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How I Became A Soldier

Chapter One

S.S.D.D?

The news is all the same every day. Advances in stem cell research, cloning, regenerating limbs and such. The DAFAZ forces becoming more and more dangerous every day, pushing further and further into Delaware County. Matt is sick of it, he never leaves the house without a concealed weapon. His PTSD makes his brain go haywire. He's itching for a fight, he wants this war here, in Broomall. The government says that with the nations police force nearly useless because of the harsh weather change, the National Guard is the last hope. They won't be around for another 6 months, it's September of 2010 at this point with 2 feet of snow on the ground already. People believe that by then, DAFAZ will have already overrun the county.

Today Matt decides to skip out on school and take a bus into Philly, something not often done by anyone anymore. He ditches the usual uniform and boots and dons sweatpants and crappy workboots. The less he stands out, the better.

"Where the fuck did I put that bus fare?" he mutters to himself, rummaging through his sock drawer. He finds the bus fare and leaves immediately.

"Shit, gotta take the long route" he says to himself, walking to the stop down his street. The bus arrives, bus number thirteen. It was scheduled to run from Broomall to Penns Landing in Philadelphia, where the concentration of waste in the Delaware River was at it's highest.

The ride was uneventful. A few checkpoints in the city itself, but nothing out of the ordinary. The bus pulls alongside the edge of the landing, a few feet from the barrier. He doesn't notice as he gets off the bus the driver of a tow-truck that ran the checkpoint barreling down the road. The bus, along with him, are launched over the wall into the toxic muck. He doesn't scream for help as he falls, he's too shocked. He drops into the river head first, smacking into sharp pieces of debris and other garbage in the water. He tries to propel himself upwards, but everything starts to fade to black.

"Pull him out, pull him out! Move your asses or he's dead!"

"Is he still alive, sir?"

"Yeah, yeah, get him on the stretcher lets move!"

The ambulance, with it's escort, bobs and weaves in and out of traffic towards Temple University Hospital on South Broad Street.

"We're losing him! Floor it!"

"Hang on!"

"Fix the fucking I.V!"

They arrive just as they're about to lose him. They take him to the E.R. immediatley to stabilize him. Fortunately, T.U.H was one of 50 hospitals in the nation selected to recieve billions of dollars in assistance for equipment, research and staff. Matt is in good hands, though his injuries are severe. He has a skull fracture, a missing ear, broken legs,, broken ribs, dislocations, spine injuries, open wounds from the sharp debris in the mucky water. On top of everything else, he has burns all over from the river itself.

After the accident, streets close to the river and all bridges crossing it were shut down until further notice to prevent and more accidents.

His mother recieves a phone call from the hospital about 20 minutes after Matts arrival, she breaks down as soon as she hears his name. She isn't allowed to visit because they are unsure of what Matt has on him after falling in the river. In fact, after they brought him to the E.R., the hallways were immediately tended to by cleanup crews and all hospital staff involved had to suit up in new suits similar to the military's CBRN suits. It takes the staff four hours to get him stabilized. Due to the extent of his injuries, a surgeon present brings up the idea of using recently legalized stem-cell research to aid in his treatment. Basically, the suggestion is using stem cells to regenerate lost parts and repair his vital organs. What people thought was sketchy was the fact that those cells were coming from an animal testing lab. Last time these were used, someones nose re-formed into a dog-like nose. Luckily, they didn't sue.

While treating his burns best they could, calls were made to start treatment as soon as possible. Within 12 hours, Matt was stuck in a solid white room filled with strange equipment, his nearly unrecognizable body lay covered only by a thin sheet. Surrounded by doctors in protective suits and masks, when he woke up briefly after being stuck with a needle, he grabbed a doctors wrist hard, then promptly passed out from pain. The process of regeneration itself didn't start for another few days. But after the process started, they noticed an odd change, the boys hair started to fall out, leg hair and all. After a month he was bare completely. On top of that, he missing ear had become smooth like it was never there at all, his other ear began to shrink and his skull began to change. The doctors were terrified, they had to lie to his mother about his condition, and to the media, who had caught wind of his treatment. They didn't know what to do, they were baffled.

By the second month, a thin layer of fuzz appeared covering his body, in a week it became thicker. When they rolled him over to check his back, after his spine was fully healed, and they noticed a tail forming! One of the doctors passed out at the sight of it.

By the fourth month, his skull was bigger, but not wider, no, he had a snout like that of a cats. He had a fully formed tail and had a full coat of fur. Not only was his body repaired and his muscles and tissue restored, they had been improved. He had also grown to be five feet, eleven inches tall in this time. His eyes were also unusual. His right eye was its normal Siberian Husky blue, but the other was an odd red color.

By January he had been moved to another room. The only thing that was different about this room was the monitoring equipment that was put there to keep and eye in him if anything happened. It was January 4th, 2011 when he woke up. Opening his eyes was extremely difficult, he could barely move his limbs, he tried to lift his head but couldn't more than a few inches. He shut his eyes briefly and when they opened he saw a doctor standing in front of him.

"Hello Mr. Rodgers, are you feeling okay?" says the doctor. He speaks with a German accent and with a wide smile on his face.

"Yes sir!" he replies sharply.

"No need to call me sir, we're not on the front lines." he says.

"Sorry sir, I mean....shit."

"It's okay. Now, theres something important i need to inform you of. You have, well, changed." he hesitates to continue, the smile disappears from his face. "You're, not human anymore Mr. Rodgers."

"What do you mean sir?" The doctor gestures towards a large mirror on Matts left. Matt looks over and jumps, he falls out of his bed.

"Schiesse! Shit! Was zum Tuefel?! What the fuck is this?!" He stares at himself in the mirror, he walks over slowly and studies his new face. He starts to smile and laugh. "This is excellent" he smiles wide and flicks at the ears on top of his head. "So excellent. So when can I go home Doc?" He plays with his new tail.

The doctor smile returns, pleased that his patient isn't angry. "We weren't planning on letting you go today, but thats why I'm here. I have taken all the tissue and blood samples I need from you already. The hospital is being temporarily closed, I wasn't told why. That's why I'm here, to have you taken back to Broomall. Is that correct? Broomall?"

"Yes sir it is. When am I leaving?" Matts voice suddenly serious, he straightens up and looks at the doctor.

The doctor looks at his clipboard for a second. He drops a bag in front of Matt. It contains sweatpants and boots, the same ones he was wearing months ago. Although stained and ripped in some places, they're wearable. "My apologies," says the doctor, "we have nothing else to give you. I hope this will be sufficient for your ride home."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." He puts on the pants and boots, leaving the hospital gown on the bed. He refuses a jacket offered to him and goes to the front desk downstairs to fill out paperwork. Afterwards he is escorted by a masked Guardsman to a HMMWV waiting outside. No words are exchanged between Matt and the Guardsmen in the vehicle, no noise except muffled breathing and the occasional grunt. They leave him in front of his house on the deserted, snow covered street. Behind him he hears, "Good luck soldier, watch for them DAFAZ boys!"

He thinks to himself...

I can finally say, different shit, different day...