A plethora of opportunities were available as a real estate tycoon recently from tearing down of my old hometown to redeveloping an old education institute. My henchman came to me the other day with a new government contract and I was really pleased. This meant more money coming into the company and more chances for Alan Inc. to expand domestically. I decided to pay a visit to the site that we were redeveloping as it was really an interesting location.
The plot of land was situated on an island that was dedicated to basic military training. All able-bodied man age 16.5 years old and above were required under conscription to serve their motherland for at least two years. The overachievers would be given a chance to extend their service duration for another six months. Before they could enter specific combat training stations, they were required to undergo 10 weeks of intensive training on this sacred island. As I disembarked the ferry, I could see that it was still an active military institute due to the sheer number of guards along the terminal. The familiar sounds of C130 rolling down the strips echoed in the empty harbor as I was directed into a military jeep by a young officer.
I asked the officer for more information about the land and he told me that it was an abandoned training outpost in the middle of the island. It used to house recruits during their stay on this island but they have since shifted to newer bunks with better sanitary conditions. As I stepped out of the jeep I could feel the sharp tall grass that thrived without any human interaction. Amidst the tall elephant grass were four bunks that were distinctively run-down and shabbier-looking compared to their counterparts near the harbor. The officer guided me along as he gave me a brief history lesson of the armed forces involvement on this island.
The four bunks used to house Charlie company that was known to be the toughest company in the entire island. If one company ran two miles in the morning, they would match that and run another two more in the afternoon. If one company completed a 10-mile march under 110 minutes, they would push their recruits to do it under 90 minutes. Charlie company is famous for pushing the recruits to their limits and allowed them to flourish into great officers for the motherland. However, the constant pressure for Charlie to be the best training company meant that recruits were occasionally pushed past their breaking point.
It was a Thursday night and Charlie company was asked to do the usual training of marching 10 miles under the torrential rain. Coupled with a dense canopy over the area, the marching route became a challenging obstacle course of avoiding potholes and fallen tree branches. Charlie company was led by an ambitious officer commanding who demanded the absolute best out of his recruits. Charles was a determined commander and he urged the company forward to break the record of 84 minutes held by his predecessor. It was around halfway through the march when a recruit requested to fall out.
Charles was displeased with the recruit not wanting to complete the full march and berated him in front of the whole company. He questioned his manhood, whether he had something between his legs, insulted his parents and even offered to help him go out of course and re-do his basic training. Charles’ threats paid off as the recruit decided to not fall out and join his brother in arms to complete the route march. He then ordered the troops to sing his favourite army song.
In the early morning march
With my field pack on my back
And an aching in my heart
And my body full of sweat
I’m a long long way from home
And I miss my mother so
In the early morning march
Where the cold wind blows
Unfortunately, Charlie company did not manage to break the record as the march took 88 minutes instead. Charles pinned the fault on the recruit asking to fall out which demoralized the whole company. He asked his corporals to find the recruit so that he can lecture him on being a man. Charles then strolled towards the water point to refill his bottle after the march. However, the jerry can was empty and he kicked it in frustration. He hollered at the quartermaster to refill the water for the entire company as he realized there was a commotion amongst platoon 4.
Charles inquired about what was happening and the recruits said that one of their mates were missing. The missing recruit was soon discovered to be the same person who wanted to fall out earlier during the route march. Charles was annoyed as a missing soldier meant punishment for not just him but also the entire chain of command. He paced up and down the company lines as he formulated a plan to find the recruit. Charles then ordered the entire company to scour the marching route for the missing recruit.
“Recruit Tham eh? When I find you, I will make sure you crave being missing.”
Charlie company rummaged through the muddy road filled with gravel and tree branches obstructing their movement. The forest was dense and night was nearing. Despite the rain ending, natural sunlight was dying out and soon the hunt for the recruit would put the entire company in danger. The island was known to be populated by vicious animals such as wild hogs which were known to tear unsuspecting soldiers apart. Charles was on the edge of his seat as that there have been no instances of missing soldiers in Charlie company’s history. He did not want to be the one to plague the prestigious company’s reputation and finding Tham was of the essence.
