(In the Sniper's Nest)
Sniper sat alone in his Sniper's nest. The tower was further away from the main buildings and it was nice and tall. Occasionally the old wooden boards would creak as he climbed the stairs or walked around the tower but it was alright. Not bad enough that it would blow his cover should someone be looking for him. He enjoyed the quiet. He liked being alone. It gave him time to think. He sat on an old crate and watched as the sky turned red and orange as the sun began its descent. He took a deep breath and felt his shoulders loosen as he began to relax. He missed this. Just alone...watching the sun set. Nature is beautifu-
He heard shouting from below.
He quickly turned his gaze from the window downwards. Soldier was dragging the new recruit by the arm towards...oh. Soldier had constructed an obstacle course to test the recruit. Sniper smirked to himself remembering last summer when Soldier had forced Scout to participate in one. It had been wonderful to see Scout's ego get knocked down a few pegs. His eyes turned to the girl who was glancing about anxiously.
He reached for his sniper rifle and leveled it with the window and watched through the scope in order to get a better look. She had turned to watch the other mercs crowded along the outside of the closest building on the upper landing. His attention was brought back to the Soldier and Backup below as she was yelling something in panic and Soldier began a countdown. He watched her realize it was a losing battle to argue with the lunatic and turn her body towards the fence. He watched her face pull into a determined frown and her body tense getting ready to run. His eyebrows raised in intrigue and a wicked grin crossed his face.
Soldier bellowed GO!
The girl ran and took a leap to the fence. She grasped it and began to shimmy her thin body up it.
He chortled watching her struggle up the fence...though she was making decent time all things considered.
"Flimsy noodle arms." Sniper muttered to himself with a dismayed shake of his head, remembering Soldier's words from earlier while watching her struggle her way up.
Not too bad for the string bean. She threw herself over the edge and landed as Soldier shouted the minute warning. She took off like a shot.
"Run, little rabbit. Run." Sniper murmured quietly watching her the way a hawk would his prey.
Her pace was fast, he noted. Not bad. However, as she was barreling through the course...she didn't seem to notice the trap she was heading straight towards.
"It's more than just your hair that's blonde, eh?" Sniper snorted in amusement eagerly watching the scene unfold.
The poor stringbean tripped over the wire and landed face first in the dirt. A pile of bricks swung down at her.
"And scene." He muttered waiting for the wail before death as he pulled his eyes away from the scope. A disappointing performance really. He had hoped for a bit more fight. He gave it two days before she left.
But there was nothing.
He turned his scope back to watch the girl army crawling out from under the swaying load of bricks.
"Bein' small has its advantages." He said softly his scope never leaving her fleeing form. "Got lucky once...how long 'til that luck runs out?"
"TIMES UP, CUPCAKE! HERE I COME!" Soldier yelled so loudly that even Sniper could hear it.
The girl picked up the pace but Soldier was not too far behind. The mad man giggled with sadistic glee and Sniper almost felt bad for Soldier's prey. He turned his scope back to watch her and he saw her observing the trap in front of her before carefully stepping around it.
Sniper hummed to himself as he watched her get past it before panicking and diving behind the safety of a metal barrier. Unfortunately, it was a dead end.
"Whatcha gonna do now, blondie? He's got ya cornered…" Sniper tutted watching as Soldier appeared, his shotgun at the ready.
The girl watched Soldier from her hiding spot and stayed quiet as Soldier attempted to get a rise out of her. She looked down and picked up a rock. His eyebrows raised in recognition at that.
Soldier began to stalk further into the maze just as she threw it. Soldier whirled and ran in the direction of the noise, and sheila was off like a shot down the direction he had just been.
"Clever." He commented watching her dart about.
However, she made a wrong turn and wasted valuable time. Soldier ran ahead of her on the path and once he saw that she had not yet made it out, he turned with a wicked grin and waited near the exit. The girl ran out into the opening and quickly tried to double back but was met with a few pellets to the thigh. She screamed in pain and collapsed against the wall, holding her bleeding thigh.
