Destruction - SocksFor1

Part III - Split Apart

Published: July 9th, 2023
Words: 1125
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{Tbh PoV}

Ahh.. it was a nice early morning with a nice warm breeze. Nobody was awake yet, except Laff, but he was just reading. I don't think he ever slept, so it wasn't anything usual. I was surprised Blaza let me get up, I usually wake up early, and Blaza is usually up as soon as I move an inch, but not today. He was still sound asleep.

It was nice to see everyone completely relaxed, even if they were all asleep. It wasn't often that everyone was sleeping so calmly. Most people stayed awake to make sure nothing happened at night, but now? When we were out in the open? It was strange, but still nice to see.

In fact... I slept pretty well last night. I stood up and stretched my arms, yawning as Laff waved at me, I smiled back, knowing if I spoke my voice would be all scratchy. I looked over the small area we had settled in for the night, making sure nobody (specifically Meme) had wandered away. Thankfully, nobody had and nothing was lost.

Slowly, everyone started to wake up and assess their belongings before starting to talk with each other, I felt bad for Joocie as he was the last one to wake up and had to sleep through the noise of everyone talking.

When Joocie finally woke up, Laff quieted everyone down, not without effort. "G'mornin' everyone! We 'ave to keep heading to our locations, but we made more progress than I thought we would yesterday, so we can split up around 4:00pm." Laff said, receiving nothing but sleepy nods from everyone.

{Time skip}
{Nobody's PoV}

The dry grass crunched under the group's feet, group 1 had about 37km until their destination, group 2 had about 45km. It was very far to walk, but really, what other choice did they have?

"Half a kilometre before we split up." Nadwe called out from behind everyone, he was using his computer to navigate. Joocie had his phone, but it was unprotected and therefore unreliable. The silence was awkward, this would be the first time they all will be apart in 6 months, and that was definitely weighing on everyone's minds.

Blaza, Tbh and Meme were at the back, quietly talking to each other, nobody really paid attention to them, but it lightened the mood hearing them laugh in such a tense situation.

"I'm telling you! The rats will find a way to survive." Tbh said, crossing his arms.

"That explains why you haven't died yet." Meme muttered, jabbing Tbh with his elbow.

"Whuh- you little-" Tbh got Meme in a headlock and messed up his hair, Blaza tried to not laugh, but seeing Meme squirm was too funny to not laugh, even if he felt like he shouldn't.

"Ack- Let me go! Ey! Blaza! Quit laughing." Meme said while flailing his arms, which just made Blaza laugh more. The three only stopped when Laff turned around to look at them, he just smiled under his gas mask and continued walking.

It was nice to lighten the mood, but the awkward tension between everyone just got more attention when the three stopped bickering. Eventually, they reached the point where they would go different directions, most people just said shook hands or hugged each other, but nobody couldn't feel bad when Nadwe basically threw himself on Joocie.

Laff spoke up, everyone paying attention to him, "Alright, some of us may never see each other again, but I can say, it's been a great 6 months with you all. I wish group 2 the best. If and when we 'finish' our missions, I hope fate will reunite us all."

When Laff finished, everyone realized this was basically a suicide mission. Nobody had made plans for if they made it out alive, they didn't even bother... Meme grabbed Tbh's hand and held it tightly. Even Blaza looked slightly anxious, but he quietly started walking again.

And with that, everyone set off in their two groups.

...

"God.. could this headache be any worse..?" Nadwe mumbled, his head was throbbing from heatstroke, he didn't want to say anything about it, he thought it would be an inconvenience to the group he was with.

"Here Nad, put this on your forehead." Muffin said, dropping out of Nadwe's hats and gesturing for him to look in.

"Huh?" He did as Muffin told him to, revealing his messy black hair and reaching into his hats. He flinched slightly when his fingers hit something cold, wrapped in a scratchy towel.

Nadwe pulled out a somewhat large icepack, how was it frozen? How did it get in his hat without him noticing? Did Muffin put it there?

"Shit, someone's talking to you." Muffin said under his breath, clambering back into Nadwe's hat.

"Uhm.. how did you get an icepack in 32°c...?" Blaza asked, watching Nadwe hold it against his forehead.

"I have no clue, do you need one?" Nadwe asked, holding it out to Blaza, he highly doubted he didn't need it, with that bear hoodie and all..

"No, I'm fine. Did you get heatstroke? We can take a break if you'd like." He asked, brushing some dirt off of his sleeves.

"No, I'll be fine. We're making good progress and we're about to head into the snowier regions, that means temperatures aren't going to be as hot." Nadwe said while putting the icepack back in his hats. He wasn't wrong, the group was approaching the colder areas, and it quickly made it known, cold breezes becoming more noticeable.

"I wonder how group 2 is doing, it's been a few hours.." Meme said, it wasn't a question that anyone there could answer, but they were sure with Laff and Joocie, they'd be fine.

Blaza wasn't going to say anything, but he thought they wouldn't make it out of Polus alive. They didn't have very strong people or even a leader, now that it came to mind, why did they put the stronger team on the mission that could potentially have absolutely no dangers? It was a thought, but he stopped wondering, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

"Should we stop here for the night, or keep going?" Tbh said, it was a cold area, but they weren't in snow yet, so it was the best opportunity to get some rest.

Everyone agreed and they sat down, talking between each other, even Muffin joining in briefly. Well, it lasted like that for a while, until Blaza heard a loud snap in the tree branches in the forest behind them.

"I'm going to check that out.. you guys just stay here." He said, immediately taking his gun and walking over to the area.
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