The DOOM Chronicles

Chapter 03: Outskirts

Somehow, through some miraculous set of circumstances, Jack managed not to have any nightmares that night. Or, at the very least, he did not remember any upon waking. As he opened his eyes to sunshine and warmth and perhaps the greatest thing in the entire solar system to wake up with, two naked, attractive female Marines in his bed, he felt nothing but good. Well, good and sore, at least. Jennifer was already stirring, he realized. She threw back the blankets off of her and sat up, then put her feet on the floor.

"Hey," Jack said, reaching over and running his fingertips down her bare back.

"Hey," she murmured, shivering at his touch. "Good morning."

"Yes, it is," he agreed, and she laughed softly. "We should be getting ready. I imagine there's a metric fuckton of shit we need to be doing." She stood up and popped her back. "I'm going to grab a shower. Don't make me wait too long."

She turned around and he caught a brief but apparently meaningful exchange of glances between her and Kyra, who had since come awake at Jack's other side. He rolled over and looked at her as Jennifer went into the bathroom.

Kyra looked at him a little awkwardly. "So...something I probably should've mentioned last night. As much fun as you both are, and I mean you are really fun, I'm not looking for anything like...serious," she said.

"Oh!" Jack said, relieved. He thought he'd fucked something up. "That's fine. That's totally fine. I'm not really either. I'm, uh...still figuring things out with Jennifer."

"You two make a good couple," Kyra said, relaxing as well.

"Thanks. I hope we do. I've at least figured out that I want to be with her." He laughed after a few seconds. "I can't believe last night happened."

"Really? After all the insane shit you've no doubt gone through since hitting the demons, this is what you can't believe?" she asked, pulling the blankets back and getting up. She began doing a few stretches and Jack found it hard to look away from her.

"I mean, yeah. I've never fucked a Staff Sergeant before," he replied.

She laughed loudly. "You always fuck lower ranks?"

"Lower or equal," he replied. "Officially I don't fuck any rank because that's fraternizing. But unofficially..."

"Unofficially you're just like most of the rest of us who are single and untethered and frightened: you fuck anyone that catches your eye and is willing to hop into bed."

"Not anyone," he replied, getting up.

"Fair enough. But last night was a lot of fun. And although I'm not looking to be your or Jennifer's girlfriend, I am totally willing to do this again if we survive whatever it is that's no doubt headed our way like a goddamned asteroid."

"Same," he agreed. "Though I hope Jennifer will be, too."

"Oh," Kyra said with a smile, "she will be."

She headed for the bathroom.

Jack stood and joined her.

* * *

As the morning wore on, Jack's good mood began to erode.

After a shower and breakfast, he and the others inventoried their supplies, (after double-checking that they were still alone), and found that between them, they each had a pistol, three magazines, and a StimPack. Jack was grateful that they at least still had their armor. From there, they managed to locate a flatbed truck that was still functional and decently topped off with power in its fuel cell, so Kyra hopped in back while Jack got behind the wheel and Jennifer got into the driver's seat. All they had to go off of was that Kyra had managed to see a city, a big one, coming down, to the north. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.