Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Ch.5: Right Between the Eyes

Ch 5 Right Between the Eyes He walked out of the building and stood there. "Uh, where was the training place? CRAP!" He looked around. It looked far more spread out than yesterday. Then a metal bus pulled up and opened the door. Zeke peered in. The driver lowered his head. "In or out?" he asked. He sounded tired. Zeke grinned sheepishly and said, "That depends on where you're gonna' take me." The driver glared at the new comer. "I make a stop at each building now get on or stay off." Zeke hopped on quickly and searched for a seat. He looked over to the back where he saw a rather thin man sitting alone. "Sit down already!" the driver shouted. "Ok. Ok." Zeke said, walking to the empty seat. Zeke sat next to the man and crossed his legs in a refined way. Zeke started to worry. How was he going to know which building was which? He dropped his head back and stared at the bus roof. The whole thing was silver and shiny. Most everything in Headquarters was red, black, or silver. "It's a bland world." thought Zeke. He glanced out the window to check the building they stopped at. "Stop one. Main Building." Zeke blew his bangs of his face and returned his gaze to the front. The man next to him shifted in his seat. Zeke looked over and, to his surprise; the man was looking at him. They both looked away at once. "Uh, sorry 'bout that." Zeke said. The man shook his head. "Not at all. It was my fault." he said. Zeke looked at him again. His voice was very feminine-like. Zeke wanted to laugh but he held it in. In fact, this man didn't look like a man at all. He was very slender and had a thin waist. He had a cloak on, much like Zeke's, and baggy black pants. He also had a red scarf covering the lower half of his face. His eyes were almond shaped and they were violet. His eyelashes were long and they appeared to have mascara on them because they were unusually black. Zeke looked away again, afraid that if he continued to look, he would say something insulting. "Where are you going to?" the man asked. "Uh, the training building, place, thing." Zeke stuttered. The man laughed. Zeke grew red. He only messed up his words when he talked to girls. "Why the hell is this happening now?" Zeke thought. "Stop two. Medical Facility." "Are you new here?" he asked. Zeke breathed in deep and regained his posture. "Yeah, I mean yes." Zeke wanted to slap himself. Yeah, I mean yes? That didn't even make any sense! "Did they teach you about the places here?" Zeke hesitated. He was planning what he was going to say but he didn't dare to try. He just nodded. The man sat up, excited. "Do you happen to know where the DM is?" the man asked rapidly. "Oh, actually I don't." The man loosened up. "Oh." Even though Zeke didn't know the guy, he felt bad that he couldn't help. "Stop three Training Building." "I'm sorry. I wish I could help." "It's alright. I wish you luck." "Huh?" You're going to the training place thing, correct?" he asked politely. "Yeah... I just got-" Zeke glanced outside and the bus started to move. "Crap! WAIT!" Zeke yelled as he ran to the bus door. The man in the back giggled. The driver groaned loudly. "Get off!" he shouted. Zeke quickly got off the bus and stepped back. The door slammed shut in his face and it zoomed off. As it passed, Zeke noticed the man looking at him through the window. He sighed aloud. "Aw, I'm such a loser." he told himself. He turned around and walked up to the large building. He walked in and was standing in a big empty lobby. He heard a bunch of guys' voices behind the door at the end. His co-workers he thought. He had to make a good impression. Walk in casually, sit down in a dramatic pose, and wait for the reaction. He looked down at his watch. He was already ten minutes late. He breathed deep and grabbed the door knob. What are these guys going to be like, he thought. So far he met an old guy, a young kid, a girl-man, and a pissed off bus driver. In other words, a unique bunch of people. He pushed open the door and slowly walked inside. Everybody stopped talking and looked over. Zeke didn't make eye contact with anybody but he did notice that there was allot of people in there. Maybe about fifteen. He sat down at a big meeting table that was in the middle of the room. Soon after, Mitsurugi entered the room. Everybody sat down. "Alright. As most of you have seen, we have a new recruit." Mitsurugi said while pointing at Zeke. Some people glanced his way. Zeke shrunk in his seat a little. He tried to not look at them, but he did notice one man. He had short blonde hair. His bangs were long, though. They were parted to one side and they completely covered one eye. He was about Zeke's size and he had a blank expression on his face. They all returned their gaze back to Commander. "Anyways, no demon sightings have been announced so continue with your normal training until told otherwise." He stood up and the people started to depart. "Except you three." he added. He pointed at the blonde man, Zeke, and another guy. They approached Sir and stood tall. "I want you two to train Mr. Aunama the basics. D, I'm putting you in charge." The blonde one nodded. "First, take him to the shooting gallery. Then go on from there." He nodded again. "Alright dismissed." The blonde man turned around with the other guy and they started to walk out. "Uh, um, see you, old man." Zeke called back following the two. "BOY!" yelled Mitsurugi from the room. The one man laughed as he shut the door. "Heh, heh. I never heard Captain sound so pissed." Zeke lightened up. This guy wasn't so bad. "Yeah, well, I guess we got off on the wrong start." Zeke said while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. The blonde guy kept looking straight, walking. "He called you boy! Never heard that." Zeke clenched his fists. "Yeah, well, whatever." They turned around a corner into an even longer hallway. The man turned around and started to walk backwards. He had brown hair and was very slim. His hair was slick against his skull. "Oh, forgot. I'm Rodd. This is D. Welcome to Headquarters." Still, D