Tick tock, tick tock, tick to
Tap
"Alright, time for another miserable day, another dead-end day," I say as I get out of my old hard bed, as if getting up, you can see the three layers of covers on top that I set up for comfort and cushion, although they don't really help much on a bed like this, I start to think to myself Damon Darhk, pray tell, why the hell do you live like this, only for me give myself the answer that I'm not making enough to live differently.
I head towards my bathroom in my studio apartment, as small as it is it gets the job done but even if it didn't my budget wouldn't allow it to matter, as I look in my cracked mirror is notice a rash on my shoulder blade, don't know how it got there but I'd bet it's probably the beds fault, I also see my long spiky like hair mane, this thing is hell to take care of but I like it, I see my heterochromia eyes looking back at me, one light Hazel the other light Grey, I get comments on them all the time, people often mistake it for a cursed or blessed Vein ability of some sort but it's not, as I brush my teeth I see two pointed fangs, not one that I nor anyone else uses but fangs nonetheless, as I walk out the bathroom in hit my head on the doorway, yeah being 6,4 It can be a pain, literally and figuratively.
I get ready to head out for good for boot camp in the military with my best friend Jin, growing up together we always had the goal to one day go in the service and get some powers then get out of poverty and one day off planet, when you live on this planet long enough you start to understand money and power don't go hand in hand, power always supersedes money, but if you have both then your king, your life is on cruise, you seldom have anything to worry about but being greedy for more power and more money, which is why we're both going to the military where you're can get money, power, experience, benefits, all in one.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
"Hey Jason, you ready? It's time to go," I hear, who I presume to be none other than my best friend and little brother Jin at the door, me and Jin are stepbrothers by marriage, our parents were married to each other since we were little kids and died when I was 17 and Jin was 15, now were 19 and 17 retrospectively but what does he mean it's time to go? I think to myself as I go and open the door for him, as soon as I open it, he rushes in past me.
"Hey man, you're not even ready, we're going to be late, just throw anything on it, won't matter anyway, and meet me downstairs, you slowpoke, good for nothing," he says, then he raids the fridge for a drink, and just as quickly as he rushed in, he rushed out just as if not more quickly.
I quickly throw on my black baggy sweatpants and a Grey t shirt with nothing on it, I continue afford much else really, then I head out not even bothering to lock the door behind seeing as I'm leaving everything else behind, and head downstairs and out the building, I see Jin in his car fidgeting something fierce, I hear my alarm go off in my pocket which is strange, as I pull my phone out to turn it off I noticed the time and realized I must have been hitting snooze or sleeping through my alarm because we are behind schedule.
I hop in the car and tell Jin to drive like hell is right behind us. If we miss this one, we'll have to wait another year, and the company I worked for shut down, so I have no work, and my lease is up soon, so no money for a new place or to upkeep the same one.
As he's driving, I notice he looks anxious, so I ask him, "What's the matter? Everything okay?" he looks at me apprehensively, like he wants to say, but is wary at the same time. Still, after a couple seconds he spills it and says "what if we get killed first deployment, what if we don't get high rank vein ability hell even a low rank vein ability for that matter, as much as I want to succeed in life, I have to be alive to succeed in life" I don't respond right away because his point is valid, not many make it through their first deployment and that's because even if you get a Vein ability it can either be a curse or a blessing, and it doesn't activate right away, everyone's trigger is different, it can be emotional distress, an act of courage, and anything in-between, but for most and after much study most activate on near death experiences and even if you have one you'll be like a baby learning to eat with a spoon since you won't know what you have until it activates which is why most die.
"Jin, don't think about dying, think about living, and what your future will be like once you have that in your mind keep it there until you get there, because I'm scared too but I'd rather get strong or die trying, I'm tired of not having enough of anything, not enough space in my apartment, not enough money for food, not enough money for a future, not enough power to protect myself, and I can go on, I just tell myself Jin, this is the only way for guys like us"
That seems to do the trick as he exhaled out like he was holding his breath, he cracks a small joke about wanting to see where my heads at, but I know he needed the reassurance, we make small talk for the next 35 minutes on the road before we finally get to the bus station where we leave our lives behind and start a new one, as we approach the station I ask him what he's going to do about his car because I know he loves this thing, and we needed it to get here, so I figure he's probably going to leave it on the side of the road, but to my surprise he says he payed a towing company to deliver it to a guy he sold it to, the deal was half for signing it over and the other half once the buyer received it, that way we could use it for transporting ourselves to bootcamp and he can get it off his hands for a profit.
