^{Military Base.}

Where the army stands.
Military Base Chapter 1
Military Base Chapter 2

Dokuja sighed as she paced the bedroom she'd been sleeping in. She hadn't been able to sleep, constantly watching the battery-run clock on the wall as the hour crept closer. She was ready to fight. She was ready to kill that snake son-of-a-bastard that made her what she was and then turned against her after being so kind to her all that time. Kinage had been like a father to her... Now she was ready to kill him. She bit her lip and glanced at the clock again. 9:30... she still had a couple hours, but was too nervous to sleep.

Shimauma wasn't sleeping either. He was now hiding somewhat in the shadows of the hall where he was sitting on the ground with his back against the wall, not too far from Dokuja's room funnily enough. Also, none of the soldiers had seen him thankfully as he had crept into the building, but Shimauma remained alert, just in case. He grunted lightly as he shifted in his spot so he could drape his arm over his knee which was raised up while the other lay flat on the ground.

Dokuja paced a few more times, then sighed. Gods, I hate being pregnant.. she thought, feeling the rising need to pee once again, for the fifth time that night. She turned and headed for her door because her room didn't have a bathroom in it, and she opened it, urning and heading for the public lavatory, having memorized the way to get there because of how many times she'd visited it in that night alone. She didn't notice Shimauma as she passed him, too intent on going to the bathroom.

Shimauma knew Dokuja's scent, so he didn't jolt up to stand or anything as she passed him since of course, he was too relaxed to. But there was no doubt about it, he was still rather angry at her for her carelessness earlier on outside with the soldiers. He tried to remain quiet, but instead, as Dokuja passed him, his tail decided to peep out and tickle her ankle which caused Shimauma to growl an annoyed growl. He honestly wanted nothing more but to be alone right now.

Dokuja gasped and jumped a little when she felt the tickle on her ankle, turning to look down at the source. She instantly recognized the zebra-striped tail. Instead of confronting him, however, she frowned at the tail and made a small, "Hmph." before turning and going on her way. He wasn't worth her time right now. At the moment, his kid was making her near pissing her pants. That was more important.

"Fucking thing.." Shimauma growled angrily as he grabbed his tail and squeezed it tightly until it hurt. He didn't care that Dokuja had walked straight passed him at all. It was what he had wanted really. If she hadn't been so stupid before, we wouldn't be like this with each other, would we? So it's her fault this time. Not mine. Shimauma thought, letting go of his tail and tucking it under him so it couldn't move anymore.

Dokuja had been thinking the exact same thing during her trip to the bathroom. It was my fault.. sure. I'll admit that. But he's still heartless and stubborn. she thought. When she finished, she tried to ignore Shimauma on her way back to her room as well, but her thoughts had caused her to start crying. She shivered, feeling cold and sniffled, hurrying past him to her room and slamming the door, having left a trail of tears behind her. She sniffled and sighed behind the door, going back to pacing, but it was slow and not as concentrated as before. Her vision was blurry with tears, so she sat down on her bed and looked down at her hands in her lap, her lower lip quivering. "I... I miss him." she whimpered in admittance to herself. She wanted to feel his arms around her.

Shimauma couldn't help but scoff a little when Dokuja slammed the door behind her. He had also heard her crying, but of course, he had no sympathy for her if she felt upset. It was her fault to begin with so why should he go comfort her? If she wanted comfort and support with their child, she needed to apologise to him. Sure, Shimauma knew that she was pregnant, but still, he decided that she shouldn't be thinking about herself so much. He had problems too. Hell, he had a tail which couldn't be hidden easily and wacky facial hair which was certainly different to any other facial hair.

Dokuja gasped a sob and got up, slowly walking back to the door and opening it. She shifted in it for a moment, then walked to where she knew he was sitting, her teary eyes on the ground. "I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I just.." she stammered, not sure what to say. She sniffled and hid her face, but couldn't turn her back on him. She wasn't the best at apologies, but she had to try. "I'm sorry.." she hicupped.

Shimauma looked up at her from his spot and he could make out her figure just fine thanks to his good vision in the dark. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you were the one apologising this time instead of me." He murmered. Since it was your fault this time round after all. But at least she's got guts. "Just don't do something stupid like that again, alright?" Shimauma said low, sighing heavily and patting the ground next to him. Thankfully, although it was rather cold in the hall, Shimauma was sitting by a radiator on the wall so Dokuja wouldn't get cold.

