just drive out of here...but it would be really nice to have an idea of what was going on across the rest of Dis.
“ Ah hell,” Kyra muttered. She sounded less pissed and more defeated.
“ The part we want is ruined, right?” He didn’t bother to turn from the windows.
“ Yeah. That.”
“ Well...I guess we should wrap this up.”
“ Yeah. We should. I need to check out one more place, though. There's...something I meant to grab before I left, but never got the chance.”
Greg followed her back downstairs and into the dormitories wing. The place was an absolute mess. They put down another two zombies still milling about in one of the dorms. Kyra stopped by a closed door, her finger hovering over the open button. Finally, after a lingering silence, she pressed the button.
The door slid open. Nothing terrible waited within. She slipped in while Greg waited silently in the hall.
“ You can come in,” she said after a few seconds. “I've got no real secrets left.”
Greg stepped into the room and looked around. It was a smaller version of the bedroom they currently occupied back at the communications relay. Just one bed, one dresser, one desk. A door that led to a squalid bathroom in the back. A window on which rain beaded and cold gray sunlight spilled in through.
“This was my home for two months.” Kyra stood unmoving in the center of the room.
“ Did you hate it here?” Greg asked because he felt he should say something. Although, that didn't seem to be quite the right thing to say.
“ No...I didn't hate it. I think...it felt more like a dream, most of the time. Maybe that's too vague. I guess when I got sent out here, it didn't really feel real. Or, at best, it felt like some kind of temporary transition. Like, I'd only be here a few days and then I'd get rotated to a real job. And it just kept feeling like that. Like I didn't have to settle down and get to know anybody, because I'd probably be leaving tomorrow.
“ I knew it was ridiculous, but...it's just how I felt. It seemed easy to live like that. So I didn't really make many friends, I didn't really let anyone get close. I dunno. Is this weird?” She finally looked at him.
“ No, not really. I'd like to comfort you with a tale of my own experience at an isolated outpost, if I indeed was stationed at one, but...” Greg shrugged.
Kyra nodded and then walked over to her desk. She opened the bottom drawer and fished out an infopad. She stared at it for a long moment, and then finally turned back.
“Okay, this is all I needed. Cage, what's it like on your end?” They stepped back out into the corridor.
“ Not good. The armory is cleaned out. Same for the security center. I've managed to secure a very meager inventory for our arsenal.”
“ I figured as much...shit. All right, let's hit up the infirmary and the mess hall, then we'll check out your base.”
“ Understood.”
“ What’s that infopad?” Greg asked as they made their way through the base.
“ My diary.”
* * * * *
They cleaned out what little supplies were left from the ruins of Kyra's outpost. There were only a handful more undead lingering around, all of which were put down. Once everything was loaded, they continued their journey.
Greg had fallen into another session of deep brooding when the jeep abruptly came to a halt. Kyra made a surprised sound. “Holy shit.”
He glanced up and echoed her sentiment. Cage's outpost was now nothing more than a crater in the ground.
“ I suspected this.” Cage’s cool voice echoed over their radios.
“ What? How?” Greg asked.
“ I heard a distant explosion two nights ago, while I was standing watch. It was a simple process of elimination. The reactor must have malfunctioned or been damaged in the attack. With no one to tend to it, it blew.”
“ Great,” Kyra muttered. “That just leaves the mining installation and...”
“ The basement,” Greg finished.
They sat there in their jeeps for several
“ Ah hell,” Kyra muttered. She sounded less pissed and more defeated.
“ The part we want is ruined, right?” He didn’t bother to turn from the windows.
“ Yeah. That.”
“ Well...I guess we should wrap this up.”
“ Yeah. We should. I need to check out one more place, though. There's...something I meant to grab before I left, but never got the chance.”
Greg followed her back downstairs and into the dormitories wing. The place was an absolute mess. They put down another two zombies still milling about in one of the dorms. Kyra stopped by a closed door, her finger hovering over the open button. Finally, after a lingering silence, she pressed the button.
The door slid open. Nothing terrible waited within. She slipped in while Greg waited silently in the hall.
“ You can come in,” she said after a few seconds. “I've got no real secrets left.”
Greg stepped into the room and looked around. It was a smaller version of the bedroom they currently occupied back at the communications relay. Just one bed, one dresser, one desk. A door that led to a squalid bathroom in the back. A window on which rain beaded and cold gray sunlight spilled in through.
“This was my home for two months.” Kyra stood unmoving in the center of the room.
“ Did you hate it here?” Greg asked because he felt he should say something. Although, that didn't seem to be quite the right thing to say.
“ No...I didn't hate it. I think...it felt more like a dream, most of the time. Maybe that's too vague. I guess when I got sent out here, it didn't really feel real. Or, at best, it felt like some kind of temporary transition. Like, I'd only be here a few days and then I'd get rotated to a real job. And it just kept feeling like that. Like I didn't have to settle down and get to know anybody, because I'd probably be leaving tomorrow.
“ I knew it was ridiculous, but...it's just how I felt. It seemed easy to live like that. So I didn't really make many friends, I didn't really let anyone get close. I dunno. Is this weird?” She finally looked at him.
“ No, not really. I'd like to comfort you with a tale of my own experience at an isolated outpost, if I indeed was stationed at one, but...” Greg shrugged.
Kyra nodded and then walked over to her desk. She opened the bottom drawer and fished out an infopad. She stared at it for a long moment, and then finally turned back.
“Okay, this is all I needed. Cage, what's it like on your end?” They stepped back out into the corridor.
“ Not good. The armory is cleaned out. Same for the security center. I've managed to secure a very meager inventory for our arsenal.”
“ I figured as much...shit. All right, let's hit up the infirmary and the mess hall, then we'll check out your base.”
“ Understood.”
“ What’s that infopad?” Greg asked as they made their way through the base.
“ My diary.”
* * * * *
They cleaned out what little supplies were left from the ruins of Kyra's outpost. There were only a handful more undead lingering around, all of which were put down. Once everything was loaded, they continued their journey.
Greg had fallen into another session of deep brooding when the jeep abruptly came to a halt. Kyra made a surprised sound. “Holy shit.”
He glanced up and echoed her sentiment. Cage's outpost was now nothing more than a crater in the ground.
“ I suspected this.” Cage’s cool voice echoed over their radios.
“ What? How?” Greg asked.
“ I heard a distant explosion two nights ago, while I was standing watch. It was a simple process of elimination. The reactor must have malfunctioned or been damaged in the attack. With no one to tend to it, it blew.”
“ Great,” Kyra muttered. “That just leaves the mining installation and...”
“ The basement,” Greg finished.
They sat there in their jeeps for several
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