NEW FLESH

CHAPTER THREE: TRAINERS

AS soon as Stan was past the two doors Josi let out a large exhale of air she'd been holding in, "I told you" Margo mumbled her eyes still chasing after the words on the pages below her, "stop being a smart ass" Josi grumbled, Margo rolled her eyes turning to the next page in her book. "You're just mad that I know how to get around him" she retorted her tone neutral as she let her eyes wander over the bordering page.

Josi glanced at Mitch letting her eyes take in his figure once more, "I bet you're good in bed, aren't you?" someone cleared their throat from behind them drawing all but Margo's attention, "how was the lecture Josh?" she looked up from her book cocking her head slightly, he feigned a humorous look before offering her a frown, "you could've at least told me he was coming", Margo shrugged her shoulders feeling no regret over her decisions.

"And Josi- I really wish I hadn't heard that" he sighed, she rolled her eyes returning her gaze to Mitch, "you didn't answer the question" she spoke, he seemed visibly unbothered but as if he didn't want to answer. "no comment". Josi frowned and turned her attention back to Margo's hair. Aching for dinner, Josi did her best to finish braiding Margo's hair as quickly as possible before lunging off the bed and making her way to the exit, she glanced back at them waiting for the three of them to follow, "are you guys coming?" she questioned.

Josh nodded watching as Mitch and Margo both got up from their spots and followed behind her, Margo still held her book in hand reading as they went, Mitch watched as she went up the steps half expecting her to trip and faceplant- it was almost as if he wanted to prevent it from happening- but she flawlessly navigated the stairs taking a deep inhale as they stepped outside the smell of the trees bombing their senses.

"You're going to end up tripping one of these days" Josi stated as they walked around the side of the house to the front lawn, "highly unlikely but keep wishing" Margo mumbled turning to the next page, "what are you even reading?" Josh glanced from where he walked beside Josi to try and catch the title of said book, "war and peace" Margo replied casting him a brief look of annoyment- her way of attempting to tell him to leave her alone.

He quickly turned back to face the area ahead of him wondering what went on in the girl's mind half the time, Mitch glanced at her from the corner of his eye watching as her eyes flicked from line to line as she soaked up all the words like a sponge.

"How many times have you read that one?" Mitch asked, with an exaggerated sigh Margo closed her book and tucked it beneath her arm, glancing at him she answered, "over twelve times".

He didn't reply and instead averted his gaze back to what lay ahead of them as they approached the porch where the man from earlier was serving the regular terribly made sandwiches they had all learned to get over long ago.

Approaching the man they each received a single sandwich, Mitch, looking at it as if it was any other regular sandwich; he was in for a taste bud destroying surprise.

As soon as they'd found a spot to settle in Mitch took his sandwich in his hands and brought it to his mouth to take a bite. With what could only be determined as half-smirk and half-grin Josh watched on in fascination as he took his first bite. They all watched as his face slightly scrunched up in revulsion before he roughly swallowed and set the odd piece of food back onto his plate.

"Good?" Josi smiled, he didn't respond and took a few moments to try and clear his mouth of the taste, realizing he was currently the center of attention in their small group he grabbed the sandwich off of his plate and took another bite making it look like he didn't care much about the taste- Margo tried not to smirk at the whole situation- she liked watching people suffering, small amounts and big amounts alike, this was one of those moments- she found it rather entertaining to try and watch him handle the sandwich normally.

The others ate theirs with little to no problem discussing the next days training like it was regular routine to them- in which case it technically was- Mitch didn't say anything and immediately headed back to the barracks once he was done with his dinner. Margo popped open her book in her lap and read as she ate trying her best to ignore Josi and Josh's conversation, they were both talking about Mitch and how he seemed like a pretty stand-offish person.

Margo tried her best to not roll her eyes, Josi was always gossiping about people and after having to listen to it all the time it got annoying quite quickly, that's why she enjoyed getting to head out into the woods with one of her books- she got away from Josi and all the noise making it much easier for her to peacefully read. However, this year things felt different, she could almost feel that she wasn't going to get much peaceful reading in, if anything; she felt there would be more adventure this time around.

She didn't think much more about it and instead continued to read knowing they'd have to return to the barracks soon where it would be pitch black and she would be unable to see anything- including the pages in her bookmaking her toss and turn with the restlessness of the night.

