People chatted idly around the train car. Their voices blending into a dull hum as the subway sped toward the next stop.
A girl sat stiffly in her seat, eyes darting between her phone screen and the sliding train doors.
Mikasa Rene.
“Please beware of the closing doors please.”
The doors slid open.
Mikasa bolted.
She sprinted out of the train, just as the doors shut behind her.
“Whew—!”
She bent forward, hands braced on her knees, breathing hard. Her phone buzzed.
“AHH! I ONLY HAVE FIVE MINUTES?!”
Mikasa shot up the escator, weaving through the morning crowd.
“Excuse me—sorry—pardon me!”
She burst out onto 42nd Street, the city swallowing her in noise and motion. Cars honked. People shouted. Trash lined the sidewalks.
“It should be around the corner…” she whispered.
“Your destination is two minutes away,” her phone announced cheerfully.
She turned a corner—
—SPLAT.
Cold ice cream dripped down her forehead.
“HEY! MY ICE CREAM!”
A man yelled behind her. She’d crashed into a couple mid-stride. The cone had sacrificed itself on impact.
Ice cream slid down her nose.
“M—MY APOLOGIES!” Mikasa bowed quickly.
Without waiting, she took off again.
“Your destination is right ahead.”
She slowed to a stop, chest heaving.
“Extermination station is on your right.”
She muted her phone and looked up.
“I made it…” she whispered, stretching her arms in relief.
Inside, a man sat at a desk, scribbling names onto a clipboard.
“Lacey, check. Tatsuya, check. Akari, check…”
He gnced at the empty seat.
“Mikasa…”
—BANG!
The front door flew open.
“I’M HERE! I’M HERE!”
Mikasa rushed inside.
The man blinked. “Oh! You’re Mikasa.”
He hopped down from the desk.
Mikasa looked down.
…Very down.
A very small man stood before her, waving cheerfully.
“Howdy! Name’s Ocho. Senior Executive Exterminator. I’ll be handling your group interview.”
Three boys sat inside the interview room, on three school-styled desks.
One of them—short, with brown frizzy hair. Smiled and waved enthusiastically.
“Good morning, boss! And good morning, dy!”
Mikasa waved back awkwardly.
Another boy. His head leaned on his hand, he had long blonde hair and looked bored out of his mind.
The third boy wore a baseball cap low over his face, his dark hair covering parts of his eyes.. his face expression, cold.
Mikasa quietly took the far-left seat.
“Now that you’re all here,” Ocho said, sitting, “let’s begin.”
He flipped through his papers.
“I want each of you to tell me why you want to become an exterminator. Starting with…
—Lacey.”
The short boy, Lacey shot to his feet.
“IT’S ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM TO BECOME AN EXTERMINATOR!”
Lacey yells in excitement
“I’VE ALWAYS LOVED ANIMALS AND PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT!”
He smmed a fist against his chest
The long haired boy, gets startled by Lacey’s introduction.
“I WANT TO RETURN PESTS TO THEIR NATURAL HABITATS AND CLEAN PEOPLE’S HOMES WHILE SAVING THE WORLD!”
A single tear slid down his face.
“…Excellent,” Ocho nodded.
“Akari Misura.”
The quiet boy lifted his head slowly.
“I must restore my family,” he said.
A pause.
“And kill a certain someone.”
Akira gres off in the distance.
The room went silent.
Tatsuya stared. Mikasa blinked. Lacey smiled brightly.
“Such determination!” Lacey thought.
“Fantastic!” Ocho gave a thumbs-up.
“Tatsuya?”
“Uh…” He pulled on his hair
. “I just wanted money..?”
“Great!”
Ocho cpped.
“…Wait, what?”
“And stly—Mikasa.”
Tatsuya sat back down, looking dumbfounded.
Mikasa, hesitating rose to her feet.
“My family’s struggling financially,” she said quietly. “This would be my first job. I just graduated high school.”
Rain began tapping against the window.
“I… really could use the money also…”
Ocho beamed.
“Well then—congratutions! You’re all hired!”
“YES!”
Lacey threw both of his hands into the air.
“YES! YES! YES!”
He repeated it loudly, unable to contain his excitement.
Mikasa let out a long sigh of relief.
“Wait… just like that? That quick?”
Tatsuya eyebrows raise.
“Of course,” Ocho replied.
“We’re very low on workers, and the city needs as many exterminators as possible right now.”
Ocho grabbed a jacket that had been ying over the back of his chair.
Tatsuya covered his mouth with his right hand and stared down at the floor.
