“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Duke said, raising his glass. “You came to us as strangers, as unknowns. Through your hard work and determination, you were able to surmount the challenges placed in front of you. I know I speak for the entire team when I say, we’re happy to have you on board. This team is like a family, we have to be when we're out in the desert with only each other for company. So If you’re ever unsure or need help with something, you can always look to one of us for help. We’d be happy to do it.”

Duke looked around at everyone, Caspian feeling his gaze more a scant moment. “Now let us have a toast, to old and new members alike. To the creation of a bigger family.”

“CHEERS!” echoed through the bar as glasses clinked together. Duke had a happy smile on his face as he slid back into his chair. Caspian could feel the odd look from the other patrons of the bar, but he tried to ignore it. So what if they were nosey?

“Great speech man,” Rich said, slurring his words slightly. “Loved the part about family, very touching. Really takes me back yaknow. Remember when we were the fresh faces on the block Percy?”

“You never let me forget Rich,” Percy said.

“Bah, you remember as well as I do. After all, you forgot all of the meat on our first expedition. A week of eating nothing but dry biscuits and fruits. I felt like a camel,” Rich said laughing.

“At least he only made the mistake once Rich,” Sofia said smirking. “How many times did ya ave’ us diggin' in the wrong spot? Was it three or four times?”

Another round of laughter circulated as Rich blubbered. “The map was wrong, the map was wrong. I tell you that every time. That wasn’t my fault,” he complained, smiling all the while.

“Sure it was,” Sofia said wrily.

“Whatever,” he said shaking his head. Both Percy and Sofia chuckled at him, the drinks still flowing.

Back over at his side of the table, Erika hadn’t slowed down at all. He didn’t know where all the drinks were going, but she still seemed fine. Victoria on the other hand was basically still sober. Caspian, after promising to slow down a bit, had in fact found his drink refilled mysteriously multiple times. Not even thinking about it, he drank them down easily. The alcohol didn’t burn anymore thankfully.

Caspian felt his head grow heavy as the night wore on, it sagging any which way when he didn’t focus on keeping it up. The fog in his mind continued to grow, causing every action he did to feel slow. The thought of stopping drinking floated by before being swept away. Sitting back against the wall, the coolness of the rock consumed him. It was all so peaceful.

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A massive pulsating pain thumped against his skull. Every few moments it would sharpen to a point, causing him to roll in pain. Groaning, Caspian opened his eyes, the bright light causing his headache to double in intensity. Feeling around, the soft bedding sank in his hands.

“What happened last night?” The thought was slow as if submerged in honey, his head not working very well. Rubbing his temple did almost nothing to alleviate his suffering. “I’m never drinking again,” he thought idly. Just the mere image of alcohol made his stomach churn.

“UGhhhh,” he cried out. This was the worst. Dragging himself to the edge of the bed, Caspian misjudged the distance and tumbled to the floor. Lying there in a heap, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Rubbing his elbow that had cushioned his fall, he climbed to his feet warily.

Examining the room, he saw his crutches lying haphazardly by the door. Nothing else seemed disturbed. Testing his leg, he couldn’t tell if it was feeling better, or if everything else was feeling worse. “I’ll still use the crutches,” he decided. Better safe than sorry.

The throbbing headache caused every action he took to be slow and methodical, lest he aggravate it more. Checking the wardrobe in the back, he found a few sets of clothes inside. They smelled clean, so without thinking he threw them on. Making sure to pile the old clothes neatly in a pile, he made for the door.

“Need food,” he murmured. His stomach was demanding it be fed, crying out like a lost child. Just thinking about food made Caspian salivate. He wanted meat. It didn’t matter what kind or cut, he just needed to eat something hot and filling. A steak, a burger, a pie. All the different types of meat dishes circled in his head, causing his stomach to growl with hunger even louder.

Roaming the halls, he made for the kitchen. All he could think of was breakfast, his headache like a beating drum. On approach, the scent of hot food wafted throughout the hallway. His brain on autopilot, he walked right past the entrance to the kitchen, following the scent. Just around the corner, a large dining room revealed itself to him, people sitting around it. Plates of steaming hot food were scattered across it, the smell of making his mouth water.

“Caspian you’re up,” Percy said, his plate full of cooked sausages, patties, and hashbrowns.

Sliding into a chair, he struggled to speak. “Hello,” he murmured, the act causing his headache to flair up.

“Not feelin' too hot ay,” Erkia said, a fruit in hand. “I told ya to ease up on the drinks.”

“Mmmm,” was the best he could muster in reply. Looking at all the food in front of him, he couldn’t decide what to grab. All the food looked delicious. His mind wasn’t able to help him, as it called for him to eat everything. Caught in decision paralysis, he just sat there looking at the food dumbly.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Ya all good there Cas?” Erika asked concerned.

“Bad headache. It’s not fun,” he said, wincing.

“Well drink some water,” she said. Leaning over she poured him a glass. “Ya need to keep ya fluids up Cas.”

“Thanks,” he murmured, taking a gulp. Looking at her, she seemed to be faring better than he. “How are you ok? You drank twice as much as I did.”

“Hehe jealous?” she said smirking. “I got an iron liver. Don’t even have a headache.”

“Lucky you,” he said. Taking another mouthful of water, he grabbed a plate. Pilling cooked meats onto it, he couldn't stop himself tucking in. Wolfing it down, the taste barely registered. All his mind could think was eat eat eat. Soon the plate was empty save for a few scraps. His stomach still wanted more, crying out as if he hadn’t given it a single morsel. Grabbing more food, he continued eating.

