier was barely enough and the leathery, dry texture and taste wasn't appreciated. Opening up the food pack, Kieran ravaged the contents, barely satiating his hunger.

His appetite had been strangely increasing. Feeling filled, Kieran hopped on the bed for another round of sleep, hoping to ease his sore muscles and headache.