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Aidan snorted. “The fuck?”

“Did General Winter just slap a tent out here for us?” Matt asked.

Nick sighed. “Or there’s people in there. Waiting for us.”

Matt frowned at him. “Who the hell puts a couple of guys in a tent in the woods and tells them to wait?”

“Pretty sure General Winter would,” Nick said.

It wasn’t a large tent, enough to comfortably fit a couple of guys. The five of them would be squeezed together once they’d filed inside. Sean sighed, not sure what the hell their commanding officer was up to, but he lurched his way forward. All he wanted was to be back in the relative comfort and safety of his apartment on the base.

One side of the tent rustled, and a gloved hand stuck out, shoving the flap aside. A young soldier, probably only a few months out of basic training, poked his head out and stared at them.

“Oh, thank God, you guys Team Maelstrom?” the soldier asked.

Aidan snorted. “No, we’re some other group of well-equipped soldiers who happened to wander into the arranged rendezvous point the General set up. Jesus.”

The soldier blinked. “I mean, alright, don’t have to be an ass about it.”

Sean growled. “You spend the past week having to get through this shit instead of holed up in what’s probably a heated tent, and you tell us again not to be cranky. Do me a favor, shut your mouth, and get us the hell out of here.”

Aidan pointed at Sean. “What he said.”

The soldier looked between them with wide eyes, darting back and forth nervously. “Right, well, we’re going to need to go to the communications tent to do that. We don’t get any service here.”

Matt scoffed. “He seriously set the endpoint in a dead zone? Jesus.”

Sean pointed at Matt. “Go with them. Make sure they don’t screw anything up.”

From inside the tent came an indignant voice. “We know what the hell we’re doing.”

Aidan rolled his eyes. “Call it a precaution. We’ve been through some shit, humor us.”

The two soldiers waddled out of the tent, grumbling, but didn’t argue as Matt hurried after them.

Nick watched them go, letting out a sigh. “I should probably go with them and make sure he doesn’t fiddle with anything.”

Sean eyed him. “Don’t trust him?”

“You know how he gets when he’s around shiny new toys.”

Sean snorted, waving him off. “Go.”

Aidan groaned. “Fuck, it’s going to take forever for them to get here, isn’t it?”

“Doesn’t stop us using their nice heated tent in the meantime, though,” Ricardo pointed out.

Aidan pulled at the clasps on his bag, dropping it to the ground. “Yeah. Don’t need this anymore.”

Sean watched him march off. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Call of nature! Why, you wanna watch?”

“Go fuck yourself, Sergeant.”

“That’s what you wanna watch? Kinky.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Sean grumbled, turning away before Aidan could see his smirk.