After finding refuge from the winter storm for the night, Sigma One continues to the mission at hand...that is, if nothing else gets in their way.


Chapter 11: A Cold Day in Hades

Back and forth you wander,
through your mind,
winter's passing over,
but it won't find you.

Take what you can,
change the seasons.

Isolate yourself and
you will find,
there's no rhyme or reason,
that it won't find you.

And I will find you,
although I wonder,
If I will climb through,
this rock I'm under.

I'm turning the page for something new,
I'm finding my way through life in bloom.

Seasons

Veer Union

An aura of warmth cradled moaning Damon, succumbing to the temperate bliss of mingled body heat like an infant in utero. Stirring while half asleep, he peered with groggy eyes into the partial lit room they took refuge for the night away from the bitter cold that inevitably festered into the corridor. The strategy he compromised actually worked out a lot better than he anticipated in spite of himself. After giving his intellect another pat on the back for his ingenuity, he was finally able to get some decent sleep.

Suddenly, an abrupt noise split between the sounds of the buzzing coming from the breaker box in the other room, and Sven's obnoxious snoring. Still twitching from the audible bang, coming from somewhere inside the conduit, Damon's dream state fluttered into a bright void.

Still woozy, Baird rubbed his eyes before letting out a massive yawn, and then proceeded to take a look at his immediate surroundings, stirring between the two bodies still nuzzled against his. As he moved slightly, turning his blurry gaze down next to his torso, he soon realized that Sven, instead of Raven, was snuggled up against his chest. Repulsed as he let out an abrupt shudder, he pushed Cole's massive arm off of him and shoved Sven off of him, not fazing Sven at the least.

''Ugh," he griped as he got up to brush the male cooties off.

On top of the male "bonding," along with the chilly, nip air and the sudden noise coming from conduit, it was not a bright morning. Or was it morning? Baird pulled out his watch from his pack as he peered groggily at the time. Crap…it is morning. That means we have to go out in this shitty weather.

Carefully getting up on his feet, he staggered around the two Gears before he walked over to casually kick Cole. He wasn't going make any effort to bend over and shake him to wake him up.

"Cole…Cole, c'mon man, get up."

Cole began to stir before he let out an enormous yawn, moaning at the same time.

"Shit…what time is it?"

"It's eight."

"Already…damn," Cole snorted, slowly getting up. Baird walked over to Sven whom was still snoring, and started to kick him too.

"C'mon…get up shitbag,"

Baird kicked him a few more times, but Sven continued to lie there, still fast asleep.

"Damn, that boy is a heavy sleeper," Cole chuckled. Baird then decided to walk over to the table to grab a cup and proceeded to the bathroom sink. After filling the cup with water from the sink, he walked back into the room and he made his way over to Sven to dump the water on his head. Sven abruptly let out a shriek, fidgeting on the ground.

"Fuck, that's cold…" he yelled.

Cole started to laugh.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Geez, warn me next time," Sven groaned callously, slowly crawling over to a chair to lift himself wearily into it, using the blanket to wipe off the excess water on his head.

"We need to get going. I heard something from the outside…wait…where in the hell is Feral?" Baird soon noticed as the other two just look at each other and shrugged.

"Alright…just, grab your gear and take a blanket or two."

"You got it," said Cole.

"Sure," Sven yawned, gradually picking up his rifle.

The three Gears assembled back into their armor and then loaded up their weapons, along with a couple of unused flares and flashlights. As they gathered up their supplies, Baird noticed one of the flashlights was missing.

"Ok, I'm going to take a wild guess that Feral went out of the utility room," Baird casually mentioned while he loaded up his gear.

"Maybe…whoa, wait…do you think she left us?" Cole pondered.

"Sigh, how the hell should I know, Gus, I just work here."

"Well, we need to go find her!"

"Whoa, who's this we stuff?"

Cole gave a Baird a conspicuous glare.

"Whaaat?" Baird gripeed at Cole's retained demeanor. Without so much as even coming back with a sarcastic remark, Baird finally gave in.

"Ugh…fine, we'll go out and find her…shit." Baird groaned as Cole started to beam.

"Oh c'mon man, now I know you can't tell me you wouldn't want a piece of that."

Baird rubbed his sinuses between his eyes in annoyance.

"I was trying not to think about it, now damnit, Cole…fuck, now I've got that in my head, thanks a lot, asshole!"

"Heehee…I was right!"

"Does that mean we're going outside?" Sven asked in between yawns. Baird turned around to give Sven a look of pure cynicism.

"No Vinny, we're just going to sit here and sing campfire songs all day long until our balls freeze up and fall off,"

"Ew, that's not cool,"

Baird began to gesture his irritation.

"YES VIN…WE ARE GOING OUTSIDE!"

