Blood Bath

            

          I was previously a soldier for the Russian special forces known as the Spetsnaz.  If you haven't heard of them, they are an elite group of soldiers for the Russian military that has the physical strength and talent to perform combat acrobatics and will fight to the death for their code of honor.  This was the same training that I went through, and I was actually one of the best in my squadron in hand to hand combat, and would fight to win.  I may have been a brutal fighter, but that was simply the type of training that prepared us for any type of situation.  We were the fighting force that Russia would use to take down the toughest of enemies.  But rather than talk about the experiences I witnessed in war, which I cannot mention here, I want to discuss a darker side of the training I experienced, and the training that all Spetsnaz soldiers who survive the experience.

           I say survive, due to the mortality that is involved in the training for the Spetsnaz special forces.  I myself ended up accidentally killing one of the men in my squadron because he insisted on fighting past his limits, and I accidentally gave him head damage that lead to his death.  I still feel shame and regret over his death, which is ironic, considering the aggressive training the Spetsnaz undergo to "steel" themselves from the horrors of war.  I feel regret and remorse for the death I witnessed, but none more than the remorse I feel for those who make it through the final stage of training:  the bloodbath.  I still remember my "blood bath" experience, and I don't believe I will ever forget.

           The bloodbath began in the middle of the night.  I was asleep in the cabin with the rest of my squadron.  We were taken abruptly in the night, sacks were placed upon our head, and we were taken to a separate room and thrown into a pool of liquid.  Some of the men who didn't wake up were carried and thrown into the liquid.  The smell was wretched.  It smelled of rotting corpses.  Once many of us had come to, we heard through a slot at the end of the room the voice of our commander.  I had heard of the blood bath training from fellow comrades and instructors, but I never heard of anyone talking to us during this last part of the training.  It was supposed to be a quick escape out of the room, but this was different.  He began speaking to us.

           "You have all fought valiantly to prove your love for your country, and you are now in the final stage of your training.  By now you realize that the room you are in is filled with blood and animal waste.  However, there is also the blood and waste of your fallen comrades as well."

             Many of us were disturbed and frightened at this statement, and one of us spoke to him.  "Wait!  Shouldn't we all make it out alive?"

              Our commander was stern and a bit disturbed by the sound of  his tone, "No.  Not all of you will escape.  We have done this training for years, and by now most of you would have escaped from the attack dog that is released into the pool.  However, there will not be an attack dog coming to chase you out."

               All of us were very confused.  The same soldier who questioned our commander asked again, "What do you mean?"

               "The dog that we used during many years of training ended up dying in this room a few years ago, or so we thought.  When three of our men went to retrieve the body and to honor the dog, it awoke and killed the three men quickly and mercilessly.  Something within the dog had changed.  It's fur had changed to a deep shadow color, and there was hunger in its eyes.  Its nature had changed to something demonic, and it became ruthless.  It tried to escape, but after it had its fill, it stopped trying to escape.  We tried to go and remove the dog from the room, but he did not want to leave.  Instead of leaving the room, it would kill anyone who tried to enter the room to clean it, and would devour them.  And since then, the beast has remained inside of this room.  He has become twisted and evil in nature, and his teeth have whittled down to that of a pearly white grin that resembles that of a man.  We've sent in armed soldiers to kill the beast, but all efforts failed, as the men were devoured, or barely escaped, only to die days later.   In order to ensure the safety of everyone else, we have integrated the beast into your training.  You will try to escape up the ramp to the outside of the room, and those who do not make it will be serve as a sacrifice for the rest."

                  Many of the men were chilled with fear, as the commander hated hearing false stories and jokes.  Not only that, but the commander didn't sound confident like he always did.  He had a sense of fear in his voice that terrified us all.

               

               "Good luck and my God have mercy on you."  And with that, the slot had closed.  Many of us were in shock and fear as the room did not allow in any light, and began terrified as we heard a door at the opposite end of the room open.  Out of it matched what appeared to take the shape of a massive dog.  The animal had bright shining yellow eyes, it's mouth was foaming, the shape of its body was well defined as being massive and muscular. Its fur was darker than that of the room in which we were trapped.  The only thing that truly showed how big it was was the door that the beast came out of.  The beast crouched under what appeared to be a 2-meter tall door.  It was almost as big as a horse, and it looked very hungry.   It twitched as it examined which of us it would eat first. It let out a blood-curdling howl, one that I had never heard any person or animal make.  Many of us began to run away from the beast, but as quickly as we began to run from the beast, it charged forward through the blood, unfazed by the weight of the liquid and the waste and began murdering our fellow men.  It was smart and quick.  It lunged and caught one of the men by the neck and ripped his jugular out.  It followed suit with the next soldier close by.  It was swift and merciless.  The beast was clever in the way it killed my fellow comrades.  He tore out the throats of three more men as I trudged my way through the blood and guts.  I witnessed one man after the other fall as the beast continued it's rushed attack towards me.  It only tore out the neck of the men, saving the time to eat them for later.  I made it to the ramp that leads to the exit and saw the many bodies of the men behind me.  It was still coming.


          I tried climbing the ramp, but there were metal rollers on the ramp, almost like they wanted us to roll back into the pool of blood and death.  I, along with six others, began the terrifying climb to the top, as we tried to escape the room through the door.  All of us struggled and slipped over the metal rollers.  I was towards the front of our group, and when I accidentally kicked one of my fellow comrades back, he kicked the one below him, and that man ended up falling back into the blood, during which the beast lunged at him and ripped his throat out.  And the rest of us became even more panicked and scrambled to climb out of the room.  Another man slipped and fell back into the blood, and was killed.  We continued to struggle as I occasionally looked back to see the beast growling while being surrounded with floating dead bodies; the bodies of men that I had trained with.  I made it to the top first to the door and opened it and helped my fellow men out.  As I made my way out and started my way out of the door, the beast started running up the rolls, snarling at me.  I slammed the door just in time to avoid the leaping beast. My back was to the door, panting and shaken in tears by the incident.  I just witnessed a massacre, unlike anything I had ever seen.

         The commander was waiting outside.  "Congratulations comrades!  You are now officially Spetsnaz soldiers!"  We were all panting and terrified. "It's such a shame only five of you made it, but at least we had some soldiers make it out alive.  Many do not make it. You are very fortunate.  This particular part of your training will remain secret, as long as you plan on living or plan on remaining a Spetsnaz soldier."

          The rest of us were happy to be alive, but I had the worst feeling in my stomach.  I had just witnessed dozens of my comrades be devoured by some demonic creature.  My other comrades were happy to be free, and I pretended to be happy as well, but I just couldn't accept in my soul that I witnessed the death of so many men, many of which I knew personally and trained with.  I kept it a secret for this long, and it's time everyone else knew.  I had heard rumors that the original handler and caretaker of the animal had died before the animal did, and that it possibly died of sadness due to its owner having died.  Some soldiers speculated that the beast was possessed by a demon after it died, which I still believe to be true to this day.  Nothing like this has existed before, and it must be contained.   I am currently medically retired from the Russian military and currently am undergoing cancer treatment.  The experiences I had in war and the possibility of death I face now do not compare to what I witnessed that fateful night.  If any Russians read this message, do not try to become a Spetsnaz soldier, because you may not end up becoming a soldier, but rather become something's meal.

~R