"You told them what??!!" If it were possible for flames to shoot out of a human beings’ head, as they did in cartoons, then an inferno would be raging out of Alexia's head.

"Well, we are as screwed as a cowboy with no horse." Bricks said

"I admit that it isn't ideal." Scott tried to defuse the situation

"Not ideal?! Not ideal is a bad haircut. This is botched six ways to Sunday." Alexia's burning fury showed no signs of cooling off. She angrily paced back in forth.

“You have to play the hand you dealt sometimes. The only other option was to have no options. Does it suck? Of course. We have had to drop plans and wing it many times in the past. Remember the Henderson Mansion or the STA convention jobs? We work well on the fly.”

“The difference being that our safety and our family’s lives weren’t on the line.” Alexia continued, “You know that just because we aren’t married with kids doesn’t mean we don’t have families that the Overseer is going to kill.”

“We all have a lot to lose. I was there, and Scott did what he had to in the heat of the moment. The alternative was being forced out of this entire area, and then what happens to our families? At least now we have a shot at this.” Vanessa came to Scott’s defense. She wasn’t a fan of the situation they were left in, but she also knew Scott salvaged what little chance they had at success.

“Yeah, I listened to the whole thing, and that guy was going to force us out of town one way or the other if Scott hadn’t done what he did.” Yumi chimed in. She felt strange because she wasn’t’ sure it was her place, but she had as much on the line as anyone else. She thought quickly to her family back at home, and she quickly shut that door as this was no place to start getting emotional or show these strangers how vulnerable she was. She wondered if she even trusted these people or how they could trust her. This whole mission was becoming a mess, and she didn’t even have anyone she could lean on. Yumi quickly pushed her emotions down and locked them away, now was not the time.

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"It sucks. I know that. We will figure this out. I don't want to let any of you down, or your families, or mine." Scott did his best to try to project a calm front to everyone. On the inside, turmoil raged inside of Scott. He searched for a way out or a plan that didn't leave anyone’s family in danger. He never thought he would yearn for the days when his most significant decision was to cut more ham or hope the current cheese stock would make it through the day. He thought about how out of practice he was with running a team and making such impactful choices. People always say that things like this are like riding a bike, and it comes right back to you. That was not the case. This was nothing like riding a bike, and he didn't even like bikes anyway.

"I need to take a walk and think this through." With that, Scott headed off towards the woods and slowly faded into them.

"If there was ever a better time for whiskey, I reckon I haven't seen it." Bricks sat on the picnic bench by the RV. He held his flask in the air as if to make a toast and brought it to his lips, and gulped down as much of the rough liquor as he could handle.

"There is plenty to share" Bricks waved the flask around towards the group that remained.

"No, thank you, I have some work to do." Yumi turned and headed into the RV. Alexia ran into the woods in the same direction as Scott without a word.

"Screw it; I'm in." Vanessa sat next to Bricks and grabbed the flask, and took a swig.

"This reminds me of high school," Vanessa said as she took another swig

"How so?" Bricks questioned, a genuinely puzzled look on his face.

"Cheap booze and a man walking away frustrated."