Novels2Search

Chapter Twenty-Six

You entered the base feeling calm. Of course it's still awkward to have what happened come up when we all talk, but at least the situation didn't escalate as far as it could have. Jeez... I need to have better control of myself. As you both entered the living room, Engie made his way to the couch and sat back down.

"Yo! Strategist! Wanna race now?" Scout asked, jumping up off of the couch.

"Um, okay, sure," you agreed.

"Wait you two, we need ta eat lunch first. It's already after noon," Engie pointed out, stopping you.

"Correct, and zhe food iz ready. Strategist, could you get zhe others?" Spy asked you, walking out of the kitchen. If I was to be timid and untrusting, it would be with this man. He's sneaky and seems to just know everything, maybe I shouldn't let him into my computer....

"Oh, uh sure," you said, nodding. We're missing Soldier, Pyro, and Medic. I can hear Demo already at the table drinking, Sniper's at the recliner still, and Heavy looks half-asleep on the couch with Scout and Engie. I didn't see Soldier or Pyro outside, so they must be in their rooms. Medic said he was in the Medbay... and not to bother him. Okay, you can do this. You went to Pyro's room on the corner of the hallway opposite of yours. You knocked on the door and waited for him/her to answer. After a brief moment, they opened the door. They seemed to stare at you as the only sound from them was the breathing behind the mask. Creepy....

"Lunch is ready Pyro," you managed to tell them without stuttering. They said nothing and moved past you into the living room, closing the door to their room behind them. That was weird. You walked down the hallway of rooms and gave Soldier's door a stern knock. He opened the door and stared down at you stiff as ever from under the helmet. "Lunch is ready, Soldier."

"Thank you for the information Cupcake!" He said as loud as ever. You nodded, stepping aside to let him practically march by. You closed the door for him. Okay, Medic's last. You can do this... wait. Why am I prepping myself to tell a dude lunch is ready? That's just stupid! ... You can do this (Y/n). You walked slowly over to the Medbay doors. You knocked on one of them.

"Are jou dying?" Medic called, sounding annoyed as he approached you from somewhere in the Medbay. A bit on the inside.

"Er, no, b-," you start to say.

"Then vhy are jou here?" He appeared from the doors and stared down at you.

"I-I was just trying to s-say lunch is ready, Medic."

"Hmph, right. Jou could have just told me." He walked away with no more to say. I can never do anything right by this guy! You silently followed him back into the living room.

"Zhere you are. Thank you, Strategist," Spy thanked you.

"It was no problem," you responded. You all sat down in your places at the table in the kitchen. The meal was a steak taco salad. Man, Spy put a lot into this one. "Thank you for cooking, Spy."

"Not a problem. Please enjoy."

Nodding, you dug in, suddenly feeling very hungry. This has already been a crazy day and it's barely half-way over. I wonder what I'll do for the rest of it.

"So," Spy started. "What did each of 'ou do this morning?" You stopped chewing and tensed up. The others did as well.

"What? What happened?" Scout asked, looking at each of your faces. Heavy dabbed his brow with a napkin.

"Training with Soldier," you tried to calmly state and shoved food in your mouth to keep from speaking.

"More had to 'ave happened than that! C'mon, tell us!"

"Well, I did sprain my ankle pretty badly getting up from a rocket jump and Medic healed it with the medigun."

"That's it? Why'dja all tense up and stuff then?" You shrugged your shoulders and shook your head. "Huh. Okay then." Oh thank the Lord. Spy was studying your face and you were starting to sweat.

"Hmm, alright then," Spy concluded and took another bite. You could practically feel the tension relax. You all started eating again. The conversations started again and you could see people's eyes shift to you every so often. You became nervous in your chair. I don't like that, but I guess it's normal for them to act like that after what's happened? I don't know, I just want to be in my room right now.

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You continued to eat in silence until your plate was empty. You stood up and put the plate in the sink. You walked away exited the kitchen heading towards your room. You really felt like escaping and watching YouTube until it was time to sleep. You opened the door to your room and stepped in, closing it behind you. You opened up your computer and logged onto YouTube. You watched (Favorite YouTuber) and yet again they made you laugh. After about half and hour you heard a knock at your door.

"Oh, coming!" You called and quickly turned the computer off and opened the door. It was Spy. I have a bad feeling about this.... "Yes, Spy?"

"Do you mind if I come in?" He asked.

"Oh, uh sure." You side stepped to the left so he could enter. You closed the door and stood by it. "What did you need?"

"I wanted you to tell me what actually happened today." He turned to face you. You tensed up.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Why do 'ou think I came 'ere for?" He'll know if I'm lying.

