CH-11: First Mission (4)

"Just the first day and we encountered an Aberration already. I don't know if this is considered good or bad luck, what if there is another?" Jayden expressed his concerns.

"There shouldn't be." Sean assured him. "Ms. Hudson used to say that Aberrations are extremely territorial. We can spend the night here with no problem. Maybe even the next."

"That's true. It should take some time before Abominations notice that the Aberration is gone." Tyson affirmed Sean.

Klein had gone to bring back their backpacks which they left where they set up the tree trap.

He came back with five other backpacks when Latoya and Tyson were going to grill the meat of the Abomination.

"Can we even eat that?" Klein asked. "I don't want my teeth to break."

"It's edible. And since you've brought back the backpacks now we can also season it!" (T)

"How was it out there?" Sean asked. "The illusion I mean. We will probably have to reinspect the way we came from."

"It's not that bad. I guess one of the reasons we defeated this one so easily is that it kept up the illusion of oasis while fighting with you. After it died, the illusion also collapsed." Klein explained. "While the outer parts were mostly an illusion, the vicinity of it's nest is real. Quite big actually."

"Enough of this damned Aberration please, I would rather have a Rank 1 Red physical type chasing me than facing another Aberration like this." (J)

"That I agree on!" Samantha joined Jayden in expressing their disgust towards the creature. "Although it was a psychic, my whole body is sore from tanking those kicks. I'm lucky I didn't face it alone. What about you Sean, you looked quite experienced in rodeo."

"Heh, I often rode my neighboor's dogs when I was little. They were domesticated Rank 1 Abominations, so they were quite huge. Until Ms. Hudson saw me when she was coming back from shopping. I couldn't get a ride since."

"This Ms. Hudson you speak of seems to have an experience with Abominations,was she an Evolver?" (L)

"Yeah, she used to be a 4th Rank Evolver. At least that's what she says. After an accident that crippled her, she retired and opened an orphanage. She would often tell her stories and give advice. She used to work at Nitefall, maybe you know her."

"Doesn't ring any bells."

"Well, technically she's a grandma already. It's not a big surprise." Then he smelled something burning. " Guys! The meat! Take it out, quick!"

But it was too late. The precious meat of a Green Aberration was burnt to a crisp, with the majority of it being charred. Though there was one person who smiled happily and seemingly enjoyed devouring charred meat. It was the leader of the team, Latoya, who was also in charge of the cooking. The five gave her incredulous looks, as if she was mad. She finally noticed them when she finished the drumstick she was eating.

"What? I like my meat well-done." The group couldn't find words to say something after that, except Klein of course.

"It is well-done indeed. More well-charred than charcoal! I will take over the rest of the cooking; you can rest."

With that he shooed away the cooking duo, and started cooking another batch of meats.

"Why am I also being shooed?"

"Why you ask, Tyson. It's because you can't focus on something if it doesn't have anything to do about fighting Abominations. Seriously, how hard is it to watch some meats!"

It seemed Klein took his meals seriously. He started cooking the remaining meat meticulously. Soon enough fragrant scent of meat filled the air.

GROOWL!

"Abomination attack, in position!" Latoya yelled. No one moved. Except Samantha who seemed to be trying to sink into the dirt.

"That... that was my stomach. It wasn't an Abomination attack." Samantha meekly said.

At that both of the girls' faces were red. Samantha didn't know if she should be more embarrassed about it being so loud or Latoya mistaking it with an Abomination. She wanted nothing other than bury herself right now. Thank Harsen, or Jayden in this situation, he was a master of shifting gears.

"That reminds me of that time I went to a diner with one of my girlfirends. She was a real beauty. She had a tiny, little, cute beauty mark just below her right eye. Her blonde hair would gracefully sway in the wind. Her voice was melodic as birds chirping. But when it came to eating she would eat like a pig! My poor wallet couldn't handle it, so I told her to be a little bit moderate. Do you know what she said to me?"

"That you use your mouth as much as she does?" Klein said while he was flipping the meats. The guy surprisingly made time to diss Jayden no matter what he was doing. For the first time Jayden didn't take it lying down.

"No, she said her ex would buy anything she wanted to eat! Of course your virgin ass wouldn't know how would it feel to be compared to an ex."

Before it could turn into a fight, Sean deescalated the situation.

"So. Who is taking the first shift? I'm okay with being first, but still need a pair you know."

"I'm okay with going first too." Samantha said.

"Then the shifts are Sean and Samantha first, me and Jayden second, Latoya and Klein last.

How does it sound?"

"It's alright with me." (L)

"I'm okay with whatever." (K)

"It doesn't really matter for me either. One of my girlfirends used to call me to her house in the most absurd times, so I'm used to it." (J)

"Alright then. Let's eat and rest. We still have three days to go. Klein, when will the meat be ready?"

"In a few moments. I know it smells good, but don't be impatient."

The meat was ready in five minutes just like Klein said it would. The six of them heartily ate the truly well-done meat. Normally, one couldn't just eat an Abomination's meat. It could lead to several ailments. Only Evolvers of the same rank or higher would eat the meat of an Abomination without worry, but there was an exception to it as it was with everything. Meats of Abomination's that looked like wild animals tended to be edible for even the general population.

After eating their fill, they set up tents, and everyone went to sleep except for Sean and Samantha. The night was chilly so they stayed near the fire, occasionally adding wood so it would last. They talked about this and that before time to wake up Tyson and Jayden came. After waking the two up, they too went to sleep. It was a peaceful night.

Sean woke up at sunrise. Waking up later than he used to when they were training in the camp showed how tiring the previous day had been. He opened up his tent after stretching, only to find Klein making breakfast with the rations they were given before they departed.

"Morning." Said Sean. Noticing the absence of his pair, he asked Klein. "Where is Latoya?"

"Bathing," the boy said. He had unimaginably replied as a normal person, before going back to his normal. "What, want to join her?"

"Dude, don't project your desires on to me. I peeped at girls enough that it would last me my whole life." Before he could brag more a voice cut him.

"I didn't know you were a perv." It was Latoya, who were drying her hair.

"Hey, they peeped at me first!" The little trouble maker Sean was someone who wouldn't let any slights pass him. He would return any grievance tenfold! Thankfully he grew out of that mentality. It was exhausting to bother with people that was not worth it

The rest of the group waked up one by one. After having breakfast, Latoya spread the map they were given.

"We started here," she said, pointing somewhere near the lower-left corner of the map. " Yesterday we inspected this area, making us nearly cover a third of our sector. I think we should divide into two teams and cover the rest today, we can reinspect the part we came from when we return."

"Sounds good to me." Tyson agreed.

They had advanced pretty fast yesterday, and hunted the Aberration with brief planning saved them time. They would finish it today and would make plans to hunt the Abominations that they would find, then hunt them one by one tomorrow. They would lastly check where they came from the last day, but there wouldn't be any Abominations as it was the territory of the Aberration not long ago.

After collecting the tents, they set off in two teams. Sean was with Samantha and Klein while the other team was Latoya, Tyson and Jayden. They searched for clues to any Abomination activity, until Latoya's walkie talkie received a call. It was Sean who was talking.

"Guys, we found an Abomination."