Red and Vizim exited the engineering room. Around them, the sun had begun to set, casting a low red light across the fort. The soldiers had yet to return from their latest mission, it seemed. However, he noticed a few of the sailors heading towards a large building. That had essentially become their mess hall.
The two of them made their way over. Despite his earlier reaction, Red didn't mind spending time with the other men. He also knew that Vizim was right. Spending so much time alone was not good for his mental state at the moment. Besides, it was good to take a break from engineering every once in a while.
He wondered if they would see Zara tonight. She had only been around once and spent most of her time in her own quarters. He hadn't seen much of her since they spoke a few days prior. Red didn't know much about the current circumstances of the fighting, but he did know that a couple of the soldiers had died. However, he was certain that something larger was at play.
The soldiers, Derrin included, had been spending more and more time in the jungle. Zara, meanwhile, had barely been seen at all. She spent a lot of time analyzing the current situation, but Red was also certain that she had spent her fair share of time in the jungle as well. Although that was a tight secret for everyone's safety.
Vizim led the way, pushing open the door to the mess hall. The smell of military rations wafted to his nose. It was a strange mix of stale bread and dried meat. There were shelves and shelves of both. That was it. If you wanted anything extra, then you needed to add more salt or pepper.
In the past, the soldiers would have hunted some of the wild turkeys and other animals on the island. Most of those animals had been hunted to extinction over the last few weeks by the influx of humans.
Five of the six sailors were already present. Red had met them a few times over the last few days and now at least knew their names. Brad was currently hauling a stack of sliced bread to one of the tables. Sonja and Max were covering that same table with a cloth. Meanwhile, Kalin and Shaun were attempting to acquire some different types of jerky. Wren still had yet to arrive.
"Hey guys, we're here," Vizim called out as they entered.
The sailors all turned at their entrance. A few of them nodded before turning back to their work. Brad dropped the stack of bread on the table and turned to them.
"Well, with you two here, we are just stuck waiting on Wren."
Sonja scoffed, "That blasted fool was supposed to be here half an hour ago. It was his job to start preparing everything tonight."
"What can you expect?" Kalin called from his spot by the dried meats.
"I'd hope he'd have learned to be on time."
"He wasn't even on time back on the ship. You guys don't even know how many times I had to cover for him," Shaun muttered.
An unhappy silence fell across the room. Despite them all having each other, each person in the room besides him had lost so much. They had spent their lives aboard Cairen's vessel, and they had lost it all as well. Whenever it was mentioned, they couldn't help but fall into a stupor.
"So, did you guys find anything new over there? Or is it just the same old stuff as yesterday?" Red cut the silence.
One of the sailors sniffed, "You can take your pick. Do you want this really pink colored meat or this slightly less pink colored meat? Maybe you could tell us the difference between the two cause they both take just as much effort to chew."
That brought a chuckle across the room, and everyone resumed their work. Red and Vizim helped the sailors finish setting up the table. It was relatively plain, but it reminded most of them of home. Red didn't see what was so special about cloth and plates. It was the same food, regardless… but he didn't want to start that conversation.
"So are we gonna wait on Wren?" Vizim asked as they finished up.
"Nah, that dumbass will show eventually."
The rest of the sailors nodded. There was no more discussion as they all dug in. True to their word, the meat tasted exactly the same. Red had tried multiple times to bring out the flavor in the jerky, but it all just tasted the same. Besides, when his entire focus was going into tearing bites off the stuff, the flavor didn't matter all that much.
The bread was probably the worst part of the entire meal. It wasn't bad per se. It was just stale bread. He had eaten plenty of that. However, when you had experienced the wonders of fresh rolls, stale bread just did not hit the spot. It had a weird crunch and was almost harder to chew than the jerky, if that was even possible.
As they ate, small conversations formed about anything and everything. They talked about life back at the Fallen Isles or wherever they were all from. One of the sailors said he was from the island housing the academy, though he'd never actually entered the academy proper.
By the time they'd finished, Sonja was reminiscing about when Vizim had first arrived on the ship, "Anyways, the poor kid was scared shitless of the rest of us for months."
"Oh shut the hell up! I was not," Vizim insisted, "You guys were just a pain in the ass."
The sailors all burst out laughing at his expense. Now that he was here, Red knew that it had been a good thing for him to come. This sort of environment, this sort of companionship, was exactly what he needed when he felt so depressed. Who knew what state he would've been in had he not accepted Vizim's invite all those nights earlier? Well, been forced to at least.
"Well, I'd offer to play cards, but it'll be an early morning, and it's already late thanks to Wren."
"Where is that guy anyway?" Red asked.
"That's a fair question. He's often late, but Wren usually has the courtesy to at least show himself."
"Maybe he's still stuck on the latrine."
The group all laughed. However, Red was growing uneasy. The sailors all knew their friend better than he did, but still. They were essentially at war at the moment, and for one of them to just not show. Red didn't like the implications of that. Perhaps he was simply overthinking the entire scenario, but he wasn't so sure.
While he wouldn't put himself on the level of Derrin or Zara, he felt pretty confident in his own senses. And right now, his senses were telling him that something was amiss.