Over the weekend I had a brand new story idea just burst into my head. I have no idea where it's headed, but I'm having so much fun with these characters that I can't wait to find out! I hope you like it...
I had never been sent to murder someone in a cave before. A shopping mall, an alleyway, a garden even, but never a cave. I was pressed up against a thick tree near the entrance. My team was with me, shielded by the other trees in front of me.
Our supervisor hadn't told us who we were being sent to kill, or why, but in our line of business those just weren't the types of questions a person asked. Especially when one was getting paid such a pretty penny as we were about to.
Minute after minute passed as my breath hung like smoke in the winter air. Scout should have been back by now. We'd sent him in to take a look ages ago, or at least the cold air made it seem like ages. Where was he? I untucked some of the hair that was up in my beanie so it covered a bit more of my ears. The others had to have been getting restless by now.
"What should we do?" A quiet voice came through my earpiece. It was Faun. "Scout doesn't usually take this long."
"I know." I whispered back through my walkie. "We'll wait a minute or two more. If he's not back, then we approach the scene on my signal. Copy?"
"Copy." Faun replied.
"Iris." A new voice came through, deeper than the first. "Is there anything I should prepare before we move forward?" Fletcher sounded anxious. I could tell he was just looking for a distraction from the cold.
"All we can do now is be patient. If you really want something to do, though, you can help Cheats get ready to go."
"No need for that just yet." Yet another voice said, out loud this time, from the direction of the cave.
"Scout!" Faun called out, trying her best to contain her voice. "What took you so long? I was worried sick!" She wrapped him into her arms, black clothes blending with black clothes. She must have gotten cold too, because her long, dark hair had been released from its ponytail and was now cascading down her back. Her tan, coconut cream skin and almond hazel eyes offered quite a contrast to scout, who was pretty much an albino.
All I could do was smile. If opposites really did attract, Scout and Faun were the prime example, and they made it look so good.
"I'm fine, darlin." Scout's southern drawl quaked a bit through his chattering teeth. "The cave is just really deep, that's all."
I finally stepped out from my hiding place. Fletcher followed my lead, pushing Cheat's in front of him. Normally Cheats could get himself around without any help at all, but the wet snow had created a bit of a roadblock for his high-tech wheelchair. Or "The Vehicle", as he liked to call it.
"Where do you want us this time, Iris?" Fletcher asked, swooshing some snow from the top of his head (even though his close-cropped black hair didn't allow for much swooshing).
"Yeah." Cheats interjected, adjusting his ski cap. "This weather is not being kind to my lady." He stroked his armrests.
I turned to Scout. "That depends. What did you find out?"
"Well, from what I could tell this cave is empty. I'm not sure why HQ would send us here without a target, though, so I'm assuming they must be in one of the side tunnels. It was hard to be sure without our tracker." Scout's eyes trailed off to the side as Faun smiled softly.
"I'll do my best." She said.
"How do you want us to move forward, Iris?" Asked Fletcher.
I looked to the cave, curiosity still my biggest motivator. "Together." I said. "We move forward together." Turning back to my team, I pointed at each one in turn. "I'll take my position at the helm. Scout, Faun, you will walk on either side of me and direct us. Cheats, you will take your usual defense position in the center, and Fletcher will take up the rear.
Fletcher looked down to Cheats. "Do you think The Vehicle will be able to hold up on its own once we're inside?"
"Aw, yeah." Cheats confirmed. "She'll be smooth as a melty popsicle."
"Perfect." I checked my fingerless gloves and made sure they were secure. "Alright, gang, time to move. Take your positions."
They followed the order, getting into place and doing their personal gear checks like a hundred times before. Cheats prepped his wheelchair. Faun took out her hearing aids and handed them to Scout for safekeeping. It wasn't every day we received a kill mission, but when we did it was kind of a relief. On other missions we were required to retrieve items, return items, interrogate for information. These missions were always so much more complicated, and took a lot more planning, not to mention more paperwork. Kill missions allowed for more improvisation.
I lifted two fingers and signaled to move forward. It was time to work for a living, and the fun had just begun. All five of us stepping in sync, we entered the cave.
Tracking was a slow process, but Faun was one of the best in the business. She could hear pretty normally with her hearing aids in, but she was basically deaf without them. Because of this, her other senses were heightened. She had the best sight and smell of all of us, and she could even feel vibrations in the earth like a type of sonar. That's why she always took out her aids on missions. It was how she turned on her super power.
We crept forward, and I worked to match Faun's footsteps. About twenty or thirty feet into the cave Faun stopped suddenly. We all stopped with her. Instinctively, our heads turned to Scout.
He lifted his hands and signed "What do you see?" It was a sign we were all used to. The rest of the signing after that, though, would be rough to translate for all of us except Scout. Being the mental map and sense of direction in our group, it had been majorly important for him to be able to communicate with our tracker. That's why I requested that Faun give him lessons in sign language whenever we weren't on missions. Scout had gone into it a little begrudgingly at first, but he and Faun had started dating just a few months later, so it turned out well. His quick learning and ability to sign with her fluently during missions had saved our butts many times.
After a brief conversation between Scout and Faun, Scout whispered into his walkie. "Scuff marks on the ground. Slight tremors coming from a distance. She's going to follow the tremors."
I nodded to him, and as a group we began moving forward again.
Alright, that's all I've written so far. Please let me know what you think of the idea, as well as what you think should happen next (because I have no idea)! I would love to hear your thoughts!
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