Page 29 of Trigger Discipline

“You’re…” Gabriel trailed off, watching Blake intensely.

“Gabriel!”

Spinning on his heel, Gabriel leveled his empty gun towards the head of the alley. Judd and Phin were runningtowards them. Gabriel immediately relaxed, jumping off the carcass of his kill.

Phin grabbed Gabriel in a bruising hug. It was brief, but he grabbed Gabriel by the helmet and twisted his face to check for any injuries.

“Can’t believe you popped your cherry before we did,” Judd groused. Blake hoped he meant killing the thing.

Blake was jostled away from the alien so the soldiers could get a better look. Phin had his gun trained on it; his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Tommy pushed past them and grabbed Blake, his thin arms wrapping around him in a big hug. Blake hugged him back. And not one of his usual half assed hugs.

He might have needed the hug more than Tommy.

Judd one handedly dragged a whiteboard into the living room. Perching it against the wall, he uncapped a marker with his teeth, spitting the cap towards Tommy. He yelped when it hit him in the shoulder.

Blake glared at him. “The hell are you doing?”

“Information,” the scout mumbled around the marker. “Now that the gang is back together, we need to establish what we know.”

Blake chewed the jerky Gabriel was sharing with him. They were both sitting on the couch, and with all his gear off, he still took up an inordinate amount of space. His short hair was dark with sweat and there were marks on his forehead from his helmet.

Phin dropped to the floor beside Tommy. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, grabbed his water bottle, and took a swig before offering it to Tommy. The EMT shyly took it, sipping a little before handing it back. Phin glared at him until he drank a little more.

“How can you eat that Tofurkey crap?” he asked, wrinkling his nose at the open bag of vegan jerky in Tommy’s hands.

Tommy narrowed his eyes at him. “How can you eat the flesh of live animals?”

“They’re not alive when I eat them.”

Before that could escalate into a full-blown thing—and knowing this group, it absolutely would—Gabriel cleared his throat and gestured to the whiteboard.

“Elucidate us.”

Judd stared at him. “Huh?”

Blake sniggered. “C’mon teach. Tell us what you know.”

Brushing off the fact that he had just been insulted, Judd began scribbling in purple marker. “Okay, so far, we know there is one ship over Capitol Hill.”

“Last info we had, it was the only one in the United States, but that could change,” Gabriel got up to stand behind the couch, hands braced on the back, one on either side of Blake’s head. “It doesn’t seem to be moving.”

“No, it’s a cheating camping bitch.” Judd’s marker squeaked as he wrote down‘one (1) spaceship’.

“Just because you get your ass kicked in Nuke Town, doesn’t mean camping is for bitches.” Phin grinned; his teeth very white against his darker skin.

Judd flipped him off without looking away from the board. “Anyway,” he tapped the marker against his lips. “We’ve seen three aliens—the probe, thebi-pedalthings, and the fugly dogs.”

“Don’t say probe,” Tommy begged. “Call it a drone.”

Judd smudgedprobeout with his fingers and replaced it withdrone. “What? Afraid of a little back door activity?”

Phin kicked the back of his knee. “Shut up.”

“Children,” Gabriel’s quiet voice cut through the room. “Focus.”

Blake smiled.

Judd drew an angry face next todronesandbipedal. “These are the two with long-range weaponry.”