Way of DRAFT

Cowering, Ch4

The teams lowered at each other. The twelve in the middle scrambled up to their groups, clutching their sides and limping. A storm looked like it was soon approaching, hanging over everyone's heads. It was gloomy enough though. Avery felt a bit dazed, but he continued to tremble up the hill. It was good not to be in that messy spat, but he did find some fun in watching Novah stick to that head-strong Blu Soldier like a pissed cat. He continued to climb up, and when he was finally by Grey's side, slumped over on the ground. A moment passes, and he spots a funny little plant. He gasps through the silence. A few heads turn, including Arlo's. Avery points to the shrub, and his Medic friends eyes lit up.

"What if I shoot you all, right here, right now?" Roars the unfamiliar Engineer from across the terrain. Grey is taken aback, but not shaken. Avery starts towards the shrub, crouching as close to the ground as he can. Arlo follows suit.

"Look, we've got good men here who wanna go home too. It wasn't a fair fight! All we wanna do is turn around and leave y'all alone!" Shiraz desperately hollers out. Snickers arise from Purple, although their Medics were buzzing around. Avery solemnly passes Arlo several stacks of leaves at a time, quickly registering the quality of each leaf with a professional eye. Arlo splays the leaves out, double-checking for any rough or eaten spots.

"We could finally decide who gets to go home right now!" The hair stood up on everyone left side of the mountain's necks. Grey did not agree with this, not fully anyways. Some thought better of this sentiment, but they weren't the ones bleeding out. Some wanted to dig themselves under the sandy debris and hide. Avvy started handing Rollo berries twice as fast as the leaves. He could be more lenient with these. And Rollo started squishing them onto the green mats twice as fast.

"If you don't fix your men up fast they'd die on the plane anyways!" Shiraz reasoned. No one could understand why they were so insistent on finishing so suddenly. Rollo started trying to use twigs and concrete as friction for a fire. Both Medics knew the procedure, and both would keep a keen eye on the flame that shortly started up.

Silence for a moment. "If you're not going to strike, we'll just find you while you sleep" Snarled the Red-uniformed Engineer, turning his back and motioning for his team to walk the same way. His voice echoed, and now Grey was really quaked. Some stuttering from the team pierced dead silence. Arlo and Avery finally sterilised their first batch of makeshift health-packs.

"Thanks for saving my ass. You're a godsend, really." Avery piped up, fuelling the fire with all the shitty leaves he picked. Arlo cast a smile, and stood up. Huh. Avery was... perplexed by him. Wary about him. His extroverted disposition, his ability to just adapt, his funny smile. He couldn't understand why he was so trusting of Avery. Me neither, Avvy, me neither. But rest assured, whoever you are, whatever you're doing, you'd break into a panic attack in five minutes had I decided to tell this story with the same focus on Arlo as it has on Avery.

Arlo briskly buzzed around, little makeshift health packs stacking up in his hands. He roundhouse-visited each of the Mercs, eventually getting their health back up. Every trip he made, he spoke to Avery a little more. Every trip he made, he got a bit more exhausted. Every trip he made, he nabbed a few more of the health packs to fend off a woozy feeling starting in his head.

Eventually, they'd completely and utterly exhausted all the shrub had to offer. Everyone had had a fair amount of the mushy little morsels, and the Medics knew that the effects would only increase with every other taken. Avvy and Rollo had their pockets heavy with some extra leaves and all the seeds their poor, worn coats could hold. They'd agreed that on the walk back up to the Auditorium, they'd scour for more things that could work for healing.

"Doktors" a friendly but stern voice piped up behind the duo, getting their weapons and bearings from off the ground. Avery jumped, but turned around to see two heavies behind him.

"Oh, hello, mate. We're just getting the last of our-uh-shit, and then we'll walk with you guys." The green heavy next to Lucian, Ezra, was surprised at the swear. Avery couldn't care less though.

"Yes yes, that's good. We wanted to say thank you friends, this was a hard fight. But we're okay now. We are strong now! And it was you two that healed us. I don't say Murdoch and Novah could do this, hey?" A smile let out of Rollo, and he stopped rubbing his temple and stepped up to Lucian to hug him. Avery stayed behind, all his stuff (aka "shit") in his hands or pinned to his side by his elbows, he gave Ezra an appreciative nod. Seems like some teams were better bonded than others.

And with that, my friends, Grey started trudging lankily on their way to their not-so-hidden hideout.