Dokuja whimpered and sat down beside him, scooting close and wrapping her arms around his middle, hugging herself to him tightly and nuzzling his chest, crying softly. She sniffed and gripped him, happy for the heat from the radiator. "I love you..." she whimpered.

"Love you too." Shimauma found himself murmering back, his left arm finding her shoulders as it wrapped itself around them comfortingly. It still hadn't been so easy to say that he loved her back, but the darkness had certainly helped in some way or another so Dokuja wouldn't have had to see his face when he said it.

Dokuja sniffled, but it was apparent that those three words had significantly calmed her down. She still shook from time to time with holding back her sobs, but she didn't make any more noise, snuggling close to Shimauma with an occasional sniffle. She felt hungry.. like she needed to pee, but mostly.. she was happy. And very tired. She closed her eyes and nuzzled Shimauma's neck, then quickly fell asleep.

---

Reid slowly walked back and forth in the room he and Aver were staying in, wearing only his boxers. It didn't need to be said that he and Aver had made love again, but now he was preparing himself mentally for the war that was coming.. He'd be fighting for Aver, who would stay behind with Flow and Constance, and Karin as far as he knew... He fingered the pistol Aver had given him, and the gun he'd picked up from Fletcher's group of weapons, muttering to himself. "I'mma kill them... They're all dead for what they did to our families.." he whispered, trying to make himself angry.

Aver was watching him from her place in one of the camp beds with the sheets tucked up over her. She was lying on her side and her blue eyes were full of concern as they followed Reid while he walked up and down the room. "Don't push yourself, Reid." She said gently. "I know you're doing this for the greater good, but seeing you like this does worry me, I have to admit." Aver frowned lightly.

Reid stopped pacing for a moment and looked at Aver, then down at the gun with a sigh. He set it aside in a chair and then turned back to Aver, walking to the bed and sitting down on it, resting a hand on Aver's hip. "I know.. I'm sorry." he whispered.

"It's okay," Aver said softly, smiling at him and ruffling his hair a little with her hand which she ran through it slowly, but gently. "Remember that we aren't actually adults yet, so you have to be extra careful." She whispered. "Even if you kill one small animal, it doesn't matter how many you kill as long as you come back unharmed."

Reid smiled softly at Aver and nodded, nuzzling into her hand and closing his eyes tiredly. He sighed again and laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer so she could lay her head on his chest. "I love you."

Aver smiled back at him and she layed her head on his chest, her hand resting on it also, near her chin. "I love you, too." She whispered back and closed her eyes, sighing lightly. "You should get going soon.." She said softly. "It's almost eleven now." Aver opened her eyes and checked the clock in their room. It was almost eleven, like she had said.

"Yeah..." Reid said softly. He agreed with her, but that didn't mean he was all too looking forward to it. He wanted to kill the animals, but he wanted to stay with Aver as well. He hugged her tightly, then leaned down and kissed her head before kissing her lips, then got up, grabbing up his clothes.

"Be safe." Aver whispered as she watched him dress, biting her lip as she did. Of course, she was afraid, but like Reid, she had a job to do too, and that was to take care of Karin with Constance for Miracle and Gray like she had promised. She soon got out of bed herself and had a shower, dressing herself in warm clothes once she had finished drying off and brushing her hair.

Reid came back to her when she finished dressing, his guns holstered in his belt and ready. He kissed her deeply, holding her close. "One last time.. Just in case." he whispered and smiled softly after it broke. He kissed her again lightly, shorter this time, and took a step back. "I'll be back by sun-up." he called, walking out of the room.

Aver watched him go and she sighed lightly, sitting on the bed once he had well and truly gone. "I love you." She whispered, feeling her eyes sting. This would be the longest amount of time she and Reid would be away from each other. She knew it would happen sooner or later, and no matter how determined she was to stay strong.. Aver cried.

---

"Alright, men. Now that we're all here and I've ran through the plan at least six times, I think we're ready to go." Lieutenant Matthews, armed with his own gun and knife collection, walked up and down in front of the row of eleven soldiers who had filed in front of him. Among the soldiers were Gray, Fletcher, Reid and Miracle. Matthews looked at all of them one last time as he gave all of them a salute, each soldier, Gray and Fletcher raising their own hands to their heads back to him. "It's just us now. Good luck to you all."

Dokuja, who was feeling a lot better now that she and Shimauma had made up, and had taken her medicine along with sleep, walked up to the line of soldiers with Shimauma, grinning like a hound. "Are we ready to kill some animals, then?" she asked evily.