We both step put the car and walk towards what appears to be a small one seat bench which Jin takes a seat on, and a blue long thin sign with a logo of a bus and a person boarding it, as we wait I start to think and realize there should be more people, sure no one wants to die, but who doesn't want money and power, I ask Jin what he thinks of this. He says, "I kinda of prefer it this way, I mean.... could you imagine a swath of people signing up for their perpetual death...eager or nervous at that, then again look at us.
Me and Jin laugh at the remark he made, but after a while, we calm down, as I ask Jin a question, I don't get a response, so I turn around, and he's gone!
I look all around but there's nothing around, no woods, no buildings, just a canyon to the far west, as I start to panic and pace about, I see a 7,5 ft beast with a face of a bat but the body of what one would imagine a bi-pedal werewolf would look like, as my fear settles I don't notice the sky turning red, I slowly back away but as I do the beast slowly advances with a snarky mischievous positively evil smile, as I'm backing up I trip on the bench Jin was on. I blink, and I'm in a cubed white space surrounded by over 90 people. Jin looks at me strangely, and the rest of the people all have white jumpsuits on, including Jin. As I look down at myself, I realize I'm wearing one too. Hmm...Weird.
As I look around the room I see a very diverse group of people, a pale-skinned guy with blue-dyed hair and a downtrodden look, another guy with dark skin with short hair and a very confused and mad look, a European girl with curly dirty blonde pig tails and an obvious look of happiness and I mean the creepy kind, quite strange I might be seeing things, but excitement as well, as I keep looking around I keep see more interesting people.
As I'm thinking this a tall robust man with a gas mask appears out of nowhere and with him a stage and podium, after a while he says "quiet" in a soft way you wouldn't expect be it because of the mask that should muffle his voice a little or even be it his stature, but every single one of us quiet immediately, almost as if there's no choice, I was so on the fritz about everything happening so quick one after another I try to speak but my mouth doesn't follow its almost like I lost my voice, I then realize the guy on the stage MUST have a vein ability, must be the sort that allows you to control other people, that's actually terrifying, the things one could with that ability, the possibilities are limitless, as I'm thinking about his ability the wall come up in the room in multiple directions, each one of them pitch black,
the man on stage says "this bootcamp we decided to do things a bit different, usually we would take you to a camp, train you, and then inject you with a blood vein serum, but we've decided this time to know you all out, inject you all with the vein serum, then send you all to your possible death, it costs us more money doing it this way but it waste a lot less time, in each of those tunnels is beasts you will all venture into one of these tunnels and fight them, the tunnels only allow 4 people per tunnel, so don't try all grouping up in one to have strength in numbers, we thought of that already, if you decide to not go in the beasts from the unclosed tunnels will come out instead and kill you and there's a lot of tunnels, if each group went into the tunnels until all of you were gone there would still be more than any of you can handle for any of you thinking of staying all together and going into none of the tunnels, all of your goals is to clear the tunnels.
by each tunnel we left some petty weapons near the entrance of each tunnel such as guns, swords, polearms, etc. but all those weapons will only help against the monsters with weakest of weak monsters, against the real threat they're meaningless but if you're able to activate your vein ability then the amount of you that will die will drop.... well, what are you all waiting for, you're free to go".
After he said that, everyone looked around for strong people, people of courage, and someone willing to lead the group, but as everyone looked around, everyone had the same look in their eyes of realization, the realization that no one here among themselves had those qualities, and as I had the same realization, but I knew one thing, I'd definitely be grouping with Jin for sure, We grouped together, Jin told me his worries of inviting other with us "what if they're fear or worries slow us down then we all die, or what if they try to use as bait to run, or what if" I cut him off before he could continue and told him that the more the merrier.
just as I said this a little girl almost who looks too young to be here standing at 5'3, and blonde hair tied in a bun and wearing a golf hat, on her face one of her eyes has a scar dragged down it, said eye is still there but it's a greyish foggy white, she smiles showing she has the same canines as me, strange not that many people you see with fanged teeth, she approaches Me and Jin and simply says "so we goin or what..."
Thus we 3 headed towards the tunnels, deciding to just pick a random one, none had any differentiating differences so it wouldn't matter where we went into, we 3decided to pick out weapons the little girl choose 2 P226 pistols, I began to ask if she should use those before I see her expertly disassemble them to check its quality and put it back together "Who are you?" she responds "Me, I'm Jasmin who are your old guy" "old guy? I'm 19, how old are you?" "I'm 21, and there's no way you 19 old guy, but it's okay keep your secrets" she's insinuating I'm lying but she's obviously the one lying I know deflection when I see it...I think.
I see Jin pick up a staff surprising seeing as I can't imagine him in the front lines, I figured he'd get a gun, but I hope has sure, I Pick a pair of gauntlets, I did always like fighting with my fist, just feels better and less complicated, with that we all step in.