This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/HeadOfSpectre on 2024-12-10 03:44:52+00:00.

Part 1

July 14th, 2024

The Lieutenants didn’t come to get us at the usual time this morning.

We still woke up at 4… we still filed into the mess hall for breakfast. The nutraloaf was still there. But the Lieutenants and Sergeant Hunter weren’t. I heard some of the other guys saying that they were having ‘a meeting’.

I don’t know what they needed to have a fucking meeting about.

Something in the woods killed Cody. What exactly was there to discuss?

They should’ve called the police the moment they found him… but there haven’t been any police. None that I’ve seen.

Last night I watched Lieutenant Chad and David carry the body, wrapped in a tarp out to the back of the main office… up until this afternoon, it was just sitting there and rotting. I don’t know where it is now.

Why the hell didn’t they call the police? Do they have something to hide? I didn’t think they had anything to do with Cody’s death, but now I’m starting to wonder.

I’ve thought about calling the police myself but… every time I reach for my phone I freeze.

What exactly happens if I do call the police?

We were the only ones out there with Cody. What if they think we did it?

No… no, that’s not what I’m worried about… I should be honest here, shouldn’t I? I keep thinking about Cody’s body… I keep thinking about the ragged stumps where his limbs used to be and I keep thinking about that girl…

I tried to talk to the guys about it after breakfast, while we all just sat uneasily in the mess hall but that was just a waste of time.

“It took off his arms and legs…” I’d said. “You guys don’t think it’s weird that it took off his arms and legs?”

Keelan got quiet… but it was harder reading the looks on the others faces.

“Something mauled him,” Adam said calmly. “Simple as that.”

“And put him up in a fucking tree?” I asked. “You saw what I saw, didn’t you? Something grabbed him while Matthew wasn’t looking, peeled him like a fucking orange, pulled off his arms, pulled off his legs and strung him up in a tree where we would find him! That doesn’t fucking scare you?!”

Adam didn’t respond.

“Avery’s got a point…” Keelan said quietly. “Even if it was an animal… the way it took his arms and legs… doesn’t that remind you of-”

“Enough,” Adam said, his voice firm and decisive. “We need to stay focused.”

“Focused on what?!” Keelan asked. “What, are we supposed to go outside and run around until Chad tells us what to do? Cody’s dead! Why the hell are we taking this in stride?!”

“Because that’s what Men do.” Adam snapped. “Now are you gonna be a fucking man, Keelan, or are you just going to go through life whining and simpering like a little bitch?”

Keelan just stared at him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” He asked. “What the fuck is actually wrong with you?”

His eyes shifted to all of us and lingered especially long on me.

“What’s it going to be, Keelan?” Adam asked coldly.

Keelan shook his head.

“Fuck you guys… fuck this fucking ‘Project Alpha’ horseshit… fucking podcast bro, Alpha Male bullshit… you know it’s just fucking astrology for incels, right? Fuck you! And fuck nutraloaf!”

He hurled his half eaten portion of nutraloaf against the wall before storming off. I got up to follow him, but Adam stopped me.

“Leave him.” He warned. I noticed an unfamiliar venom in his eyes. “Let him walk away. If he wants to whine and complain then let him. He’s weak… we’re stronger without him.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t really know how to. I just stared and watched as Keelan stormed out.

The Lieutenants and Sergeant Hunter finally came to collect us around 5:30. We watched in silence as Sergeant Hunter took his place at the front of the mess hall, flanked by the Lieutenants. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before he finally spoke.

“Alright, Gentlemen… I understand that today we’ve gone a little off schedule and I want to thank you for your patience. As many of you are aware, yesterday there was an incident that resulted in the loss of a life.

Our understanding is that there was some kind of animal attack that occurred during Cabin 2’s survival training excursion…”

Animal attack?

A vivid memory of Cody’s corpse, partially flayed and hanging from the branches by countless strips of skin flashed through my mind.

Animal attack?!

Was he fucking serious?

I looked around to gauge the reactions of the others at my table. None of their faces were easy to read… but there’s no way they believed this, right? There was no way they were just going to accept that this was just an animal attack!

“We have been in touch with the appropriate authorities regarding next steps…” Sergeant Hunter continued. Another bold faced lie… but nobody called him on it. Nobody questioned it!

