Caden was awoken by the loud echoing voice of a middle-aged woman. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, to find that most of his roommates were already up. 

"Hurry up people" The woman continued, clapping her hands "We don't have all day"

The last two people couldn't sleep any longer with all the chatter in the room, added by the woman's clapping. Caden got up from his mattress, folded it and placed it in the corner along with everyone else's and followed the people back to the woman. 

"Better get used to this, because this is what your mornings are going to look like," She said loudly with a southern accent "No room to be lazy and slack around"

Caden looked around for Renee while the woman continued blabbing, who he found standing in the corner. She spotted him too and waved at him with a small smile before signalling him to pay attention to the woman. 

"...After you return from your shower, you will find slips of folded papers with your names on them. They will contain your duties for the day" 

With that the lady left without another word, clearly knowing that everyone here had doubts to ask. Caden sighed and went towards Renee. 

"Hey," She said when she saw him approach "How'd you sleep" 

"Pretty good," Caden said. "Any idea where we need to go for a shower?" 

"No, but the lady said there'll be signboards to guide us" She replied. 

"Ok, great," He said, unable to find any other suitable response. "Shall we head out?" 

Renee nodded and they left the room. Caden immediately started looking around for the signboards, which he soon found were located at the end of every hall. He also found out that each dorm room had been named, his and Renee's being called "DR#201". 

"Absurd names, huh?" Caden asked while Renee simply nodded in response. They eventually reached the shower room, which had a huge basket placed outside with the label 'Clean Attires'. 

"I guess we should just pick one that fits closest," Renee said as she began digging inside the basket. Caden soon joined her and the two ended up with sweatpants and t-shirts, which seemed to be the only type of clothes that were available. 

They quickly showered and Renee began strutting towards the dorm room. 

"Why are you so tense?" Caden questioned, keeping up with her pace. 

"We're late. We're not supposed to be this late for our tasks" Renee said, trying to walk even faster. 

"Relax, I'm sure we'll be fine," Caden said, but to no use as Renee seemed tense throughout the journey back. When they opened the door, they found most of the dorm members already opening up their chits and leaving for their work. 

Caden picked up both his and Renee's slip and brought them to her. 

"What'd you get?" Caden inquired while reading his own. 

"Huh? Oh, I got laundry" She said while rolling her eyes. "What about you?" 

"Kitchen" He replied. 

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the evening," She said while crumbling up her slip. She wasn't going to need it anymore.

Caden nodded and for the first time since they met, they turned their separate paths. 

»»————-　☠　————-««

Gabriella watched as two of her team members walked out the door, and she was secretly happy they were the ones to leave. They were the only juniors in the team and she felt it would be unfair for them to get this opportunity earlier than the seniors. 

But Gabriella was self-aware, she knew this wasn't a promotion and that tomorrow she'd get back to work as usual, but she didn't mind as long as she got the experience. 

"Alright" Arthur started, "Now that we're all here, I'll be giving you instructions" 

All heads instantly turned in his direction, looking at him keenly.

"Today, I will be attending meetings with some other members regarding some damage control that is to be done in the near future" He explained "So while I'm away, I will need you four to handle my other tasks"

"But chief, don't you usually join us on rescue missions?" Janelle questioned. 

"In the daytime, yes, but during the nights I take on other duties" He replied. 

"What other duties?" 

"That is what I'll be explaining right now," he said "I know, it's going to be hard to explain all this so quickly, considering I need to leave soon. That's why I made four of you stay back, it'll reduce the chances of you screwing up"

Everyone nodded as Arthur gave them the password to his laptop and began explaining everything. Well, explaining was a very generous term. He showed them around his laptop, where the files were and all and went on his way, not mentioning exactly what they were supposed to do. 

"What are we supposed to do now?" Edmund asked after Arthur left. 

"I guess we just open the files and try to make sense of it" Gabriella suggested. She got dirty looks from people because it was a bad plan and could end up in them wasting time, but no one argued as they had no better plans. 

Gabriella gently pushed Edmund away from the laptop and started looking through the files to assert dominance while the others craned their necks to be able to view the laptop. She knew she hadn't accomplished much, but something about having everyone flock around her like they usually would with Arthur gave her a sense of pride.

»»————-　☠　————-««

Caden spent his whole day in the kitchen. He initially thought it wouldn't take so long to cook, but only after entering the kitchen did he realize he had to cook for a huge number of people and meals had to be provided three times a day. 

He spent all morning getting yelled at by another cook who seemed to find fault with everything Caden did. Luckily, she disappeared by the late afternoon.

Caden was told supplies come in at a random quantity, so most times their main task was cooking with what ingredients they had.

 Caden opened the pantry and found his bag of supplies in there which made him feel proud. He picked it up and took it to the stove. The kitchen wasn't equipped to make anything too fancy, so for lunch, Caden decided to make sandwiches with all the bread he and Renee got from the cafe. 

Also, he knew Gabriella loved the sandwiches he made, so he hoped she would get the meal he was preparing and not anyone else's. But, there was a low chance of that happening considering how many people were in the kitchen cooking. 

"What're you making?" Someone beside him asked. 

"Sandwiches" He replied matter-of-factly and peered over the man to see him making the same thing with a different kind of bread and different toppings. Caden chuckled to himself and continued his work, anxiously looking at the clock. 

When it came to the safe house, he couldn't just 'go' after a specific amount of time, he had to finish all his work, which included not only making but packing these sandwiches in paper boxes which would later be distributed outside every room.  

He wondered if Gabriella made any progress in retrieving his weapons. She once explained to him how the system inside the military works, which made him aware that she didn't really have much to say on the matter and that didn't bother Caden. All he needed was to know where the weapons were being stored, and within a few days, he'd be able to sneak them back. 

He packed in the last sandwich with all these thoughts in his head and placed them on a counter from where they'll be taken for distribution later. 

He walked back to his room, exhausted but his heart soared at the thought of seeing Renee again.

Author's note: Hey guys! How are you enjoying the story so far? Lemme know in the comments! Make sure to vote and add this book to your library so you never miss an update ;)