Chapter Text
“Have you ever thought about leaving?” His voice was barely more than a whisper.
“The QZ?” The other answered.
“Yeah.”
“We leave it all the time.” He took a deep drag of his cigarette.
It took the other a moment to answer. “No, I mean for good. Look for one of those settlements people talk about. Find a community.”
“Why would I? There’s only death outside the walls. With our standing, we’re safe here.”
“I guess you’re right.” His shoulders sank.
“Don’t let the others hear you say shite like that. You haven’t been here long enough to know whom to trust. Most of the arseholes in here will gladly report you, just to suck up on the higher-ups.”
“You’re right. I will keep that in mind, Captain.”
“You’re a smart kid, Roach. Just need to show teeth more often.”
John passed their shared cigarette back to Gary. They were high up on a fire escape, overlooking the still-silent streets of Boston QZ. It was eerily quiet in the mornings when the curfew was still in place. Soon the city would wake up. Sick and nervous-looking civilians would cross the streets to get to their posts. Fatter-looking soldiers would yell at them to limp faster. Screams of people who tried to hide their bite marks would echo while they were getting executed on the sidewalk. In front of everyone to see.
It was still dark but soon they needed to meet up with the last night patrol and start their first morning round. He was leaning with his back against the wall of the building, breathing in the cold November air. He could see a spark as Gary took a last drag and crushed the butt on the rail he was leaning on. That would be their last one for a while. John could tell Gary was still gnawing at their conversation in his head.
He didn’t acknowledge the streets below. His eyes were fixed on the silhouettes of the high rises outside the high walls of the QZ. Completely dark, half collapsed. He often did that. As if he was waiting for them to finally cave in for good. John could only see the back of his head, brown hair sticking up at odd angles. His drawn-up shoulders were confirmation enough, though. He was sulking. Couldn’t blame him. Life was miserable.
“If I ever leave, I’ll take you with me. You have no idea about the world outside. You’d get lost without me. Now come on, shift will start soon.”
The captain walked past his subordinate and friend, not missing how the boy whipped his head in his direction. Not a single sound left his lips. Gary knew the conversation was over for now, not daring to spoil the moment. Although John knew he would ask about it another time.
Once they reached the bottom of the staircase, it was a short walk to the RV point where they would meet the previous patrol to report in and receive their weapons. Gary hung back a little but hurried to catch up. By his steps alone Soap could tell Gary was in a better mood already. After a few moments Gary- now next to him- had gotten tired of the silence apparently.
“They saw him, did you hear?” He kicked a pebble with his boot. Trying to be casual about it.
Soap had a feeling where this was going. “Who.”
“Ghost.”
“That again?” he sighed. He’d been right.
“Well, you knew him. Don’t you wanna know more?” Gary had to run every other step to keep up with Soap's longer legs. Usually, Soap adjusted his pace but right now he enjoyed seeing him struggle a little.
“I’ve met him once, Gary. All I did was stare at him as he pointed his gun at my face. I told you this story a million times already.” He made his voice sound more annoyed than he really was. He didn’t mind Roach’s seemingly endless questions on any other subject. This one was kind of embarrassing for him, though. He couldn’t tell why. Gary was quick to respond this time. “Twice. You told it twice. This being the second time.”
“So? You knew it already. Now leave me alone. I don’t care about this man. He left the military a long time ago.” Only one more corner and they would be there. Soap picked up the pace once more. “Getting pretty defensive for someone who doesn’t care about him,” Gary grinned.
“Don’t push it, Private.” His last warning.
“Lost yerself in the eyes of the rogue legend for a second there, Captain? You can be honest; I won’t tell anyone.” Gary playfully bumped their shoulders together and winked.
Smack.
“Ow! Damn, that hurt!” Gary whined, holding his shoulder where Soap had hit him. Soap hid his grin by scratching his stubbled jaw. “Good. Shut the hell up now before I sign you up for latrine duty. Again.” That made the younger one scoff and put on his signature pout. “You’re no fun. You know that?”
“Yes. Quiet now. There is a new face.”
They were close enough to make out the faces of the already waiting soldiers. When they approached the squad of three, the oldest saluted Soap lazily which the other two hurried to follow straight-backed. One of them used to be in Gary’s class and he recognized him immediately. His uniform was too big on him, he didn’t remember him so thin. They grew up together but were never close. Now they barely saw each other except for rollcall and occasional briefings.
Just like with most of his classmates really, even though they shared the barracks and dining hall. He suspected it was because he spends so much time with the captain. Most liked and admired him, but he was still an officer. Lower ranks were friendly but careful around them. Some higher ranked gave them nasty glares for Soap’s promotion at his young age. Gary didn’t really give a shit.
Dismissing the thought, Gary looked at the third soldier. She was new, saluting like she left military school yesterday. He smiled at her. Next to him Soap returned the salute even lazier and offered a fist bump to all three of them. That was how he greeted everyone. Everyone except for the people he despised, of course. He left his hatred exclusively for the higher-ups, though.
The oldest returned it like an old friend. The boy blushed but eagerly accepted, the girl looked surprised. Gary just grinned and followed his CO’s example. Rookies and Privates- even Sergeants- weren’t used to being treated like that by an officer. Roach sure got lucky that this one took him under his wing a year ago.
They listened to the squad leader’s report. No damage to walls or fences. No civilians out after curfew. No infected. Just like yesterday and the day before. Afterward, they finally passed over the weapons. Two MPs and an extra handgun for Soap. The girl had been unarmed. They haven’t even bothered to give her a knife to defend herself with.
Weapons checked and in hand, they left the squad and started their morning patrol. It would dawn soon. Until then Gary decided to not bother Soap and walked silently a couple of steps behind him.