Playing Stupid
Chapter 10
Out the Front Door
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Fresh air never smelled sweeter to Quatre as he tumbled out of the air shaft and into a rather uncomfortable bush that had been placed just so as to feebly hide the existence of the once grated ventilation shaft opening.
Dawn was just beginning to poke over the horizon, a thin sliver of reddish light beginning to paint the tops of the trees that camouflaged the base. Around thehigh-fenced compound, the pine forests of the lower mainland of Canada's western coast were beginning to stir with life, as told by a black squirrel hurrying quickly across the yard.
Almost immediately as he impacted the hard earth, the gas mask was ripped from Quatre's face and tossed into the bush that had poorly managed to break his fall, Quatre certain he would be nursing bruises and some rather nasty scrapes in places Duo would surely find comical for the next few weeks at least.
He paused a moment and took a long, deep breath of the damp forest air, picking out the smell of the evergreen trees, like a sticky-sweet yet pungent flavor to the air.
"Geronimo!!!"
Quatre scrambled for his footing, still nearly chest deep in the uncomfortable bush he had landed in, giving way only moments before Shinigami popped out of the ventilation shaft, landing ass first in the snarl of limbs and stiff foliage.
Odd silence draped over the compound for a few unnatural seconds before a low and steady groan grew from within the bush, a shake managing to belch out a gas mask before a head of chestnut brown hair popped out, a dead twig sticking out from the meter long braid at a rather comical angle. "Who the hell put this bush here!?"
Quatre giggled softly and pushed himself to his feet, turning to survey the compound beyond.
They had come out of the ventilation shafts into some sort of equipment yard, the boxed-in units for air conditioners, furnace exhausts and water heaters all lined precisely in a portion of the yard. They seemed to be the only objects of interest on this side of the facility, stacked up against the base's interior walls, and the exterior barricades, which had to be at least fifteen feet tall, trimmed with razor wire.
Security seemed to be pretty nonexistent in this area as well as Quatre could spot no video surveillance or patrols, as anyone on foot would have surely heard the commotion. "I think the coast is clear," he said quietly.
The bush only moaned, having long swallowed Duo Maxwell again.
"Duo." Quatre sighed and reached into the bush, feeling around for his comrade.
"Hey, watch where you're grabbing, pal!"
"Sorry." With a great heave, Quatre managed to extract the American pilot from the push, the two landing in a plop beside the bush. "So, we're out of the base interior. Now what?"
"Like I said," Shinigami began, pulling himself to his feet and dusting down his pants. "We just waltz right out the front door."
"And that would be…?"
Shinigami scoffed and was just about to explain his devious plan in more detail than absolutely necessary when a base-wide alarm suddenly tripped like an air raid siren.
"They found us?" Quatre asked over the whirling siren, ducking back down beside the bush.
"Not likely." Black eyes began to survey the yard before a very large and very obvious glitch in the night sky explained the sudden alarm. Five very large glitches, to be exact; The unmistakable form of five mobile suits silhouetted against the dimly illuminated sky.
"Hey. They got my message!" Shinigami cheered, hopping to his feet.
"Your message?"
Shinigami threw a thumb over his shoulder to the base. "Twenty-foot tall blue fart beacon. What else?"
Quatre's mouth twitched a moment, remembering the brief whiff of Duo's last prank before he could slap on the gas mask. And all that smell had to go somewhere; the base wasn't going to be air tight for long.
It was time to make their exit, and it wasn't a moment too soon for Quatre. He wanted to do little more than put the night's events behind him. And he was more than eager to be rid of the OZ base.
The buzz of an overhead communications system snapped on, static jamming the frequency a moment before a rather bland voice announced its presence. "Quatre. Duo."
"Heero! My hero!" Duo wiped an imaginary tear from his eye and managed to drag himself from the ground. "I always knew you cared."
"Shut up," the Gundam answered. "We've been detected. Board your Gundams. Now."
Ever straight and to the point.
Quatre hurried off to do just that, Sandrock on autopilot setting down in the yard before them in a localized tornado of dust and leaves, followed similarly by Deathschye.
A mouth full of dirt and leaves was almost a welcome nuisance as Quatre hurried to the elevator line that was quickly descending from his Gundam, hopping aboard. "Duo! Come on!"
Shinigami still stood where he had pulled himself to his feet only moments ago, a devious gleam lighting the unnatural black eyes. No one would have to ask what thoughts were rolling through that head.
"Maxwell! Get your ass in gear! What are you doing!?" bellowed Shenlong's loudspeaker.
… no one except Wu Fei Chang, that is.
And without another word, Shinigami spun and disappeared into the bush hiding the ventilation grate.
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Heero Yui frowned as the bush swallowed Duo Maxwell and stopped all movement. "Baka."
"He hasn't caused enough chaos yet?" Trowa's voice came over the communication line.
A sharp click sounded throughout the cabin before Wu Fei's line opened. "I'm sure we'll hear every last detail. Over. And over. And over again…"
A corner of Heero's external feed fizzled before it resolved into a view of Sandrock's cabin, Quatre settling in, buckling his five-point harness over the splattered, bloody mess that was his white pressed shirt.
"Christ, Quatre! What happened!" Trowa's voice actually sounded worried.
The other waved it off. "Later. Right now, we get out of here and come back for Duo later."
"Do we have to?" Wu Fei put in with a snort.
One by one, the Gundams lifted into the air, small localized tornados kicking up beneath them to pick up every little bit of debris available at their disposal, sandblasting the forest and side of the compound. And with Deathschythe on autopilot, moving into an obedient position beside Wing Zero, the Gundam's took off into the dawn just as the base's security battalion scrambled.
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To be continued…
Two more chapters, and we're DONE!