There's Something In The Mountains

Chapter VI

A/N: And this is where things start ramping up... Enjoy the new update folks! <3

Date Updated: 3/26/23

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Alex shot up with a gasp, sweat coating his face. Once he got his bearings, the teen realized it was morning already. The sun was shining brightly and he could hear birds singing in the surrounding trees. Alex took a moment to take a deep breath. His heart still painfully hammering in his chest. Just what the hell was that? A dream? Vision? Alex ghosted a hand over his throat. It'd felt so real. Like he was... experiencing it first hand. 

Voices from outside finally grabbed his attention. The guys were up and, from the sounds of it, already preparing breakfast. Deciding to ignore the strange occurrence, Alex numbly got up, wiped the sweat from his face and dressed for the day. He made sure to keep his troubling experience from showing on his face when he exited his tent and took a seat around the smoldering fire pit where hash browns were currently being cooked.

"Cubbie!" Nick cried out when he noticed him. Wolf was just coming back from grabbing a few small pots from the back of his Audi. "We were just getting ready to wake you."

Alex gave a small smile, feeling a strange wave of tiredness creep up on him. He glanced around, frowning. Two people were missing. "Where are Sam and Ben?"

"'Went to go check the perimeter." James answered after handing him a steaming mug of coffee. "Fox said something about his 'spidey senses' going off or something and wanted to be on the safe side." 

Alex nodded along as he drank the semi sweet liquid. He had a feeling Ben's sudden need to verify their safety branched more from Alex's slight discomfort yesterday morning than anything else. The thought made his chest feel warm. Though the whole unit has made it crystal clear they'd do anything for their youngest member, there was no denying the fact Fox took his job as honorary big brother very seriously.

It was right when Eagle was dishing out their cooked breakfast that loud rustling noises came from the brush woodland to their right. They stopped a moment later. They all paused, waiting to see what would happen. Nothing came forth.

"What was that?" Nick finally asked, dreadfully glancing between his leader and where the noise had originated. Wolf, being the closest, stopped and regarded the woods with a steady stare. Behind him, the younger team members went silent as well. James gave it another minute, thinking it was just Snake and Fox trying to fuck with them, before calling out.

"Snake? Fox?" He edged closer when no immediate reply was followed. He felt a hand clasp around his arm before he could go any further.

"Don't." James looked down to see Cub's ashen face. A note of uncharacteristic fear in his light brown eyes. Seeing Wolf's refute coming, the teen quickly added, "It could be a bear or something. If we stay together, it'll feel more threatened and move off."

"But we don't even know if that's what it truly was." Wolf stated adamantly. From behind the teen, the unit leader caught the sharp shooter's eye. Eagle shook his head, his expression clearly saying not to press the issue. With one last look of mild contempt, James relented and took his seat back near the fire. Though he kept his keen eyesight and hearing trained on the surrounding woods. Eagle was no doubt doing it too, if the way he seemed to be hovering around Cub's general vicinity was any indication. Alex for the most part remained quiet after that. Wolf knew better. It didn't take a genius to know something about that random occurrence was troubling the teen.