Chapter Ten: Regrouping and Separating

My fingers tingled as I held my shotgun in the ready position, every half second taking another step. My brisk pace was a precaution. I knew the path ahead might have been dangerous, so it would have been best to work my way back upstairs as quickly as possible. It hadn't been more than a minute since I activated the command on the terminal to open the door uptop - at least, that's what I hoped it did - but I couldn't be certain there weren't more mechanical creatures wandering about.

My fears were realized when a heavy grinding rang out from behind a large metallic door on the left of the hall - something I seemingly missed on the way down - and instead of opening it, as I normally would have, I continued past it. Taking only a brief glance back as I hit the second flight of stairs leading to the way out. Within moments, I had stepped back into the entry room to be greeted by Blake and Addison's entrance into the space.

What could they have been doing together? I shook my head and waved toward them, "Ah, you're back!" Addison exclaimed, her excitement evident. "We were worried about you, right, soldier boy?"

"Uh... yeah," Blake's expression was far more stoic, while his tone was calm - despite the initial hesitation.

Addison practically bounced toward me, "We went looking for you, and found some supplies upstairs. I thought we'd run into you, but it seems the building must have a separate wing." I nodded as she began to just stare at me, clearly expecting a reply of some sort. I pushed my shotgun toward her, so as to grab my book and pencil, but she took a step back, "Um… I think Blake could hold that inste-" before she could finish, I began to unfurrow my fingers from around the metal and it began to sink toward the ground (along with my arm). She caught it before it touched, and I released it completely.

Once I pulled my book out, I opened to a fresh page and began to scribble. 'What transpired between the two of you?' Once Addison read the page, her cheeks slightly flushed, and she began to fumble the stock of my shotgun, "Nothing much." I could tell something definitely happened, and that just confirmed it, but now wasn't the time for it. I transcribed more, 'I lost my pistol to a metal creature; it got melted, and I had to throw it at the thing.' The pair stared blankly at me for half a second, before Addison stretched out my shotgun, indicating for me to retrieve it, and as I did so she grabbed the bag slung at her side, "Lucky for you, we found another."

I nodded and slid my shotgun into my bag - the stock still sticking straight out - and motioned toward Addison's satchel. She hesitated, looked to Blake - who simply nodded once - before handing me the bag. Within seconds, I was able to scan through the contents; mostly varying ammunition, a handful of 10mm pistols, and some weird ovoid object (the Pip-Boy marked it as a mini-nuke). I carefully rested the bag on the ground, before writing in my book, 'Could I have two of these pistols, and two magazines worth of bullets?'

Addison was still quite hesitant, as if she wasn't certain if she had the right to divvy out the spoils of her time with Blake; but Blake really didn't seem to mind. In fact, he was already moving across the room, looking for something or someone. "Um… yeah, go ahead," she finally said, uncertainty overwhelming her normal, excited tone. I pulled two of the 10mm pistols out at random and two magazines for them. I'd later try and get one of them in as perfect condition as I could manage; though, I'd likely require assistance from Blake for how to do so.

"Where are the other two?" Blake inquired from across the room. He was right, now that I look, I don't see either Anton or Kyle. "Damned, they were going to wait here. Where'd they run off?" If I had to guess, they got into another fight.

"We need to find them, but we shouldn't split up," Addison stated with her usual fervor. I poked her and held up my book. 'Might I interject before this becomes heated?' and as soon as she read it, I turned the page; 'Someone should stay behind to keep this as a central point.'

She was about to protest, but when Blake nodded, "Yeah, that would work out. Someone that'd actually stay-put." I looked at Blake, then Addison with my best not-mischievous mischievous smile. And the soldier boy bite the bait, "What?"

'I believe you should stay behind.' Before he could object, Addison seemingly concurred, "That makes sense, he is the most likely to remain here, especially if ordered."

I'm glad I wouldn't have to convince her as well, but it seems I was hasty in my thinking, as Blake simply sighed, "Yeah, okay." Whatever happened between the two of them, it seems like they trust each other now. I might have to figure out exactly what it is, and recreate it in order to increase the quality of trust amongst the group. Could it have been a simple collaboration through danger, or perhaps- "She isn't even listening."

My eyes widened as I realized I distracted myself from my surroundings, and I looked to my companions. Addison was the first to react, "It's okay, Muna, we were just discussing more about what we'd do." I cast my vision to the desk a handful of meters from me and brought my palm to my mouth, my thumb gently brushing against my nose, and I let myself sink back into thought.

If Kyle and Anton fought, then they'd have likely separated. Addison and Blake came in through the stairwell to the West wing, and I came from the basement. What would be the most likely path the two would have taken? Kyle is tall, but does that factor into this? Perhaps that'd make it so he'd take something more at ground level. No. This is idiotic. Kyle seems much more headstrong, right? So maybe he went with the ground floor of something, that way he could keep a cautious approach without much added difficulty. But what about Anton? I still don't really understand him. Where would I go after a fight?

I blinked and a pair of green eyes were staring right into my soul. I jumped back, grasping for anything I could reach to defend myself, but my hands only found air. "Ah, I'm sorry, Muna!" Addison cried out in obvious response to my overly-startled reaction. I slowly nodded my head, and shakily reached for my book. Why couldn't I steady my hand?

I reached out with my other hand to steady the first, but a sense of dread washed over my entire being. Not only this dread, but my chest felt tight and the edges of my vision began to lose focus and diminish. Was it just my imagination, or was my breathing becoming more and more erratic and bated? One blink. Two blinks. The world spun away and faded as I felt my body rising up in weightlessness.

-Transmission Successfully Received-