The rest of the night went by quickly, and Helmet did his best to keep tabs on everyone present. Angela fell asleep rather quickly after getting food in her belly, and Glasses opted to stay up in the open chassis. It seemed he had hoped to take the time to chat with her but couldn’t stay awake either; the older man could see his arm hang out of the open hole in the machine.
Bandana and Coat found some comfortable rocks to sleep on, and Helmet maintained the campfire while Slacks scavenged in the destroyed dropship. The older man was about to doze off while prodding the flames, but the crunching of Slacks shoes on dried foliage caused him to sit upright again.
“Not much worthwhile left,” the sniper said as he sat near Helmet. “A couple of their rifles survived, but I still can’t figure out how to get the damn things to fire.”
“I’m more interested in finding something to eat; we are supposedly still a day’s drive from the next town.”
“And now that we have another mouth to feed….” Slacks looked up to the Reaper and shook his head. He pulled his long-barreled rifle from his back and cleaned it. “I don’t think we should keep her around. Reapers bring death, even if the pilot is a little girl.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Helmet made a soft smile and shook his head. He stood up and stretched out his arm.
“Well,” he said while watching the flames dance, “I’m not so sure she’ll want to stick around, but I won’t be turning her away. Death’s been chasing after us for many years now; no point casting blame on a young lady if it’s finally caught up.”
Slacks rolled his eyes.
“Logically speaking, she is a giant target.”
“Understandable.”
“She won’t replace your daughter or mine.”
Helmet frowned and continued to stare at the flames. For a moment, they could hear only the crackling and popping wood.
“We don’t leave anyone behind.” The older man eventually replied.
“That was long ago… and look where it got us,” Slacks grunted. He looked at each of the group members one by one.
Both men were glad to let the conversation die, and fortunately, sounds from Bandana gave them the perfect interruption. For a second, he looked like he was about to wake up—he muttered about how uncomfortable the bed was—but before sitting up; he rolled over and snored loudly.
The two waited a moment before chuckling.
“Let’s find a pleasant inn when we get to the next town,” Helmet said.
“Yes, he’s going to be complaining about how awful tonight’s sleep was,” Slacks added. They continued chatting through the night and were the first to greet the others as they awoke.