No, we do everything without event.

In your room, Scarlet overlords over the contracts with you— going over some of the details that were over the scripts, as well as some of the things she knew personally.

This wasn’t a snag-and-grab or a destroying gig. It was a search and secure. Scarlet remarked it as an “English Army Mission,” since the abbreviation was “SaS,” but the laugh was short-lived as she started to voice other concerns…

“Amara typically deals in hardware, but she doesn't shy away from favors that involve live transports either,” she begins. “The ARS doesn’t either. They’ve been known to trade slaves for all purposes, too. I, myself, as you have experienced these last few weeks, am sadistic in my methods, but even I have my limits. I try not to involve those in the crossfire. Dealing with an opponent, and acquainted groups, but third parties oblivious to the matter…”

“Scares you,” you finish when she starts to trail. She nods once in agreement.

“Right,” she remarks. Scarlet walks her fingers off to her sidearm and wraps her digits around the grip. She audibly swallows. “I brought something for you, by the way.”

She pushes away from the desk and grabs her backpack. After flipping it upside down, a small pistol case topples out. “I was going to snag this for myself, but I thought you’d like it.”

“What is it?” You take the box and uncouple the locks.

“A little German piece,” she said. “I know you’ve been hauling around your little Jäger, but logistically speaking, us sharing ammo is better.”

Inside the box is something you’ve only seen on foreign Government outfits or federal agencies. “Never thought I’d get one of these,” you take the handgun and drop the box, checking the chamber and ejecting the magazine using the paddle release. It feels smooth, and there aren’t any marks on either the frame or barrel. It's factory new. You inquired about it from her.

“Gift from Amara to me, but I’m rather fond of my 1911,” she smiles at you. Some of her chipper attitude comes back, the side of her that you are fond of about her. “But it’s coming from me to you, so don’t tarnish the affection.”

“Thanks,” you say, “you got a holster too?”

She produces a small cloth bag from her pack and tosses it at you. Inside is a rigid plastic holster, three more magazines, and about 300 rounds of ammunition. “We’ll go out tomorrow and scout out the area. How does that sound?”

“That works fine. Think we’ll need to run a full kit?”

“Travel light. There are enough scattered outlets here that we can use for the night if we end up that way. Personally, I’m bringing a heavy blanket and wool socks.

“I’ll copy you.”

“You best do that now. But I’m not sure if Flora will dye your hair.”

You both share a laugh at it but then turn in for the night. The temperatures rapidly drop in the building, and your room is no exception. Scarlet climbs out of her bed to crawl into your bed. You cling onto each other and chatter your teeth.

This is, perhaps, the single moment in your life that you’ve pressed against a woman without the intent of becoming intimate with her. It helped you become familiar with Scarlet’s body. You felt no desire to revisit her curves while you rubbed her sides with your palms. Scarlet clamped her things between her hands as she tried to retain her heat.

“I’m leaving this place a horrible review,” you mutter. Your breath was probably pleasant against Scarlet’s neck as you shivered.

“Not the worst situation I’ve been in,” Scarlet pushes her back into your chest. “You’re warm.”

You’re reminded of what she said earlier that morning when you arrived here and grinned in the dark. “I suppose I am.”

Scarlet’s heartbeat and breathing are felt as you cling to her. Your legs are tangled over each other, soaking in the warmth of your healthy bodies. Her ass is nestled soft against your penis. She doesn’t smell sweaty anymore but now smells like nothing. There’s no faint smell of soap or shampoo either. You carefully explode her hair with your nose, sniffing softly.

She shifts slightly. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t smell like a girl,” you reply.

“I try not to smell like anything,” she laughs. “Why are you smelling me?”

“I just… you just smelled kind of bad last time we were this close together on the bed.”

Scarlet elbows you. “Jerk.”

“It’s the truth,” you complain and then squeeze her. You meant it to be a form of retaliation, but it made a weird moan come out of her instead. “What was that?”

“A moan,” she states easily. “You’ve been with me long enough to know what kind of noises I make, haven’t you?”

“You’re… horny?”

“Not in the slightest,” she hums. She rubs her butt against your half-chub penis. “Are you?”

“No,” you explained, but you started to feel the rush of blood swell your cock. She continued to wiggle her lower body until you were as stiff as a clearing rod. You were throbbing against her cheeks and almost ready to start groping her.

“Good night,” Scarlet yawned, leaving you hard against her.

…

…

Scarlet leads the way. The new snow that had fallen yesterday blanketed the area in a new sheet of pristine white. The forest was silent. Even to the point, your footsteps seemed to be swallowed by the surrounding woods. Two red tails stuck out from behind Scarlet’s beanie; it made following her easier as the rest of her was clad in white. This is the common sight for at least 2 hours, but there's a break in the mundane as a building almost seemingly appears from nowhere.

It’s undoubtedly LOOKED abandoned, but the structure is massive, including a brick wall that spans the entirety of the stone monster. Around the main building are several smaller ones, but those are now in pieces with their contents missing.

Scarlet looms over a fallen tree trunk as she reaches for her binoculars. You do the same, but a few feet over to her left.

You spy through the windows, noting all of them have been broken. Some curtains spill out but are otherwise vacant of life, just as the rest of the courtyard would suggest. The front door is open. However, the other entries you can see from your angle seem to be rusted closed. Disturbingly, you also spot a corpse outside the wall, picked over by crows and other animals from the native area. You can see that he’s relatively old and is likely a victim of bandits, raiders, or something else of the same department.

“Alright. This is it,” Scarlet says.

“Looks like nobody's home,”

“Yeah,” she follows you with. “But, you know how that could go.”

“Yes,” you reply. “What now?”

“Let’s get closer. John Doe will come out and greet us if he’s here and if not… we’ll go back to Highlight, reequip, and plan the night out here instead.”

Your stomach does a flip. You didn’t like the sound of that for some reason. “Is there anything I should know about this guy before we meet him?”

“John Doe? He’s gay.”

“As you’ve recently established already. Come on, Scarlet.”

“OK… He’s a liar. He’s a scammer. A **** addict. He’s a drunkard. And once he sees you, he’s bound to try to get you to owe him.” She cuts the air. “Let me do all the talking, and keep a hand near your wallet if you brought it. He’s got the hands of a thief.”

“John sounds like a swell guy,” you quip. “Figures he’s friends with Amara. No doubt what his talents allow him to do between borders.”

Scarlet scoffs. “It doesn’t help that many of these freaks we work for aren’t nearly as straight as we think. Mentally, I mean. I’ve heard plenty of stories, and you’ll hear most of them after meeting him.”

You go through the front doors once you are grounded to the main building. You stow away your rifle and hold out your pistol and flashlight. Scarlet keeps her M16 out but opts to stay behind you since her gun makes wielding a flashlight difficult.

You scour the lower floor until there’s nothing else to look for. But one thing you’re sure of, you should have brought masks. There’s no telling what you could be breathing in as you go door-to-door looking for any signs of life. You’re also not too keen on going up the stairs either. You stumbled over a couple of rooms where the floor gave way to decay and years of mistreatment. Weather, animals, lack of maintenance— a pyramid that could weaken any building was breaking down the one you were currently in. Scarlet wisely remarked about the time you fell through the floor at the airport. You glanced down and wondered if you were in danger of that happening even here. "Alright, so our only option is up."

"We could risk going down," you counter, unsure if you wanted to risk falling through the floor. "What do you think, Scarlet? We could go back."