"Good point. Well I was training with Soldier. After landing a rocket jump without hurting myself, I stand up and sprain my ankle on a rock. Soldier helps me to the Medbay and Medic heals it with the Medigun. Medic asks Soldier to leave... and then demands me to explain my behavior. Telling me I can't leave until I do. I escape and run off. I crash into Sniper, he sees I'm in the Scout outfit and asks what's wrong. Medic comes around the corner and I start running again. I burst through the living room, hear voices, and rush outside where I'm caught by Heavy. He helps me calm down and the awkwardness ensues." You took a deep breath and Spy doesn't move. "T-Then they finally learn about what's making me so jumpy. My f-father stopped talking to me completely saying t-that I can't talk to me until I come home and never speak about Teufort. I t-tried to explain the contract I'm in and he blocked me. So, y'know that got me thinking. I'm here... with a bunch of grown strangers about to fight, die, and supposedly come back to life. Why am I here?"

Spy seemed to think a long time before speaking: "I 'ave no reason why 'ou are 'ere, but I never doubt zhe Administrator. As for your father, 'e can only stay disconnected for so long." Oh, that's right. If he gets too worried, he'll have to talk to me. You nodded. "I understand zhat zhey wanted to let you tell everyone on your own, yes?"

"Yep...." You shifted.

"Zhat makes more sense now, I'll leave 'ou be Strategist." He headed for the door.

"Wait, I-I have a question." He stopped.

"Yes?"

"I know my own mother well enough to know that the night we left for Teufort she wasn't acting like herself. Now from what I know about everybody, only you'd have the skill to be invisible to do that. What did you do to her?" You made eye contact with Spy and saw his pupils widen.

"Ah, yes. Well you're called zhe Strategist for a reason. It was a simple drug in 'er drink zhat would start working after a couple of hours. Nothing harmful, but it makes zhe user feel light and... happy, so zhey are easier to persuade. It doesn't last over twenty-four 'ours."

"Yeah I noticed it wearing off. Thank you for telling me so easily." That's how he did it....

"Not a problem." You opened the door and he left. Before you could close it, Scout popped his head in.

"Hey!" He shouted and you jumped.

"... Hi, Scout," you said.

"Wanna have that race now?" Sure, I need some fresh air.

"Sure."

"Awesome!" He grabbed your wrist and yanked you from your room. You managed to close the door before you were soaring through the hall. You two nearly crashed into Demo.

"Sorry!" You called behind you and he just lifted his bottle.

Once you felt sandy dirt under your foot, you took out Scout's class disk and turned it on. He stopped abruptly and you stumbled forward a bit. You were standing in front of the starting line on the track.

"Ya ready?" Scout asked excitedly.

"Yep."

"Okay! Three, two, one... GO!" You two were off. Despite the training you did and the boost from the outfit, Scout both started and finished in front of you. Once you ran across the line a few feet behind him, he was already turned around with a smug grin. "I win! I'm da best!" He cheered for himself.

"Haha, yep, you win Scout." You stretched.

"Anyways, I needed ya out here for somethin'."

"What is it?"

"I forgot a couple-a things about my class. Sorry 'bout that."

"It's not that bad, I mean you remembered right? What was it?"

"Yeah, I forgot somethin' else you could use and another skill." An entire skill? How....

"Well, what are they?"

"See, inside the bag on your back, the lovely Ms. Pauling says you can have your scattergun, a bat, and a choice between the pistol, sodas, and milk. Now you can read what da sodas do, but da milk is different than that. When ya throw it on someone, when you hit them afterwards, it somehow heals ya. Don't ask, I don't know, but you can heal yourself, dowse flaming people, and annoy the crap out'a the enemy Spy."

"Good to know... what about the skill?"

"Well, the skill is double jumping."

"How is that physically possible?"

"Don't know, but I can do it and you probably could."

"I guess? How do you do it?"

"Well, you jump. Then ya jump again."

"Really?" You gave him a sarcastic look.

"Just try it!"

"Fine." You gave yourself a running start, jumped, and then somehow jumped again. It was like the air became a ledge for you. How the hell? You fell back down to Earth and hurt your ankles a bit.

"See! I told ya!"

"Yeah I see that."

"Are ya ankles hurt? Mine hurt the first time I tried."

"A bit, but they're fine."

"That's good." You sat in awkward silence. You turned Scout's disk off.

"Now what?"

"I don't know, but we should go inside I guess."

"Yeah."

You both headed back inside the base. From there you had a pretty boring afternoon. You watched YouTube and entertained yourself, but after dinner it was just sitting there and waiting for an appropriate time to sleep. Finally, the time had come to sleep and you did with no complaints.