The crate had been lodged in the ground from the impact by a few inches, blue-tinged steel embedded into the ground. One corner had planted itself in the base of a tree. Otacon stood upright from leaning against it and Lara surveyed it one last time, wiping the moisture from her hands and gipping the crowbar near the bifurcated end of its curvature, Otacon gripping closer to the centre of it. Lara checked to make sure it was lodged securely in the slim division of the central panel and readied with Otacon, making sure he had secured his heels firmly in the earth, and then began counting down.

On three, Lara shifted all her weight to her back, to her legs, and shoved off with all her strength. Across from her beyond the crowbar's division Otacon was shoving it with both of his arms, visibly straining to such an extent his neck was veined and his face face reddened. Lara gritted her teeth, biceps straining against the leveraged steel, and when she heard the creek of its release, she leaveraged less of her strength against it. A few more tugs from Otacon and it was open.

Crowbar set aside, Lara began shuffling through the crate. She found the plastic explosives that had been packed, the firearms, a pair of binoculars, some other pyrotechnical odd ends. It was luck that none of them seemed worse for the wear; if there had been even a slight explosion, everything would have blown each other apart in the process. Weapons would have been out of the question. The worst that had come of it had been a few opened ammunition cases.

When she picked up one of the spare pistol that had been present, bringing up the total to four, Lara looked at Otacon only to find his face drained of colour. She sighed, patience thinning no matter the desire she felt for empathy.

"Hal. I know this is hard, but you're going to have to get used to them. Alright?"

In her periphery, she felt something in the back of her mind hum and click. When she focused on it, the sensation had disappeared, like a light blinking until spotted then its filament snapping too fast to watch.

Lara felt for something more in the brief time as Otacon nodded, and she found nothing.

Otacon made for the contents of the crate and began picking them up. When he struggled a bit with a harness for one of the assault rifles, she helped him strap it around his chest, finding it an odd sight that she chose not to remark upon. She was glad when he spoke up. "What are we going to do about either of them?"

"The ICRA people? I'm not sure our cover's going to hold, but I'm hoping bringing Vines aboard might remedy that somewhat."

Otacon adjusted the rifle strapped to him, shuffling with the discomfort of its weight. Lara had two around her, straps running between either breast, a third firearm holstered in her spare hip-strap, and the plastic explosives in a satchel she'd borrowed from Otacon taken from camp. "What about Snake?"

"He's just going to have to play nice with others. Right now we can't do this on our own. I'm more worried how a couple of relief workers are going to take it when we hand them a couple of firearms."

"We're giving them guns?" Otacon said.

"Do we have a choice?"

When Lara and Otacon returned to the camp, Snake and Vines had returned to a sense of amiable peace. Both men were smoking like it were a religious prayer, passing it between the two of them, and in the process Lara could see how easily Vines would have fit in, neck deep and covered in dirt, amongst a unit of militants. He was fresh of face, about Lara's age, but the easy comeraderie he had in spite or because of the tension with Snake made Lara feel thick for not seeing a military presence in him sooner.

When Ellie looked up from lacing up well-trodden boots to see them both looking as haphazard militia, she made a sound like laughter. "You two loaded for bear, huh?"

Lara began "Actually, we were hoping-"

She caught Snake's eyes, and the slight twitch of his neck.

"That we might be able to get rid of these," Lara said, "but for the time being thought it better to take them with us. Don't want to leave sharp sticks laying about, that sort of thing."

Daylight had been burned by much of the trips back and forth, and by the salvage, and there was hardly a discussion when Otacon suggested they start setting up a daycamp for when evening arrived. They could set out there seperate ways by morning.

"I'm afraid, sir, that's just not going to work," Ellie said.

"I'm sorry?" Otacon pushed the ridge of his glasses up the incline of his nose.

"Vines may not be coming back right away, but I've got to get back to the outpost we were staying. There are people there who need medical observation at specific intervals." Ellie was playing with a small, multi-knotted hairband that looked as a composite of several cannibalised other bands.

"What type of intervals? How long?" Snake said. He passed the third shared cigarette to Vines, who made no eye contact but took it without hesitation for a long pull.

"Well," Ellie said, "some need wounds changed, which isn't something we need to be there for, but others need treatment for regional ailments that I need to verify for dosage, and some have gangrene."

"Gangrene must be way too common out here," Otacon said.

"It is," said Vines. "Not to the people in Rurre, maybe, but this region is covered in rain nine months out of the year. Gangrene is a serious problem."

"And malaria?" Snake asked.

"Not as common as you'd think," Ellie said. "At any rate, I wanted to be back by or just after nightfall. If everybody hadn't been stable, we would have never have come out to check out the crash." She looked at Lara. "Again, no offense."

"None taken. You've your priorities." Lara looked to Snake, disregarding the pungent tobacco. "Have you any thoughts?"

"I'll take you," Snake said, tilting his chin to Ellie, "back to wherever you need to go. We'll return Vines in one piece, just a few days late. It'll also give me a chance to check out the Jeep, if I can find it."

"I know where it is," she said. "We crossed its path not far from here, but the walk's maybe half a day's hike if you're not using a zipline."

"Zipline?" Snake asked. "I didn't see any when we were coming down."

"There's one that crosses a ravine a few miles north. This area's foliage hides most of them, but they crisscross a lot of the terrain. I can even make you a map of the area from our outpost."

"What's at the outpost, anyway? Who's there?" Otacon asked.

"Farmers, mostly. People who live rurally who need care. A guerilla or two, but nobody who knows anything, if that's what you're thinking," Vines said.

Snake shook his head. "Nah, not my style to shake down the poor."

A dead silence.

When everybody laughed, Snake was the one surprised the most.