James Draven: Eagle Duty

 "You are late," A voice called out to him.

 Thinking of possible excuses to give, he climbed up the ladder, anxiously. Before he reached the top rung of the ladder, a face emerged. Its owner was a tall dark skinned teenager with short cropped hair. He was wearing a green sweatshirt, battered jeans and black combat boots, which James thought belonged to his father.

 "Ben, you are on Eagle duty?" James asked. Benjamin Dawson was like a brother to the twins. The trio had literally grown up together in the suburbs of San Francisco, long before the aliens arrived, each living next door. It was a common sight to see the kids at each other's homes as their fathers were colleagues and close friends. When their fathers missed basketball games and movie nights, the boys took solace in the company of themselves and their mums. Both families were amongst the pioneers of the Nest after TakeOver, and both fathers were members of the governing council.

 "Yeah. I went to check the D-task register and found out I was paired with one of you guys. 'J. Draven', it said. As it was only the surname, I didn't know which of you it was. When you were late, I thought it was John," Ben shrugged.

 "I didn't get a chance to check mine. I just asked the register last night at the party and he told me I was on Eagle Duty, Tower 11. I didn't want to go down to the office to confirm, since I was already late. Just glad I wasn't paired with one boring dummy." They laughed.

 "Speaking of parties, last night was awesome."

 "Coming from someone who left early. I would have doubted you, if I wasn't there myself. What happened?"

 "Nothing really. Mum sent Sarah to come get me. Said it was an emergency. I went home only to find out the emergency was about me not cleaning up my room."

James couldn't help but guffaw. His friend merely rolled his eyes.

 "Are you serious?" He asked, trying to contain his laughter.

 "Yeah, right. Whatever. Where's John? I'm surprised you guys aren't paired up together," Benjamin asked and turned away, picking up a pair of military binoculars to look through. Their job in the tower was to look out for stranded scouts in need of aid, refugees escaping from the OCRs, or aliens.

 "He's with the RavenCorps," He answered.

 "I would rather do anything to be in RavenCorps than sit here all day looking out for 'grey scales' in jumpsuits, but what does John know about computers and codes?" Benjamin snorted.

 "That's a question you should save for him...or the register," James reasoned.

All the teenage conscripts knew that John, the younger of the twins, detested technological devices, claiming they were the cause of man's fall to the aliens. John preached that humans had become so attached to technology, making it so inseparable to the extent that when deprived of it, they despaired and lost hope in themselves. He told anyone who cared to listen that the aliens didn't conquer humanity when they hovered in the skies, or when the Myrixs were sent to destroy world resistance, but, when the internet was shut down.

 "I can't believe we will soon be ex-recruits, Jay," Benjamin turned to him, smiling.

 "Yeah, man. I know the feeling. I can't wait, too. After all these years of sweating and pains, we finally made it. The ceremony does feel like it's years away from now, though."

 "You and John are certainly Rangers, for sure," His friend remarked. James looked up and saw sadness and doubt on his face.

 "Hey, you're gonna be a Ranger too. Your stats prove that, Ben." He patted him.

 "I know. It's just that Mum's been panicking lately and it is unnerving. I wasn't worried at first but then Dad's been giving her a listening ear. I won't be surprised if he influences the selection process and I get a desk job at RavenCorps."

 "Nah. I don't think your Dad would go that far. Neither would mine. The military wouldn't even stand for it. It's just mothers and their nagging. Trust me, even my Mum acts up sometimes. It's natural." He winked.

Being a Ranger was every teenage conscript's dream. Oh well, scratch that, most teenage conscripts. A Ranger's life was thrilling, adventurous, risky, and yes dangerous, but they were the only ones who left the Nest and almost all the teens wanted to go out of the Nest and explore outside the high walls, even if it was for an hour. Some of these children were born and raised within the settlement's walls while others forgot all the memories they had before coming to live in the Nest. James himself, had left the Nest only twice in his eleven years stay, once was for his parents' wedding anniversary celebration in a small town nearby and the last was a training exercise for the NX-GEN policy. Both had been brief and heavily guarded outings, not exceeding six hours. 

 "I do hope we get placed in the same team. I mean, all of us," Benjamin said after a pause.

 "I have my fingers crossed for that," He yawned and stretched, obviously tired from last night's party. Held to celebrate the remarkable achievement of the Nest's scientists in one of their confidential projects, the governing council had done their best to host the settlement with a huge feast. James' father had argued that the bash was unnecessary, considering the number of refugees showing up at the gates, but the party was held anyways. James was glad it was. It helped a lot to keep people's minds from the war and it softened tensions, momentarily.

 "Dude, you hungry? Mum packed some sandwiches and drinks," Benjamin gestured at a wicker basket covered with a red checked napkin.

 "You skipped breakfast, too? I trust your Mum couldn't bear to see her lil' cub hungry." He chuckled and approached the basket.

 "Well, I don't like it. The pampering is way too much. I'm almost nineteen, for God's sake!"

 "Like you said, almost. C'mon, Ben.You know it's because you're her only child," He munched on a sandwich, savouring it's taste.

 "But, there's Sarah too!" Benjamin exclaimed. James merely chewed for a while, his eyes closed. He then swallowed and raised the half-eaten sandwich at his friend.

 "This is good. Your Mum made more of this? I could stop by your house after this."

 "Don't change the topic, James."

 "Okay, okay. Look, Sarah's a foster daughter. You are her son. She frets over you 'cause you're all she's got left in this world, apart from your Dad, that is." He explained and picked up a bottle of homemade fruit smoothie and opened it.

 "Yeah-yeah. Whatever," Benjamin said, frustrated.