19th of March, 2027
The engine hummed as the black car cruised down the freeway at high speeds. It switched lanes left and right, passing through traffic with ease as it overtook every car. Claude sat comfortably in the back seat of the vehicle, his head resting on the little complementary pillow he was provided when he first got in.
Claude's mother, Bella, and his Aunt Carrol had no idea where he was going. He had told them that he was attending a job interview scheduled by some local firm in Chicago. His mother offered to drive and drop him off, but Claude politely declined, as he did not want her to find out and impede the new defense force the country had set up.
Though it pained him to lie to her so much, she would have never allowed him to join if he were so upfront. Claude knew who she was and what she was like. He has accepted the fact that she is never going to support his decision, even if it brings him long-term satisfaction.
The Uber eventually slowed down to take the next exit, leaving the wide-open freeways behind to traverse through the grid roads of the city of the Chicago. It went straight ahead at first, before taking a few turns here and there, before finally pulling up to the side of the road.
"Is this the place, sir?" the driver speaks, directing Claude to the left of the car.
Claude moves over to the left wide of the vehicle and looked out the window. Outside stood a beige strip mall, with multiple channel letter signs nailed above each glass door. One of them spelled out the words "Armed Forces Career Center" in bright red letters, while a big American flag emblem was placed to the left of the text sign.
"Yeah, this is the place. Thank you," Claude confirms.
As he exits the vehicle, he takes the black leather briefcase that been resting near his legs with him. After closing the door and paying the driver, he heads straight to the glass door bellow the sign and enter the building.
Upon entering the building, he is greeted by a sterile lobby with white walls decorated by colorful war posters, illuminated by square ceiling lights whose faint electric hum reverberated inside the lobby room. On the other end of the wall stood a wooden desk with a man in an army uniform standing behind it. The receptionist greets Claude with a warm smile before waving at him, prompting Claude to get closer.
"Hello there! Welcome to the United States Armed Forces Career Center," the soldier greets, his voice steady but warm.
"Are you here to enlist in the United States Demon Extermination Force?" he quickly throws the question at Claude.
"Uh, yeah, I am," Claude answers quickly, his New York accent readily apparent.
"New York?" the man comments.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"The accent. It gave it away," the man replied.
"What's your name?" the receptionist asks another question.
"Claude. Claude S. Bowman," Claude replies.
"I am here to meet someone, though. He is a recruiter who goes by the name William Henry Doakes. I talked to him on the phone, and he told me that he'll do the paperwork," Claude adds to his answer.
"Oh, really? Wait, just give me…" the receptionist types into the computer, and then exclaims.
"Ah, yes. Looks like you are," he states.
"Well then, head down that hallway over there…" the soldier points to a tight hallway to the left of him.
"… and take the third left," he instructs, giving Claude directions.
"You'll find Doakes in the small office there," he finishes. Claude turns to look at the hallway he was pointing to, and then back at the receptionists. He nods, saying "Thank you", before walking down the hall as instructed.
After walking through the hallway and taking that third left turn, Claude ends up in a small room just as the receptionist told him. There were few men like him already here, seated on a wooden chair talking to a military man in uniform over a desk.
As Claude looks around the room, he spots with his brown little eye Doakes the recruiter, sitting alone in his chair, his gaze fixed to the computer screen. He slowly walks up to him, sits down on the opposing chair, and knocks on his desk to grab his attention.
"Hm… Ah! Mr. Bowman!" he exclaims upon seeing Claude.
"Welcome! You are here just in time," Doakes extends his for a handshake. Claude reciprocates, shaking his hand in return.
"Thanks for returning my call so late at night. You know, I thought you would have been asleep by then," Claude replied. Doakes chuckled in return.
"I was just working late. That is all. Nothing big," Doakes brushes it off.
"So, did you bring all the documents I told you to?" he asks. Claude nods in return, before lifting his leather briefcase.
"Oh yeah. Got them right here," he says as he taps the top of the briefcase. Doakes nods and smiles in return.
"Perfect! We'll get started on the paperwork right away then," he replies. Doakes then looks away from Claude for a moment to start typing away at his keyboard. After a few minutes he turns back and extends his hands.
"Can I have your records please, Mr. Bowman?"
"Oh yeah. Sure," Claude complies as he opens the briefcase, takes out the files and hands it over to Doakes. William then starts skimming through the documents, searching for information present on the paper before inserting it into the computer.
As Claude waited as William continued to type away at his computer, a few questions start to come into mind. How are the candidates selected? How do they test for fit applicants if they go straight to recruiting them anyway? Questions like these started plaguing his mind.
"Hey eh, don't I have to go through some physical test first? You know, to see if I am fit to join in the first place?" Claude throws a question at Doakes, wondering if joining the army was this easy.
"Well yes, normally that would be the case," William answers.
"But, since parts of our country are being occupied by those demons, we had no choice but to forego a few key procedures that checked up on that," he continues, expanding his answer.
"Our priorities here have changed to get as many civilians to enlist and fight those demons before things get any worse. So, as long as you don't look fat or have any disabilities, you are eligible to join the force.
I mean, I think you can understand. We are in a dire situation, after all. He can't afford to turn many people away."
"And besides, you killed those 3 demons, remember? You should be fit enough for the force anyway," Doakes finishes, referring to confession Claude handed out to him at the parking lot.
"Hm… alright," Claude comments, before moving on.
"So, I am going to be a soldier, right?" Claude asks another question.
"Yes. Private, Second Class. You'll be promoted to First Class after around 12 weeks of training, maybe more," William answers.
"Speaking of which…" he mutters, taking a deep breath before he continues.
"I would like to inform you beforehand that you will be entering combat a lot earlier than usual," he states.
"Normally, we would train a new recruit like you for 10 weeks before we send you out to war. But again, due to our circumstances, we can't really do that," Doakes explains.
"Alright. So what?" Claude asks, confused as to what the problem is.
"So, expect to join the battlefield a little early," Doakes replies.
"Don't worry. You won't be given too much responsibility. Expect to help the professionals and veterans contain the demons from spreading further outward, so they can do their job."
"And if there are no calls for you and your team, expect training to continue as usual. When its all said and done, you will be promoted to first class," he finishes, fully breaking it down for Claude.
"How early?" Claude inquires.
"In about 2 weeks or so, give or take," William answers.
"Don't worry. You will be accompanied by professionals alongside you. You will be taught everything you need to know to survive, and you won't be put in too much danger," he repeats.
"Expect to provide support to the army, keep the demons in check, all that. Then, when you are ready, we will provide you with more dangerous missions. Expect to train as you fight the demons," he simplifies his earlier explanation.
"You understand what I am saying, Mr. Bowman?" William asks. Claude firmly nods.
"Yes, I do," he states.
"Alright, good. But are okay with that?"
"Yeah, I am," Claude replies confidently.
"Good," William smiles. After around a minute, Willian finishes up typing in his computer, and turns back to Claude. He gets up, leaves the room, and returns with some papers.
"Alright, Mr. Bowman, I have the paperwork here. All you have to do is sign here, and you'll be given a time to get picked up," William states, placing the piece of printed paper right in front of him.
"Before you sign this though, do you have any specific requests to make?" William asks. Claude leans back in his chair, giving it some thought.
"Hm… No… Oh wait," he exclaims.
"There is one thing," he replies. He then leans forward, ands speaks William his mind.
"Don't let my mother call me," he tells him.