red vs blue: Felix's second chance

10- breakfast preparations

This time Grif leads the way. He suddenly seems a lot more energized. Of course, that's because Grif is extremely food-driven.

Since they will pass his quarters anyway after they walk up the stairs, Felix asks: "Can I put my things away it will take only a moment? I don't want to carry all this stuff around with me for the rest of the tour."

"Sure, no problem. Shall I help you? I'm very good at tidying up. We could sort the weapons by size or by their first letter. Oh, I already have so many ideas." Donut says.

Felix realizes, that Donut could become a problem in the future. Under no circumstances can Donut be allowed into his quarters, where the knife may still be lying around. Whether the Reds would miss a Blue is debatable, but Felix doesn't want to find out.

Before Felix can come up with an excuse, Grif unintentionally comes to his rescue. "Seriously Donut? I want to finally finish this tour. We're so close to the kitchen and breakfast. We haven't even eaten yet and you're thinking about cleaning up?"

"Sorry Donut, but I think Grif is right. He and Simmons are making a big effort to show me around and I don't want to keep them waiting. How about we meet in my quarters this evening and organize all the stuff?" says Felix. He is incredibly pleased with himself. What a perfect answer, he thinks. So everyone of the Reds is happy and everyone will like him.

"Great!" exclaims Donut enthusiastically and Grif nods in satisfaction.

Felix goes to his quarters. He opens the door skillfully with his foot, as he has his hands full with all the weapons he has taken with him. He puts everything down on the desk.

Meanwhile, he searches his room inconspicuously. Sure enough, there it is. The knife is lying at the foot of the bed. He has washed off most of the blood, but on the handle there are a few bloodstains. How could he have been so stupid? The problem is that the Reds are waiting outside. He can't just close the door and hide it. Besides, the Reds could come in at any time. The knife would raise awkward questions.

As he turns around, Felix inconspicuously bumps his arms agains a grenade. It begins to roll away, but he pretends not to notice it. He leaves the quarters. Only when the grenade hits the floor with a soft clatter and continues rolling towards the bed does he turn around.

"Oh, that's no good, I'd better put it somewhere else." Felix says, acting surprised. He picks it up and kicks the knife under the bed, where hopefully no one will look for the time being. He puts the grenade back on the desk, but this time he puts it down in such a way that it won't "accidentally" fall off.

The Reds pay no attention to his seemingly insignificant action. I'm just damn perfect, he thinks. Now all that remains is to hope that Donut doesn't get the idea to clean under his bed tonight.

Arriving in the kitchen, Grif immediately starts to set the table. "I'm so hungry," he exclaims loudly. Felix notices that Grif has set out five plates. This probably means that Sarge will be arriving at the red base very soon.

Simmons opens some of the cupboards, but instead of helping Grif, he explains to Felix where he can find everything. Felix is once again surprised by the equipment of the base. He finds plates, glasses, cups and even some rather fine cutlery that would have been more appropriate in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

While the others are busy, Donut sits down and starts folding cute little animals out of napkins. He makes one for everyone in the red base. He also occasionally rearranges things that Grif puts on the table. Grif seems to have no idea, how to prepare a fancy dinner table. Donut wants to cry, when he sees Grif place a cake fork instead of a normal one by one of the plates. Can't he see the difference in size, Donut wonders.

"Oh, I forgot something. Pass me the big bowl, Simmons. We're having chips with triple cheese today," Grif shouts.

"What, for breakfast? You know that stuff is totally awful for your health. At least eat something proper beforehand." Simmons replies and hands Grif the bowl anyway.

Ah, the potato chips, thinks Felix and grins under his helmet. Too bad Grif, I ate them. He can hardly wait to see Grif's reaction when he realizes that his breakfast has been stolen.

The table is set and Felix has seen all the contents of the cupboards. Now all that's missing is the food.

"What are we going to eat?" asks Felix.

"Now comes the best part." Grif explains and suddenly pushes one of the large kitchen cupboards to the side. The cupboard moves silently and a door appears behind it.

Is it a secret passage, Felix thinks. He can hardly wait to see, what's hidden behind it. But he is disappointed. There is no hidden tunnel leading through the red base or anything like that. It's just a storeroom.

A few shelves with bags of rations and even more napkins are stacked inside. There are also a lot of sauces in plastic containers. At first glance, Felix sees soy sauce, mayonnaise and ketchup. There are also dozens of strawberry and chocolate milk bottles on the shelves.

But wait, why has Felix bothered to hide the box of food if there's more here?

Simmons grabs a few rations and places them on the plates. Meanwhile, Donut distributes the chocolate and strawberry milk and places the sauces in the middle of the table. The secret door is then closed again.

Felix reaches for one of the little bags and takes a closer look. It is a simple silver plastic bag. He knows exactly what is inside. They are the same ones he ate during the war. When he thinks of the tasteless gray chunks that the UNSC tried to sell them as food, the greasy chips suddenly seem much better.

"All we need now are the chips," says Grif.

"And Sarge. We're not starting without him, that would be outrageous." Simmons adds.

Grif looks over at Donut and Felix. "Where did you put the box with the delicious food? I haven't even seen it yet."

"Oh, that one. It's right at the entrance. You can't miss it. But it's quite heavy, let's go and get the box. I'll help you carry it." Donut explains.

Donut and Grif are only gone for a minute. Suddenly there is noise from the entrance to the base. Shots are fired. The engines of a Pelican roar and someone screams horribly.

.............................

Thanks for reading.

Question of the day:

What napkin animals is donut folding for the reds and Felix. Write your guess in the comments.