RE:Action

1. camping

Snow.

It's soft and can hold amazing memories. Ones full of happiness, love or fortune. Pack it into a ball and throw it around for your enjoyment, or build a three-storied human with a carrot for a nose — it's all the same when you have fun.

Snow.

It's cold and it bites at your skin. Laying on it for some time could be devastating to your health. Being too loud on a snowcap could equal being trampled by it. It can stop supply transfers, commutes, and emergency services. Snow can paralyze not just a person, but a civilization.

Orion thought it was a good codename for himself. Sweet, but dangerous

Beautiful, yet destructive.

Orion awoke to the sounds of squawks from the native birds.

Such loud creatures, He thought. How horrendous.

He made mental note of how the birds moved as they shrieked, and the pitch the noise made.

Orion smiled to himself before sleepily crawling out of the slit in the tent. The feeling of the sun on his face did wonders on him, as it wasn't too warm, or too cold outside. It was perfect.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Orion recognized the voice. A smaller male wearing a large – much larger than him at least – bomber jacket and jeans appeared from behind the tent. He had been tending to the fire.

"Good-mornin', sleepy."

He let out an innocent-sounding giggle as he sat down across from the flame.

"How'd you sleep this time? Better?"

Julian was the hopeful type. Orion walked over to the boy, sitting opposite of him.

"Well enough." His voice was still coarse. "I keep having the same nightmare."

The smaller boy frowned, leaning in towards Orion.

"It wasn't your fault, Ori. You couldn't have stopped it."

"I know," Orion gave him a sad smile, "That doesn't mean I couldn't have tried."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Julian sat up with a smile on his face.

"How does breakfast sound? Maybe that'll brighten your day up a bit, hm?"

They shared a laugh.

"Thank you, Jules."

———

They ate a meal fit for kings at the fire. Julian was an expert cook it seemed. "Years of practice," he explained with a smile. The two munched on meat from a wild chicken, some fish from the nearby stream and fruits from the genetically modified fruits from the trees they never thought they'd see in their lifetimes.

Nuclear war had destroyed their world nearly a century ago, in 2018. Acres of land gone, taken by blasts or rising water levels brought upon by global warming.

Many people were left without homes or families and it brought a depression on the land. Jobs became harder to find, as did plant life and wild animals. Most animals now were genetically modified to survive in the environment, and plants, unless contained in a lab, were gone altogether.

The public was outraged at the lack of government help. Peaceful protests ensued to try and convince them to help the greater good, but violence always followed. Many people died at the hands of military and police officials.

"It's salmon!"

"It's tilapia!"

"Why would there be tilapia in a stream in the middle of Amerika?"

Orion had a hand over his mouth to cover his laugh.

"Jules," He began, "Tilapia is found in the wild on the other side of the hemisphere."

"Don't crush my dreams!"

The two laughed as Julian was left laying on the ground with an arm wrapped around his middle. They laughed and laughed until it finally died down. Their relationship was like this. Julian knew exactly how to make Orion feel better, and vice-versa.

Julian, with aching cheeks, finally stood up and stretched.

"How're you feeling now?" He stood up on the tips of his toes and wrapped an arm around the taller one next to him.

Orion looked over with an amused grin on his face.

"Better. Thank you."

Julian let out a chuckle as Orion sighed and spoke, "I have a job today. I need you to wait in the place we discussed."

He wrapped his arm around Julian, who let out a grin at the bit of affection that he was given, and smiled gently. Orion pulled away and looked straight down at Julian, who let out a soft "Got it."

The taller male put his hand up and Julian clasped it in his, firm. It was a symbol of their bond as allies.

"See you soon then." With that, Orion took off.

———

At work, Orion was known as Snow. Famous for being cold, quick and quiet with his kills, he was a popular choice among black market and deep web listings for hitmen. He sighed and loaded his rifle before sitting up straight and aiming.

He grew up with the uprisings.

He grew up fighting.

Snow was tired of being thrown around for the enjoyment of others.

Snow was ready to paralyze a civilization.

Mateo Ortega was the chairman of a corporation that supplied bombs to the U.S. military and a close member of The Scorpius Movement. Snow smirked as the red dot marking the center of his scope lined up almost perfectly with the man's temple.

Ready, fire.