Irate, Baird stomped over to the door to yank it open and storm out into the corridor without so much as waiting for the others.

"Uh, I guess he isn't a morning person," Sven muttered.

"Nah, he's like that all the time…twenty-four, seven," Cole reiterated.

"Great."

Sven and Cole follow out into the corridor with their lit up flares and flashlights. Moving forward, they looked around the access strip of the corridor within the lit up area circumference, which was otherwise, pitch black and quiet.

"Maybe she went back to the dam." Sven mumbled, waiting for another scathing from Baird.

"Sigh, that may be a possibility…shit, I really don't want to have to go back there," Baird groaned.

"Shit, me neither," Cole added, shifting his chest plate into place in the process.

Suddenly, a faint noise severed the silence as the three Gears turn their heads towards the direction of the noise origin. Baird carefully lifted up the flare as he took a few steps ahead of the others, trying to extend their visibility. He yelled out towards the black void,

"Feral…is that you?"

There was no response. Baird called out again.

"Ok Feral, if this is a joke it's getting old…"

Again, no response, but a similar noise startled them again as it was much closer than the first time they heard it. Baird slowly moved his hand onto his pistol that was strapped into his holster. He slowly moved a few more steps forward while the other two lingered behind him, readying their weapons. The three tried to peer in the dark as far as the light would allow, but nothing came into site.

"Maybe it's the wind," Sven blurted out loud before thinking.

"No, it's not the fucking wind, Vinny…and do you think you could talk a little softer next time, fucktard?" Baird quietly scoffed at him.

"Wait…did you here that?" Cole whispered.

"Yea…it's getting closer," said Baird, slowly pulling out his pistol. He turned his head over his shoulder to see the other two taking a few steps backwards.

"Ok, what the fuck guys…get your asses up here!"

But before they could respond, a low crawling, snarling beast suddenly leapt from out of the dark, advancing towards Baird.

"WRETCH," Cole blurted out before could Damon whip his head around to see the Wretch coming at him.

"SHIT," Baird hollered, dropping the stock of his pistol onto the creature's head, "…get off of me you piece of shit!"

He struck the beast again and again, consequently shoving it back before unloading his pistol into it until it laid motionless. Carefully walking over to kick it a few times to see if it was dead, Baird was confident that the Wretch was dead.

"Son of bitch, that was close! There's bound to be more where he came from…we need to move in," Baird commanded.

"You mean we have to go after them?" Sven griped at the idea.

"If we don't, they'll just keep coming at us in the dark…ah damnit."

"You think they got Feral." Cole began to worry.

"Sigh, we're going to find out, Cole."

Baird pulled out his Lancer and then threw his flare down the corridor, expanding their visibility a few more meters. Just as the flare rolls to a stop, more Wretches started to climb out from the darkness and suddenly leapt towards the Gears.

"Oh, shit," Sven squealed with shotgun in hand.

"Get em," Baird roared out. The three discharged their weapons at the incoming fray.

"WHOO, yea, bring it," Cole bellowed out before firing several shots of his Gnasher shotgun, and then started to swing the stock of his gun on top of them.

"Oh, you want some more if this?" Cole sneered, firing his Gnasher while Sven smashed the stock of his against the menacing beasts.

"Yea, suck it down," Sven yelled as more charged in. He then took out two more with his shotgun.

Baird quickly pulled out the melee handle on his Lancer to rev up the chainsaw bayonet. As a Wretch darted in his direction, he slammed the mechanism into the snarling beast. Blood and entrails scattered all around, blinding the other Wretches nearby. Pulling the Lancer back after he sawed it in half, he kicked another with his boot as he bludgeoned another with the Lancer, using the teeth of the saw to hack it.

Nearby, Cole decimated several others with his shotgun, leaving a mangled mess on the ground as more kept coming.

"Damn…we got some more closing in," Cole yelled over his shoulder.

"I told you there would be more," Baird made a point to mention, although Cole had long learned when to tune Baird out when he was in one of his cranky moods, Sven on the other hand made a diligent effort to brace himself for the next assault.

Making their way into the light, Cole and Sven stepped behind so Baird could fire his Lancer, taking out a few before they moved in closer to their position. Baird revved up the chainsaw bayonet and started to cut into the crowd. Sven bludgeoned with his Gnasher, swinging the stock of his shotgun and knocking off a few heads. Cole stomped on a few as he swung his Gnasher, sending one flying across the floor of mangled masses.

After Damon finished cutting through a few more, the assault was slowing to a halt as they looked around, trying to find any more live ones.

"WOOT…that was awesome," Sven hailed.

"Hehe, you know it," Cole added, kicking a few corpses out of his way, "…I haven't had this much fun since we were walkin' tall in da queen's throne room. Hehe, remember that, Baird?"

