"Me too," Vin agreed. "Aren't there laws against that kind of thing?"
The man glanced around. "I heard that it wasn't the army or the government that made 'em. They just found them out in the woods and kidnapped them during the mandatory enlistment. They say the strongest ones are strong enough to throw a tank around like it's nothing, and they can go for days without food or sleep. Some say they can even change form, like werewolves or some crazy nonsense. I don't know if I believe any of that."
"Well I don't believe that shit." Ellen said, finishing her meal. "Maybe they let the rumors spread on purpose."
"Maybe." Vin squinted at the other man. "In fact, you could be one of their agents. This could be some kind of a test to see if we're loyal….or something."
The soldier looked dubious. "That really doesn't make much sense though, does it? I agree that it could all be made up, but why would they deliberately spread a rumor like that? To make us more confident in victory? Probably some other recruit just spun a yarn to cause trouble."
"Or there's a infiltrator who wants to give us a false sense of security while they plan something." Ellen said, absently twirling a curl of hair.
Vin stared at his empty plate, looking more and more dissatisfied. "The more we theorize, the more twisted the truth gets. Let's not spread it around until we have more info."
"Fine," the soldier said. "But personally I'm going to keep an eye out for anything strange this next few days."
The bell signalling the end of supper rang just then, and Vin stood up. "Well, have fun with that. We should probably head back to the barracks."
Ellen also stood up. "Sounds like a good idea. Nice chatting with you." They walked away from the table.
Vin still seemed deeply preoccupied by what they'd heard. "What do you think? Think it's possible?"
(brb, gotta have supper)
"Maybe. There'd have to be a lot a physical alterations for a human to be able to go without food for an extended period and lift a tank. Probably wouldn't even be human after all's said and done." Ellen said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, that seems likely. At least then it would be easy to tell if they really did come here." Vin shook his head. "It just doesn't seem right to me. To be born with only one purpose–and that's to kill? What kind of life is that?"
"It's not any kind of life. They're nothing more then a machine. Programmed with one purpose and put away when their use has ended." Ellen said, frowning.
They reached the barracks and Vin opened the door rather forcefully, his voice angry. "This whole situation is completely messed up. The so-called war is stupid and contrived. I don't even care if the rumor is true, because either way I know I will not stand in support of anything this pointless and blatantly inhumane. We need to start planning how we're going to get out of here."
Ellen grinned, nodding. They shared the same view on the war. Now she was certain she could trust him. "I'm pretty sure I could relocate the exit in the wall that Davy took us through." She said, cracking her knuckles.
Vin paused as he was rummaging through his stuff. "Oh yeah, Davy…..I forgot we promised to do something for him. Maybe we should at least try to get some dirt on Sabrino before we go anywhere, just in case." He sat down on his bed with a sigh. "Obligations. Hate 'em."
"Yeah." Ellen sat down on her bed. "Ya know what? Screw Davy. Let's just make a dash for it."
"Ooh, you think we could? I mean, he does offer a safe haven for us potentially, and we don't know any of the terrain out here so it might be risky to strike out on our own….but on the other hand I think we'd both be pretty good at surviving in the wilderness, as long as we got far away before they realized we were gone……"
"I don't trust Davy. He's too much like my dad. Bad news." Ellen paused, listening for potential eavesdroppers.
Vin didn't answer for a second. "Your dad? Should I ask, or should I…..not ask?"
Ellen shrugged. "It's no big deal. He was a asshole manipulating bum who left my mom when he got her pregnant with me and my sister. Fast forward to when we're 12 and he shows up out nowhere and wants to take my sister to raise on his own. By then my mom had learned a bit more about him and what's he's done. She tells him to scram among other things." She shrugged again. "There's just something about Davy that reminds me of him. They've both got the same smug face." She paused, feeling she had shared too much.
"Oh. Well…in that case I guess I'll trust your judgement on him." He hesitated, then added. "I'm sorry. That must have been terrible to have to deal with. Does he still come around, or are your mother and sister okay now?"
"Naw, he doesn't. Mom and Iris are okay now." Her gaze grew distant. "I hope they're okay."
Vin nodded, gazing out the window. "All the more reason to leave as soon as we see a chance." He yawned and stretched, flopping down on his back. "Tomorrow morning, let's try to scope out this place, get a feel for things a bit–maybe try to figure out where we are, if possible–and then tomorrow night we'll come up with a plan of escape. Sound good?"
"Yeah." Ellen pulled out her tech manual. Her eyes pondered the same sentence for several minutes before she looked up. "That Sabrino fellow works in communication. Davy's a tracker. Why would he have us track Sabrino if he's a tracker? And sure;y he has trackers on his side, so why assign us, people he's just met? He's an officer too, so he'd run into Sabrino more often then we would. We'd have to go out of our way to spy on Sabrino." Her eyes wondered to the ceiling. "What's his game?"
"That's a good question. It is weird, when you think about it. And also, what's so special about Sabrino anyway? He must know something that Davy doesn't, something really important that affect….whatever Davy's plans are. But that still doesn't explain why he needs us."
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