Reid smiled at his older sister and nodded with a wink. "You bet." he grinned back, his grip tightening on his own gun. "We're gonna take 'em down."

Dokuja nodded. "Reid, Shim and I are going to the labs when we get there. We'll kill as many animals on the inside as we can... But more importantly, we're going to release all the other experiments. They deserve as much a chance at freedom as we do." she whispered, only to him.

Reid looked at her seriously, then nodded once. "Okay. Don't tell Matthews that though, cause I don't think he'd like that plan." he whispered back. "I'll tell Gray and Miracle, though... Fletcher is playing sniper because of his bum leg. But no other soldier can know. We don't trust them well enough."

"Good plan, baby bro. Take care of it. Shimmy and I are taking a head start." Dokuja whispered with a grin. She gave her younger brother a tight hug, then turned and walked towards the woods. Reid and the soldiers were going to take the long route through the underground passage in the city, while Dokuja and Shimauma went directly through the woods, cutting their time by about an hour.

Miracle watched Dokuja and Shimauma, then Reid, and she bit her lip, looking back at Karin, Constance, Flow and Aver. She waved high above her head for them to see. She held back her tears, swallowing back the sting in her throat, and looked at Gray. "For our baby." she whispered to herself, gripping her bow, which was slung over her shoulder, along with her quiver of arrows.

Gray looked at Miracle and he nodded, smiling only slightly. It was hard to smile for everyone really, apart from Fletcher of course who was trying his hardest to keep the spirit of the group bright as he told jokes about what he would do once the war was over. To Gray's surprise, many of the soldiers were indeed, laughing along with Fletcher while they all walked on towards New York. May God be with us all. Gray thought as he took one last look over his shoulder at his daughter who was in her godmother's arms. "Be safe." He whispered, his words ironically matching Aver's when she had watched Reid leave their room just minutes before. With that, Gray walked on behind Lieutenant Matthews who was coughing rather horribly into his hand--no surprise there, yet all of the soldiers apart from Gray, Reid and Fletcher thought that he just had a case of the common cold, but they were only too wrong--as he led all of his men into the city.

Reid stayed silent, walking beside Miracle, and watching the surrounding areas with his guns ready, and thoughts rolling through his head. He finally looked at Miracle, saw that she seemed.... depressed... and touched her arm reassuringly. "They'll take care of Karin, don't worry. Aver's good with kids." he said softly.

Miracle looked at Reid and smiled weakly with a nod, shrugging a bit. "I know... I just hope that... either Gray or I will live through this... so she's not completely alone after all this." she whispered. "If there is a God.. I hope he takes care of us.. So we can take care of her." she whimpered and wiped her eyes.

Reid bit his lip with a frown and moved closer, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and hugging her as they walked. "We'll all live, Miracle. All of us. I swear, Karin won't be left alone."

Miracle sniffed and nodded, biting her lip hard as she tried to regain her composure, gripping her bow tighter. She glanced at the back of Gray's head, knowing he'd already stepped into that cold mental territory that prepared him for war. But as a mother, it was harder to do so.

"The snake woman said that the entrance is one of these sewer lids.." Matthews murmered to himself once everyone had reached the city and paused in a certain area which had been circled on the map all of the soldiers had been studying recently.

Gray, who was standing next to Matthews, kneeled down on the ground and studied one certain sewer lid and he then nodded at it. "This one. There's hair here. White hair. Looks like it might have come from Shimauma." He said the last part quietly so only Fletcher would hear him since he was of course, assigned to be a pair with his best friend if anything was to go wrong.

"He's right. S'this one." Fletcher nodded down at the lid, and with help from Gray, they both lifted it up easily and planted it to the side. As soon as the hole was visible, the disgusting smell from within ventured out into the open. "Anyone got an empty bottle? You got a nice essence there to take home with ya." Fletcher scratched his head as he grimaced down into the hole. "After you." He murmered to Gray, who sighed lightly and shrugged before climbing down the ladder and into the hole, Fletcher, Matthews and the other soldiers following.

Reid and Miracle were the last ones to climb down into the sewer, and Reid was surprised that Miracle was the only one out of all the soldiers besides Gray who didn't complain, grimace, or even groan from the stench. She wasn't even holding her hand or arm up to her nose to block it out, like all of the others were doing, icluding him. He coughed and gagged a couple times, the smell even stinging his eyes. "Ugh... Disgusting.." he growled.


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