"C'mon down here!" Leo calls. Amanda jumps down to the sewer tunnel to join him. Thankfully their days of thievery and smuggling have gotten them used to putrid smells, such as damp sewers.
Water flows by as they walk on the sidewalk. Leo checks his ammo: three shells left; Amanda has a full magazine left but her pistol doesn't pack much.
"Hey hey, shh," Leo whispers. They listen intently as angry Peacekeepers move about above them.
"They're gone," Amanda breathes, "For a second there you had me worried,"
"What worried you? The fact I might be KIA or -,"
"EKIA, get the child!"
"What's wrong?" Amanda stops.
"N-Nothing…," Leo sighs, trekking onward.
"It's clearly something! You always choke halfway through that sentence!" Amanda exclaims.
"For reasons we will not define," Leo says, "I happen to not finish that specific sentence."
"Besides that, do you think the route is still open?" Amanda wonders.
"I doubt it; the Peacekeepers are very strict with their safe-zones. They keep few entrances to maintain stability, making our jobs harder," Leo reminds.
"Makes our jobs funner," Amanda corrects, "makes us earn our pay."
"We earn our pay by coming out here in the first place," Leo complains.
"Stop being such a downer," Amanda teases.
"I'm realistic," Leo groans.
"It's no wonder nobody wants to be your partner," Amanda baits.
"Says the girl who's partner fucking died and needed a new one," Leo retorts.
"Have you no soul?!" Amanda pushes.
"Have you any sense?" Leo mocks, "I've been solo for a while now and then you useless piece of shit needed a partner because you couldn't keep the last one alive!" Leo disses.
"He killed himself! We never should have made that run but he was so desperate for Command's attention he did it anyways!"
"If that's true then how did you escape?!"
"I didn't! I didn't…" Amanda chokes. Leo feels sorry for hitting below the belt.
"What happened?" He asks gently.
"I'd prefer if you didn't ask that ever again," Amanda says. Leo can sense the hurt in her voice.
"Let's just go," Leo suggests, "we already passed our regular entry point, so the checkpoint should be just up ahead."
They turn the corner and find their makeshift safe-zone; the water flows in a different direction leaving the safe-zone dry but damp. Leo slings his backpack off and collapses onto the busted couch while Amanda sits on the bed.
"Who gets the bed tonight?" Leo asks.
"It's still your turn," Amanda reminds.
"If I let you take it again can I take it consecutively next time?" Leo wonders.
"Your loss, I'm tired," Amanda sighs as she falls back. Perhaps he should take the bed tonight, after all he's been doing most of the brute work on this run, not to mention he's never taken the bed. "He deserves it."
"What?" Leo asks.
"What what?" Amanda asks confusedly. Did she say something?
"You said 'serve it'," Leo explains. Amanda sits up awkwardly, unsure how to proceed.
"Maybe i'm just hearing things," Leo sighs, digging his face into the cushions.
"Then you should get some rest," Amanda blurts.
"You're not taking my offer?" Leo confirms.
"No, I want the couch tonight," Amanda declares.
"Too bad, the couch is mine," Leo groans.
"The heck it is!" Amanda refutes. She jumps off the bed and seats herself on the couch, attempting to push Leo off.
"Your feet are in my face," Leo notes. In a weird sense of hope, Amanda kicks his nose. In response, Leo stands up.
"I win!" Amanda cheers, but before she can finish Leo grabs her by the feet and drags her off the couch. Then he lays back down.
"Just take the bed!" Amanda whines.
"Are you on your period or something?" Leo declines; Amanda quite literally has no response. Is she on her cycle? She's lost track due to their time underground for most of the run.
"If you won't get off the couch I guess we'll both take it," Amanda declares. She stiffly wedges herself behind Leo.
"If you don't get off this couch…," Leo warns.
You'll what? Hit me?" Amanda retorts.
"Great suggestion," Leo grabs. In reaction, Amanda screams and pushes Leo off; he lands with a heavy thud on the carpet.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Amanda apologizes.
"No no, I should've just stood up and dragged you off again," Leo explains, "Anyways give me the goddamn couch."
"No! I will not stop until you take the bed!"
"So never…?" Leo confirms.
"Only because you make it so," Amanda replies.
"If I take the bed tonight I take the couch for the rest of the run," Leo explains. Amanda considers his offer; he takes the bed during a crucial time. But what if another crucial time arises?
"I pity your concern," Leo groans.
"I pity you in your entirety," Amanda retorts.
