White Lies

Part 1: Chapter 1

Marco's POV:

   The instructor spoke, "0126, Maple".

   A response, "Here".

   Again with the man who stood, with a permanently annoyed expression and bright, white lab coat, holding a clipboard, "0127, Marabella".

   "Here".

   "0129, Marco".

   I kept my chin up with a stern expression, the man's eyes falling onto me, I gave a firm nod, "He-"

   "Polo".

   Now, the instructor went from annoyed to pissed. The chuckle upfront was unmistakable. It came from the same voice that had just shouted out that ballsy as all Hell response. Axel. My roommate. My closest friend. My partner in crime. He was quite muscular with short black hair. Eighteen, only a year older than me. His most noticeable feature though, was his piercing red eyes.

   The reason I say "ballsy as all Hell" is because of what the consequence was, and the fact that he knew it quite well.. Since he shouted out ,"Polo", with his usual cheeky grin.. Every. Single. Fucking. Day.

   An official walked out from the hallway into the large room, all of the walls painted white with a white, tiled floor. They had the same lab coat as the instructor's, a light blue symbol of a crescent moon. Artemis. This organization. Our God. She is the goddess of chastity, the moon and hunt. We follow under the basic rules of keeping the system's secrets and not giving ourselves away, including physically. We go out at night, when there's less people out, easier to get around and to find those monsters.. Those.. Don't even get me started. All that is need to be known, is that they belong dead.

   The woman inched her finger at him, gesturing for him to follow. But of course, like he does all the time, Axel turned, "Hey now, you're cheating. Your eyes are supposed to be closed". Just as he took a step forward, the woman reached into her jacket and pulled out a taser.

   What was to follow was obvious.

   Once the distraction was removed the instructor continued down the list. All the way to the last Z, number 0397. There wasn't that many of us, but that only helped in keeping the service low key. We were a diverse group though, ranging in age, race, gender, backstories, etc. We've been chosen from all over due to our skills, since that's all that mattered to these people, but I'm not complaining. Anything to rid the world of the disease of the mutated. How the government managed to fuck up this badly is what I'd like to know. They don't tell us anything though, and if we were to know.. Well, it'd be a lot harsher than a taser to the face.

   "Alright everyone, move to the training quarters. You know what to do, everyone to a mat, pair up. Warrick will meet you there".

                                                                        ---

   Rudolph Warrick. The man was a wall. Literally, a wall. If he were to lift his shirt and there was a door, I honestly wouldn't have been surprised. He was huge, towering over everyone in this entire facility. This also included him being extremely broad and bulky, just.. A walking, breathing hunk of muscle. He had dark skin, deep brown eyes and a buzzcut. That along with a tight tank top tucked into baggy, black cargo pants and combat boots in addition to having a rough, black goatee and a couple of tattoos scattered over his tree trunks. I mean arms.

   Despite his burly, intimidating look, he was actually warm and welcoming. He was a bear, but a teddy bear at that. He gave everyone's shoulder or back a pat as they entered with a big smile plastered across his face. As I stepped in, I instantly felt his hand hit the top of my head with unintentional force that made my entire body tense up, ruffling my already messy brunette mop of hair. He proceeded to do his best to fix it, but I gently swatted him away, "Rudolph, it's fine, truly". He pressed his lips flat, nodding.

   The man was especially kind to me. When he first had met me, he knew already I'd grow to be strong. He told me so. I remember his words as he watched how I worked, "Boy", he said, "You've got a spark, a strength. You're a natural really. I can help you grow to be a fine young man, maybe even the best. I look forward to it. Call me Rudolph". Over the years we got closer, and he seemed to find joy in that. Everyone else had to call him Warrick, no one got to spend breaks after a long day in his room, everyone had to consume that cardboard slop, no one got to eat his wife's fine dining. Esmeralda was her name, and she seemed to love me even more than Rudolph did. I was the youngest in my group that had arrived that day. I was nine then. I think half of the reason they treated me with special care was my skill, but the other half, is because Esmeralda was incapable of having any children. They probably saw me and saw it as their chance. It's not like I don't appreciate it though, I'd give my life for that couple, and they'd do the same for me. The feeling was mutual.

   And with that, I picked up a weight and saw Axel re-enter, missing a tooth. If he continued at this rate with his jokes, I'd be expecting a package to arrive. I can picture it now. Order online. A cardboard box. Open it up, and bam. A set of dentures. He was an idiot that way, never learned, but I suppose you could say it was part of his charm.

   I waved him over and he immediately joined my side, smirking, holding out his hand in a fist. I held mine out, only for him to drop a tooth onto my palm, "How much do you think the tooth fairy will give me tonight?"

   I only stared down at it, "... I honestly hate you".