Gar! I'll admit, its my longest time between updates. I can only suggest that it is due to the crazyass life I lead.
Anyways, I'm into double digits now! XD
Thanks to all my readers, hope yo enjoy this.
A single light bulb flickered on and off incessantly, as the boat was tossed from one side to another against high waves and fast winds. Below deck, it was wet and dark, as Snake nestled himself between the freezers that emitted the pungent aroma of fish. Every now and again the boat would sway, the contents of the cabin would shake, and his head would collide with something hard. As the journey continued, his perception had become more and more hazy. The flickering light and the bruises on his head were making him delirious.
After this week, it's official. I hate boats.
Fast flowing visions began to spawn in his head, and he was suddenly clad in his sneaking gear and bandana, struggling to stand as explosions ripped through a large ship. Ocelot's cold eyes were on his lids.
He remembered being tossed about on the dingy whilst the Tanker was sinking, and was glad that he wasn't out there today, at the mercy of the English Channel. Despite that, attempts to sleep had been futile. Snake could no longer remember how long ago it was that they had left Dover. Roy had rushed him down to the south coast upon leaving Waterloo, and Snake ended up forking over most of his pounds to get the fisherman to stop over in France. By this point, it was becoming glaringly obvious that he wasn't a History Lecturer on sabbatical, but these were ordinary fishermen, with little terraced houses and kids to feed. Snake knew the type of guy; they weren't the fantasists who wanted to get involved. A bit of money would be all it took to keep them from asking questions. He wasn't going to need it now anyways, so long as he clung onto the rest of his luggage.
Snake clutched about in the dark for his satchel bag. In one of the infrequent fleeting seconds in which the light was on, he managed to grab it and hold it to his chest. Opening it, he double checked all the weapons and monies. All was in order.
The long ride in partial darkness had given him ample time to sweat over the uninvited guest in Room 1015. He had gone over the possibilities several times.
Either someone has been monitoring Philanthropy long term...
....
....
Maybe the dash from the Tanker gave away our position to...who?
...
...
The la-li-lu-le-lo....?
...
Either that.....
....
...
Or Roy caved.
Snake didn't like to think about any of those possibilities. Placing his head on his knees, he closed his eyes, and let exhaustion overcome him.
"Sugar?"
Roy awakened from his reverie, and looked up to see the hostess leaning over his table a cup. She tilted her head towards him and smiled sweetly. Half your age, Roy...
"No, thank you..." Roy smiled back politely and accepted his tea, before turning his head to look out of the train window. The hostess trundled away with her trolley, and he returned to watching England roll by, as the sun began to slide above the horizon. Roy noticed that the sky was laced with dark pink streaks, as he slowly sipped his brew.
"Shepherd's warning..." he mumbled, inhaling a lungful of steam and breathing out slowly. He listened as the melodic voice of the hostess continued down the train, offering beverages, before it disappeared into another carriage. There was barely anyone else aboard; just a few commuters, with their laptops out on the table, typing away placidly.
None of these people know that right now, they are being watched...
Roy shuddered, and thought it best not to think about the current predicament. He couldn't jump to conclusions about The Patriots. Not yet. Though the evidence was convincing; they'd found out what room he had been staying in, after all.
Desperate to find a distraction, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialled the number for his house. She'd been annoyed when he phoned last night; if there's one thing his daughter couldn't handle, it was being kept out of the loop.
He breathed quietly as he listened to it ring, and as every ring went by, his heartbeat quickened with panic, until he heard her soft voice in his ear.
"White knuckles much, Roy?"
He couldn't help but smile.
"I figured that it was best to let you know the score, is all..."
"Shoot."
She was going to be difficult, he could tell.
"I've just been down to Dover port; I'm heading up to... I can't remember where...some town...to meet the scientist...."
"Okay. Thanks for filling me in. But that's not what I wanted to know..."
Roy could tell from the slight husky tone in her voice that she was tired; he liked to think she had done the sensible thing, and stayed up all night.
"I can't tell you why Meryl..."the Colonel hissed, "Trust me. I put David on a boat to France. Hopefully, this will all be sorted out within twenty four hours...hopefully..."
He sighed in defeat, trying not to sound so pitifully helpless.
"How is he?"
Roy's sullen features twisted into a grin, remembering with amusement how Snake had asked a simliar question in the same sheepish tone. For a moment, Roy couldn't remember why they weren't still together.
Then again, I don't think I ever really knew. Their relationship was something that he had long been kept in the dark about.
"He was fine last time I saw him. Probably being tossed about across the channel right now..."
She forced a chuckle. Laughter seemed inappropriate, but nonetheless it was necessary, to relieve tension if nothing else.
"Whilst you're riding first class, I assume..."
"Of course."
Roy, for a moment, felt guilty that he was always the one sat in the comfy chair, whilst the grunts were the ones out there putting their lives on the line. Then again, he hardly thought it fair to think of Snake as a 'grunt'.
"Meryl, being serious, there's a high chance you're in serious danger..."
"I've got my gun..."
Roy smiled.
"That's what I like to hear."
He was about to continue admonishing Meryl to keep herself safe, when a pleasant female voice announced a familiar name over the tannoy. He checked the time on his watch. It would be quite a while before Dr. Emmerich arrived here too.
"I've got to go. Trust me, by this time tomorrow it will all make sense, just..."
"Don't run with strangers, talk to matches or play with scissors?"
"You know what I mean. I'm sorry I'm keeping you here like this, I know you were supposed to have gone by now, but..."
"I don't have anywhere to go anyway Roy."
"No, well. Just make sure you're there when I get back..."
She hung up the phone without saying goodbye; a lifelong trait of hers. She often forgot that it seemed a brash thing to do, but he couldn't blame her for finding goodbyes unfavourable.
Roy alighted the train, and found himself on a quiet platform lined with green benches and potted plants. Sitting down, he breathed in the fresh air and closed his eyes.
And now we wait.
The onslaught of fear had brought Mei Ling and Otacon severely down to earth with a thud. The business with the mysterious Mr. Owen, had left them shaken, but Hal had not had time to look into it further. As soon as Mei Ling had told Snake where to go, the pair had packed up their things and set out to find their pilot. The car taking them was hired through one of Otacon's contacts, but the thing was a rickety four by four with blacked out windows that made them both feel queasy.
For most of the ride, Otacon had sat staring vaguely at the screen of one of Mei Ling's fake phones, wondering what he could do with it. A few times, he had typed the number of their mystery helper, and then deleted it again in a lapse of confidence.
By the time the sun was up, the pair had boarded the same tiny plane that Snake had been on the previous day, now refuelled and rejuvenated. As the noisy machine trundled across the skies, Mei Ling gripped Snake's bandana between her fingers.
Where are you, Snake?
She rubbed the dark material with her thumb and forefinger, before wrapping it around her hand and wrist, as though preparing for a fight.
It won't help me in this battle...
Forgetting herself for a moment, she drifted off into the hazy limbo between consciousnesses, never truly awake or asleep. Sometimes, she would hear what sounded like Snake, crying out in pain. Other times, she would merely see her own hands folded in her lap. One moment, she noticed a faint green glow across from her, and looked up to see Otacon looking at one of her phones with his eyes wide. Suddenly, the light was gone.
"What is it?" she mouthed across to her friend, who was looking suddenly pale.
He just shook his head. Mei Ling didn't know if his nonchalance was real or not, but she was drifting back into her sleep once again, and didn't have the energy to argue any further. As she began to close her eyes, she saw Otacon put his head in his hands.
She could've sworn she heard a quiet, musical sob. Or maybe it was the Snake of her dreams, screaming out to her again.
Thank you for reading!