𝙵𝙻𝙴𝚂𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙱𝙾𝙽𝙴 | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙾 𐂃

- Cristine & Blake -

Darkness fell. Cristine peered through night vision binoculars. She was stationed just outside Ranch property for guard duty near the old tower they used as a sentry post. A small campfire crackles on the earth behind her. Cristine stood with her back to the fire, her rifle hung loosely around her torso, attention on the quiet night. Her eyes picked up a few militia members patrolling behind the fences and after scanning everything one more time, she talked to her walky, "Big Bear, this is Little Bird, everything's clear from the west abd wast flanks. No activity dead or alive." The code names were a bit silly, but they were part of the protocol. It was ironic she was assigned the same nickname her parents had given her.

"Little Bird, this is Big Bear I read you loud and clearly. No suspicious activity here either. Kind of boring if you ask me." Cristine rolled her eyes at the complaint. "Should've went looking for that boar with the others." She fought back the smile on her face and thumbed the button once more to tease.

"Don't pout Jimmy, that's what you get for pissing off Troy. You'll get plenty of chances to do some recreational fun some other time."

"Yeah, yeah. Imagine the feast we'll have if they catch that thing. I can already taste it and together with Coop's moonshine... well, wow." Shaking her head, Cristine detected human movement in her peripheral and slightly relaxed when she saw Blake waltz out from inside the sentry tower. He held a bottle and two cups in his hands and with a lazy wave in her direction gestured for her to come and join him near the fire.

"Should you really be talking about food and booze on your guard duty? Sounds to me you don't really regret what you did Jimmy."

"I dont. Haven't seen my girl in weeks and the flesh is weak-"

"Right, I'm stopping you right there. I don't need to hear details about your trysts with your girlfriend on guard duty. I'm going to check the other side of for actvity. Behave."

"Yes ma'am." Jimmy's cheeky answer earndd an eyeroll from Cristine. She really was one of the guys if the rest felt so at ease talking to her about the girls they were seeing. She didn't want to hear how some were playing hooky like the horny idiots that they were as if they were in high school. A sigh later, Cristine clipped the walky talky to her belt and walked in Blake's general direction. He was patiently waiting for her and arched his brow when he saw the funny expression on her face.

"What?"

"Isn't that my question?" Cristine suspiciously looked at her friend with a cocked hip and arm on her waist. "I thought you went boar hunting. Why are you here?"

It was Blake's turn to make a face, he feigned a hurt expression and sniffed, "well excuse me for keeping you company with one of the most boring shifts ever put in place. Thought you might want some company," Blake raised the bottle and his eyes twinkle, "brought some drinks."

"I don't drink." Cristine said flatly. 

Blake gave her an owlish blank stare and replied to her statement as if it was as incredulous as a bunch of walking corpses, "just when I thought you couldn't surprise me, there you go saying bold stuff. Who doesn't drink? Especially in this shitty world."

"Stop projecting and scoot over." Cristine ignored Blake's incredulity and sat together with him in front of the campfire. "Still, this was very... thoughtful of you."

"You even say your thanks like a grinch. Come on loosen up! I know you're worried about what happened, but it'll be fine. We'll get this creep and deal with him." Blake nudged her in the elbow before he poured a glass of fine whisky in his cup and sighed at the burning feel in his throat.

"It could be a them... another group." Cristine mused aloof as she looked at nothing in particular and shared her thoughts. "Charlie didn't deserve what happened."

"I know. Whoever did this has a lot coming their way... but," Cristine glanced at Blake and saw how relaxed and peaceful the man was. "Let's just think of some good stuff... even if it's for 5 minutes."

"Alright," Cristine didn't want to dour the mood any more than she had to. Blake skipped a hunting trip to be here with her with the intent to cheer her up. Rubbing her nape, Cristine urged him to start. "Aside from the booze what other good stuff did you guys bring back?"

"Lots of MRE, medicine, coffee, those state of the art night vision binoculars you're using..." Blake's smile faltered and he lowered his cul between his legs. The dark shadows of the fire danced across his suddenly serious face, but the warm glow of the embers softened his face. It didn't however, manage to soften his next statement. His words were rather omnious, "and Willy's dead." Blake took a big gulp this time and looked at Cristine. He saw her register his words, her expression very composed, but he saw her jaw slightly move back and forth. "I wanted to celebrate that with you."

"..."

"Come on Cristine, you're putting me on the spot. I know it's not good to speak bad of the dead let alone celebrate it, but we all know Willy got it out for you the most. Troy used him as an example for chain of command and all that shut, but he didn't step in when me, Coop and Mike took turns to beat his ass too that night. Thought it would give you some type of closure given that it was his fault that-"

"Don't." Cristine cut Blake off from finishing that sentence. It was quiet before she released a long, shaky exhale. Pushing down the hotness at the tip of her fingers she started to rub her fingers over her knuckles and scratched her throat, "I'm not going to deny it; I was happy he wasn't with you guys. I wanted to do it myself even after you guys beat his ass. Hailey talked me out of it, said it wouldn't make me feel better, not really, and let karma handle it."

"Your little sister is better than me. If you'd ask, I would've helped." Blake admitted with a lazy shrug before licking the remains of his beverage from his lips. "Maybe it wouldn't have made you feel better, but you would be the one to take out the last asshole who hurt you. Y'know to complete the circle." Cristine moved her arms so her sweaty palms could rub against her pants in a back forth motion.

"You're just saying that cause you hated his guts as much as I did. You'd be doing it for you Blakey, no need to use me as your excuse."

Blake snorted, but didn't deny Cristine's claim. His dark blue eyes moved along their surroundings. His voice kept quiet and low, falling from his lips as barely a whisper. "Let's just agree that what happened at the depot-" his shoulder bounced up and down, the inside of his mouth being briefly sucked in before taking a sip as if he was drinking away the things he'd done in the name of science and having no regrets. "-stays at the depot.”

A bit of a filler chapter, but I really wanted to put this chapter in cause with what happened in the last book. I felt this moment between Blake and Cristine is fitting. And I just like writing these calm moments between them 😉