Somewhat sheltered from the snowstorm, Sigma squad tries to contact command while finding a place to stay warm for the night as the temperature drops drastically below freezing. Hilarity ensues!
Chapter 10: Warm Winter Night
Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone
Subdivisions
Rush
The stale, musty air had unsettled to noise of clambering, echoing down a hallway from a room that apparently was at one time a kitchen.
Cole was rummaging in the pantry, pulling out cans while checking the expiration dates and the contents in them. Sven was on the other side of the kitchen, pulling out pots and pans from the cabinet and placing them on the counter, stacking them one on top of the other.
"No…no…no…shit," Cole grumbled to himself as he glanced through the cans one at a time, tossing each one to the wayside, "…man, all they got here is spam and some funky looking beans."
"Let me know what ya find, I got a few decent size pots to cook them in," said Sven as he continued to stack them on the counter.
Cole sighed, taking a moment to glare at their bleak menu…spam and beans…damn. Cole moved away from the door to open up another pantry and rummage through some bags of flour. Shoving them aside, he accidentally pushed one off the shelf in the process. Plopping onto the concrete floor, the bag busted open and little roaches suddenly scattered from inside the bag. Cole suddenly let out a shriek before jumping up onto the stainless steel, countertop.
"SHIT…" he blurted out, trying to keep his balance on the counter.
The yelp startled Sven as he too quickly hopped up from the bottom cupboard, consequently bumping his head on the cabinet door above him and accidentally knocking the stack of pots onto the floor, causing a long loud, sequence of clattering.
From clear across the hallway, Baird is lying on the floor in the communication control room trying to salvage the wiring from the radio console to an outlet that had long been corroded. Pulling out a clump of tangled wires, half of them looked as if rats have been having a field day, chewing on them, Baird began to cuss under his breath before trying to untangle the mess, when suddenly a scream could be heard, followed with a clamoring of falling kitchen utensils from just down the hall.
"Ok, now what the hell was that?" he growled as he looked up, trying to quickly untangle himself from the mess, pushing both, the chair and the console platform with his feet so he could get up and run towards the commotion. He darted outside the room, hitting the wall as he braced himself from slipping on the tile floor, running towards the kitchen. Barging into the room with shotgun in hand, he yelled,
"What is it?"
Quickly, he scanned the room, only to find Cole standing on the counter while hugging the pantry shelves with one hand and waving a broom with the other. Sven was still fumbling on the floor with a bunch of steel pans.
"SHOO…little bastards…those things are nasty," Cole barked while Sven was still trying to stabilize his equilibrium, clutching his head with his hand.
"Aw man, does anybody have any ice…I think I have a knot on my head," Sven grumbled.
Baird stood there, dropping his shotgun to his side before started to lecture,
"I come running all the way down the fucking hallway, thinking something bad just happened, and you two are screaming like a bunch of school girls over some fucking cockroaches?"
"BEHIND YOU," Cole shouted suddenly, consequently causing Baird to whip around, only to find an eight, inch, grotesque cockroach, prostrated on the wall behind him.
"SHIT," Baird screamed out as he lifted up the shotgun to fire a round at it.
"Shit yea, shoot it Baird," Cole hollered, watching Baird jump back from the menacing thing before realizing he missed the giant bug. Without warning, it suddenly leapt from the wall to the center island of the kitchen that just so happened to be right next to Baird.
"Fuck, get away from me," he yelled before making another attempt to shoot it. Sven darted over to the corner next to Cole as he placed his hands over his ears, cringing from the shotgun blast.
Baird missed it again as the unsightly bug jumped and flew over to where Cole and Sven were cowering.
"Damnit, Baird…you missed it, again," Cole yelled out while Baird was swinging his gun at the roach in last-ditch effort to kill it. Suddenly, all hell broke loose when it jumped away from the center island to land on Cole's leg.
"SHIT…GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF," Cole screamed, vigorously shaking his leg, nearly falling off the edge of the counter as a squealing Sven ran over to Baird to braces himself on the Corporal's shoulder.
"Will you get the fuck off of me…" Baird yelled at Sven, still clinging onto his armor while Baird tried to push him off. Cole finally lost his footing as he grabbed the top shelf to keep from falling, but he was just too heavy for the shelf to sustain his weight, so it snapped in two as Cole came crashing down, taking the other shelves below it, with him.
As Baird tried to push Sven off of him, he stepped on one of the pots that was lying on the floor from earlier. He quickly lost his footing as it slide right out from under him, sending Baird's legs flying up in the air, taking Sven down with him as they both go crashing on the floor.