Luckily, his NCOs discovered a trail with footprints heading deep into the forest and informed Charles accordingly. The officer commanding instructed two other NCOs to accompany him in hunting down the missing recruit. They bashed through the forest as they tracked the footprints into a graveyard. It was inauspicious to be at a graveyard when the sun is down but Charles pushed on. He was trying to figure out where the recruit could be when his sergeants pointed out a tent in a near distance. Charles could see the legs of someone resting sticking out and he was ready to reprimand the missing recruit.
“Recruit Tham!” Charles shouted as he advanced towards the tent.
But what Charles saw as he entered the tent would haunt him for the rest of his life. Recruit Tham was holding his water bottle which had red liquid flowing out of it. His stomach was ruptured with his kidney and liver laid out in an orderly manner beside his lifeless body. The recruit held his helmet on his other hand with his intestines and gallbladder sprawling inside. Written in blood to the left of the body was “死” which was the Chinese character for death and an alphabet “C”. Charles stared at the dead recruit as his NCOs began making calls back to the company line indicating that they had found the missing recruit.
Recruit Tham’s body was sent to be cremated in the mainland and Charles returned to the graveyard the following day to offer incense and prayers to the dead recruit. He asked the recruit to not come back and haunt everyone and apologized for humiliating him in front of the company and not allowing him to fall out. He prayed for Tham’s soul to rest in peace and walked away from the scene. There was a crackle and the incense flame ran out. Charles turned around to look at the offerings and a gush of wind tipped over the incense pot and blew the joss papers away.
After Tham’s death, Charlie company was in tatters and disarray. Apart from having to handle the pressure from the higher ups, Charles had to deal with his recruits saying that they saw recruit Tham walking around the bunk. Some of the recruits even heard him calling the company to fall in at the dead of the night. This turmoil caused the company moral to suffer and his NCOs were depending on Charles to solve these issues.
During an outfield training, Charles decided to stay back at company line and inspect the dead recruit’s bunk. The moment he set foot into the room, he felt uneasy and queasy. It was as if someone was staring at him. He looked up at the ceiling and tried turning on the lights but they were not working.
There was a stench in a room stemming from the exact corner of the dead recruit’s metal cupboard. Charles cautiously approached the cupboard and noticed that Tham’s personal effects were still inside. He looked through his belongings and noticed a jade pendant that stood out. The jade pendant was masterfully crafted with sharp features depicting the distinct separation of yin & yang.
“A pretty amulet, isn’t it?”
Charles turned around immediately when he heard the voice. In front of him stood a person dressed in full battle order holding his water bottle in his hand. The figure started pouring the contents on the floor and Charles noticed that his bottle was filled with blood. The unknown personnel then snatched the pendant out of his hands and put his faces a few inches away from Charles. It must be a mistake, recruit Tham was staring at him wickedly. Anger, sorrow and fury swirled within his black eyes as Tham smashed Charles on the head with his bottle.
“My mother gave me this amulet. It was a family heirloom."
Tham knocked Charles onto the ground swiftly and mounted him.
"I could have seen her again if not for you forcing me to carry on the march!”
Recruit Tham continued bashing Charles head with his bottle and whipped out his standard issue pocket knife. Charles was woozy from the beating and could not move his body to react. He could feel something piercing his stomach repeatedly. As Charles’ vision blurred, he could see Tham smiling at him mockingly.
“I assume you’re Charles?” I asked the young officer as I strolled around the bunk. The stench was still there even after such a long time.
“Nope, I am Harry, Charles’ my old man,” the officer replied as he took off his cap. He then bowed down and pleaded with me, “Please help me fulfill my old man’s dying wish by guiding poor recruit Tham into nirvana.”
I stared at the foul-smelling corner of the room and sighed. It was evident that the spirit was trapped within the bunk which caused the military to eventually abandon the base. I wandered towards the recruit’s cupboard and noticed the jade pendant Harry had described earlier. I knew what I had to do to release the recruit’s soul as I whipped out my cellphone.
“Hey henchman, come down to the island and hammer down this wall right now. We got to build a third door for this bunk before tearing everything down.”
“Boss your requests are getting weirder by the day, are you taking your medications?”
“Stop questioning me and hurry up. We need to help someone leave this place before we begin our actual work.”
As I hung up on him Harry was clutching my hands within the palms of his thanking me. I took one last look at the fetid corner again. I could make out the silhouette of a soldier holding up his rifle 45 degrees upwards saluting me.
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