Mind's Echo

Alex

"HA!" Alex shouted triumphantly, causing everyone to jump. He turned toward the group, brandishing handfuls of water bottles. "I found them finally. Here's some bottles of water for everyone to take with them. Dehydration can happen quicker than you think," Alex stated, while handing everyone a bottle. 

Quincy hesitated, staring at the bottle of water with suspicion.

"Look, bro, it's perfectly safe. I promise," Alex said reassuringly. He tried to hide his frustration as he shook the bottle slightly at Quincy. 

Quincy chuckled derisively. "What? You think I can't handle a short trek through an old building?"

Alex quickly replied, "No, I just thought I'd be nice and ..."

Quincy shot back, "Say, look, man, this ain't a dinner party, alright? So, knock off all the 'good host' bullshit. I gotta job to finish. If you all wanna hunt the boogieman, go right on ahead. Just stay out of my way and we won't have any issues, are we clear?"

Alex retracted the bottle. "Uh, yeah ... bro. We're clear ... Uhhh, just out of curiosity, why, exactly, would such important documents be hidden way out in an abandon mental hospital? I mean, why would they let a slip like that happen?"

Quincy let out a sigh of frustration and looked back at Alex, clearly annoyed by his talkative nature. He was probably still pissed about Alex's earlier attitude toward him. Alex couldn't really blame him, but he was trying to make up for it. After all, he still didn't know what made him snap like that. He was, quite frankly, ashamed of his behavior, and wanted very much to move beyond it. He threw his hands up in defeat and backed away. 

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I thought I had a right to know. My mistake. I'll get out of your way, then, and let you hunt your treasure."

Alex turned around and walked over to Shelly. He leaned in close to her and quipped quietly, "Come on. Let's go explore a bit. Wouldn't wanna interfere with 'official business,' now would we?"

Quincy mumbled to himself, while shaking his head, "I swear, he's gonna be the first one I end up shooting."