“What have I gotten myself into…?”
he muttered to himself.
Akari remained silent. Staring off into space, with a dark menacing expression.
The group exited the building.
Tatsuya shook his head while waving his finger in the air, trying to signal his Uber driver.
Mikasa was already halfway down the block, walking along the sidewalk toward the train station.
Lacey waved enthusiastically at her.
“See ya, fellow exterminator! We shall put these pests back in their ecosystem!” he shouted.
BEEP! BEEP!
A car horn bred.
Lacey stood right in the middle of the ne on the street.
“Get the fuck out of the road!” a man yelled angrily from his car window.
Mikasa ughed as she waved back at Lacey.
Mikasa entered the bus terminal and swiped her MetroCard.
She walked down a few stairs and waited for the train.
As she stood there, she gnced to her right.
Akari was standing nearby.
With The same brooding eyes.
The same dark demeanor.
“Hey… Akari, right?” Mikasa said as she walked toward him.
“Hey,” he replied calmly.
“I guess we’ll be working together, huh?” Mikasa said with a friendly smile.
Akari didn’t respond.
He simply stared down at the train tracks where mice scurried along the rails.
His hand slowly clenched into a fist.
“The 7 train will be here in four minutes,” an announcement echoed through the station intercom.
Mikasa twiddled her fingers nervously. She looked up at the ceiling before gncing back at Akari.
“So…” she began, pausing for a moment.
“What other kinds of jobs have you worked?”
“None,” Akari replied.
“Just exterminating.”
His head remained lowered.
“Exterminating is all I know.”
Akari turned toward Mikasa.
His piercing blue eyes locked directly with hers.
“Akari…” Mikasa’s face softened with concern.
The bright light of the train began shining through the dark subway tunnel.
“About what you said in there… about why you wanted to become an exterminator…” Mikasa continued.
“What did you mean by that?”
She gave him a puzzled look.
Akari turned his gaze away.
The station fell quiet.
Mikasa opened her mouth as if she were about to speak again, but no words came out.
Akari stared down at the ground, clearly pondering something.
The train pulled into the station.
The doors opened and people flooded out.
“Can you stop?” a woman giggled as her boyfriend tickled her neck.
“My train is here,” Akari said.
He waited for the crowd to clear from the doors.
“Alright… well, see you ter,” Mikasa said awkwardly, raising her hand to wave goodbye.
Akari quickly stepped onto the train.
He walked over to the window and stared back at Mikasa with a bnk expression.
Mikasa stared back at him.
The train doors slid shut.
The train began moving.
Akari looked out the window at the dark subway tunnel rushing past.
“Girl, look at this,” a woman nearby, showed her phone to her friend.
“Can you believe this bitch? She’s been texting my man!”
“No way… Ashley?” her friend gasped.
“Yes, Ashley,” the woman snarled.
“When I catch that dumb hoe—”
She cpped her hands angrily.
“When I catch that dumb-ass bitch!”
She continued cpping.
“When I catch that dumb, dirty hoe, it’s on sight!”
Her phone suddenly slipped from her hand and slid across the floor.
It stopped underneath Akari’s seat.
“Oh damn,” the girl muttered.
Akari leaned forward and reached beneath his legs.
He picked up the phone and handed it back to her.
“Thank you,” she said.
She stared into Akari’s dark eyes.
The woman tensed up slightly.
“Next stop, Moody’s Point,” the train announced.
Akari stood up from his seat, preparing to leave.
“Hey, man,” the woman called out.
“Is anything wrong?”
The train doors opened.
Akari gnced back at the two girls.
“Is anything right..?”
Akari stepped off the train.
Mikasa opened the front door to her house.
“I’m home,” she called out.
“Sister!”
A small girl ran toward her.
“Miryah!” Mikasa smiled, as she lifted the child into the air.
“How are you?” she rubbed her nose gently against Miryah’s.
Miryah giggled.
Mikasa set her down and locked the front door.
“Who’s here?” Mikasa asked.
“Tommy and Papa are in their rooms,” Miryah replied.
“Dad has been…” Miryah raised her hand and pretended to drink from a bottle.
“I know,” Mikasa looked down in disappointment.
She patted Miryah on the head.
She walked upstairs toward her own room.
“Mikasa.”
A voice came from across the hall.
Mikasa turned and walked toward a half-open door.
Inside, sat a rge shirtless man. In a filthy, cluttered room.
He took a long drink from an alcohol bottle.
“Did you get that job?” he asked.
“Yes, Dad. I did,” Mikasa replied, her voice slightly shaky.
“Good.”