"I try not to…" Baird grumbled, "…seriously, I do try."

Baird stepped around the garbled cadavers to pick up the burning flare he threw out in front of them earlier. As the three meandered their way out of the pile of Wretch remains, they suddenly hear a faint voice coming from a distance. They turn to see someone moving in, holding a light as it started to come closer.

"Guys, is that you?"

They instantly recognized it to be Raven, moving towards them out of the darkness, panting as if she had been running a marathon.

"Damn, baby…you can't just be walkin' out on us like dat," Cole griped. Baird joined in shortly afterwards,

"Cole's right, damnit Feral, we were thinking the worst."

"Wait a sec…we were thinking the worst...or was it you that was thinking the worst," Raven responded to an irritated Baird. While she was still trying to catch her breath, Baird instantly changed the subject,

"You can't just keep leaving us in the dark, Rav. How the hell are we supposed to follow you if you're always a mile ahead of us?"

"Well, first off, I thought you would still be asleep…and second, I had to check and clear out the corridor. Everybody else was looking for shelter from the storm last night, and this corridor was a perfect candidate."

"Yea, well you missed a few."

"These must have been the ones who took off. There were quite a handful of them earlier; we'll be passing them up here shortly."

"What do you mean a handful?"

"Sigh, you'll see Baird. This way, I'll escort you to the exit."

Raven turned around and continued down the corridor while the others proceeded to follow her, keeping their weapons ready just in case. Turning over her shoulder, Raven added as she walked,

"Oh, and by the way, the storm has passed."

"It's still pretty fucking cold in here," Baird growled, observing the warm air bursting from his mouth as he exhaled. Cole pulled out a blanket he took from the supply room and wrapped it around his arms while Sven placed his sniper goggles back into his pack to keep the frost off the lenses. Baird took out a torn bed sheet to wrap it around his neck, thus using it for a scarf.

The three noticed that Raven had some additional attire as well, including a velvet scarf wrapped around her head and neck, with the long fringes hanging down her back. She also had some pieces of cloth tied around her upper thighs, above her holsters and around her chest. From a distance, Sven thought she somewhat resembled the town "bag lady," layered in leftover rags and scarves to stay warm during the cold months.

As they continued to move forward, they soon noticed a fowl stench mixed with the familiar odor of wretches as they paseds by their burnt corpses, apparently slaughtered by one of Raven's napalm grenades earlier that morning.

"Geez, that reeks," Sven groaned, covering his nose.

"Yea…those Wretches are pretty nasty, but this smells a hell of a lot worse" Cole griped as they carefully walked around the corpses, trying not to get any of their smelly bowls on their boots.

"Ah, crap, Feral, you used your napalm grenades, didn't you," Baird complained further with his hand held over his mouth and nose, "…so that's what that noise was from earlier this morning, shit!"

"You heard that?" Raven had to ask.

"Uh, yea…those nades make loud noises, especially in a conduit. It's the perfect conductor. Shit, it fucking stinks! Did you have to use them?"

"Well, I couldn't have killed them all with just two pistols, now could I…so yes, I had to use the nades. They have a lot more splash damage for the job, but it did scare some away and apparently made their way back to you guys. I was trying to find them earlier but I couldn't see too well in here."

"Ah, baby, it idn't nuttin we couldn't handle, right Baird?" Cole mused, nudging Baird with his elbow at the same time.

"Yea, whatever…" Baird groaned, "…ah, damn, this shit's never coming out of my fatigues; look at this!"

Baird tried to brush the entrails that managed to splatter on the back of his legs and buttocks.

"Hey, Feral…come over here and help me get this off since you're primarily responsible for this," Baird conveniently suggested, making a gesture as he continued to shake the mess off.

"What...I'm not going to touch your ass. Get one of your men to help you," Raven scoffed in return with an "as if," expression.

"I'll do it," Sven openly volunteered.

"Touch me Vinny, and I'll shoot you," Baird warned, still attempting to brush his back while walking at the same time.

"Don't worry, baby…I'll come and clean yo white ass," Cole joined in as he side steps to Baird to help him brush off the back of his battle fatigues.

"Hey, quit that!"

Baird shooed him away, while Cole backed off, laughing.

"Yea, laugh at this, asshole," Baird sneered, giving Cole the middle finger.

"Oh, you know you love me, don't deny it…you shoulda heard what he whispered in my ear last night," Cole chuckled as he nudged Raven with his elbow.

"Ok,that's it," Baird began to fume as he turned around, but before he could do anything, Sven yelled out,

"Hey, is that light up ahead?"

All four turned their attention towards what appeared to be a bright white light ahead; the conduit exit.