When they all did finally head back she closed her book to try and separate herself from it as they made their way back to the barracks to get some sleep before training the next day, Josi and Josh had quieted down from their drama and seemed to be trying to prepare for the day that was to come after the night they were about to experience.

Glancing over her shoulder, Margo could see Eric leaving the house and bounding down the stairs to return to the barracks like the rest of them. She wondered what he'd been helping Stan with that the rest of them couldn't be told about, however, she didn't question it aloud due to the fact it was none of her business and would quite possibly remain that way.

Slipping through the two doors they all made their way to their separate beds so settle in for the night, Margo slipped into her own bed-sitting atop the small blanket each bed offered while she carefully pulled her hair out of the braids they'd been put in, Mitch turned to face his bed after pulling something from his footlocker. Dragging his shirt over his head and pulling his arms free of the sleeves he tossed his shirt onto the top of his bed and pulled on the shirt he'd grabbed from his locker.

Adjusting the neckline he set the shirt he'd tossed onto his bed into his footlocker and closed it behind him before slipping into his own bed, he didn't sleep much that night- he never did, even in his own bed- but this time around it seemed more like something- or someone- was keeping him awake, almost as if his brain was still trying to process everything and get up to speed.

Margo laid awake beneath her blanket listening to the sounds of the others as they finished getting ready for bed, Eric slipped into the room silently heading over to his bed two spots to the right of Josh, Margo stared up at the ceiling knowing tomorrow would be an interesting day, the locals- recruits that had already been placed on the Orion ops team but were required to stay for training- would get to see the freshies fighting stances and styles.

What she didn't know was that Mitch was going to bring a whole new style she'd only seen a few times to the table; one that would leave everyone questioning just how far he would be willing to go in order to complete the mission.

The first thing Margo did when she heard the footsteps outside was climb out of bed, Stan barged in with his gun pumping shots into the ceiling as he did so, his eyes flicked over Margo for a few seconds before he fired more shots and watched as the rest of the recruits and team members alike bolted out of bed, grumbling as he did so, Mitch climbed out of bed only for Stan to meet him face to face their breath hitting each other's faces.

"You have something you wanna say to me son?", listening to the exchange Margo could easily tell that Stan was looking for a reason- any reason- to get rid of Rapp, he shook his head a frown making its way onto his soft lips.

Turning to face the other side of the bedroom, Stan raised his gun into the air and fired two more shots into the ceiling, "you have thirty seconds, be ready!" he called out as he passed through the exit and out into the yard, letting out a sigh, Mitch turned to face his footlocker rubbing his eyes as he pulled it open and began to rummage through the contents.

Margo went to her own footlocker quietly pulling out a pair of cargo pants and a medium lengthed blacktop, she let her gaze wander from person to person as they got ready her brain trying to pick out who the biggest threats would be, she let the small list process as she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it onto her bed.

Glancing over to see what she was doing, Mitch immediately looked away feeling as if he'd seen something he shouldn't have- mind the fact that she had her back facing everyone and had a sports bra on- pulling his pants off from the previous day he quickly changed into his jeans.

Margo slipped off her own pair of pants from the day prior slipping her cargo pants on with ease before she pulled on her pair of black converse high tops- she'd had them for a little over a year, a birthday gift from Irene- lacing them up she made way for the exit instantly noticing she was the first one to be ready to go. Glancing at her watch she let a small click of her tongue- the others only had two minutes left- looking over her shoulder to where Josi was getting ready she could tell she would be one of the last ones out.

She crossed the room and slipped through the double doors- the door being the generous term- and waited in Stans vicinity for the others to file out, Mitch and Eric were the next ones out followed by Josh who almost face-planted as he hopped outside still trying to tie his shoe while walking. Stan let his eyes wander from his watch to the next person to file out keeping track of who was late and who wasn't.

Josi was the third to last person out trying her best to go unnoticed as she sidled up beside Margo, Stan checked his watch before making a gesture some would perceive as "follow me" or "come on", completely silent he led them out of the yard and past the house into the woods, Margo looked up at the trees her eyes lingering on a few birds that fluttered in the branches.

He stopped in a small clearing staring off into the middle of the said area as they all formed a loose circle, he pointed at one of the locals a few spots down from Margo and Josi, his name was Jamie if she remembered correctly, glancing to the person beside him he pointed at his chest wondering if Stan was talking to him or someone else.

NEW FLESH

CHAPTER THREE: TRAINERS