“And until further notice we will be continuing with the program in a modified state. Due to safety concerns, survival training will not be carried out until we receive the all clear and we will be implementing a curfew during your free hours in the evening. After dinner at 7, you will either return to your cabin or you can attend the bonfire. Is that clear?”

Everyone responded with a stoic: ‘Yes sir,’ but none of them seemed to consider how fucking stupid those rules were! There was nowhere else to go aside from the bonfire and the cabin! And then there was the fact that he’d lied about contacting the authorities? Did nobody else notice any of this? Or did they just not care?!

“The purpose of Project Alpha is to push you… to break you down… but not to destroy you. I am heartbroken to have lost a Brother today. But now isn’t the time to mope and cry and sit around. We came here for a purpose… and we are going to fulfill that purpose together as Brothers! Now who is with me?!”

“WE ARE SIR!” Came the reply.

“DEUS VULT!” Sergeant Hunter cried. “Now let’s get back out there!”

In an instant, the shadow of Cody’s death seemed to vanish. Everyone seemed energized. Our group followed Lieutenant Chad out of the mess hall… and the day just sort of pressed on the way it normally would have. We started with our jog, with not even a second thought about what had happened to Cody.

As we ran, I found myself falling behind this time. I couldn’t focus on running. I just couldn’t… and when Lieutenant Chad started tearing into me for it, I couldn’t for the life of me be bothered to give a shit.

“COME ON MACKENZIE, MOVE YOUR ASS! YOU’RE HOLDING YOUR BROTHERS BACK! YOU KNOW HOW TO RUN, I FUCKING KNOW YOU DO! SO MOVE!”

I just stared at him, my pace slowing down as everyone else got further and further away. Why was I doing this? This wasn’t a real fucking boot camp. Why was I even fucking bothering with this?

“THEY’RE FUCKING LEAVING YOU BEHIND, MACKENZIE! YOU WANNA BE LEFT IN THE FUCKING DUST? MOVE!”

I stopped. Lieutenant Chad stopped too… and for a moment we just sort of stared each other down… or… staring each other down wouldn’t be the right way to describe it. That would imply some sort of hostility. I didn’t get any sense of real hostility from him. If anything… he just didn’t really seem to give a shit.

When I turned to leave, he didn’t try to stop me. Didn’t make any effort to yell after me… he just turned and went to go and catch up with the others while I jogged back to the cabin.

When I finally got back to the cabin, I found Keelan laying on his bed. He seemed to just be staring into space and barely even seemed to notice me when I came in.

“If you’re gonna ask me to come back then fuck off! I’m done with this shit!” He said bitterly.

“Actually I’m here to join you,” I said before sitting on his bed. He scoffed but didn’t respond.

“Sergeant Hunter came in after you left,” I said. “He gave this whole speech… said they’d talked to the police about Cody but-”

“Bullshit! There haven’t been any fucking police!” Keelan snapped. “He’s out behind the fucking office! I’ve seen him!”

He sat up, fidgeting with his phone.

“They probably won’t call the fucking police… I mean look at this shitshow… how much of this shit do you think is on the books? I’ll bet they slapped this shit together under the table as cheaply as possible. You think these guys are equipped to handle a fucking body turning up during their little program? And fuck… Cody he was… that wasn’t… that wasn’t natural! That wasn’t an accident or an animal attack or whatever they’re gonna fucking claim it was! It was…” He trailed off, unable to finish that sentence.

“I know…” I said quietly.

Keelan was staring down at his phone… I could see him willing himself to make that call… but he couldn’t, and I knew why he couldn’t.

“Did you… did you ever look to see if it was in the news…?” He asked quietly. It took me a moment to realize what he was asking about.

“No…” I said softly. “I… I didn’t really want to know…”

“She’s still alive… they both are…”

I looked up at him.

“Critical condition last I checked, but alive. I… I think one’s in a coma… that’s what the report said. They posted their names. I looked them up… fuck…”

I tried to open my mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come out.

“I… I looked them up… lurked them online. Found some… found some photos… that one girl… the one we hit she…”

He choked on the words for a moment before he continued.

“I saw her… in a hospital bed. She was covered by a blanket but you could see where the stumps were… where her legs weren’t, and… God… God… I… I don...

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