The man set the bottle down on the stained carpet.
“Because I don’t got enough damn money to be supportin’ all of y’all.”
He shifted around on the bed.
“Stuff is expensive… and y’all… y’all gotta start pullin’ your weight around here,” he slurred drunkenly.
Mikasa nodded quietly.
She rolled her eyes slightly and began backing away toward the hallway.
“Too many damn kids…” the man muttered.
“I didn’t even want all these kids…”
Mikasa walked into her room and shut the door.
She took a deep breath.
In.
-ZZZZDDDDDDD-
Her phone vibrated.
A notification appeared.
A text message.
Mikasa tapped it and read:
“Hey, it’s Ocho. I put all you guys in a group chat..Your first day starts tomorrow. We’ll be taking the company’s van.”
The following day, a red van, spray-painted with the words “ Extermination Station Clean Up Crew CCC,” sits outside of Mikasa’s home. She closes the door and leaves her house, making her way across the street.
Mikasa enters the van’s back door. Akari and Lacey are seated on the van floor.
“Hello guys, good morning,” Mikasa says shyly.
“Good morning, Mikasa”
Lacey smiles
“Our team’s journey finally commences.”
He announced
“THE CLEAN UP CREW SHALL BRING BALANCE TO PEST AND HUMANS!” Lacey shouts.
Mikasa giggles, sitting across from the two men. Akari sits in silence, looking at his phone.
“BRINGING BALANCE TO THE ECOSYSTEM!” Lacey attempted to stand up but hits his head on the ceiling.
Tatsuya rolls his eyes from the front seat.
“I’m gd I got everyone in here,” Ocho announces. “It’s time for our first expedition.” He starts up the van.
The group drives off
“What are we gonna be doing?” Mikasa asked
“Well, we get requests from different people, usually going to a family’s home, pce of work, etcetera, etcetera.”
“Hmm,” Mikasa hums, looking around. She darts her eyes at the quiet Akari.
“I think today…” Ocho reaches for the glove compartment. “Tatsuya, can you grab that paper that’s on the right side?” Ocho pointed.
Tatsuya has his head resting on his fist, looking very annoyed. He reaches his arm into the glove compartment, grabbing the paper.
“Can you read what’s on the top of the paper, please? Under the daily task column?” Ocho smiles.
Tatsuya looks down at the paper.
“It says… the Haruko family, address 244-27… Roachdale Street?” Tatsuya says, confused.
“Ahh yes. They used to call it Rochdale but since the infestation of roaches in town, they’ve been calling it Roachdale, ha ha,” Ocho ughs.
“Roaches? Did you say roaches? I used to study roaches in high school,” Lacey smiles widely.
Tatsuya looks back at Lacey, bewildered.
“Yes! The most common pest people get are the little cockroaches. Those motherfuckers,” Ocho snarls.
Mikasa looks at Akari again.
“Cockroaches, the little, little cockroaches,” Lacey repeats.
“Hey Akari, have you… exterminated roaches before?” Mikasa asked.
Akari looks over at Mikasa. “Maybe a few,” Akari replies.
“But I don’t care much for most of these pests.” Akari’s face scrunches.
“My interest… is in rats!” Akari’s face is filled with anger.
Mikasa looks at him, concerned, pondering his words.
“We’re here,” Ocho drives down a dead-end block and parked the v.
The group pulls up to a white and
“This is the house.” Ocho unlocks the car doors. “Let’s get out and see the family.” Ocho looks upon the ordinary-looking house.
The group gets out of the car. Akari and Lacey go to the back of the van, while Ocho, Tatsuya, and Mikasa walk up the front steps of the house. Akari unlocks the trunk of the van. He unzips a case full of items.
Ocho rings the doorbell. Birds are chirping on the bright, scorching hot Saturday morning.
Mikasa peeks behind her as Akari and Lacey walk up the house steps, holding some type of gear.
“What are those?” Mikasa looks at the weird-shaped tools.
Akari is holding what looks like a giant razor and a satchel bag around his shoulder. Lacey is holding some type of fmethrower.
“My weapon,” Akari replies. He takes the bag strapped around his chest and gives it to Ocho.
Tatsuya looks at Akari and Lacey with confusion.
“Thank you, Akari,” Ocho unzips the bag.
“Okay, so Tatsuya and Mikasa… this is your guys’ first time. Unlike Akari and Lacey…” Ocho rubs his goatee.
“Mainly, you guys are just going to be observing today, getting the feel of what’s to come.”
Ocho shuffles through the satchel. He takes out something, an item.