"Yeah. Bet that smarts." He whispered to himself before turning back to watch Soldier leisurely making his way over, preparing for the kill.
He once again turned his scope to the girl bleeding out and nearly unconscious.
"Good try. Just weren't good enough." He stated unsurprised as the Soldier rounded the turn.
Then with a startling war cry, the girl flung herself to her feet. Whipping a handful of dust and sand into Soldier's eyes while simultaneously pushing his shotgun aside. The gun went off, it's pellets scattering aimlessly. Then, she launched her fist directly into Soldier's throat with impressive speed and force. With a solid crack that echoed, Soldier fell backwards to the ground and lay unmoving.
The girl fell to her knees breathing heavily.
Sniper was silent as he watched the girl struggle to her feet. She started limping towards the exit.
She continued to limp unsteadily forward, before her leg gave out once again...and setting off a landmine that tore her body into pieces.
Sniper pulled himself away from his scope and sat back thoughtfully as he reevaluated.
(8 minutes later)
Lisa jolted as she saw a flash of light and was standing on a pair of metal pieces. She felt ill. Her stomach lurched and she walked unsteadily off the strange, metal machine and to the ground collapsing to all fours as she dry heaved. She swallowed back bile as she broke into a cold sweat. She heard voices loudly arguing from somewhere nearby. As the nausea began to slowly seep away, her vision cleared. She realized that she was currently in the garage she had originally entered the building with Miss Pauling and Scout.
She rose unsteadily to her feet and began to follow the sound of the voices.
She walked up the staircase and entered the building. She continued to walk forward, listening to the voices become clearer as she got closer. She arrived at a pair of double doors which she recognized as doors to the recreation room. With a deep breath, she pushed the door open and was met by all the mercs standing around arguing.
"She didn't technically win because she exploded at the end." Medic stated clearly while polishing his glasses.
"Yeah! So, all those bets we made were invalid! Right?" Scout said with a desperate nod.
"Non. The deal was...If I was listening properly...which I was, if Backup managed to somehow escape Soldier for good. Not if she made it out of the maze. That was not specified." Spy stated casually from the chair he was lounging in.
"That-That's not-What?! NO! That DEFINITELY WASN'T THE DEAL!" Scout sputtered angrily.
"That was deal." Heavy rumbled deeply from his seat at the table before taking a swig of his beer.
"You're takin' 'is side?! If I'm not mistaken' pal you lost money too!" Scout squawked.
"No one's side. Is only true." Heavy said blithely, clearly unbothered. He then turned to look at the door where Lisa was standing and a broad smile crossed his face as he gave a boisterous laugh,
"HAHAHAHA! THERE IS LITTLE MOUSE!"
All eyes turned to her and she timidly waved to the group.
" 'eard your test with Soldier was a real treat to watch, lass!" Demo said with a chuckle raising his bottle in a clumsy salute. "Almost sorry I was too drunk to know what was happenin'!"
"Um...Thank you?" Lisa replied unsure as Demo nodded drunkenly and took another drink. "Where's Miss Pauling?"
"Miss Pauling left not too long ago. Had some urgent business to deal with." Medic stated before a wicked grin of delight crossed his face as he said, "That's quite the arm you've got, fraulein. Soldier was still passed out by the time I got to him with my Medigun!"
Her eyes then caught a figure hunched in the corner. His shoulders were slumped and arms were crossed. He refused to face in her direction. Was Soldier...sulking?
"Uh...it was nothing really. Dumb luck." She muttered feeling a twinge of guilt over Soldier's normally animated self now depressed remaining unengaged in the corner of the room. His pride was clearly wounded.
"Yeah, well, you're dumb luck cheated me out of twenty bucks." Scout grumbled sullenly.
"What? Seriously?" Lisa asked, perking up in curiosity.
"Ja. These dummkopfs made bets on you." Medic chuckled, grabbing some water from the fridge.