"What…wait…I think the kid's right," Cole admitted. Redirecting his attention from the group, Baird turned right around to peer towards the bright light straight ahead.

"Holy shit, we are actually coming to the light at the end of the fucking tunnel! Imagine that!" Baird ranted. Quickly, he moved up to the front while Raven immediately raced behind him.

"Wait, Damon…not so fast."

Baird slowed down.

"What the hell for?" he nagged.

"We don't know what's at the exit."

"You just said you came from up there and it was clear!"

"That was over two hours ago, Damon. Besides, what's the hurry?"

"I'm tired of this conduit. It's dark and fucking cold in here…"

"…well, it's lit and fucking cold, out there."

"At least it's not dark!"

"So you're scared of the dark?"

"No I'm not scared of the dark, and that's not the fucking point…"

"…oh, so what is the point…that you're just so, damn crabby in the morning, right?"

"I'm crabby all the time, or haven't you figured that out by now, der!"

"…so I guess this is just all part of your charm,"

"Damn right, so quit jinxing it!"

As the two bickered back and forth, Cole and Sven watched in awe, wondering how the two have not yet managed to strangle one another. Cole begian to share his thoughts openly as he leaned over to Sven,

"Heehee, if you didn't know any better, you would thinks they was married," he snickered as he nudged Sven, whom was trying not to laugh.

"I heard that, Cole!" Baird blasted over his shoulder.

"Heard, what…what did he say," Feral demanded while Cole and Baird responded in unison,

"Nothing!"

"Agh," Raven miffed and quickly stormed off. Separating herself from the Gears as far as her short legs could take her, she trudged forwards, leaving the others behind.

"Thank God…she's going away," Baird snorted. He slowed down his pace, trying to keep the distance Raven had already established well between them.

As they got closer to the end of the corridor, their eyes began to flinch from the bright, winter light, reflecting on the ice and snow ahead. They were walking on the snow that was blown in from the storm the night before.

"Damn, look at all this white shit," Cole scanned the area in amazement.

"Geez, how strong did the wind have to be to blow all this in here?" Sven pondered as they trudged through the snow, getting deeper the closer they moved towards the exit.

Suddenly, Raven's faint but audible voice could be heard up ahead,

"It's clear, you can come out now," she announced from the top of the snow hill just outside the exit.

"Alright, alright…shit, it's getting deeper," Baird griped, rotating his pelvis to pull his legs through the mess, bringing his knees up and over the hip deep snow. Cole and Sven struggled to do the same, slowing their pace as they pulled themselves through the white mess and finally out into the open, just outside of the conduit on the other side of the mountain.

"Wow, look at that lake," Sven pointed out, directing the others' attention to a frozen, massive body of water ahead, "…after last night, I bet it's frozen solid."

"It'll have to if we intend to cross it," said Baird while he noticed Raven slowly walking back towards them. She hiked through the snow, trying to regroup with them while talking at the same time.

"We'll have to go around the lake," she informed them.

"Now why did I have a feeling you were going to say that?" Baird moaned as he rubbed his eyes, shielding them from the bright light. He then brought his goggles down from his forehead and onto his eyes.

"The Stranded settlement is somewhere on the other side, but it is too far into the day to go investigate without being seen."

"So we're going to check them out at night?" Cole asked.

"Early morning, actually," she confirmed.

"But why so late?"

"Well, the alcohol usually hits them about one in the morning…"

"And they will probably sleep in until hangover time, later that afternoon," Baird added.

"Correct…they will most likely be coherent for the rest of the day until after nightfall," she reiterated.

"Do they have outposts nearby?" Baird asked, trying to map the area in his head.

"On the other side of the lake they do, the last time I checked. Therefore, if we go around, we can flank them undetected, unless they send out their scouts, but there's a lot of cover in the woods that we can use to our advantage if we take the route I'm suggesting," Raven confirmed.

Damon narrowed his brow in suspicion as he gave Raven a frumpy glare. She finally gave into his cynicism.

"Sigh…there's also a secret supply stash between here and our destination, but again, we have to go around the lake."

"Uh huh…just as I suspected," Baird muttered. Taking a moment to adjust his Lancer, Baird started to make his way towards the snow covered countryside ahead.

"Ok kiddies…through the mountain and around the lake, to grandmother's house, we go…"


Well I am finally getting some feedback so hopefully this story will progress in the direction it was meant to progress as we go further into the plot within the next few chapters. Now granted there is still going to be some comic relief as well as some more action a little later on, but the backstory behind the events that got all of this started is going to eventually rise to the surface and rear it's ugly head, throughout the events that unfold along the way. So with that said, let me know how you think so far, is it keeping you in anticipation, pulling you in for more, ect?