"Your fall," Leo replies. He leans on the side of the couch and relaxes. Amanda hears him lightly tapping the floor.
"What're you doing?" She asks, "You do it all the time."
"Nothing of importance to you," Leo says.
"So it has importance to you?" Amanda confirms.
"Not necessarily," he replies, "It's just a habit of mine. Also please stop asking questions."
Amanda turns on her back with a puff. He's such an ass. At some point she drifts off to sleep for the night.
She wakes up with a hand in her mouth and another shaking her shoulder. She panics for a moment, until she realizes it's Leo keeping her quiet. Amanda heard distant voices further down the sewer, from where they came from.
Leo hands Amanda her pistol, while quietly loading his shotgun.
"I'm gonna take out as many as I can while you hide," Leo explains. Amanda visibly protests.
"If and when I get spotted, you follow and shoot them from behind while I run," he finishes. Amanda agrees before she wedges herself behind the couch.
"Apparently it's just up ahead," a soldier remarks. A set of footsteps approach the hideout. On his toes, Leo hides beneath the bed.
"Oh thank god," one breathes, "for a second there I thought we might have to keep going; we've been in this shit tunnel for hours."
"CP this is Hotel Team Twele; we've found the hideout. Please advise. Over."
"This is CP, understood. Search for anything that can provide intel on Entente whereabouts. Over."
"Hello?" Leo asks. The soldiers instinctively point their guns at the bed.
"Who's there? Get out from under there and identify yourself," the soldier commands. Leo slowly rises from beneath the bed and puts it hand on his head.
"My ID card is in my back left pocket," he explains, turning around. The soldier cautiously approaches Leo and snags the card from his pocket.
"Caesar, Virgil… What's your business here Virgil?" The soldier demands.
"I was running from Sector Ten to Twelve; An Entente clan raided my district, so I had to flee in order to remain in Peacekeeper territory," Leo explains. He visibly struggles to keep calm.
"You seem tense," the soldier notes.
"One wrong word and I might be falsely tried for treason," Leo confesses, "I get nervous around authority."
"There was no raid in Sector Ten; we just came from there," the soldier grins with delight.
"That's bullshit and you know it. My fucking dad died in a firefight while I escaped! Don't tell me I imagined my old man getting gunned down by a gang of ragtag wannabe gangsters!" Leo spews.
The soldier's shocked at this response, so much he reached for his pistol, even with his rifle in his hand.
"My apologies, I was testing you to make sure," the soldier mutters.
"Who's your superior? Lieutenant Muster the asshat?" Leo growls.
"There's no need to contact my leading officers," the soldier calms.
"Then please, finish your search and leave," Leo replies.
"Alright, one last question. Why are you at an Entente snuggling post?"
"I was squatting. Like I said I've been on the run, and I just needed a spot to rest. I don't know how long ago but some mean looking guys came by; I hid under the bed and must've fallen asleep."
"Any idea what they were doing?"
"Well given this is a smuggling post, smuggling I guess," Leo explains.
"Hotel Twelve, this is CP, give me a SITREP," the radio buzzes.
"This is Beta Five, nothing yet to report. Over."
"This is CP, understood. Keep searching — Give a SITREP when finished. Over."
"Copy that. Looks like you're off the hook, return to the surface and keep heading southwest to Sector Twelve. Move along."
Leo thanks the soldier as they keep moving forward.
"CP this is Hotel Twelve. Nothing turned up but a refugee."
"This is CP, understood. Helo preparing for evac."
He listens to their echoing footsteps disappear before breathing relief.
"We're good; they're gone," he says. Amanda struggles for a second.
"Help," she sheepishly whimpers. Leo lifts and moves the couch so Amanda can get out, then puts it back.
"Well we keep our ammo so that's nice," Leo remarks, falling onto the bed.
"Copy that," Amanda replies, joining him.
"Well I'm going to bed," Leo groans. Amanda follows suit, victorious. The next morning (or night, who knows), Amanda awakes before Leo, who managed to fall off the bed without waking up.
"You're such a child," she chuckles.
"It's so fucking hot!" He groans, annoyed, "Feels like I sat in a giant microwave."
"I slept a fine," Amanda teases.
"You didn't sleep under the covers," Leo reminds. This is true, but irrelevant.
"Irrelevant," Amanda remarks, "Anyways c'mon; we've still got a job."
"Fair enough," Leo accepts. He puts his shotgun on his back and his holsters on his belt.
"Okay Mr. MilSim, you can only be so pretentious," Amanda remarks. And just like that, they're off.