Meanwhile, further down into the basement of the facility where the bathrooms were located, Raven sat partially comfortably on the toilet, after warming the seat five minutes before hand with a towel, reading from a pile of magazines next to the sink that was left there some ten years earlier. She placed the magazine down to finish up with the usual paperwork and proceeded to pull up her pants when she suddenly heard what she thought sounded like gunshots. She quickly grabbed one of her holsters to pull out her Boltok pistol and then raced to the stairs, still holding her pants up with her other hand as she tried to make her way to the commotion. Dashing into hallway while trying to button up her fatigues at the same time, she could hear the uproar coming from the kitchen ahead.
She ran into the kitchen with gun ready, only to find a dazed Sven sprawled on top of Baird, both lying awkwardly on the floor in an unflattering position while Cole was buried underneath a large pile of boxes, shelving, and food cans. She stood back in puzzlement, lowering her pistol before placing it on the counter next to the door, realizing that the three were still surprisingly alive.
"What happened?" she demanded, listening to Baird's moaning from below.
"Sven…will you please…get your ass out of my face and get the hell off of me…your crushing my balls."
"Oh…ok…on it," Sven cringed, trying to prop himself on his hands and feet so he could lift his weight off of Baird. Suddenly, Baird folded like a piece of paper into the fetal position onto his side as he groaned, clutching his groin the moment Sven got off of him.
"Ugh…sir, my head is spinning…" Sven whined as he shook his head, trying to lift himself up by using the countertop.
"Shut up, Vin…my whole body is aching, no thanks to you, groan," Baird moaned.
Cole began to move slowly, lifting some of the debris from his head and back while scanning around at the rest of the mess the three just made.
"Damn…did we get it?"
"Get WHAT…what the hell were you shooting at?" Raven demanded again, placing her hands on her hips this time while trying to make sense of the disarray.
"Grrr…I think I…got it," Baird grimaced while still curled up on the floor, clutching his balls.
"What…did…you…get?" Raven impatiently articulated.
"It was the motherfucker of all cockroaches," Sven began, all the while Raven just glared at him with a bland expression, wondering if he was still loopy from falling on his head.
"I swear…it to be about this big!" Sven continued as he lifted his hands, still trying to justify the means. Raven rolled her eyes and throws her hands in the air in exasperation,
"You guys we're shooting the damn cockroaches…what's the matter with you people, somebody could have gotten hurt!"
Still curled on the floor, Baird slowly peered up at her,
"Are you still here?" he griped, still squinting from the throbbing pain in his groin.
Raven scoffed at him before reaching over to pick up her pistol and storms out of the kitchen. She marched out into the hallway, cussing under her breath as she stomped back to the staircase that lead back down to the basement bathroom.
Cole looked up from the floor and just so happened to see a few cans of chili that were shoved underneath the counter. His face beamed as he yelled out,
"Hey, guys…looks like we got some grub, and it's the good stuff too."
"Great…you get it started…I'm going back to the control room," Baird grunted as he finally stood up to grab his shotgun before limping back down the hallway.
Raven was back in the basement, picking up the rest of her gear where she had left it in the bathroom before scurrying into the kitchen just earlier. Putting her belt and holsters back on, she exited the bathroom to walk back up into the hallway. Moving through the functioning part of the dam complex, she strolled past the control room to find Baird fiddling with the wiring to the radio. Although she had never used the radio before, she figured it was in some working order; everything else here is working OK…perhaps there was more damage to the facility than I remembered from the last time I stayed here. After taking a few moments to simmer down, she stepped in to see Baird's progress.
"Is it working?" she asked, not feeling any less for wear, but most of the unpleasantry was coming from the gradual drop in temperature. The winter storm was already well into the area outside of the complex.
"Just about…but only one of the generators is working right," he responded in between grunts, reaching over to grab his needle-nose pliers lying not too far from him on the floor.
Baird was lying on his back under the main console in the com room, meandering through an array of wiring he spent the latter hour rummaging through, trying to reassess the damage done from the usual wear and tear from long-term erosion. He shifted his position to get more situated, cringing from the pain in his groin that Sven fell on earlier. Raven moved to the side of the console to get a better look at what Baird was trying to fix.
"Yea, I know…when the Locust came, I believe they shut off the other generators, leaving the emergency one on. Over time, they started to corrode, with the exception of that one. But it has its limits…it will only switch on for no longer than about two hours," Raven tried to recall, bending down to where Baird is working.
"Well that's no surprise. The filters haven't been properly maintained in who knows how long…when did you say this place was deserted?" Baird asked while turning his glance from the fuse switch he was working on, to Raven.
