"...oh god..." Dawson gasped.
Sam and Drake walked over to meet Ozzy, as he and Adem reached the campsite. The body of Epicenter lay limply in Baxter's outstreched arms, the ex-boxer's tattered, white t-shirt covering the face.
"What....what happened....?" Drake's hushed voice broke evenly with the crackling campfire, as the body was layed gently to a bed of straw and leaves.
"Don't look at me....." Ozzy sighed in a somber tone. ".....Diff's got all the answers...."
"Theories, Oswald.....theories...." the gaunt alien corrected, kneeling down next to the body.
"....tell me..." Sam replied in an even tone.
....and he did....Dawson's jaw clenching tighter and tighter, Adem's theories playing out in gruesome detail within his mind's eye.....
Adem's voice never waivered. Never broke. It wasn't as much lack of emotions, as it was a professional mannerism. This wasn't about the death of a teammate. Or even a human.
For right now.....it was simply about the facts.
Sam listened to every word. Every nuance. Every detail.
And his expression did not change.
Once Different had finished, there was an audible pause as everyone realized that Sam was not moving. Or blinking. As if his face were etched in stone.
Suddenly, he whirled around, splintering a chunk of meat out of the nearest tree. Flecks of dust, mixed with tiny splinters, showered the ground around him, his left fist still molded into a spiked, metal mace.
"....goddammit..." he breathed sharply.
"We're going after them."
Everyone paused, looking over at Drake pulling his boots off.
"You're fucking right we are!" Sam barked.
"No....we...." Drake said very succinctly, pointing back and forth at himself and Ozzy. "....we are going after them."
"What?!" Dawson half-yelled. "You're not going alone!"
"Dawson, listen...." Marshall began. "....I don't know you all that well....and you don't really know me at all....I used to be a vigilante.....used to be a good one...."
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"Simple....heights. We're on a precipace....probably around half-a-mile up the side of a mountain......planning to go hunting within the forest that crawls along the ridges of this thing." he explained, turning his view towards the forrest. "That is no different than any urban rooftop. It's dense....varies in height....and you're a long way up if you slip."
"Dra--"
"It will be light soon." he continued. "This encampment will be an easy target. We need someone to protect the others...."
"What about HIM!" he said, pointing at Ozzy.
"Hey!" Baxter frowned. "I want a piece of this action, too, you know!"
"You didn't even know the guy!" Sam replied angrily.
"NEITHER DID YOU!" Ozzy yelled back, taking a step forward....
"No." Drake said, stepping between them.
He looked at Ozzy, Baxter almost immediately backing down.
Drake was, after all, his hero.
Marshall turned to Sam.
"I'm bringing him because he can't be hurt." he explained in a calm, and serious tone. "I want back-up, but, I will not risk having a liability."
"What the fuck are you saying, Marshall?! That I'm a liability?!!" Sam replied, getting even angrier. "I have seniority here!"
"You have seniority in the MBL.....this is Vanguard...." the man replied.
"Where do you think you live, huh?!" Dawson said, jutting a finger. "It's my home!"
"What does that have to do with any--"
"...you two can argue about this all night, if you wish...."
Everyone stopped, looking down at Adem.
"....however, the longer you wait, the lighter it becomes.....and the less likely you will be in achieving the prospective goals..."
Silence followed. Sam, still staring down at Adem.....Drake, still staring at Sam.....Ozzy....staring at them all.
The tension was getting to them. The situation. With the sudden death, it had all become very real....their dilema. Their task.
The reality of this mission.
It was no longer about toppling some dark power.
Now....now....it was about survival.
And Ozzy realized that this was the first time he had 'seen behind the curtain'. Behind the professional, care-free facade the team projected.
They were scared.
They were human.
"Fine." Sam finally sighed. He stared off to his left, refusing to look at Drake. "Just go.....go and get those fuckers....."
Drake glanced at Ozzy, both setting off for the woods.
"....good luck...."
They glanced back at Sam, who was still not looking at them.
And, with that, they disappeared into the woods.....
