The Symbiote

Chapter Four - A Merry Band

"Hey, kiddo. Wake up."

I groan and turn over, waving my hands dismissively.

"Five more minutes, Dad."

A brief snort is followed by a mild poking at my ribs.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey."

I crack open my eyes and blink against the light, trying to gather my thoughts. Where was I...?

A deep, gruff voice replaces the first, and my brain kicks into gear.

"Can't you just fucking carry the kid, string bean? It's not like they gotta weigh that much."

I look over to see two blurry forms standing over me, one black and green, one mostly red. Blinking, their shapes resolve, and my mind clicks.

Scathe. And-

"Agh!"

I scramble backward, trying to get some distance between myself and the hulking red beast. Scathe looks startled by my response, and Raze grunts.

"Told ya. Kid's fucking terrified of me."

Scathe gives him a look, and the bigger symbiote subsides with a grumble. Scathe turns his attention back to me and grins.

"Well good morning, sunshine. Well, technically evening, but whatever. Point is, everything's fine now, alright? Nothing to worry about."

I look at Scathe like he's gone nuts.

"Can you please explain to me how having Raze here, you know, the guy who acted like he wanted to squash me, is nothing to worry about?"

Scathe grins even wider and glances over his shoulder at Raze.

"Easy! He doesn't want to squash you anymore. After I explained a little bit, he chilled out and guess what? He wants to stay with us! Great, right?"

I look between Scathe's beaming expression and Raze's grumpy face and raise an eyebrow. Raze looks at Scathe, who maintains his attitude a moment longer before dropping it with a sigh.

"Okay, fine. I convinced Big Red here that it would not only be in his best interest not to squash you, but to actually kinda hang out with us. You know, more friends make fights easier and all?"

Raze grunts and shakes his head.

"Yeah, but it also means there's more of us to notice, too. And I mean, not to be a fucking ass, but... how the fuck am I gonna hide anywhere?" He gestures at himself with both enormous hands, and Scathe sighs again.

"Okay, so there's still a few lumps to iron out, but it's better if we stick together, okay? We'll... figure it out."

He didn't sound exactly certain, but I trusted him enough to know that he'd work something out. However, I wasn't the most comfortable with the idea of travelling around with the big red tank. He kinda... stands out. A lot.

"Scathe," I start, and both he and Raze look at me. I quickly rethink my statement and add: "Can we even find a place big enough for us all to stay?"

Everybody looks at everybody else, and Scathe adopts a thinking posture. After a moment, he snaps his fingers.

"I think I saw someplace that might work while I was out shopping today," he says with a grin. "It's a little bit of a risk, but it's definitely big enough until we can figure out how to... work around Raze's staggering stature."

Raze raises a brow, and I feel a wave of the same skepticism hovering over my mind. But if it could get us safely tucked away for the night or a couple days, then...

"Okay, let's do it. Just have to be careful, right?"

Scathe nods, grinning broadly, and we look to Raze. He stares back at us a long moment before speaking.

"What?"

"It's the three of us now, Big Red. Gotta know your thoughts on things, too."

Raze growls and shakes his head.

"Fine. Let's just fucking get to the place already. Standing out in the forest like this makes me feel fucking annoyed."

Scathe chuckles and scoops me up into his arms again, nodding back toward the town.

"There's an old airfield on the far side of town that should have a couple hangers that would be big enough for you," he explains, and Raze suddenly looks a bit less doubtful. "All we gotta do is get there without being seen, and we're golden."

"Sounds easy enough," Raze grumbles. He raises a finger thicker than my thigh. "But there's a catch, isn't there?"

Scathe grins again, shaking his head.

"You got me there. All we need for you to do is kind of make yourself a bit less... noticeable," Scathe says, and Raze glances at himself. "Can you, I dunno, tone it down a little? You're part soldier, right? Don't you have a camo setting?"

I can't help but chuckle at Scathe's teasing, and Raze narrows his eyes. He curls his massive hands into fists and stomps the ground with one foot, sending a tremor through it that even I could feel from my perch in Scathe's arms. Suddenly, his pattern and colors are muted and splotchy, and he seemed far easier to look over... sort of.

"How's this, string bean? Good enough for ya?"

"Perfect, actually. Now, let's just go around the east side of town; it's all woods. More cover."

We all set off at a pretty quick pace, Scathe quiet as a whisper, Raze quiet as a buffalo. I wince every time I hear a tree limb crack, and Scathe notices my twitching.

"It's okay, kid. Most people don't even see normal crap that's right in front of them, much less something totally weird like us. And hey, if anybody does happen to see him, they'll just think it's Bigfoot migrating."

I actually laugh at that, and Raze growls from the near distance.

"I fucking heard that."