"At least five years, maybe a little longer but that's just according to the daily technical logs in the other room over there…" Raven turned over her shoulder to point toward a storage room on the side of the control room. She continued,
"…but to put plainly, I don't think they did a lot of maintenance before they abandoned the facility. I think they just made up entries in the log to make it look like they were doing their job. Ever since the discovery of Immulsion, this place has become obsolete. It's a shame really…at one time, this place used to power the entire valley, including parts of Farrall…"
"…well that's a nice history lesson Feral, but the wiring here is a big fucking rats nest. I just spent almost thirty minutes trying to find the damn cable to the radio, and don't even get me started with the modem cable…and it's supposed to be wireless!"
"…yea, well, what I was trying to get at before you interrupted me, a lot of the radio equipment here was hardly updated…so yea, naturally, the condition of the radio may be questionable," Raven made a point to mention as she moved in to kneel over and watch Baird at work, whom was still groaning under the mass of wires.
"Pfft, questionable is putting it pretty lightly there Feral, and for the record I can fix it, I…just gotta sort out this mess. Shit, it's like untangling a hundred feet of stringed lights!"
Leaning over under the console, Raven peered under the mass of wires, watching Baird trying to untangle the primary comm. cord. She originally believed the radio to be in decent, working order, but I guess I was wrong…my bad. Raven finally had to ask after watching Baird's pitelss attempt at untangling the main console,
"…sigh, do you need help?"
"What, no…I mean…shit, uh, is there spare equipment in storage room?"
"Yes, why?"
"I just need a few wires to router these ones. They've been chewed up."
"I'll see what I can find, but I can't promise anything," she said as she got up to walk over to the utility room nearby to look around for a spare computer console. Slowly opening the door, she reached around the door-frame to turn on the light switch. Gradually, the florescent lights flickered on and off before finally coming on, somewhat illuminating the storage room filled with boxes, old computers, and tube monitors. Quickly scanning the discolored, metal shelving, Raven peered into a corner and notices several intact consoles sitting on a dented file cabinet. Moving around an array of storage boxes, scattered all throughout the room, she managed to squeeze in to pick one up. Holding it in both arms, she carefully meandered to the doorway and into the control room, lifting her knees over the boxes on the floor. As she exited the storage room, it suddenly dawned on her that Cole or Sven were nowhere to be seen or heard.
Carefully stepping into the com room, Raven cautiously carried the bulky console over to Baird's workstation.
"Hey, where are Cole and Vin?"
"Why do you wanna know?"
"…so I can find them in case they start shooting at the damn rats!"
Baird could be heard letting out a slight chuckle before answering her question,
"Cole found cans of chili underneath the counter, so their cooking it in the laboratory."
"The laboratory?"
"Yea."
Raven knelt back down to hand Baird the spare console. Reaching over to place it on the floor, Baird he proceeded to take it apart. She then moved over to sit in a chair nearby and started to rub her temples.
"Should I even ask as to why they're fixing chili on bunsen burners, when they could be using the stovetop?"
"No, you shouldn't."
"Ok, really, what were you guys doing in the kitchen?"
"Don't ask that either…"
"Well what the hell can I ask you, Damon?"
Baird was silent for a moment while he continued to disassemble the console, pulling out the motherboard to access the wires. Realizing that Baird didn't respond, Raven took it upon herself to break the silence,
"Ok, now are you going to start shooting at the sugar ants in the bathroom, because if you are, please let me know ahead of time so I won't have to go in there!"
Baird grumbled to himself for a moment, she's not going to let this one down.
"Yea yea, just keep rubbing more salt in the wound," he groaned.
"Damn right I am…you guys nearly scared the crap out of me…literally!" Raven acknowledged him.
"For real?"
"I was in the bathroom when I heard you guys…doing whatever it was you were doing."
"You'll get over it," said Baird, pausing for a moment to reroute the damaged wire, and then continued, "…is there anything else you want to ask?"
"Ok, so why did you volunteer to join the COG at the age of nineteen instead of seventeen?"
Baird was kind of surprised that Raven was still willing to continue their earlier conversation from earlier when he declined to answer it. But instead of rebuffing her, he went ahead to satisfy her curiosity.
"I was an intern for technical engineering, but when I needed additional funds to work on my degree, I was given the option to either volunteer or I would have to pay for school on my own, and it just kinda
went downhill from there."
"So you actually went to a college?"
"More like a tech institute."
"You interned for two years?"
"One and a half years."
"One…wait, when did you graduate high school?"
"Sixteen."
"How…did you accomplish that? I thought you had to have at least, fifty-four hours of course requirements before you can graduate?"
"I finished my junior and senior requirements early. Then I went to work for a year as an apprentice for auto mechanics and engineering, so I got a head start."
Placing the pliers back down onto the floor, Baird looked up at Raven and observed the perplexed expression in her burrowed, blue eyes. He couldn't tell if she was amazed or envious, or maybe both.
"I was dedicated, what else can I say…that, and it kept me busy," he shrugged, and then resumed to fixing the other wire, "…besides, how do you know about high school, you never completed it," he conveniently added.