did nothing, he just kept walking. "Thanks." Zeke said as he watched D. "Any questions? Frustrations?" Rodd asked. Zeke sighed. "I still can’t believe that girls aren't allowed down here." Rodd grabbed his face. "Aw, God! I know. Took me awhile too. But in the summer, you can schedule short vacations to go up above." he said while pointing up. It sounded as if he spoke of heaven. "As soon as you get back down here, though, they search ya' like some kind of stray animal. Apparently, impure blood is dominant in females and it spreads with any cross of their DNA. Precautions, I guess, to make sure you didn't turn into one while ya' slept with the girl." "Sounds like vacation to me." Zeke joked. Rodd shook his head and laughed. Finally, they reached a door and D stopped in front of it. He slipped a card through a scanner and the door opened. He went to the side and allowed the two in. It was similar to a police shooting gallery. There were concrete walls with empty square windows. Outside of the windows was a long hallway with plastic dummies hanging from wires. "Ok, in ES2, we mainly use these." Rodd said. He tossed a medium sized gun at Zeke. Zeke caught it. It looked heavier that it actually was. Zeke swung it on his finger and grabbed it. "Handgun?" he asked. Rodd pushed a switch on the wall. "Yup. Specially modified here." The plastic bodies started to move slowly. "Oh, put these on." He handed him a pair of goggles. He slid them over his face. He examined the smooth black gun. Zeke opened the bullet chamber and it was loaded. "All yours." Rodd said, stepping back. Zeke stepped up to the window, extended his arms, and took aim. That's when the door slid open. Zeke looked behind him and many people walked in. "Oh, you training the new guy, Rodd?" one asked. "Yeah. He's taking his first shot." Rodd said returning his gaze to Zeke. "Did ya' ever shoot at anything before?" one asked. "Y, yeah. A demon." Zeke said. Someone in the back whispered. "I heard that it was a kid." A big portion of the audience began to snigger. Zeke, starting to get nervous, re-aimed. "It's going pretty slow." Zeke heard someone say. A lot of murmurs went after. Rodd raised a hand to silence them. "It's his first one. He's to start off slo-" "I can take it faster." Zeke said. D, leaning against the wall, lifted his head up and watched. The crowd was quiet. "If that's what you want." Rodd said, frustrated. He turned the switch clockwise and the dummies began to speed up. A guy in the back whispered to his friend, "I beat that one on my third day. Hit it right in the crotch!" Zeke was feeling daring. He wanted respect. In his last job, he didn't get any. He always dreamed of having real friends at his job. Praising him and maybe even looking up to him. "Turn it to the highest." Zeke said. Rodd's eyes filled with anger. The crowd behind him cheered Zeke on. "Shut up, everyone. Zeke, just shoot the damn thing! I am one of Commander's best men. Even I can't shoot it at top speed. Only one guy was known to shoot it. Ever!" The people booed loudly. "We're just havin' fun! Let him do it." "Yeah!" "C'mon Rodd!" Rodd forcefully turned the switch to the max. The dummies jolted across the hallway like men running away from death. They swung side to side and even went up and down. The crowd quieted down. "I swear I'm gonna' report this." whispered Rodd. D watched Zeke carefully. Zeke slowly stretched out his arms and he took aim. "Shit!" Zeke thought. What had he gotten himself into? He was never going to hit one. He firmly placed his right index finger on the trigger. Then, all he did was watch. He would aim at a certain spot and when one passed he would shoot. The people held their breaths. Even Rodd was on his toes, waiting. Watching them zoom passed him, he fired. The dummies stopped immediately and a loud screech stung the air of the room. Everyone covered their ears. Rodd pushed another button and the dummies began to float towards the window. Zeke lowered his gun and stepped back. Rodd walked up to the window and grabbed the dummies one by one. The crowd watched, shoving each other to get a better view. Rodd shuffled through them. He tossed un-shot ones aside. Everyone he grabbed was thrown to the ground. Zeke watched each one hit the floor. Some people began to whisper. "I knew he wouldn't do it." "Yeah, great determination, though." "It's impossible, especially for a rookie." "Yeah, rookies need extra practice anyway." Zeke flinched at every rookie thrown his way. Zeke took the goggles off and dropped the gun on the counter. Rodd grabbed for the next dummy. D slid back against the wall. The crowd began to leave, disappointed. That silence was the worst thing that Zeke ever heard. This job, he could already tell, was going to be worse. "Holy shit!" Rodd yelled. People looked back. Zeke didn't even bother. "You hit 'em! Y, you did! I can't believe!" The people rushed back in and Zeke swirved around. There was a hole right in-between the dummy's pressed eyes, smoke still rolling out from it. The people went for the dummy, grabbing and pulling at it. Some ran to Zeke and slapped his shoulder, rubbed his hair, and patted him on the back. Shouting things like "Awesome!", "Unbelievable, man!", and "When I saw you, I knew you had it in ya'!". Zeke gaped at the dummy's head, smile starting to spread across his face. He did it. Rodd finally relinquished the dummy to the crowd and ran over to Zeke, pushing the mob aside. "C'mon people! This calls for a celebration!" Everyone cheered. Zeke could feel himself being lifted up. Rodd and a few other guys held him up high. "That would never kill a demon." The parade looked over. D stood there calmly. "It wouldn't. I would know." D said while picking up the handgun. He flipped it and exchanged it to his other hand then aimed at Zeke. The crowd watched intensely. "Luck won't be by your side when they sneak up behind you or attack you in packs." he said. He slowly took the gun from D and pocketed it. They let Zeke slide down. D glared at Zeke for a few seconds and then turned and walked away.

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