“I got some gear for you two as well.”
Ocho hands Mikasa what looks like a giant toothbrush and toothpaste. Mikasa examines the life-sized toothbrush and paste. Ocho then hands Tatsuya a medium-sized machete.
“A machete?” Tatsuya is puzzled. “Is this really necessary?” He looks at the weapon from side to side.
“Is this even roach repellent stuff? Shouldn’t we just have, like… I don’t know… some Raid or something? What is all this?” Tatsuya asked., confused by all of the bizarre gadgets.
“Ahh, but these pests do get tricky, Tatsuya.” Ocho wiggles his finger. “Some of them are very, very crafty.” He grins.
Lacey steps back a bit from the group, off the patio. He points his weapon, his finger resting on the trigger.
— POOoooF —
Fmes start coming out of the nozzle.
“WHAT?? ARE THOSE FLAMES?” Tatsuya grabs his head, shocked by what he’s seeing.
Tatsuya looks at Ocho. “Hey Ocho, this has to be some type of a joke, right?”
Tatsuya looks at him, chuckling. “Why the hell does he have a fmethrower? You guys are crazy…”
Tatsuya darts his eyes around.
A woman finally answers the door, tears running down her face with a runny nose.
“Hello,” the womans voice shaken.
“You must be Ms. Haruko.” Ocho hands her a few tissues from his jacket. Nice to meet you. We’re the CCC Extermination Crew.” Lacey waves his hand.
“Yes.” The woman blows her nose. She opens the door widely. “Please come in.”
The group walks inside the home, standing in the living room. A man walks from the kitchen.
“Hello, I’m Mr. Haruko. I’m gd you guys are here.” The man puts his arm around his disheveled wife.
“Hello,” Mikasa tilts her head.
“Where are the roaches?” Lacey looks around excitedly.
“Yes, well, they’re in the attic,” Mr. Haruko points to the stairs.
Ms. Haruko sniffles, still saddened. Mr. Haruko gets next to her and pats her on the back.
“This roach infestation has caused some problems for my family in the st few weeks..My kids stayed up there as they wanted more privacy, and this is a small house… but the roach problem had gotten so bad, we had to send our teenage daughters to my mother’s house.”
The man shook his head.
“Is it really that bad?” Mikasa looks upward.
Mr. Haruko holds his wife’s head to his chest, consoling her.
“It is awful. They’re everywhere…” the woman stresses. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tears run down her face.
“Well don’t worry, we’ll get this done for you,” Ocho smiles.
Tatsuya sucks his teeth.
Mr. Haruko guides the group up to the attic. They walk up a flight of stairs, and then Mr. Haruko points at a string attached to the ceiling.
“This is it. I don’t wish to go any further.” Mr. Haruko steps back.
“Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here,” Ocho says, looking at Mr. Haruko.
The man nods his head and leaves the room.
Ocho pulls the rope string, and a stack of stairs reveals itself.
“These people are really dramatic,” Tatsuya, looking around annoyed.
“All this over some roaches… you gotta be kidding me, right?” He power walks up the steps.
“Hey Tatsuya, slow down,” Lacey walks behind him.
Akari and Mikasa bump into each other trying to walk up the attic.
“Oh, sorry,” Mikasa says.
Akari gestures for Mikasa to walk first.
“Thank you,” she awkwardly looks to the side.
The group goes into the attic.
The attic looks normal — an empty, clean space with two beds, a mirror, a TV, two dressers, and a closet.
“I don’t even see anything…” Tatsuya looks around.
“Be careful, Tatsuya. These pests are crafty,” Lacey points his fmethrower around.
Mikasa looks around, peering under one of the teenagers’ beds.
“It doesn’t appear to be that bad?” Mikasa scratches her face.
Akari stands by a window, looking uninterested.
“You see? It was never that serious,” Tatsuya excims.
He opens a closet door. He looks inside and sees a small roach in the corner.
“Well, there’s a little one right here.” He looks down.
Tatsuya attempts to step on it, but it swiftly moves away into the back of the closet.
Ocho uses some type of magnifying gss, analyzing the ground for some type of droppings on the floor.
“It’s definitely something up here,” Ocho squints his eyes.
Suddenly, Tatsuya stumbles backward out of the closet.
“GET ’EM OFF ME! GET ’EM OFF ME!” Tatsuya yells, trying to wipe something off.
The group becomes armed. Ocho looks over at Tatsuya with a puzzled expression. Mikasa and Lacey run toward him.
Tatsuya bumps into the wall, flicking at his sweater with his hands.
