"My blood froze in my veins. Crawling along the cratered battlefield were two mysterious monsters. The monsters approached slowly – limping, staggering, swaying – but no obstacle could stop them. They moved ever forward with a supernatural force. Our machine-gun fire and hand grenades simply bounced off them. They were thus able to easily destroy our crews in the forward shell-holes, then run straight through the German front line and off into the village of Flers, where they stayed for some time. The British infantry which had followed them took possession of the village, and the machines drove off down the Ligny-Tilloy road."
-German war correspondent
Steps echoed throughout the bunker as the group walked through the hallways to the rooms. Tex took a left to lead Jack and Jerry to their rooms, Hawkins followed someone else down a right. It seemed, of them, Wolf's room was the furthest from the main entrance. Neither said a word.
Rowan wasn't sure why, but he felt tension between him and the girl. Perhaps it was the fact that her people were being accused of being spies for a rumored invasion force, or maybe just awkwardness between them.
Whatever the reason, tension seemed to thicken the air around the two.
After a walk that seemed to take a few years for whatever reason, the two survivors reached the female's room. Just a bed, a chair, and a desk.
"Bathroom's down the hall and on the first left. Anything you need, go ask Stud. We'll be leaving in two days, so don't get too comfy."
Wolf sat down on the cot, testing its firmness. She looked down at the ground for a few moments, then at Rowan, still in the doorway.
"What do I call you?" Rowan had to strain a little to catch her quiet voice.
"Blink."
She nodded. "Nice meeting you... Blink." She held out a hand.
Rowan took it and shook it firmly. "Nice meeting you, Wolf."
He turned around and walked off to find Tex.
The first thing Rowan saw about Tex was his sly grin.
"So, how is she?"
Rowan scoffed and pulled up a chair next to Tex. "I haven't known her for more than ten minutes and you're already getting ideas."
"I can't have a little fun, can I?"
"How were Jack and Jerry?"
"Didn't say shit. The older one- Jack, I think- glared at me the whole time."
"Don't they all."
"Hey!"
They both laughed.
"Jeez Blink, where'd you get that sharp mouth of yours?"
Rowan shrugged. "Used to live in an area with about six other kids my age. You'd get shot down fast if you didn't have a quick jab up your sleeve." He sighed, reminiscing the days before the Collapse, as they called it.
They both sat in silence for a while, thinking of their previous lives.
"Do you think this'll ever end?"
"What will end?" Tex sounded confused
"God, you're denser than the uranium in those APFSDS rounds. I mean do you think they'll ever be a time where we can stop... running?"
Tex was uncharacteristically quiet. "They all say that the only way to go after hitting rock bottom is up, but they never said anything about smashing right through rock bottom with 60 tons of steel and depleted uranium. I don't think there's ever going to be a time when we can go back."
Rowan mulled this over. Tex usually wasn't much of a philosophical one, but he was probably right.
Rowan saw Tex sort of looking down, so he put a comforting arm around his friend.
"Hey. Until we know what will happen, we'll do what we do best."
"We survive."