"Are you calling me a stupid dropout?" Raven sneered.
"Did I say that you were?"
"It sounded like you insinuated it."
For someone who didn't finish school, she's pretty sharp. This only tempted Baird to pick at her brain even more. Hell, she's doing it to me.
"It sounds like you have a superiority complex."
Raven instantly changed the subject,
"Do you even like being a COG soldier?"
"Do you like being a Feral?"
"I became a Feral as a means to an end."
"Well then, there you go."
"So you do believe in the COG cause."
"I believe in the cause, working together for the sake of humanity, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I blindly agree with all of their decisions."
"For the sake of humanity…and this is coming from a guy who doesn't like being around people…I find that amusing."
Baird paused in annoyance before resuming to reply with his usual, complimentary sarcasm,
"Oh, so I amuse you…well, I guess I should be glad that I'm useful for something. Seriously, do you actually believe that I concur with everything the COG does?"
"Do you really believe that I agree with everything the Feral does?"
"Sigh, so you don't like being a Feral, do you."
"I didn't say that."
"Then what are you saying, Raven? You don't like the COG and you don't like the Feral, what the hell do you like?"
"It doesn't matter what I like, because this world will never let me be what I am."
"And what is that?"
It was Raven's turn to pause for a brief moment as Baird took notice of the silence before peering over his workstation. He could sense that she either didn't have an answer to the question, or she did, she just didn't want to answer it.
He could only guess that she was wedged into two worlds that wouldn't let her fit in, and therefore defiance was her only means of self-expression while her true identity was suspended somewhere in limbo…is it any wonder she's so pessimistic. He decided to change the subject,
"Is there anything else you would like to ask?"
"Like what?"
"Well, you can ask me if the radio is working."
"Oh really…wait, you got it to work?"
Raven got out of the chair to move closer to the radio console as Baird lifted himself up from off the floor.
"Yea…I just need to get the tower online," he said.
"You can do that by turning on the main breaker," Raven mentioned as she glanced over the control panel.
"So where's the breaker?" Baird asked.
"In the basement…I can get it while you get the signal started in the meantime. You should be able to access the transmission frequency from here," she replied.
"Got it."
Raven stepped out of the room towards the basement entrance, making her way down the stairs and towards the breaker box.
For a recluse, she's too resourceful, Baird began ponder, which only made him even more leery. A nagging subliminal nick was tugging at his subconscious, telling him that she knew more than what she was letting on, and therefore something compelled him to find out what.
In the basement, Raven opened up the door to find six, color coded handles, each labeled to represent one out of the six stations in the compound. As she pulled down the one marked "com tower," the lights flicker throughout the complex in short bursts. Cole and Sven were still cooking in the laboratory when suddenly they look up towards the commotion of electrical impulses fluttering through the florescent light bulbs above.
"What the hell was that all about?" said Cole while Sven was tending to the burners.
In the control room, Baird finally was able to make progress in opening radio contact through the tower outside before Raven walked back in the room. The frequency could be heard through the static coming from the speakers.
"Can you call command?" she asked Baird.
"Working on that now…Come in control, do you read…this is Sigma one, do you read?"
The audio from the speakers continued to put out static as Baird turned the channel to adjust frequency. Moving closer to the receiver, he attempted to make contact again,
"Control, this is Sigma one, please respond…anybody, respond…"
As the static began to pulsate, a faint voice could be heard, seeping through the transmission.
"Please repeat, your signal is weak."
"…Hello Sigma One, please respond…"
"It's Anya," Baird turned over his shoulder to murmur to Raven. She sat back down into a chair as she waited in anticipation for commands' response.
"Control, this is Sigma one, can you read us?"
"We can now…Corporal Baird, is that you?"
"Affirmative."
"We've been trying to find you since your bird went down. Other squads were deployed after we lost all but four Ravens. Alpha One has been attempting to locate the missing squads…who is with you?"
"Private Augustus Cole, Private Sven Dunrich, and Raven McNight. Our Lieutenant, Milane, is KIA."
"…Understood…what is your present location?"
"We are at Hurl Dam. It was the only way we can make contact at this time. A snowstorm is in our vicinity and I do not know how long we can stay here. Over."
"Understood Baird. Right now, we only know of three squads that are proceeding to their objective, so for now, Colonel Hoffman orders you to take charge of Sigma, and that you are to proceed from the dam when weather permits. What is your present destination?"
"We will wait until the storm passes to proceed to go through an electrical conduit that runs through the mountain. It is rumored that there may be a major Stranded settlement somewhere on the other side, but we need to go investigate it to be sure."
"Understood. Have you made contact with other squads?"
"Negative…for whatever reason, we cannot make contact. Does command have a green light? Over."
