Chapter 30: Picking Them Off

                                    

                                          
"Wooooo! This garbage stinks!" XII (#12) exclaimed as he dragged one of two trash bags to the dumpster behind the Dark Stake hill bunker for disposal. 
"Ugh.....this garbage stinks....." XIII (#13) repeated in a more negative tone, trudging behind his hyperactive partner while carrying the second of the two. "How much farther to the bin?"
"Not far now, my overly-cynical friend! Soon, we'll be able to return this waste to the Earth, where it can be reconstructed into something new!"
".....That's the recycling, XII. This is just trash."
"......What happens to trash?"
"It gets sent off to a landfill and never used again."
"......Oh. Well, we're still making a lot of space in the bunker, which is good, 'cause there's a lot of us." XII then took a huge sniff of the garbage bag, much to XIII's disgust. "Ahhh.....you smell that, XIII? Such an appalling smell brings back lovely memories of that wildfire at the Hoia Forest that we caused the other day! Flames erupting, smoke billowing, nature burning, animals running for their lives.....and the best part? The Enclave's beloved 'Crown Princess' was in the middle of it all! AND we never got caught! Have you ever seen something so wondrous?"
"I can think of three other things," XIII countered with an eye roll. "Can we just get to the dumpster already? I'm about to give out." As the two of them kept moving, XIII then changed the subject. "Did you hear that XIV and XV were murdered last night? Reports claim that it was a human, not a vampire."
"Grimsby and his assistant? From Grimsby's Guns? Pfffft," XII responded. "We should be celebrating their lives, not mourning them! They died in the service of the Dark Stake, and for us, there can be no higher honor! Besides, I'm sure their case will be closed quickly. Until then, we should do our best to continue our mission!"
"Literally nothing phases you......unbelievable."
"Ooooh! Look, look, look! We're almost at the dumpster, XIII! Just a few more steps, then we can have a nice, chill trek back around the hill, without these heavy bags to worry about!"
The two clashing Dark Stake members both approached the garbage bin, slung their garbage bags over their shoulders, and chucked the trash into the container in one fell swoop, wiping their hands off after they were done. 
Just then, X (#10)—the one who usually looked after Garson at the bunker—also met up with them. "What are you guys doing?" he asked impatiently. "If one of the others had done it, it wouldn't have taken nearly as long!"
"It's never enough....." XIII muttered. "Someone always has to complain....."
"Hey, X, cut us some slack, man!" XII added. "We're new to this stuff, so we're still getting the hang of things! No one ever did anything perfectly on the very first try, right?"
"I'm going to ask Frank to reassign the both of you if you don't start improving," X admonished. 
"Mmm, I'm afraid that's going to be a 'no' from me, my main man! Frank ordered us to work together because of how much we clash! And I'm vibing with it, so no complaining here!"
".....Help me," XIII said. "This guy over here is insufferable."
"Insufferably awesome!" XII argued. 
X eventually reached the end of his rope. "Enough! Come on.....we can't be out here for too long. You already heard that XIV and XV were murdered, right? And that the suspect's still at large? Better for us to get back inside the bunker, where it's safe."