Compromise-Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw-

Chapter Thirty

I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. The room was dark, the small window telling me the sun was just starting to come up. Sighing, I pushed the blanket off of me and carefully crawled down from the top bunk. Rooster was below me, sleeping soundlessly on his back, his head turned towards the wall. I grabbed my bag, and exited the shared bunks, walking to the bathrooms.

My nightmares had gotten worse. Instead of reliving Cranes untimely death, I would witness a version of Hex and Rooster and Crane all dying in the same situation, one after the other. I was always unable to save them. I hadn't told Rooster the extent of the dreams, he still thought they were about crane. I didn't want to worry him.

Walking into the large showers, I turned one on and stripped down. A dim light was on above where I was. I let the warm water wash over my body, drowning my sorrows. Ten minutes went by before I moved, and in those ten minutes I took the time to reflect.

We had departed four days prior, and spent our time on the water carrier, travelling. We had established a better relationship with the heli team, though Vector, their team lead, wasn't exactly everyone's cup of tea. He was cocky and always exaggerating stories in an obvious way. My favourite among them was Tundra. He was normally fairly quiet and bookish. Neon was nice, always striking up a conversation with someone that wasn't participating with the main group. Whisper was nice, but when Vector was near by, he adopted his team leaders personality flawlessly.

The group of them had gotten along with our large team, for the most part. Others also found Vector a bit annoying, but the only person that was willing to call him out on it, was Hangman. The ladder had asked why I wasn't making a bigger deal about things, my answer was simple. I needed to be able to trust Vector. He wasn't the type that would get over a light hazing, like Hangman was.

I turned the shower off, realizing the jitters from my nightmare were gone. I grabbed a towel, dried off, then got dressed in a green jumpsuit. If all went well, we'd be attacking in the afternoon. Leaving the bathroom, I was met with Hangman in the hall. He was just leaving the mens bathroom, also already dressed for the day.

"Breakfast?" He asked in a tired voice. I nodded meekly, noticing the bags under his eyes, like I imaged were under mine. The two of us walked down the narrow halls, to the dining hall, avoiding ground crew as they started their own busy day.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked him as we sat down at a table with our grey food. He poked at his food with his fork, then looked up at me.

"I'm nervous about this mission." Hangman admitted, avoiding eye contact. I frowned, kind of surprised he would admit to that.

"You are?" I asked, the shock evident in my voice. He chuckled softly, almost sarcastically, and looked back up at me.

"I'm allowed to be nervous Stitch." He said, I smiled and nodded.

"Well of course you are. I'm just surprised. Why are you nervous?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. He sighed, looking down at his food while he thought of his answer, then back up at me.

"I don't trust the heli team, and having you and rooster both on the ground is a big stake if something goes wrong. This mission is more dangerous then any we've been part of, and the likelihood that someone on the team dies..." he trailed off. I wasn't sure if it was because he realized what he said might hurt me, or if he was letting the gravity of his words rest.

"I don't trust Vector on the heli team." I admitted with a sigh. "But I trust the rest of the team. Everyone in the air, save for the heli team, are experienced pilots that I trust with my life. You included." I told him. It was his turn to be shocked. He looked at me, his eyes widened slightly.