"Hold on Sigma…yes, proceed to your objective. The other squads are scattered and they're having the same problem you're having. Try and reestablish contact when you can. Good Luck, Corporal."
"Sure thing…thanks Anya."
"…and Damon…be careful."
"Affirmative to that…also, have you heard from Sergeant Fenix or Epsilon one?"
"Hold on Corporal…"
Without warning, the speakers go static as Baird desperately tries to keep the signal connection intact.
"C'mon, c'mon, don't do this to me now…control, can you read me, over."
Raven goes out of the room to peer out a small window, only to find the storm gusting without pause, listening to the wind pound against the outside of the complex.
"Control, this is Corporal Baird, can you hear me?"
Nothing but static could be heard through the speakers now. Raven came back into the room to report,
"The storm is probably interfering with the transmission…I strongly suggest we get moving into the conduit before the power goes out too."
"Shit…alright. Go get Cole and Sven, and let them know what's up."
"Alright."
Raven stepped out into the hall and made her way to the laboratory where Cole and Sven were already stuffing their faces with a bowl of chili and some rolls they found in the freezer nearby.
"Hey, Feral, look what we got," Cole beamed, holding out a bowl filled with rolls.
"We got to pack up and go guys…the facility is going to lose power soon," she said abruptly.
"But we just got here, and we have all of this food," Sven groaned as he tried to stuff it all in his mouth before departure.
"Well, take the burners with you. They run on propane…and take the pot, there should be a lid for it…but we need to go, now!" Raven insisted. The two started to gather up their equipment and food before heading down to the basement and into the electrical corridor that led to the conduit.
Along the way, Raven stopped along a storage room in the corridor to prop it open. She entered the storage room and began rummaging through the ammunition and supplies that was shelved along the wall. Cole peeked in to get a look at what Raven was hoping to find inside.
"Ah, damn…where did all of this shit come from?"
"Grab some ammo and flares...here," she said as she frantically handed Cole a couple of flares to place in his pack.
"Hey, I don't suppose there's some Lancer clips lying around," Cole asked. Looking back up after pocketing some snub clips, Raven replied,
"Be my guest."
Cole stepped in to pick up rounds for his Lancer while Raven gathered up a couple of Nape grenades and the last of the flares. Sven also stepped in to take a look around.
"Wow, it must be my birthday…look at all this stuff, man,"
"Yea, I wonder how it got here," Cole pondered out loud as Sven helped himself to the rifle rounds.
After Baird finished up in the communication room, he gathered up his stuff before making his way to regroup with the others in the basement, just outside the corridor entrance. Meandering down the hall as the florescent lights started to flicker, he finally manages to reunite with the rest of his squad, whom were still rummaging the supply room as if it was a yard sale.
"What…who…where did all this shit come from?" he snarled in astonishment.
Raven ignored Baird's suspicion as she handed him some Lancer rounds and a handful of flares.
"We'll need these to make our way through the conduit," she said as she handed them to Baird. Without further questioning, Baird took them to put in his leg pack before he suddenly noticed a pile of geobots stashed in a corner of the storage room, along with some other spare technical equipment and enough chemicals to make several widespread bombs that could take out an entire block. Where did she get all of this? The COG doesn't hand this stuff out just to anyone, much less a pack of guerrilla bitches.
The lights started to flicker again as Raven grabbed some flashlights to hand to Baird and Sven.
"These should aid us when the power eventually goes out," Raven concluded as Baird loaded up his Lancer clips
"Well with that said, we'll need to move. I don't know how much more output this generator can muster in a snowstorm," Baird elaborated before stepping out of the room to make his way towards the conduit entrance. The others followed as they light up a couple of flares just in case.
"Give me a minute…this door's going to be a bitch to open," said Cole, loading his Lancer back onto his rig before turning the icy-cold handle to the pressure door. After a few stubborn turns, the heavy metal door cracked open.
"Hehe, we're in business," Cole mused before pushing the door wide open and taking the first step into the dark, cold corridor.
Entering past the metal frame along the industrial, mesh flooring, they peer into a large, dark void, taking notice of the electrical channels running along the ceiling. They suddenly feel a brisk chill I the air, entering their lungs.
"Ah, what the hell is this? Why is it getting colder in here?" Cole complained, feeling the cold air tighten his chest.
"The corridor leads out to the other side of this mountain. There is no facility on the other side so it would only be natural that the temperature will eventually conform with whatever the temperature is outside," Raven explained as she moved down a metal stairway and onto a concrete floor with flashlight in hand.
"Which means it's going to drop below freezing in here real soon," Baird added as he turned to Raven, hoping she had an alternative to walking through a freezing corridor with no power or light, "…I hope there is place we can hang out before we freeze our balls off, Feral."