"Really?" Lisa questioned with an uplifted eyebrow.
"Well...mostly made bets on you losing fight." Heavy rectified.
"Well...they lost...so who bet on me?" Lisa asked in confusion looking around the room at the mercs.
"No, you lost...the person betting on ya just found a loophole in the deal. Semantics." Scout scoffed, taking a large gulp of his beer, clearly annoyed.
She ignored him and continued to look and saw Engie sitting there with the biggest grin counting through a large stack of green bills.
"Engie? You bet on me?" Lisa asked in confusion though she couldn't help feeling a small flicker of joy in her chest that someone had believed in her enough to put money down.
"What can I say? I like an underdog. It paid off this time." Engie chuckled, waving the wad.
"Well...I can't say I won. I did explode at the end." Lisa muttered, throwing a glance at Soldier again, who she could tell was listening. "It's a stalemate. It wouldn't be American to leave this unfinished…"
Soldier stood up so fast that his chair fell over and he spun to look at her.
"SO BE IT MAGGOT! A STALEMATE IS NON CONCLUSIVE! NEITHER WON AND NEITHER LOST! WE WILL CONTINUE TRAINING TOMORROW! HOWEVER...DON'T EXPECT IT TO BE SO EASY...AND NO CHEAP TRICKS!"
He struck out a hand to her and she saw this as an olive branch.
She reached out to shake it and he grabbed it and shook it before grasping it tightly.
"It's a deal, cupcake. However! This doesn't mean I trust you or am impressed by your valor! NO SAND IN THE EYES! THAT IS WEAK AND COWARDLY ALTHOUGH CLEVER! I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO FIGHT ONE ON ONE, LOOKING YOUR ENEMY DIRECTLY IN THE EYES AS YOU SNUFF THE LIFE OUT OF THEM! JUST AS GOD INTENDED!"
He gruffly patted her shoulder and left the room.
"Is it just me...or is it everytime I speak to Soldier...he marches out of the room?" Lisa questioned wondering what had just happened.
"Hrrrduh! Hrrduh duh duh Hrrrrwompwomp." Came a voice from the Pyro sitting on the floor not too far away from her playing with a lighter.
At least Pyro's voice sounded...mostly friendly. Lisa still eyed the lighter in apprehension though.
"Yeah...I agree." Engie nodded sagely. "I wouldn't worry too hard over it, darlin'."
Lisa was about to ask how Engie understood the mumbling but decided against it as Engie asked,
"Scout? It's gettin' late and I'm sure she's tired. Mind showin' her her quarters?"
He then turned his gaze back to Lisa.
"Sorry if they aren't...up to standard. We didn't know when you'd come and there were only eight rooms available."
"Eight? Aren't there ten of us?" Lisa questioned.
"The bushman sleeps in his campervan." Spy interjected his voice nonchalant before fixing Lisa with a stern look. "I would advise you to settle in quickly and rest up for tonight. You will be training with Soldier...but you will also be training with Engineer. Medic. And…" A devilish grin that was not entirely friendly crossed his face. "Me."
"You?" Lisa asked her voice cracking.
Spy pulled out his butterfly knife and spun it experimentally while eyeing it,
"Will that be a problem?"
"N-no. I just-" Lisa stammered.
"Excellent. Off with you. I can tell you that no one here appreciates laziness or tolerates weakness. Let's hope your display today proves us wrong and was more than sheer dumb luck." Spy clucked flicking his blade closed and meeting her eyes with an intimidating stare.
"Yeah...sure. Scout? You were going to show me where I'm staying?" Lisa asked nervously, wanting to be anywhere but in that room.
"Yeah yeah. Don't get pushy." Scout mumbled as he headed out the room with Lisa close on his heels.
Lisa tried to keep up but Scout marched like he was on a mission. He pointedly ignored her and his jaw was set firmly.
"Scout?" She tried.
He ignored her.
"...Scout?" She insisted.
He sighed in annoyance, still upset over the gambling situation.
"What?"
