The Will To Live✔️

Chapter 32: Reactivate

The ride back to Armitage Station was largely void of conversation and rather somber.

Greg could feel the sour mood that hung over the group like a cloud, and he knew precisely how they felt. They had lost so many people against seemingly insurmountable, totally arbitrary, and completely bullshit odds. None of it was fair. Not that the average Marine expected life to be fair. But sometimes it seemed like the deck was stacked so absurdly high against you that it was just ridiculous. By the time they began getting back up into the mountains though, Rydell seemed to grow tired of just the sound of the engine.

"Walker, Serrano, where were you stationed?" he asked.

"We aren't from Wintermute," Izzy replied.

"What?" Lowell asked.

"We were responding to a distress call. We came down from orbit. Our Pelicans crashed on an island a long ways from here," Greg replied. "Serrano and I were the only two survivors of our squads."

"Jesus...I'm sorry, that sucks," Rydell muttered.

"Yep," Izzy said.

"Wait, does that mean there's backup?" Lowell asked.

"I don't know," Greg replied. "We never managed to get back in touch with our ship, and with the atmospheric disturbance that's been hanging around, I don't know what happened. Hopefully they called for more help, but maybe they can't come down. As far as I know, we still can't fly. The solar storm screwed with the atmosphere and now we can't fly Pelicans."

"Damn," Rydell said.

"What will we be doing?" Lowell asked. "Once we get back to base."

"Cleaning, mostly," Greg replied. "The place was pretty ripped up. And bloody. I'll be helping if nothing new has come up. There's already four other people there, though one of them might still be laid up. We need to get the outpost up and running for the research." Although Greg was still rather dubious about the effectiveness of such a small outpost for that purpose, even if it was a medical outpost.

But you worked with what you had.

"Honestly, after all the crap we've been through, I'm looking forward to mopping up blood," Lowell said, and Rydell and Skinner murmured agreements.

"I know exactly how you feel," Greg replied.

They made it back to the outpost after a little while longer, everyone falling back into the depths of their own thoughts. He didn't see anyone outside and although that was completely reasonable, given their jobs mostly took place inside, he couldn't help but feel cold fear steal into his bones. He pulled up, killed the engine, and hopped out.

"Let's get inside," he said, making his way around to the front entrance. As he approached it, the door suddenly opened and one of the newer faces, one he actually had yet to speak to, appeared. "Laney! You're awake."

"Who are you?" the large man replied flatly.

"Sergeant Walker," Greg said.

Laney frowned and his eyes dropped to Greg's chest. "Sergeant?" he asked uncertainly.

"It was an in-field promotion today. Haven't had a chance to upgrade the nameplate," Greg replied. "This is Sergeant Serrano, also in-field promotion. And we just finished rescuing the three newest members of our Task Force. How are you feeling?"

Laney was silent for a few seconds, looking at the others, processing this new information. "Fine," he replied, relaxing. "Apologies, Sergeants," he added, straightening up. "I heard the Warthog's engine and came to investigate."