"...what would be the downside to that little mishap?" Raven muttered lowly to herself,
"What did you say?" Baird inquired.
"I said, there's a utility room ahead, Corporal. It's not completely insulated but it's better than nothing. We can stay in there," Raven acknowledged Baird's concern.
"Yea, you see Baird? Feral takes care of us…we got grub, we got some light…hey, what else do they have at the room?" Cole asked.
"There is one bathroom with a sink and toilet…and there's blankets and pillows," Raven reassured Cole as they continued to walk in almost complete darkness, if it weren't for the flares.
"Hehe, sounds like heaven to me," Cole relished in thought before slapping Baird on the back of his shoulder. Baird punched him in the arm in return, while still feeling the sting of the slap. Sven picked up the pace next to Baird,
"So what do we do when we get there…I mean…how long are we going to wait out this storm?" Sven asked.
"How the hell should I know…eat your food, take a shit, go beat off if you need to, I don't care," Baird scoffed, still rubbing his shoulder from where Cole slapped it.
Raven noticed that the group was getting pretty weary and tired, but most of all, especially Baird. He seemed already pretty battle hardened to begin with, but then again, he spent the first part of this day jumping out of a falling helicopter and running around in below, freezing weather; and all the while getting shot at. How would anyone feel after all that?
Cole on the other hand, always seemed full of optimism and ready to take on anything as if he literally ate adrenaline for breakfast. Raven found the pair rather amusing since one seemed to compliment the other.
"There it is, up ahead," Raven pointed out by raising her flare to reveal another metal door.
"Let's get this bad boy open…WHOO, it's getting cold out here," said Cole as he began to turn the lever to activate the bolt mechanism of the air-tight door. The door cranked open as stale air quickly surged out through the crack between the door and the frame.
"Wow, this thing must have been closed for a while," Sven noticed as he watched both Cole and Baird pull the heavy door open even further.
"Get in, Vin," Baird ordered. Sven is the first to go in, followed by Raven, who reached over to turn on a switch to activate the lights. Baird goes in next, followed by Cole, and then proceeded to shut the door, locking it behind them.
"Alright Sven, get the burners out man, let's eat some grub," Cole suggested to Sven. Placing the pot onto a nearby table, Sven set the burners out next on the table so Cole could relit them.
"Hey, hand me some rolls willya," said Baird as Cole pulled out two rolls to hand out to him. Stuffing one of the rolls in his mouth, Baird took a seat next to Cole.
"Not bad, huh," Cole grinned, watching Baird nodding his head while trying to chow it down. Feral stepped over and around the space-hogging Gears to help herself to the chili, scooping it up out of the pot with a coffee cup.
"That's it, baby, take what you need…you look like you could use a meal," said Cole, watching Raven take a roll from the pot before taking a seat on the floor, propping herself against the wall.
"Are you saying I'm too skinny, Private?" Raven responded before sipping her cup.
"I'm just sayin, you been working all day hiking and saving our hides, you could use a good meal…oh, and you can just call me Cole, or Gus, or the Cole Train…"
"…or shitbag, or numbnuts," Baird added before Cole returned the insult by quickly kicking him in the leg.
"Cole Train…I don't get it," said Raven, trying to make sense of the innuendo.
"You mean, you never heard of the Cole Train?" Sven blurted out, glaring at her in shock along with everyone else in the room, especially Cole.
"Should I have?" Raven admitted, finding little ground, if any, to be even remotely put any of it together. She actually doesn't know who Cole is. This was absurd, everyone knows who the Cole Train is, right?
Baird started to chuckle while trying not to spit his food out at the same time,
"You mean to tell us…that…you didn't watch thrashball…and therefore you don't know who the Cole Train is…oh, this is priceless," Baird continued to laugh, looking at Cole who was absolutely dumbfounded by Raven's ignorance. Raven rolled her eyes before responding to her bemused audience.
"Actually, I did watch thrashball with my dad, like when I was seven…but whatever the circumstances may be, Cole it is; and speaking of meals, you eat like a damn horse!"
"Yea, that's me, baby…my momma always used to tell me that she would go broke just fixin my breakfast."
Raven could tell this guy didn't miss a meal. The man was built like the native snowbison bull, stout and resilient. She could see how some Feral would have find him to be potential for good breeding.
Raven could recall that many a Feral breeder would pick men of impressive "genetics" when the option was available to them. Although she could see how he would be a potential, he wouldn't have been her first choice…but he is sweet, I'll give him that.
"Yep, I could eat all day if I wanted to."
"Idn't that the truth, " Baird mumbled before stuffing the last bit of his meal in his mouth. He then stood up to unhinge the strap to his chest plate.
