T.F.2 x Growing Reader. Book Two

Cook Out

*No Ones POV* Around 3:40pm.

The maid and engineer had been spending the last few weeks together at dinner time, growing fond of each other's company. Tonight, was the weekly gathering between the two teams. The duo discussed dinner plans. She widened her eyes with an idea, "What if we made a buffet?" She suggested heading for the phone. His eyes flashed in uncertainty. "How would we pull it off gumdrop?" Her smile made his worries disappear. "You'll find out." She pressed gently.

The others buzzed about getting the dining hall ready. (Y/N) quickly dialed up the other team, their Heavy picked up the phone. "Da?" He echoed. "Hey, it's (Y/N) can you hand the phone to Thomas?" "He in town." I nodded a little. "Oh... Is anyone else there?" I heard the shifting of hands, and someone spoke. "This is (E/N)." I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Hand me back to Gordan." I heard her giggle and the phone shifted again. "Okay, Gordan I was thinking about if we had a buffet? Each team brings 3 plates. Do you think you could discuss it with everyone else and see if they approve?" I heard him scratch his beard. "Yes. I do that. I call back when done." "Thank you Gordan." I hung the phone up.

The pantry door shut, and a few things clattered around. I turned to the noise and looked at the pantry doors and giggled. "Dell! The ovens broken." No response. I quietly waved until Misha looked at me. I motioned him to be quiet and lean against the pantry door. He smiled and set a foot against the door. 

I looked at Travish as he walked into the kitchen. "Should we have a cookout? Steak, hamburgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob?" His one eye brightened and he nodded. "Hell yeah!" "Should we use the grill? That nice pretty clean one I got dell for Christmas?" I heard the pantry door jolt and Misha stood firm. "Wha-?" The door rattled wildly until it went still. The door jolted once, then twice, on the third time Misha pulled away and opened the door. Dell gasped as he fell against the counter and to the ground. His cheeks flushed red as I smiled at him and helped him up.

His smile widened and he nodded. "Let's have that cookout doll." I smiled and hugged him. "I'll call them back and let them know to just bring a watermelon and fruits." He bopped my nose and handed me the phone. The line rang a few times before someone picked up the line. "Gordan." I smiled. "Hey Gordan, it's (Y/N) we're going to have a cookout instead of the buffet, if you guys could bring a watermelon and some fruits that would be great. We'll supply everything else if you can bring the fruit." I could hear my voice echo, like he had me on speaker phone. "Yes. We bring fruits. See at six thirty." The line ended and I put the phone away. 

"We're having a cookout fellas!" Dell hollered and grabbed a few things to take to his prized possession outside in the backyard. A few yells of excitement rang out through the base and the sounds of cleaning increased. I smiled and followed Dell outside with a blanket. "Misha could you bring the tables over?" He nodded and pulled out the tables. I set out a plastic covering then the picnic blanket. Josef caught my eye from the window, he looked tired and unkept. His eyes were dull and empty, and his facial hair was beginning to grow through. 

Dell grabbed a smaller table and put a clean plastic cover over it. He grabbed the small green cooler from under the grill and went inside. The charcoal grill was dark gray, 36in by 19in with two levels, a small fold out table with a cup holder, and a storage cupboard underneath it with two shelves. 

*Time skippie* Six o' Two. 

It was a few minutes before the food was finished when the BLUs showed up with the fruits. Gordon held a giant bowl of sliced watermelon, strawberries, and pineapple. I waved at them and made a spot for the bowl. Richard and Ludwig set down their cooler full of drinks and walked over to stand by Travish at the mini bar he set up. 

Everyone slowly filtered through the yard and got what they wanted to eat and then sat down at the tables. During meeting days everyone set aside their differences and acted like normal people. Thoughts of war and fighting left behind for another day. Everyone enjoyed themselves and ate their fill. But the time came for me to tell them what had been discovered at the snakes' pit. 