The others at the table could only give him surprised stares as he put the food away like he was a starving man.

“Jesus Christ Caspian,” Erika said. “Save some for the rest of us, hahaha.”

As he was mid-chew, Rich wandered in with a friendly smile. “Hey guys. Dear lord what is that,” he cried, looking at Caspian. “Caspian you look like a savage animal, you doing ok champ?”

“Mmmm, just hungry and headache,” he said between bites.

“Well, that's fair. You really put them away last night, it was surprising. You didn’t seem like the type,” he said taking a seat. “At least you didn’t throw up.”

“It was new for me as well,” Caspian said, whipping his mouth with a napkin. “I don’t actually remember much from last night.”

“Oh really?” Erika asked. “Not a thing?”

Frowning, he thought hard. Despite the pain from the headache, his mind was shrouded in a dense fog. The last thing he remembered properly was Duke’s speech, everything after was fragmented and jumbled. Like scenes from a movie randomly chosen with no thought or order.

“Up until the speech is a bit hazy, but after that, I don’t know. Actually, how did I get back here?” he asked confused.

“You walked haha,” Rich said. “It was pretty funny. You almost fell over a few times, but made it in one piece. Me and Percy got you to your room and you just collapsed into bed. You were pretty find though, despite the memory loss.”

“Thanks then, I appreciate it,” Caspian said looking at both men. “Did everyone else get back all good?”

“Ain’t no trouble,” Rich said, waving the thanks off. “Everyone else was mostly good, you definitely had the worst of it. Victoria was a little out of it as well, but Erika here took care of her.”

“Huh, Victoria? She was barely drinking though?” he said.

“Yeah I’m not sure how that happened,” Erika said shrugging. “Must have a terrible tolerance. She is quite small.”

“I uh. I didn’t do or say anything embarrassing did I?” he asked, hopeful.

“You were all good,” Percy said, dabbing a napkin on his mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Phew,” he thought. It wouldn’t be good to be making a fool out of himself so soon. “So what’s the agenda for today?”

“I’m not sure what Duke has planned, but most likely we’ll be showing you the ropes of our operation,” Percy said sitting back. “You’ll be paired up with one of us, and we’ll take you through what we do. Who goes with who doesn’t really matter, you’ll get a session with each of us. It’s mostly so that you’re aware of what can and will be happening on an expedition. Of course, you won’t be expected to do everything yourself when we’re out there, but hey, better to be prepared.”

“Fair enough,” he said thinking. “I always meant to ask, but what will we actually be doing on the expedition? On the first day Duke said we’re just manual labour, but like, what does that mean?”

Rich chuckled at that. “Duke was just paraphrasing there. Of course, you will be used for manual labour, but we all do that. We just need more hands for the expedition. Someone to help out Percy with the camels. Someone to help Chef prepare the meals. Just stuff like that,” Rich said.

“I see I see,” Capsian said nodding. “That sounds fun. I’m excited to learn. Any word on when we’re leaving the city?”

“That’s up to Duke and Valorie,” Percy said. “You’d have to ask one of them, and even then they might not tell you. Usually, they play it pretty close to the chest.”

“Why’s that?” Erika asked. “Wouldn’t it be helpful to know early?”

“We ran into issues in the earlier years,” Rich said scowling. “Things went wrong, and we lost people because of it. Duke and Valorie made the decision to keep our destination, routes, and departure time secret. Just to be safe.”

Percy nodded at what he was saying. “Not that you guys need to be concerned. That’s old history now. Things are different these days.”

“Oh ok. Thanks for explaining,” Caspian said. “I wonder what could have happened?” he thought. Obviously, it was something serious, given the reaction Rich had. Nothing really came to mind however, his headache taking most of computing power.

“Mmm, sorry fer bringing it up,” Erika said.

“Nonsense,” Percy said. “There’s nothing to apologise for.”

“I think I’m going to bounce,” Caspian said. His plate was empty, and his stomach was now full. “When will the training start, do you guys know?”

“An hour or so,” Percy said. “Duke will make an announcement when it’s time.”

“Alright thanks,” he said. “Um, what should I do with my plate? Do I just leave it here, or take it into the kitchen?”

“Chef prefers it if you clean up after yourself,” Rich said. “And what the cook wants the cook gets if you know what I mean.”

“Right,” he said, not really getting what he meant. Picking up his plate he held it in his bad hand, the crutches in the other. Limping a tad, he shuffled out of the dining room. His progress was slow, the plate and crutches combo proving to be quite unwieldy. Peaking into the kitchen, he saw Chef hard at work, cooking up who knows what.

“Uh excuse me Chef, where can I put this?” he said holding up his dirty plate. Waiting for a reply, he shifted uncomfortably. Chef seemed entirely focused on his pan, and from prior experience he knew better than to interrupt. Surveying the kitchen, he saw a sink full of dirty dishes off to the side. “There maybe,” he thought.

Shuffling over to it, he kept an eye on Chef to see if he motioned to anything. Just on his periphery, he saw an outstretched hand with a thumbs up as he arrived at the sink. “Guess he wants it here,” he thought. Placing it down, he made to leave as quickly as possible so as to not disturb Chef.

Heading back to his room, he collapsed back onto his bed. Looking up at the ceiling, he took another gulp of water. His headache had subsided a little, but not by much. His head still felt like it was in a vice. Maybe a little nap would help. Laying there with a full belly, he quietly drifted off to sleep.