A/N: Hey guys! There was a bit more of a delay in getting this chapter up than I was hoping for, but at least it wasn't more than a month like last time! :) I'll try to do better over the holidays. Thanks as always for reading :)

I don't own Glee.

Chapter 7

It was still dark outside when Thomas came to Kurt's tent to retrieve him for the mission. They weren't scheduled to leave until close to eight in the morning, but there were protocols to follow, lists to check off and so forth. Kurt didn't really need Thomas to wake him. He hadn't slept much at all, not after the night he and Blaine shared combined with his nervous energy arising from the task that lay ahead of him.

The details of the mission were few, and since it was his first, Kurt felt even more in the dark than the rest of the team. He knew they were going to a community about fifty miles south, about a day and a half day trek, but other than that, he wasn't sure what to expect. Unlike previous missions, this one wasn't completely new; the team had smuggled people from this community in the past, so that comforted Kurt a bit. At least the rest of the team had an inkling of what kind of security measures to expect.

Kurt tried to keep his questions to Thomas and the other team members to a minimum. He didn't want to be the new guy who asked stupid, scared-sounding questions. So when he nonchalantly asked how long of a break the team took between missions, he was actually trying to gauge the kind of shape the group returned home in. When Sandra, a longtime member of the team told him the breathing period between missions was anywhere from two weeks to two months, Kurt was pretty sure what that meant. Some missions went well, others not so.

"We usually get back to work sooner rather than later," Sandra had told him, her reassuring tone and pat on the back suggesting that she knew exactly what Kurt was asking. He was grateful for her understanding, and for the bonds he was quickly forming with the ten other members of the team aside from himself, Sandra and Thomas.

Kurt contemplated waking Blaine up to say goodbye before ultimately deciding just to let their time together the night before suffice as a farewell. Blaine would probably be upset by this decision, but the way Kurt figured it, when he came back, Blaine would be so happy to see him, he wouldn't remember his anger. That is, if Kurt came back at all.

You can't think like that, Hummel, Kurt scolded himself as he laced up his boots in the dark. Thomas was always telling him that it was thoughts like that that would get him killed. And Kurt understood why. It was the responsibility of every member of the team to stay strong, both physically and mentally. Kurt had no intentions of letting the team down in either capacity.

By the time Kurt arrived at the rescue team's base, all but two of the other members were already gathered around the fire pit. Some were scarfing down breakfasts of fruit and corn fritters, supplied by the kitchen team, while others packed and repacked their carry bags. Thomas was checking items off in his notebook and verbally called out each member's name as they arrived to the base. Kurt placed his pack down at his feet and accepted the breakfast that was handed to him.

"Alright everyone," Thomas called out as the last member arrived at base, his voice booming in the still of the early morning. "You all know the basics. We're travelling south to the Concord Community. We've been contacted by a go-between who tells us there are five people trying to leave."

A go-between, Kurt learned, was a person who didn't live in any one free community. Rather, they lived between communities, usually in heavily wooded areas in makeshift forts, and made a living out of travelling to restrictive communities and delivering communications to those on the outside. In a way, they were mailmen and women, the only source of information travel available in this new world. In exchange for their services, free colonies supplied them with food and other necessities, usually as payment for information.

"We will leave in approximately ten minutes," Thomas continued. "So make sure your checklists are complete, eat breakfast and answer nature's call if needed. Our travel schedule will land us just outside of Concord by six p.m. tomorrow evening. Kurt, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Kurt looked like a deer in headlights, but quickly responded, standing up from where he sat to eat his breakfast and brushing his hands off on his pants. He followed Thomas about twenty yards away from the group before Thomas turned around to face him.

"How're ya feeling?" Thomas asked, his laidback manner of communication in slight conflict with the nervous energy that buzzed palpably around him.

"Good, good," Kurt answered with a bit more enthusiasm than was believable. "I'm a bit terrified," he quickly admitted.

"Well, to be honest, I'd be a bit worried if you weren't," Thomas reassured him with an easy smile. "Every single one of us is a bit terrified every time we head out there, no matter how many missions we've gone out on. The main thing to remember is that every single one of us has your back. And we know we can count on you to have ours. Now, I only know what you and Maggie have told me, but from what I understand, you are pretty much the reason that the four in your group made it here alive."

"I don't think—"

"Kurt," Thomas interrupted, as Kurt's cheeks quickly flushed. "It's true. I see the potential in you. I never would have selected you for this mission if I didn't believe in your abilities. Just remember that and you'll be fine, got it?"

"Got it," Kurt responded with a nervous smile. How could Thomas have so much faith in him when his insides felt like jelly? Kurt gave himself another quick internal pep talk as he walked side-by-side back to the base with Thomas.

"Alright everyone," Thomas barked as the group fell silent. "Grab your packs and let's go! We want to get some good mileage in today. The farther we go today, the more time we have for preparation tomorrow. Either way, when one a.m. hits the day after tomorrow, the mission will begin."

With that, Thomas turned on his heel and the group followed him. Kurt fell somewhere in the middle, not wanting to take the lead, but not wanting to fall behind either. The team members around him fell into easy, animated conversations, knowing that once they got a certain distance outside of the community borders, they would have to remain silent. Kurt tried to remain engaged in the conversation between the two members nearest him, but he was too nervous to focus on anything other than mentally going over his survival checklist item by item, quizzing himself on different disaster scenarios. By the time the team had been walking for about an hour, he was feeling much more confident, his nerves giving way to excitement and a faint adrenaline that was starting to pump louder and harder in his veins.

This was what he wanted, after all. He wanted to save people and he wanted to feel that adrenaline again. His own escape from Columbus had given him a taste of that feeling. Ever since then, he was aching for more, and no matter how foolish it may have been to join the rescue team, he needed to feel the fear that came with not knowing if he'd be alive from one moment to the next. It was like a drug, and from his first taste, Kurt was addicted.

He just hoped that his quest for the feeling wouldn't kill him.