I walked in first and lead everyone to the meeting room. It was calm and quiet despite the circumstances we were in. Achille and Laurent followed behind last to shut and lock the doors behind us. Mundy slipped past me to get to a chair near me but Chase and Dell had beaten him to it. Dell sat on my left and Chase on my right.  Everyone settled down at a seat and got comfy. 

Everyone's eyes were slowly adverted to me and I made eye contact with them. I held each gaze for a few seconds and barely held Mundys. Butterflys flittered through my stomach as I set down my camera, the notebook, and the photos Laurent and I had taken. "Dell has made a blueprint of the layout of this place based on the pictures Laurent and I have taken. I've scouted out at least three doors and one giant door on the ground in the middle of the area. There's a latch that they open and disappear presumably under that giant door." I handed the pictures out while Chase and Dell held up the blueprint for everyone to see. Andy looked at me. "But how come the snake pit is in your area? How can we be sure this isn't a trap?" 

I looked at him and had Misha and Gordan hold up a white map of the area we live in. I grabbed a black sharpie and began to scribble down on the white paper. "Here is our base, here is yours. This is the waterfall, and here is the forest. If we evenly split this map down the middle, where that rock quarry is, is where they are, on the middle line. We voted to call it the snake pit last visit because there were snakes, remember?" He nodded a little. I picked up a smaller map that Dell made of the quarry that we could see the snake's pit. "That building is in the center of the area; the center of the quarry was cleared out to make that. So, it was put there for a reason. It was hidden out of sight for a reason. They must not want us to find out what they are doing back there." 

Someone's chair scooted inward and another coughed. "The pictures I passed around will show you certain things that the map doesn't show or depict. Tomorrow I will gather more photos under the cover of night when they won't be able to see me." Solly looked at me. "But they could still sense you if they have radars. Best not to do it alone at least." I glanced at him. "Name someone else who can go past undetected." Laurent and Achille smiled at each other knowingly. "I'm asking Achille and Thomas to assist us in this mission. Extra eyes will be great. Especially if this is dangerous." The two nodded and scooted their chairs in closer. 

I felt Mundys eyes on me and I shifted a little. "Achille, Laurent, Dell, Thomas and I will meet tomorrow to discuss our plan of action on how to collect more information." Dell, Chase, and Misha set down the maps to show that the meeting was over for now. Dell helped me put my things in order and into the bag that I had gotten them out of. Everyone slowly stood up while Gordan unlocked the door and let everyone out of the room.

The spys stood to the side and talked between themselves while Andy, Travish, Ludwig, and Chase helped clean inside while Dell, Thomas, Solly, and Richard cleaned up outside. I walked over to Josef and looked at him. His eyes met mine and he offered a small smile. I motioned for him to follow me in which he did. 

We stepped into his office, and I let him shut the door. I suddenly wrapped my arms around his neck. He stiffened and slowly wrapped his arms around my torso. "I didn't realize how hard of a decision you had to make that day. I'm not mad at you I'm just hurt you didn't tell the truth sooner." He relaxed and slowly rubbed my back. "I didn't vant vu to ve raised in such horrivle environment." I buried my face in his shoulder. "Thank you for making that choice. Because of that choice I am who I am today." Josefs sniffled a little and hugged me tighter. "You're a brilliant person tuabe, don't let anyone tell you otherwise." I smiled and slowly let him go. "Thank you." I smiled softly at him, and we left the room. 

The BLUs had gone home, and everyone was settling in for the night. I wished Dell, Josef, Travish, and Aiden good night as I walked away towards the hallway. The walk to my room was quiet and peaceful. I held my bag closer to my body and slipped into my room. I locked my door and pushed the scan button for my room to locate any spies and found none. 

I walked into the bathroom and carefully pried open a tile on the side of the bathtub. It revealed the small nook that I hid things in and I pushed the bag into it and closed it up. I sighed softly and got ready for bed. A yawn escaped my body as I turned the lights off. It was quiet as I tucked in and fell asleep.