Reaper( Barney Ross Expendables fan fiction)

Part 8

About an hour later I was sitting down with Toal Road playing BS, a card game that I liked playing, and so far I was kicking Toal Roads butt. He was a nice guy, a little strange, but all in all nice enough. Caesar on the other hand was making some sort of soup I think. I don't know where he carried the small pot or any of the ingredients but he was making it. Gunnar was just fiddling around with his gun looking bored. And Barney was sitting at a window as if keeping watch.

" God this tastes awful" Toal Road announced as he took a bite of the freeze-dried food he had brought. I smirked, the only thing I had eaten was a cliff bar and a thing of beef jerky. That was one of the people's being a mercenary, good meals were rare.

" How's yours?" Toal Road asked Caesar who shrugged as he continued stirring whatever it was that he was making "Can't complain about Rigatoni. Plan ahead fellas that's all I got to say" Caesar replied taking a small sip of his Rigatoni.

I smirked laughing a little. " I mean what if tomorrow you knew you would die. What would you want your last meal to be?" Caesar asked and Toal Road had to think for a moment. " It would probably be like cereal for you right?" Ceaser said answering for Toal Road.

" What the hell is wrong with cereal?" Toal Road said as though he was offended. " It's cliche" Gunnar answered putting down his gun.

" You gotta be original man. If you were a broad thinking man you would probably come up with something different like a special type of cereal. Like Earios because of your ears. Poor milk of those suckers and you don't hear sh*t" Ceaser claimed making everyone including me smile or chuckle. I guess one of the past times for this team was making fun of Toal Roads ears. To bad it was actually funny

"My hearing is 20/20 for your information" Toal Road said taking it seriously.

" OK fine uh Barney what would you want?" Ceaser said changing the attention to Barney.

" Donuts and most food that kills you" Barney answered blandly. That actually did sound like something Barney would do.

" That's... that's deep man" Ceaser said back.

" What about you Ferris?" Ceaser asked turning to me.

I shrugged " Crispy fried green tomatoes with.... Gummy worms" I said basically listing my two favorite foods.

" But Italian isn't bad" I added glancing at Barney who of course didn't blush, I don't think it was physically possible for him to blush anyway. We just smirked a little. It was kind of cute.

" I'm beginning to think Italian is a bit overrated" Ceaser added making everybody laugh.

" Hey what about me?" Gunnar said looking around " My favorite Swedish meal would be baby seal and whale a**, in the summer" Gunnar announced and I rose a brow. That didn't sound appetizing at all, but then again this was Gunnar talking.

" But I would really die for some good ol southern food" Gunnar added looking straight. I was about to snap something back but Barney beat me to it. " Then you my friend are going to starve" Barney retorted smiling making everybody laugh.

These guys were certainly a different and strange group of guys. I couldn't argue against that. But they were like a family. It was kind of cute.

I continued my card game with Toal Road that didn't last very much longer. " I won" I announced triumphantly as I set down my last card.

" What the how!!! You've won like four times in a row now!" Toal Road exclaimed exasperated throwing down his cards.

I shrugged " I'm just good like that" I claimed smiling at him with my usual southern accent coming out.

After that Toal Road quit because he was tired of being beaten.

I started to get ready to sleep but before I sat down atop the large crate again but I saw that Barney was still staring out the window. He seemed to be thinking about something deeply. I decided to walk over to him.

" Hey Barney you ok?" I asked curiously with my arms crossed over my chest as I looked down at him where he sat.

" I'm fine Ferris" He replied stoically as usual not looking at me, as if he didn't want to.

" You sound nervous" I said reading his body language.

" I don't get nervous" Barney said back and finally looked up at me with his dark eyes.

I quirked a brow " Then what is it then?" I asked wondering why he still acted so closed off.

" Bad things happen to the people I get close to" Barney explained looking away from me again.

" Do you think about the boy who died?" I asked randomly to him. It took a moment for Barney to reply. " All the time" Barney answered.

"You know it's not your fault" I told him in all seriousness. He looked up at me almost a little confused. " You are blaming yourself but it's not your fault" I explained. It wasn't good for someone to blame themselves for a death. I knew from experience.

" I know Ferris, but that's just how we deal with death" Barney said and didn't look away this time.

I nodded in understanding.

"Can't change what it is, so we keep it light until it's time to get dark. And then we get pitch black, understand?" Barney explained looking up at me.

" You know I do" I replied keeping his gaze " Good night Barney" I ended with a soft smile.

" Good night Ferris" Barney said before I retreated to my crate and closed my eyes.