Risk of Rain: Bailout

Chapter 4: Covetous Quarrel

Half an hour later, the four had set up camp. The day really went by quickly, what with fighting monsters and fixing Rex. The sun had just set, and all four of them were sitting around a campfire, talking. 

"...And that's the story of how I killed the prince of Europa." Merill added, finishing his story. Lucia and Rex seemed quite interested, but Carrie wasn't. She wasn't very fond of Merill, somewhat because she was jealous of how he was such good friends with Lucia, despite only having met a little while ago. Lucia and Merill bonded so quickly because of the fact that neither of them use guns, so they trained together before the mission.

"Wow, you Mercenaries really are worth the money, huh?"

"Yup. Who would've thought that years of training makes you really good at killing?"

Lucia laughed at Merill's somewhat dark joke. Carrie was laying down looking at the stars when Rex approached her.

"Oh. Hi Rex. You feeling better?" Carrie asked. Rex chirped a seemingly happy response. "I wish I could say the same..." Rex chirped something inquisitively. "I don't know what you said, but if you're asking why, it's because...." Carrie stopped herself. "It's because I'm worried about everybody else. The others who were thrown onto this planet with us. It's already proven to be deadly enough to kill any of us. I hope they're okay."  Lucia's interest was piqued by Carrie's statement.

"Speaking of which, did you guys see that one pod that was on fire on the Safe Travels, Merill?" She inquired. 

"Oh, yeah. It was number eleven. Their pod caught on fire and rolled down a mountain and off a cliff. I doubt they survived."

There was a moment of silence for their fallen comrade.

"Well, gee, way to bring down the mood, Merill." Carrie scowled. "That's gonna be nice to sleep on." Merill glared at her.

"Rex, can you take watch?" Rex chittered some Morse code that translated to "Y", which meant yes. "Alright, good night guys." 

All three of them layed down on the ground, all three of them thinking about what horrors this planet could bring tomorrow.

                                                                                           . . .

Lucia woke up first. She got up and looked at the dead fire, and Carrie and Merill on her left and right. She got up, which had startled Rex. 

"Oh, hey, Rexxy." Lucia greeted. Rex "waved" at her. Lucia sat next to it.

"You did good last night, buddy. I've got the next watch."  Rex chirped a happy response.

"I haven't really gotten a chance to ask you, Rex. How are you?" Rex tweeted a long sequence of Morse, which translated to "I don't want to be here. It is scary and dangerous."

"I see..." Lucia acknowledged, inquisitively. "Well, don't worry, bud. I'll protect you. No scientist in gonna off you on my watch!" Lucia hugged the robot. She wanted it to know that she really cared about it. 

"Aw, that's cute." A voice from behind them said. Lucia turned around. It was Merill. "Since you two have had your sentimental moment, I'm going to wake up...her, and then we can explore this place more."

"Uh, yeah." Lucia said, back in her stern, serious tone. "Wake Carrie up. We've got to see what else is on this planet." She got up, and Rex followed them.

"Hey, Carrie. Get up." Merill said, flatly. He kicked her lightly. Carrie opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Oh. You. Where's Lucia?" She snarled. "Right here!" Lucia responded. Carrie got up and dusted herself off. "Alright, so, where are we going, Lucia?" 

"We're just exploring, seeing if we can-" Merill was interrupted.

"Is your name Lucia?" Carrie retorted. Merill mumbled something under his breath. Carrie turned to her friend.

"Carrie, that was uncalled for." "No it wasn't. I wasn't asking him, I was asking you." Lucia sighed. Carrie was a good person-protective and cautious when she needed to be-but she was always iffy with new people, and sometimes a bit controlling.

"We're just...looking for other people or anything interesting." Lucia explained.

"Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."

The squad continued their journey, killing monsters whenever they revealed themselves.

"So, Merill, why did you come on this mission?" Lucia asked, trying to relieve the tension.

"Money. There was a hefty sum for the Mercenary that helped with this mission." Merill said, frigidly.

"Oh. Uh, cool."

"Guys, look out!" Carrie shouted, pointing behind them.

A stone golem snuck up on them. The squad knew they would be able to deal with it swiftly, but were caught off guard. Lucia, Merill, and Rex were able to distance themselves from it, but Carrie wasn't so lucky. The beast grabbed and threw her onto a nearby escape pod. The other three dealt with it swiftly, and rushed over to Carrie.

"Oh, hey, this is my pod." Merill mentioned, as he ran over to her. Carrie's back was in IMMENSE pain. She could walk, sure, but she definitely needed help getting up. If that easy-to-defeat stone golem could do this much damage to her, what could the bigger, worse beasts of this world do?

Merill, being the fastest, was the first to make it to Carrie. He held out his hand to help her up. "Hey, need a hand?" He quipped. She smacked his hand away. "Not from you, you clod." Merill stepped away, and Lucia came over, and quickly picked Carrie up. "You okay, Carrie?" "Yeah, my back is just killing me." Lucia's tone softened. "Oh no...you did hit this pod pretty hard...should we stop?" "Yeah, just for an hour or so. I'll be alright soon."

Merill rolled his eyes inside his visor. He couldn't believe how sweet Lucia was being to Carrie. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong. He wanted to talk to her before jumping to any conclusions, though. Rex was exploring, off to who knows where. He approached

"Hey, Lucy." Merill started. "Can me and Carrie talk in private?" 

"Oh, yes, please, you two hash out whatever you two have against each other." She responded, quickly. Lucia hurriedly followed Rex, leaving Carrie and Merill alone. Merill moved so that he stood right in front of Carrie, who was leaning on the pod with her arms crossed.

"Why do you hate me?" Merill asked, getting straight to the point.

"I...don't hate you...I..." Carrie had a hard time formulating her thoughts. She knew it wasn't his fault that she was upset, but she didn't want to admit that she was jealous. And she hated herself for that.

"Well then why are you so mean to me? I've done nothing bad to you."

"It's...stupid. You wouldn't get it anyway." Carrie couldn't manage to keep eye contact with him.

"Well, it can't be as stupid as you hating me after I saved your life."

Carrie stayed silent.

"Come on, Carrie. I want us to be friends. I've already got too many enemies."

Carrie opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Lucia's shout.

"Hey guys! Rex and I found something!"

The two exchanged one final glance as they rushed over to their other teammates.

Caesar cipher. Shift A once. 

Orggov wrw Nviroo pmld, mfnyvi vovevm rh hgroo zorev.