"I was just wondering if there was a place for me to bathe? I've kinda been through alot today and would like to shower." Lisa asked, fiddling with her hands uncomfortable with the accusatory glance Scout was giving her currently. Such a one eighty from the boy she had been speaking to earlier about baseball with. She decided to try puppy eyes. That usually worked. She widened her big green eyes a bit and pulled her lips into a shaky frown,
Scout glanced back at her before frowning in confusion as he took in her pitiful appearance.
"What is this? What's with the eyes? No. Stop."
She continued, widening them a bit more for the full affect.
"Stop. You're makin' me feel guilty for some reason. Just..stop lookin' like a kicked puppy...I can't stand it." Scout muttered angrily rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I just wanted to know if there were showers…" Lisa trailed off softly not giving up the sad kicked puppy act.
"Uhhhh…yeah there are showers. They're...they're not super private though. Little stalls with curtains but still...you might wanna make sure nobody is in there before you-"
"Oh...yeah. That could go wrong so fast." Lisa mumbled, dropping her puppy eyes.
"Yeah. Don't want that." Scout chuckled falling into pace with her before looking at her, clearing his throat and saying, "Sorry for bein' so cross with ya, Backup. I just was expectin' to make some money today, not lose it."
"Well, maybe that will teach you not to underestimate me so much." Lisa rebutted lightly playfully shoving his shoulder.
Scout laughed and rubbed the area she shoved before saying,
"Maybe. I'll consider it."
Soon the two of them arrived at a door that read 'Supply Closet.' Lisa's eyes widened.
"Is this?"
Scout tsked in sympathy.
"Yeah...I dunno what's in there and don't wanna. Supposedly there's a cot in there. But this is where I leave ya! Good luck!"
Before she could stop him, he had already dashed away.
"Such a punk." Lisa muttered to herself before lowering the creaky handle and opening the door to reveal a dusty room.
She coughed as dust flew up and she waved a hand to clear up the air. Boxes upon boxes of lay stacked upon each other with the words 'RED BREAD' on the side.
Her eyes widened with horror.
"Is...Is this all...moldy bread?"
Unfortunately it was. She found a mattress thrown haphazardly against a wall with a pair of red sheets, a thin blanket and a single white pillow. She observed the state of the room feeling exhaustion seeping into her bones.
"Well...it won't clean itself." She stated tightening her jaw in determination, before rolling up her sleeves and getting to work.
(Meanwhile with Miss Pauling)
Miss Pauling was thoroughly exhausted...though she was pleasantly surprised with the way the day had gone. Perhaps Lisa Fournier would acclimate to this role better than she thought. Her survival instincts had been impressive coming from a woman with seemingly no training. There was potential.
Miss Pauling stepped off her moped that she had picked up after dropping off the truck and headed into the Administrator's base and towards her small room to rest for a few hours before going to her next assignment. She stepped into the room and took her hair out of it's bun with a soft sigh of relief. She stepped out of her heels and she hadn't realized how much they ached. She sat at her small dining table and rubbed them, trying to soothe the tense and aching muscles. Then...her phone rang. Thinking it was the Administrator she didn't check the caller ID and answered.
"Yes? I'm here." She said dutifully.
"Hello Miss Pauling." An unknown voice greeted icily.
Miss Pauling was suddenly very awake.
"Who is this? How did you get this number?"
"People talk, Miss Pauling. Especially for the right price." The voice continued unnervingly.
Miss Pauling didn't answer as she placed her shoes back on and quickly threw her hair back into a bun so she could run to the Administrator.
"You have something of mine and I want it back."
Miss Pauling furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and then her mouth dropped when the voice answered back.
"My granddaughter. Where is she?"
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! My laptop is busted so I'm borrowing my brothers when he isn't using it. Hope you enjoyed and I am loving the comments! Thank you to batsybatsybatsy4u and via for the kind words. Comments really make my day and encourage me to keep writing! Hope you all have a great day and I'll see you at the next chapter!