"Mark, Liam told me you were going on a mission and I could join you. Brother left on one too but I was not allowed to join them. I'm so happy that Liam allowed me to go with you" the thirteen, almost fourteen years old teen made his way toward Mark who was looking through the HMMWV panel on his system.
An update was available but it was too out of reach for his current financial condition.
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Acquired: Grade A vehicle (Upgrade available)
Health points: 1000/1000 (2000 after upgrade + extra storage space and immunity under attack for 30 minutes under normal conditions)
Cost - 1 special grade ore + 1000 crystalline ores (0/1 - special grade ore available, 200/1000 crystalline ores available)
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Mark looked on the screen bitterly, his inability to be able to buy the material making his mood sour. As soon as Liam shouted, Mark diverted his attention toward the teen instead and let the screen collapse.
There was so much inside the shop that he wanted to buy but he could not.
"Liam, you shouldn't be too happy when you are about to face danger" Mark scolded. He was surprised to see the other in such a cheerful mood after what had happened in the previous mission.
He was sure that the teen would still be scared and hesitant but the current attitude was an almost complete 180 degree. He was not sure if he should be happy that the teen had not been affected or be worried that the other seemed to be suffering from some kind of PTSD.
"Are you feeling better now?" Mark asked as an afterthought to the happy teen. It caused the smile on his face to widen just a little fraction more.
"Yup, everything is amazingly good. You see, I was a little shaken after the last mission but then your words helped and my brother counselled me even more over the topic. But I think the spars and stimulation training helped even more in the case and the fear is almost gone now" Alan's words were spoken in a clear voice, nothing indicating that any fear bothered him at all.
Mark observed his words and realised what had contributed to the current situation overall - the stimulator. It was a device Mark never got to use because it read the user data and created virtual situations to help overcome the trauma.
It was the biggest contribution that Liam's so-called 'superiors' had provided them with and it had been incredibly useful from what he had heard.
It just did not work for Mark at all since it could not read his data and frankly, he believed it to be more of a control device than an actual training place.
"I see. It helped you then?" Mark asked, trying to close that information before he could be made to reveal any more than he already had in such a situation.
"It helped a lot, but don't change the topic at hand. We have a mission?" Alan asked and Mark gave him a nod in response.
"A team went missing and we need to retrieve them since most of the other teams are not ready for such a mission. Also, we cannot allow this news to spread for obvious reasons." Mark lied and he knew the other would not realise that it was a lie at all. After all, he was a good fighter, maybe even one of the best in Alan's eyes and he was close to Liam.
The perfect candidate to carry out a surprise mission like this where secrecy was needed. Alan's silence would be guaranteed too if Mark asked. After all, the teen had not actually revealed what went down in the power plant even after various poking.
Mark was sure that Liam already knew because he was just that shady but no one else had any idea - including Luna who had confronted him over the issue.
"A team went missing? Why did I not hear about this? It should be a big deal overall" the teen almost whisper-shouted those words and then looked down guiltily when Mark gave him a serious look.
"It is not a strict combat team but a research team out to gather materials. It's a serious deal but not one you would easily notice. Our primary target is Rika Jones but we'll save whosoever we can" Mark concluded and the teen agreed.
He did not question why the female was the main target, his trust in Mark absolute. Mark was glad for that because it reduced his workload of actually explaining it all to the teen.
"Kuro, come back here or I'll leave you behind" Mark called out to the kitten who was lounging near the workstation power generator, preferring the warm temperature of that place.
As soon as he called out to her, the kitten ran over to him and greeted Alan with a body rub. The younger one bent down and picked her up, one hand scratching her behind her ear.
"Do you know where the team went missing?" Alan asked after a short pause, his expression twisted into a thoughtful one. Mark nodded in agreement and sent him a party invite.
They had disbanded the previous party a short time after they had been back because of all the notifications and accidental messages that were passed through it.
The other accepted and the screen showed the party number as 3 again. Alan seemed to be looking at his system screen, more specifically the map and Mark could see the amazement and surprise in his gaze.
"What's with the mission area? It's all black for me" the younger complained, his eyes fixed on the map. Mark made his way over to the other and pinched the screen to zoom in.
Suddenly, there was a red dot that was blinking not too far from their own side.
"That's the checkpoint we need to reach. Once we're here the map will scan the area will open up for us" Mark explained to the other who understood and gave out a nod.
"I understand" the younger one gave out a node of understanding.
The HMMWV started with a purr once all three of them were secure and Mark drove out of the base as fast as he could. The outside conditions seemed not to have changed at all - still barren and crawling with mutated wildlife.
The routine came with almost excess of the east, Mark driving and Alan taking up the rear and above to shoot any monster that came too close to the vehicle to cause them harm. The easiest stop for them had been the abandoned town they had stopped before, restocking whatever they could find and things that haven't expired yet.
Honestly, it was a miracle that they even found anything at all here.
Most of the food inside the base came from the few remaining heavily protected farming settlements - the first priority of every setup base and that was the only known source. \
There was an unwritten and unspoken law that everyone obeyed though - if you found something outside, then it was yours to keep as long as you like.
So, Mark took this opportunity to raid the place and off some smaller monsters also. The material he collected was far from enough but it was something at least and he still had enough time.
The most important items on his list were more clothes, bedding and hygiene products which were far too expensive in the shop for now.
The time they spent in the town was short but well maintained and then they were off again. The area was not far, mostly due to the fact Rika's team did not have funds for anything more and this was honestly a good thing.
It would mean that they could arrive on the spot far earlier than they had planned to. Mark stepped on the gas, increasing his speed by a lot and hurried to the spot just before the area started.
He stopped at the last second and took a look in front. They were currently at the strat of a dense jungle, the trees close enough to obstruct the sunlight from reaching the ground.
The area father ahead was indistinguishable from the one they were currently at and for a normal person it would not be possible to tell where the danger began.
But Mark was not a normal person at all and he took one final look at the mission report.
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Health bar: 90/100 (status: alive) (T1: 60/100, T2: 75/100,)
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The condition was still stable, three out of four people still alive and could be saved. He started the vehicle before his system beeped again and he once again opened it.
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Health bar: 90/100 (status: alive) (T1: 60/100, T2: dead)
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Just like that, one of them had died all of a sudden and Mark blanked out.
The health points were still above 70, then why had they reduced to zero all of a sudden? What did these health points signify at all? And most importantly - can he trust them at all? Just what was he supposed to do in such a situation?
He had no answer to it and an uncertain paranoia settled over him. This mission seemed far from simple now and he had a feeling that results would not be something he would like at all.