The Differents | ✓

T W E N T Y - T W O

I wasn't expecting the water to be cold when I dipped my foot in. I was so used to the water we showered in at the Core being hot, and the rainwater being at least lukewarm, that it came as a surprise to me. But I quickly realized that if I wanted to get used to living in the forest for the time being, I needed to adjust to the strange weather and ways of the nature around us.

When Sniper had caught up to me I had simply stated, "We stop here," not really expecting a response, and avoided looking him in the eyes. He had shrugged and dropped his bag on one of the rocks, then climbed up and lay down. I took that as a sign he either didn't care or was too busy ignoring me, so I continued preparing myself for the water.

Captain and I were always the two team members to dive in and think later when it came to training, errands, or things in general. Bear and Sniper would always be the ones to think first and slowly ease their way in. Cold water was no exception, and I quickly scanned the water for dangers before basically falling into it. For a moment my entire body was shocked at how different this water was from home and then I got used to it and came to the surface with an intake of breath. Luckily I had left the majority of my important clothes on the rocks along with my bags, so I let myself swim around, getting used to the feel of the water. It was somewhat heavier than the pool water in the field, and it felt different as it swirled around my body.

I dipped under the surface and tried opening my eyes. As I expected, the water was extremely clear, and underwater plants grew on the muddy bottom of the pool. Small creatures swam around and darted away when I tried to touch them. I thought about asking Sniper for his device to see what they were and was raising my head above the water about to do so, when I remembered I wasn't speaking to him. Looking around for him, I realized he wasn't lying down on the rocks where he had been when I started swimming. For a brief second, panic bloomed inside me, but then I saw him by the edge of the water, crouched down and examining the rocks or whatever there was to examine at the water's edge.

I pushed down the waves of mixed emotions and continued to swim.

Hours passed and nothing happened. I minded my own business, Sniper pretended to be immersed in the surroundings, and we didn't talk. I took the risk of drinking a small amount of water from the pool and aside from it tasting slightly bitter, didn't seem to be very affected by it. By the time the sun was in its final hour of setting and golden light spilled onto everything it could touch, my stomach was rumbling. I didn't want to eat out of my own bag for fear of upsetting Sniper but I didn't want to talk to him about sitting down to eat either. I had been sitting on one of the rocks for a while, taking apart each gun and putting them back together again, really taking the time to examine each part. Once I had finished that, I had emptied my entire bag out and had repacked everything again. Keeping my hands busy gave me something to do, and temporarily blocked out the overwhelming sense of being easy prey. Sure, we had weapons, but we weren't moving. I liked to move, to run. It made me feel less easy to catch.

Maybe I should have walked past this pool instead of stopping. At least then we would be doing something.

"Do you ever get hungry or are we just going to stare at the food in our bags until it goes bad?"

I was about to reply with something, preferably something witty, but I didn't get the chance because Sniper walked over, grabbed his bag, and sat on one of the rocks near me. Not bothering to look at me, he proceeded to unpack everything in his bag, and by unpack I meant he upended the entire thing and tossed everything that wasn't food back in. Slightly appalled at his lack of care for his belongings, I poked around in my own backpack for something to eat. I was planning on eating something small so I could conserve most of it for other days, but what I ended up taking out of my bag was one of the biggest meals I had managed to sneak out. I had had to slip my entire plate into one of the bathrooms adjacent to the dining hall to bring this one meal with me.

My stomach rumbled at the thought of the food, although cold, but I put it back. If I were to learn to live without the privileges my old life had, I would have to learn to adapt to being hungry. We may have been treated strictly at the Core, but at least we were never hungry. At least we had a bed to sleep in and a roof over our heads. Now, I was realizing, I had stripped that all away from myself voluntarily, relying on a quarter-year of wilderness survival lessons to guide me.

Oh, what have I done?

By the time we had finished eating in silence, I decided it was time we actually talked to each other. I took my time packing my bag back up, knowing I would only have to unpack it later to sleep, and once I was done, I sat facing Sniper, waiting for him to stop ignoring me.

After five minutes, he finally spoke. "What?"

"If we're going to work together we need to... you know... actually work together. So what's the plan for tonight?" I tried for a casual tone with him, as if we hadn't fought over whether or not I should shoot him.

"We can set up our stuff underneath those rocks over there." He pointed to one of the rock collections, which, with a little effort, would do for a shelter. As long as it didn't rain sideways, we would be okay.

"Okay, that sounds good. Are we going to set it up soon?"

"Are you going to apologize soon?" He stared at me blankly as he said this, his voice nothing like his usual likeable tone.

"Honestly, Sniper. I don't know what it was that I did wrong. I pointed out something that makes me uncomfortable and I think I deserve to let you know."

"Well it just so happens that thing that makes you uncomfortable is something I can't change." He crossed his arms and looked away. "Whatever. Just... just let's not talk about it."

I sighed and followed him over to the rocks. I hadn't brought any sort of waterproof covering with me so we would have to hope we would stay relatively dry during the night and however many days we would be staying here. After pushing around some of the less heavy rocks to make the shelter more spacious, I went to go find some plants to conceal the entrance. We weren't really counting on the Masks coming our way but we had to be ready in case they did.

By the time the sun had sunk below the treeline enough for the faint glow of stars to emerge into the sky, we had finished the shelter and were settled in. I was sitting outside the shelter with an extra jacket, thinking. We had agreed to take watches, and I had offered to go first. I was too energized to sleep yet and wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to do so anyway. I wasn't exactly scared of Sniper himself, but the thought of sleeping next to him sent an uneasy feeling through me. What if he got mad at something and decided to take it out on me? I would be such an easy target just lying there fast asleep.

I seemed to be torn between feeling uneasy around him and feeling safe around him, I realized. And that was possibly worse.