"Hey Cole, gimme a hand, willya?" Baird attempted to talk with food still in his mouth.
"Sure thing," Cole answered as he got up to help Baird take off the chestplate.
Observing the two while Cole was helping Baird remove his armor, Feral couldn't help but to wonder what hormones the COG were feeding these guys. Although Baird was not quite as massive as Cole, his physique was not lacking either. She knew that Gears were men of such quality and had to be in terrific shape, and although her impression of Damon thus far, was prospective genetically, the Feral would have most likely removed his tongue to silence his flak. They've done it before.
Sven on the other hand, was slightly smaller than Damon, maybe a few of inches shorter, but still just as potential as any other competent soldier, if only he wasn't such a dits. Then again, his youth was the most practical from a breeding perspective, since some breeder's preferred younger males, especially the juvenile females. The Feral seemed to frown upon senior males mating with their younger stock.
Shutting down her primal intellect concerning the men of Sigma One, Raven proceeded to get up into another room to pull out some pillows and a blanket. Shortly later, she then brought them back, tossing them onto the icy floor before them. Though the air was not near as cold as the corridor, it was still a bit chilly inside the utility room, especially on the concrete floor where they would most likely have to sleep on.
As Cole got up to walk into the bathroom, the other two try to settle down for the night by gathering the pillows and propping them on the floor, attempting to get comfortable. Raven walked over Baird's sprawled legs to a vacant spot against the wall while dismounting her holsters that were strapped to her thighs. Shortly after taking off her chest gear while leaving on the rest of her combat fatigues, she then sat down and started to rub her arms to stay warm, despite that she was still in her leather battle fatigues.
"Cold?" Baird pestered, watching her trying to find some coziness by huddling against the mason wall…yea, I bet that's comfortable.
"No Baird, I'm just hugging myself," Raven sarcastically responded.
"Smartass…"
"Yea, well it takes one to know one, doesn't it…"
Baird rolled his eyes at her, watching her recline on the wall while leaning her back against a pillow. Sven also huddled down against the wall after dislodging his breastplate and laying it next to his Longshot rifle.
"Geez, can it get any colder in here?" Sven complained, shortly after taking the breastplate off, feeling the cold nip air graze his bare fatigues.
"Well, Vin, since it's below freezing outside, I would say, yea…it's going to get colder," Baird scoffed in return as he removed his goggles from his head to shuffle his straggly blond hair. Turning his weary gaze to a distant Raven, he was quick to notice her minuscule figure under the leather attire. Cole's right, she is kind of petite.
Despite her leather fatigues, he could tell that there wasn't a lot of sugar coating on her. Reminiscing from after their long hike earlier in the day, he did distinctively remember occasionally getting a classic view of her derriere, and that sure as hell isn't lacking.
Nevertheless, he figured that she ate sparingly when wandering out in the wilderness…for someone of her stature, she probably didn't need much to survive, but how she managed to get ammunitions and store them away in an abandoned facility was an entirely different affair. They had to have been stolen…even the most cunning of Stranded, (and that's an exaggeration), can't get their hands on that stuff!
The lights inside the room began to flicker while the three looked up, wondering how long they had before the power went out completely. Baird sat up a flashlight just in case as the other two tried to get comfortable on the cold, concrete floor. Sven propped himself up using three pillows as he strategically placed them around his core to keep him warm, but it didn't seem to be working for him.
"Ugh, this sucks…can't we use the burners for heat?" Sven moaned.
"No Vin, we don't want to die from carbon monoxide poisoning." Raven responded, slightly shivering as she pulled up her legs to wrap them with her arms, curling up on the floor under a blanket. Ok, this is just pitiful, Baird said to himself, annoyed from looking at the two, trying in vain to find warmth on the rigid, concrete floor.
"Sigh, alright…Sven, Feral, come on over here."
"What do you want, now?" she looked up to glare at him.
"You're not going to stay warm sitting up against the wall, Vinny's not going to stay warm humping the pillow…and I'm sure as hell not going to be getting much sleep trying to keep my balls from shriveling into peanuts, so come over here…you too Vinny."
"Oh…uh…ok sir," Sven obeyed as he crawled over with a pillow in hand to sit next to Baird.
"C'mon Feral, you too…we're going to have to huddle."
"Uh, I don't like that idea, so…no," she grumbled before giving Baird a bitter expression.
"Look…just…sandwich yourself between Vinny and I, so we can keep each other warm…it's the only way we may find some rest tonight, and I seriously doubt this storm is going to pass over before morning."
Hesitant, Raven continued to give him a blank stare. Baird's brow drooped over his eyes as he continued,
"Look, I'm not asking you to marry me…just…cooperate with us for a change instead of isolating yourself all the time. We're supposed to work as a team, so maybe you should start acting like it!"
