The Herd

Chapter 3

P.O.V.: Ben
I had just left my girlfriend, Catherine, upstairs after taking a quick shower and changing into my "work" clothes. Tactical pants, suited with various pockets for various things, steel-toed combat boots, and a skin-tight black Breath Shirt. (An invention Noah created, made up of a breathable material that absorbs sweat and humidity, and lets it out the opposite way as harmless, and unnoticeable, vapor. He's real proud of that one.)
I walked down the long flight of stairs until I finally reached the training room door. On its right, was the door to The Room, our main quarters for mission plans. And to the left was the Weapons Locker. Everyone kept their personal weapons on them, in their room, or within the training room, but the Weapons Locker held an assortment of various weapons we liked to take on a walk every now and then.
I unlocked the Training room with the thumb scan and went inside. The room was huge, and edged with the latest high tech Noah could get his hands on. None of it was currently online, of course, but it would be shortly.
The vast training vicinity was at least twice the size of the house above. The room was lit up by high-powered lights on the ceiling, and the ground was segmented by red LEDs along the floor. The far right corner of the room was glowing blue, currently in use.
Antonio was currently using that area as he wrestled with an automaton dummy. He was short, shorter than most of us, barely taller than the girls, but a force to be reckoned with, I'll tell ya that. A short, muscular Mexican. Let that image sink in a bit.
He had short black hair, and wore pants, similar to mine, along with combat boots as well. His dark toned skin was scraped by numerous scars, and his watch beeped every time it accidentally smacked the dummy in the face.
"Hey, Antonio!" I shouted to him as I walked his way.
He twisted and snapped the dummy's head off, letting it fall to the ground, before putting his attention on me.
He nodded his head and smiled. "Wanna go against me next? Maybe have a better chance then he did?" He said dropping the head.
I scoffed. "Yeah right. In case you didn't notice, I still hold the record." I snickered as I pointed to the scoreboard on the wall.

Hand-to-Hand Dummy Takeout
First: Ben - 3:22
Second: Antonio - 3:54
Third: James - 4:12
Fourth: Kāpena - 4:57
Fifth: Damien - 5:02

He cursed and kicked the dummy's head at the scoreboard. "Oh, come on. By like 30 seconds!"
I couldn't help but laugh at his frustration. "Well, whatever man. We got a briefing in an hour, and breakfast is done."
"Briefing?" He asked. "For what?"
"We're taking out the Exterminator, as it seems. Tonight." I replied.
"Him? Really?" He speculates. "What could that guy have done that's bad enough to put him on the market?"
"Beats me." I shrug. "But the cash is good enough for me."
The dummy stood up behind him and slapped its head back in, allowing the bolts and mechanics to snap back together. It turned around and walked away, slipping into the darkness of a pathway that opened up in the wall.
"Well, either way. Eat. Get ready. And I'll meet you in the Room."