“GET THESE FUCKING THINGS OFF ME!” Tatsuya screams out, panicking.
Mikasa and Lacey just look at him.
Mikasa tilts her head to the right.
“What’s on you? We don’t see anything,” Lacey looks confused.
Tatsuya wipes and wipes and wipes with his hands, but the group sees nothing. Nothing is visible on his body.
Mikasa and Lacey look at each other, unsure what to do.
Ocho comes over to them. He grabs something from inside his jacket, taking out a vial. He twists the top of the tube and throws what’s inside at Tatsuya.
Tatsuya gets dosed with some type of liquid. He flinches.
Something starts to appear, jumping off his body.
“Are those the roaches?” Mikasa stares.
A swarm of roaches becomes visible to the group. The roaches are rger than usual, sporting red glowing eyes and dark smoke coming from their bodies.
Behind Ocho, Akari’s weapon starts emitting electricity as he stares at the creatures.
The group begins circling around each other.
Lacey holds tight onto his fme gun. Tatsuya awkwardly picks up and holds his machete.
“What are these things?” Tatsuya’s body tenses.
Mikasa looks around, worried.
Ocho seems confused about something.
“I’m noticing that these roaches may not be real,” Ocho looking around again..
A few of the roaches try to crawl up to Tatsuya and bite him.
Tatsuya swings his machete at them.
“How are they not real? They’re literally trying to attack us!” Tatsuya hides behind Mikasa.
More roaches come crawling toward them.
Mikasa swings her thick toothbrush side to side at the roaches.
“They are real in the sense that we can see them and they can hurt us. However, they’re not actually here. Someone’s using some type of mind-control technique on us,” Ocho expins.
Ocho pulls out another vial and spritzes liquid at the bugs, causing the roaches to back away from the group a little.
“Mind control?” Mikasa thinks to herself.
The roaches surround the group, hopping slightly. The bck smoke emitting from the roaches’ bodies, fills the air.
A group of roaches attempts to lunge at them.
Mikasa and the group begin bracing themselves.
A blue light shines. Electricity starts whisking across the floor.
Akari’s razor weapon is plunged into the ground, electrocuting the roaches.
“Akari!” Lacey shouts. “Don’t hurt all of them!” he protests.
Akari pulls his razor back into his hand, waving the electricity at the roaches.
“We can’t resort to just killing them. I want to capture them and set them free,” Lacey pouts.
Akari stops. He looks at Lacey for a moment, with a smugged look.
Some roaches hop onto Akari’s back and shoulders. Akari looks back and tries wiping them off.
The roaches start to get angrier, trying to get closer to the group.
“We have to tell ourselves that they’re not real,” Ocho closes his eyes. “Drill it into your minds. That’s the only way to stop this.”
The group begins closing their eyes and then opening them, trying to make sure the roaches aren’t too close.
“They aren’t real. They aren’t real. They aren’t real,” Lacey repeats in his head.
Tatsuya closes his eyes, then opens them again, waving the machete around.
Mikasa stands still, breathing deeply in and out.
Akari stares deeply at the roaches, watching them scatter and move around.
Akari continues to stare.
The roaches start vibrating in Akari’s vision. The red light from their eyes begins shining brighter.
Akari continues to stare.
The roaches stop moving and then suddenly disappear.
Ocho opens his eyes.
Tatsuya looks around, scanning the room.
“They’re gone?” Tatsuya checks under the bed and around the floor.
“They are gone. They were never real,” Ocho stretches his arms.
Mikasa, Lacey, and Tatsuya breathe easier, rejoicing that there are no more roaches.
Akari dispels his electrical razor. He stands there silently.
“Now that we uncovered they’re trick, they shouldn’t come back here.. but we still need to find the source,”
Ocho walks around the attic.
“The source? What do you mean?” Tatsuya looks at Ocho.
“Someone’s controlling these things…..will find out who soon enough”
Ocho touches the floorboard.
The group come down the attic stairs. Tatsuya has a spooked look on his face as the group walks down to the main floor of the house.
“Thank you so much,” Ms. Haruko bows her head. Her husband stands beside her, smiling.
“No problem. You guys should have no more roach issues after this,” Ocho gives them a thumbs-up.
The group exits the house, walking to the company van.
“You guys completed your first group task together. Tomorrow will be your training day,” Ocho does a little dance as he opens the van door.
Mikasa looks over at Akari. Akari has a bnk expression.
They get into the van.
Tatsuya staggers behind the group, stopping on the way to the van. His head faces down toward the ground.
“I need to find a new job ASAP!” Tatsuya whimpers.
