Waking up was as painful as going to sleep, as painful as remembering him... Maybe waking up without him would still be better than living that moment again.
***
"Imode~, please!? Let me join!" Mark begged me. I tried to deny him access to that job once again, but I just couldn't, he begged with such a cute and adorable face. "Fine... but only if you promise to be safe..." I made it as a condition, another condition popping out of nowhere. "You also have to let me go with you."
He was struck with surprise and smiled lightly. "Sure! We can continue to chat about stupid stuff!" He said, grabbing my hand and raising it high so the teacher would count us for the job, and he did.
I was counted and so was he. He was excited, but I wanted to cry right then and there. I promised my mother I would join the Cooking Job... maybe she would be happy I am working for the safety of others?
No. She was furious, pulling me into the kitchen and telling my father, he was happy about it. Mom and Dad fought all night, I couldn't sleep because of it.
***
The first day of the job was when we were taken into the city. We learned much about fighting and how to fight and get rid of Pathogens. We were assigned the first mission, which was the same every time they did it. The same thing Cal and Markus had to have gone through on their first mission.
On the mission Mark and I were on, things were uneventful, we climbed a tree for the entire first day, only going down to get food and water, and sometimes kill a Pathogen with a sharpened stick or knife. Things were quite scary for me, and Mark made things a bit better with his jokes. Until we heard a loud roar far off. It had to have been a Mutated Pathogen.
The Mutated Pathogen was killing people as we could hear their screams. We sat, huddled together as Mark and I both shook in fear. We didn't leave the tree for the whole next day. We just sat in the tree until a large bell rang and we were all instructed to run up to the fence.
***
Days passed and we were assigned to our second and worst mission. The second mission is mainly different every time it is held, but we were to let Pathogens chase us to a tower so the instructors could throw arrows, which were on fire on them. Everything was going great until we were somehow going the wrong way, we had to turn and that allowed for the Pathogens to get a lot closer to us.
We continued running from the horde of them, there had to have been over two hundred in that horde at the time. Mark kept positive, however, so I tried to as well. People were tripping and once the horde reached them, they were torn to pieces. I couldn't look. I was just hoping Mark and I would make it to the tower.
The tower had a ladder that pulls you up quite fast, you basically hold on and you fly upward really quickly. I made it and grabbed Mark's hand as the horde reached us. The sound of the Pathogens was too loud for me to understand what Mark was screaming.
I wish I knew what he had said to this day.
We were finally on top of the tower and I pulled him up, he was dripping with blood and I panicked putting him onto the tower and one of the instructors looked over and covered her mouth.
I didn't understand what was going on... until I looked at Mark's legs, or his lack thereof. His legs were gone, his entire lower body was gone, ripped out. He was certainly dead and his eyes were dull and blankly staring at the dimly lit sky. I backed up, screaming, and holding my head.
Everything else is a blur.
I was forced to continue working with the Pathogen Hunters for some time after that. I always just sat in a tree when we did a survival test, blankly staring at the ground and Pathogens below. I never moved from the tree. Finally, the test ended, and we were all brought back. After that horrifying job was over. I never returned to that job and became one of the Government members, making my way up to President. Mark... always told me that he wanted to get married when we were older... I can't find myself loving another person ever again.
Mark... why... why did we have to join the Pathogen Hunters... If only I could have convinced you otherwise... maybe you'd still be alive.