Groggy from his slumber, he awoke from an alarm clock blaring in the morning. Mark slams his hand on it to shut it off, not before checking the date displayed. 8th of October 2017. A Sunday, the only day off he had after months of training to become a monster hunter. Mark was no stranger to crashing into other people’s homes, using their showers, and warming other’s beds. But this time was different, this time he would have his own room and get paid to stay there. A sweet deal for a former assassin, he would boast.
He had a shower and got dressed before he made his way to the kitchen. The shared apartment complex had a large TV and a decent-sized living room, and currently, eight out of the eleven rooms were left unoccupied. Mark remembered hearing that Jackson might need to recruit more people into his unit, but knowing the reptile, he doubted that happening. He knew the reptile preferred a small team, he already knew Jackson was capable of a lot and Mark as well as Frank would only need to serve as support if needed.
Hungry, he looked through the fridge to see a note on the empty plate. ‘Who is the bastard this time?’ He mumbled as he pulled the note to find that Frank had eaten the last of the carrot cake and wrote sorry on it. ‘Ah, it is the British bastard that stole my breakfast.’
He slammed the fridge door closed, opened the cupboards and noticed Jackson’s chocolate supplies were going low. ‘He is going to be cranky soon.’ Mark said to himself before grabbing a box of cereal to eat.
While he disliked the quietness of the barracks, the security it offered came off alien to him. He could appreciate how the Order was able to provide him with anything they wanted no matter how obscure it would be, and at times right off the factory floor in most cases. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself while he looked at the living room for having the cheapest run-down couch facing an expensive 70-inch TV. ‘They have some priorities at least.’
Once he finished his milky meal, he washed his bowl and walked out of his shared home to begin his Sunday break with a walk to the markets. Then he notices two men walk over to their apartment door, clearly returning from a mission. ‘Irene, Howard! How are my friends doing?’ Mark said as he approached the two tired men.
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Irene chuckled, ‘yeah, it’s good to meet you too.’
‘My friend, I say it is great. Because you two make this empty building slightly more entertaining.’
Howard gave Mark a husky laugh before Irene could reply. ‘Well, everyone is so busy now. More often than ever before. I have, like what, three missions every month.’ Irene pointed to Howard, ‘this guy here doesn’t care less. He can soldier on while everyone dies of exhaustion.’
‘I bet,’ Mark chuckled. ‘So, what about your other team members? Did Crystal cause any issues again?’ Irene and Howard’s smiles died as Mark mentioned her name, their moods becoming sourer. Realising what he had done, Mark tried to fix the situation he accidentally caused ‘Oh, sorry I didn’t know.’
A false smile formed on Irene’s face. ‘It’s fine, it was just unexpected, you know. It wasn’t an easy mission.’
‘Yeah, it never is easy. I suppose some people take it better than others.’
‘The only people I know who can move on from their teammates dying easily will be Tiffany and your boss. But that is beside the point, the best we can do is live on and be the only ones to remember them.’
Mark gave Irene a nod to tell him that he understood what he meant before they parted ways. Mark was already comfortable with the idea that no one will ever know his fate or even care that he would die defending humanity from the horrors that hide in the dark. What shook him was how easily replaceable all of them were, how the Order always had a line of bodies to throw into the meat grinder to defend their world. A heartless and cruel method devoid of humanity, but one Mark came to understand being necessary with the amount and kinds of threats they would deal with.