Hugh was the first one to the room. Room five housed the teleporting device he had used so many times before. The teleportation made packing for trip almost pointless except that it only worked one way, so you would always have to find your own way back. Nonetheless, Hugh still packed pretty lightly because he did not really own that many possessions. He had not had the amount of free time most people were accustomed to, and it showed in his lack of material objects. He had twenty sets of clothes (all the same) two pairs of boots (both the same) his gloves and glasses, a coat (a camel hair overcoat), his guns, the guns’ bullets, a toothbrush, soap and shampoo, a bed, an iPod, and a pretty large sum of money saved up, and that was all. He had grabbed the coat, his weapons, and the necessary boarding passes and he was ready to go. Now that he was at room five, he had nothing to do but listen to his iPod. As he was listening to the first song- “Anarchy in the UK” by the Sex Pistols (“Anarchy!!!”), Chloe walked into the room.
She was wearing the same outfit she had been wearing, except she was now wearing a couple sizes too big grey and red letterman’s jacket emblazoned with an “ELHS” to hide her many knives. He saw the same boarding passes in her pocket, and felt a pang as he realized he was not the only one who always packed light. She noticed him looking at her and gave a cheerful little wave and smile which he returned. She sat down on the floor against the wall and pulled out a well worn paperback of Pride and Prejudice out of the other letterman pocket and began to read. The song changed- “The Trooper” Iron Maiden, and the two of them stayed alone in the room for awhile. They would occasionally look up and glance at each other until the song changed again- “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (he was not hard core all the time, he had feelings too), and Xero walked into the room.
Xero was also wearing the same outfit as before; only this time it was more extreme. Thick woolen long underwear were visible under his snow pants, and he had a grey hooded sweatshirt under his parka now too. Something about this was incredibly freaky to Hugh. Chicago was cold, but come on! This was extreme. Xero still carried no weapons which made Hugh nervous, but not as much as the wardrobe did. As he was standing there wondering about these oddities his new teammate had, he realized that he had never even talked to any of his new comrades before. He had already removed his head phones and had both Chloe and Xero looking at him expectantly when he realized that he did not actually have anything to say right then. Ami saved him from the awkwardness by walking through the door followed by a particularly perky looking Brittany blonde.
She at least was well packed. She was wearing black boots and leggings with a black skirt and a black and white checkered blouse. It looked like something a normal person might wear to Chicago. She also had two suitcases. Hugh stepped forward and grabbed one and was surprised that it was much heavier than it looked. Ami bent down and removed a jacket from the other one, which was full of clothes. Hugh marveled at the fact that she had packed two weeks’ worth of clothes for what should be a two day trip. When Ami saw the look on his face she smiled and said, “What? I like to layer.” Hugh shrugged and hoisted the suitcase into the teleporter as the rest of the team followed him in. Ami gave him a quizzical look and asked, “So are you the strong silent type or something?” Hugh snorted (and immediately regretted that) and replied, “Strong maybe, but not silent. Just a little nervous I guess.” She smiled and patted his shoulder as the teleporter warmed up. “Relax. We’ll get out in the subway terminal. After that we just have to get briefed, and we’ll be heading home in no time. Easy.”
The teleporter fired off, and they found themselves in the middle of a subway terminal with all hell breaking through around them.
To be continued…
No comments:
Post a Comment