4
They walked around the car park and down into the lane where the main walkway that fed around the lake led them. As they stripped from the hazard suits and checked their readings, Jack removed his mask and placed it in the boot of a car that he had opened. This was the fourth time they had done this, left the safety of the bunker fully masked up and covered like it was a hazard zone out there still, then once they knew the others could not see, they removed the masks to breathe the normal, if not bloody cold, air.
"Right, me and Owen will head for the hide" John said as he helped Owen with the large tranquilizer gun.
"Me and Ianto will change out that camera for Toshiko then see if we can loudly beat some deer your way" Jack agreed.
"Right, stay frosty everybody" Owen said as he hitched up his pants and sniffed loudly, and then he started to walk away.
"Little fella, this way" John called out as he thumbed in the direction Owen was NOT going. Ianto and Jack shared a look as they tried not to laugh, Owen changing course and looking at them with open malice.
"I knew that" he finally muttered as John hefted the backpack and started to follow him.
"I swear to god, he gets worse every way" Ianto shook his head then started to giggle a little bit.
They walked in companionable silence, this now a well rehearsed thing as they checked the faulty camera and replaced it, the light blinking to show it was on before the check of their earwigs and Toshiko's confirmation.
"Come on, time to beat the bushes" Jack lifted his backpack and they started to make noise, moving along the trail towards where they knew John and Owen were. The sound of a distant shot had them running.
They came to a clearing where a huge buck lay, the tranquilizer dart quick and effective. John was looking down at the beast with interest "Good shot. Look at the pelt, it's almost glowing."
"Radiation?" Ianto asked as he came to stand next to him.
Owen had a device, waving it over the prone creature "Nah. It's not pinging any warnings. Looks like some sort of evolutionary adjustment."
"Right, let's get this thing on it… can we stick a camera in these horns?" Owen asked.
Ianto looked at him with shock "Owen, that is a brilliant idea!"
"Come on, give me some of that duct tape" Owen said as he opened a camera pack and they strapped it onto the horns of the creature, as well as placing the homing device. They then retreated to watch it wake, stagger about with confusion then take off running in the direction it had originally been going.
Good job.
They headed home to see what the deer was running towards.
Hopefully it was a greenbelt.
Hopefully it was life.
Hope.
.
.
Ianto was eating noodles, the ramen twirled expertly around his fork as he watched the screen from the comfort of the chair he was currently perched in. The screens showed the deer moving along and the light had changed slightly. They watched it stop at a stream and bend down to drink.
"The water is safe" Archie muttered as he gripped the back of Ianto's chair and Ianto hummed, twirling another mouthful on his fork.
Jack stood watching with his fingers drumming against his thigh, his eyes moving between the screens, the tracking device giving a location on the map on the other screen. It was a fair distance. Over the last two hours it seemed to have travelled the length of area you would expect from five or six hours tramping on foot for a human. The deer was fast, that's for sure.
"It's about an hour at impulse" John said suddenly "If we want to fly… it would be an hour."
"Green" Toshiko cut into their conversation "Look. Shit, grass. It's grass."
"There is a greenbelt, we were right. There is an area in the valley that is safe" Toshiko said with delight.
"Let's give it a while, see what other animals are out there. How large this area is and how safe it is, or isn't." Jack suggested "It might not be large enough, might be too little too late."
"Agreed. Then we take an away vessel to check it out if there is promise" Ianto said, then popped another mouthful of noodles into his mouth.
"I wanna go" Owen said as he looked around the room with excitement "Can I go?"
"Sure" Jack smiled "You and John can go."
Ianto's fork paused it's twirl and he looked up at Jack, then the fork began to move again as Ianto looked back down.
OK then.
Ianto ate his food.
And seethed at his mate who tried to pretend he could not feel the heat coming off Ianto like a furnace of internally burning anger.
Jack knew Ianto wanted to be the one to look for their new base camp.