Even though she found the idea to be appalling, she grudgingly knew that he was right. Reluctantly, she began to make her way to the two Gears as she carefully nestled between Sven and Baird. Baird opened up some blankets and placed them on the floor underneath them.
"Ok, put your back to me, and Vinny, you put your back to Feral,"
"Ok sir…"
"…and stop that sir crap, there's no formality here, kid."
"Oh…sorry sir…I mean, shit…I think I'll go to sleep now."
"Good…that means you can shut up now," Baird griped as Raven attempted to make herself comfortable between the two men. Nestling her backside closer to Baird, Sven would cuddle closer to Raven, with the back of his head resting against her chest while Baird rested his chin right above her head. After they all finally got comfortable, the plan seemed to work as they started to thaw out from the crisp, cold air. This wasn't so bad after all.
Despite the awkward resonance that was mingling between the three, exhaustion began to take over as Sven was the first to conk out, leaving Baird and Raven still trying to succumb to sleep. Baird let out a sigh, propping his head on his pillow while feeling Raven's soft hair nestle under his chin and her back brushed up against his torso. For a petite thing, she's kinda cozy, but he didn't dare to think any more of it beyond just that. But he couldn't help to wonder if she thought of the same thing, which may have been the reason why she was so reluctant before he swayed her to the idea. He decided to break the awkward silence,
"…and just for the record, this doesn't mean we're engaged or anything like that," he rhetorically mused. Raven could only let out a slight chuckle before Baird could feel her body finally relax, nestled against his.
"Was that a laugh?" Baird asked in curiosity.
Taking in a deep breath, Raven slowly exhaled as she warmed up next to him.
"Yes, Damon…it was a laugh."
"And I was beginning to think you hated me,"
"Hated you…for what?"
"Oh, I don't know…for being a dick, I guess."
"You can only be what you are, Damon."
"Yea, and that's a dick, right?"
"No…just being Damon,"
Closing her eyes, Raven was able to find some solace as the day came to close, finally surrendering to her exhaustion. Baird continued to lie still, drifting into thought as he savored the pleasant, floral scent of her hair, mingling with the musty aroma coming from the blanket that must have sat in storage for too long. Her response had rather caught him by surprise, not expecting anyone, much less a Feral, to accept him at face value. Baird finally shut his mind for the night and proceeded to close his eyes when suddenly, he could feel a pair of feet stomping on the floor. Oh no!
"Ooo, oo, I want to cuddle too, move over, baby," said Cole as he dropped his pillow next to Baird and proceeded to cuddle up next to him.
"Hey, hey, hey, easy Gus…shit!" Baird protested as Cole wrapped his big arm around both Baird and Raven, pulling them closer to him. Raven could feel the squeeze from Cole's massive brace, meshing her tight into Baird's sternum.
"Ok, knock it off, man," Baird barked.
"But you're so nice and warm, baby," Cole nuzzled in closer.
"Hey, don't you call me baby when you got your arm around me…the matter with you?" Baird sneered before he jabbed his elbow into Cole's ribs, pushing him back.
"Seriously…Cole…could you loosen up a bit…please?" Raven cringed, trying get past Cole's hand around her waist. He knew he kind of overdid it, but hey, at least I got to cop a feel, so he loosened up his grip at Raven's request. Sven wearily shuffled back up to Raven as he placed a couple of pillows underneath his arm to curl into the fetal position. Nuzzling between the pillows and Raven's body heat, Sven instantly drifted back to sleep.
Cole threw a blanket over both him and Baird while Raven shifted herself under Baird's arm and Sven's backside. Despite the awkward arrangement, all four finally huddled together for the moment, continuously feeding off each other's warmth as they drifted to sleep.
"Hey, Damon," Cole whispered.
"What is it, Gus?" Baird wearily acknowledged.
"I love you man."
"Keep this up and I'll shove my foot up your ass."
"…Oooo, that sounds kinda kinky, heehee."
"Oh, shut up…"
Amused with Damon's homophobia, Raven smiled slightly before she too drifted to sleep. The lights flickered again until the power finally went out, leaving nothing but the flashlight as their only source of illumination. As the four huddled for the cold evening, Baird let out a sigh before he proceeded to make a point to the others,
"…and just so you're wondering… Cole, and you too Vinny," Baird began to inform them, regardless if they were listening or not, "…this…does not, get out…ever."
Despite the number of activity on my FF, I have only 2 reviews to go on, so I want to know how the reader is interpreting the story so far, especially with the "new" characters, (can any other writer relate to this) since I have to mold them as they interact with the existing ones. Is the development smooth and pulling you to see what happens next, or is it just boring and blah? Is there a good mix between the action sequences and drama? Are the chapters too long, too short, ect.
As always, feedback is welcome.