Part Forty-Four: Relief

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I know I wasn't meant to post today but today would have been my baby hedgehog's third birthday. Unfortunately, he got sick and passed away at the end of August. In honour of Ezra's birthday, I'm sharing a comfort chapter.

EMMA

"There she is!" Marina yelled out the second she laid eyes on me, the rest of 8 turning in my direction as well.

"Hi," I smiled sheepishly, waving slightly, letting Eddie take the bag of my dirty uniform off my shoulder.

They were all, the 118 and 8 included, huddled around a large dug out hole full of bricks, a fire burning inside it. Most of them had blankets wrapped around them or they were sharing with each other. Even Arvin who'd been discharged from another hospital at the same time as me had joined them, laid down in a narrow travel bed, his nose red from the chill in the air.

"You feelin' good?" Jason asked, motioning for Buck and Kata to sit closer to each other so he could join them on their bench.

"Yep," I nodded, waiting for Eddie to finish dumping my bag on one of the free tables before we joined them at the fire. "I'm all good and healthy. How's the storm?"

"Down to a category three now," a gruff voice called out, "bout damn time too."

"Captain," I grinned, glancing over my shoulder at Saunderson who was standing over a large pot of stew with Bobby.

"Nice o' you to join us again, Sharpshooter," Saunderson snorted before pointing at Bobby, "now, can you tell him that I make a mean stew and I don't need supervision."

I snorted lightly, turning further to look at Bobby, "Once, he put in a pound of bacon straight into a soup pot. There was no soup. He did not cut it up. It was just a ball of bacon with some oil."

"Noted," Bobby smiled widely at me before leaning over to take the spoon Saunderson was using out of his hands.

"Traitor," Saunderson grumbled, moving back from the pot as I turned back to the two crews in front of me.

"Sharpshooter?" Chimney asked the second I made eye contact with him, "You had a cool nickname all along and you never shared it with us?"

A laugh burst out of my throat and I shook my head quickly. "It's not a cool nickname, it's just something my Cap called me cause of somethin' that happened on my first day with 8."

"I'm sensing a good story," Buck smiled widely, leaning forwards on his knees.

"It's not a-"

"Basically!" Kata cut me off, sending me a short wink, "She came in that morning, stiff as a board, glaring at everything in sight."

"Funnily enough, she joined us the same way," Eddie mused, his fingers grazing my thigh as he set his hand down on the bench.

"You accused me of stealing Buck's job and spent the rest of the day being extremely passive aggressive," I argued, staring at him in disbelief.

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