I'll go in with her.

“I’ll just go with you. They’re big girls anyway. They can handle 3 feet of traveling without me.”

“And anything they can’t carry, my guys will take care of it. They’re used to being pack mules,” Jordyn’s laugh is muffled by her mask. “Wow, look at us— already getting along.”

You trackback to where Jordyn’s group is holding up at. It’s a cave connected to a small tunnel network. In total, there are only about 40 members of personnel, with 10 MIA. You filter inside the cave and soon step into a large opening. Inside are horses, mules, and boxes of supplies that go beyond your typical guns and ****. Along the sides are cots full of gear spilled over them; some of the cots are occupied with resting smugglers. Men and women vary in body types and colors. The walls are lit by lights powered by a generator somewhere that doesn’t rattle the entire cave with a buzz. Wires and cords string out of the passages and holes.

Everything either looks dodgy or solid; it’s a weird mix of professionally maintained and haphazardly thrown together with the scaffolding erected in different corners of the clearing. You wonder how old this place is, or rather how new it is.

Jordyn tours you around, showing you the restrooms, the stockrooms, and places they use for meetings. You bump into several others in her business. Most of the members, including herself, have an armband with the letters “TC” and then the number “1” stitched to the crème colored fabric.

Once you round back to the central part of the cave, you find that all the others have found their way back and are getting the same treatment. Jordyn sniffs and then fishes out a handkerchief from her butt’s pocket. You study her as she cleans herself. Tanned skin covers her arms and face, lightly speckled with dark freckles. Across her nose are the same color imperfections. Her pale green eyes are complimented well by her complexion and her butterscotch blonde locks. Her bangs are waved to one side of her face.

Unlike the others, she’s built more buff but not a complete muscle head. Her biceps aren’t entirely as squeezed against her T-shirt as yours, but her thigh gap indicates harsh running and constant exercise, indented or not…

She’s shorter than you, which you guess is a good thing to see out of someone as feminine looking as her, but with her jeans and dirty black shirt, you could have taken her for someone in the ARS too.

“What does TC1 mean?”

“Tiger Cubs,” Jordyn nearly sneezes as she wipes her nose again. “Tiger Cubs 1.”

“What does that mean?”

“Tiger cubs sound less threatening than Trading in Contraband, doesn’t it? Uh, the number just means we’re the first team to make it here, by the way.” She conceals her handkerchief and sizes you up. “I haven’t seen you before. How long ago were you recruited?”

“Just before October,” you say. “Been scraping around Billings, but I've operated in these parts since Spring.”

“And your original outfit?”

“Private.”

“What made it private?”

“No, as in… I worked privately.”

“Oh,” she scoffed and blinked. “So, you were a contractor?”

“Yeah, I took odd jobs and snuff offers. Nothing really organized, though.”

Jordyn steps back. “Well, well. If you've been acting as a contractor here since April, then I suppose there’s a chance we’ve shot each other before.”

“Well, you did miss me back there….”

“Buzz off,” she giggles. You look at you and wonder how she got tangled up as a smuggler. “Hey, listen. Who do I talk to confirm your delivery?”

“Alexandra,” you say. “Scarlet and I are just contractors. We don’t deal with the shipments or anything like that.”

“Which one is that?”

“The blonde one,” you reply. “I mean— the blonde one with crazy hair.”

Jordyn sighs. “You couldn’t have brought anyone with different colored hair?”

“Sorry. Brunettes are in short supply right now.”

Jordyn knits a brow and looks at you. “That so? I didn’t know the ARS dealt in the **** trade.”

Your face reddened. “Not that I know of.”

Jordyn giggled and jogged down to the others, where she found Alexandra and spoke to her about both shipments.

Scarlet found you moments later and closed the distance between you so you could have a private conversation. “I was worried about you.”

“Why?”

“You disappear like that again before we see each other, and I’ll strangle the life out of you.”

“We’re all good and safe. I mean, shit. Look at this place.”

Scarlet looks around and huffs. “I’ve seen places like this before. This was supposed to be one of those underground shelters back before the world nuked itself to Hell.”

“This far in the middle of nowhere, though?”

“Probably private,” Scarlet decides. “Rich people. Political figures. People with too much time on their hands—“

Scarlet blinked and laughed slightly. “OK. Well. Maybe not too much time if it still looks like this.”

All that follows is silence, but it doesn’t seem awkward to you, so you don’t feel any urgent need to break it. When something finally comes to mind, you look at Scarlet. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“Some of the smugglers mentioned another snowstorm rolling in. I know that it was just a 3-hour hike back, but getting lost out here during a snowstorm would be rather unpleasant.” Scarlet says. “Kenji won’t be back with the horses until two days anyway.”

“What about tonight?”

“Right,” Scarlet looks around and cranes her neck. “We’ll stay here for the night and help out where we can, I guess? But, fuck… work and winter don’t vibe well with my business ethic.”

“So, we’re good to call it a vacation?”

Scarlet grins. “The smugglers seem more wholesome than usual. One of the guys was definitely hot too.”

“Ah, c’mon. I’m here for your fun.”

“With Alexandra breathin down our necks, it will be impossible for either of us to fuck around. Literally.” Scarlet sighs and stares at Alexandra from a distance. “She likes to unwind sometimes too, but she catches you and me fooling around. She’ll definitely nark on us.”

“She’s already fucked me, so why would it matter this time?” You say

“Amari slapped our hands already, and she won’t be nice a second time.” Scarlet replies.

You were about to ask another question when you realized that’s all you’ve done so far. Innocent, meaningless questions. “We should risk it anyway.”

Scarlet blushed. Her dark blue eyes flashed with mischief. “You’d risk your job to fool around?”

“You’re worth it, and I haven’t been relieved in what feels like forever.”

Scarlet purrs. “Same. Where and when?”

“Well, I'm a gentleman, so I was going to let you decide that for us.”

“Oh, wow.” Scarlet snickered. “A gentleman lets himself get blue-balled and then—“

“You don’t know, do you?” You cut in.

“Shut up! I’m thinking…" Scarlet groans. "I don’t know, but we should do something before going."

“Wow. Good thinking.”

“Where would you pick, dick head?” She snaps.

“Fuckin’ anywhere. You saw the showers. It’ll be pitch black in here tonight… probably. And there are a ton of private rooms here.”

Scarlet is silent but unmoving. “You pressuring makes me want to blue ball you again.”

The tone of her voice was soft enough, but her words feel sharp against your ears. You crane your neck and let out a small groan. Scarlet was a bit of a bitch, but you desired her touch more than anything else in this cave. You wouldn’t have admitted it unless she pressed you, but you think you were actually craving it…

You let your eyes go around her body and your mind to recall the moments you spent together. All the lust and fierce love that you both had. Without even meaning to, you were soon working your cock in attention. You hunch slightly and make more noise.

Scarlet looks over at you. Her face signals that she has some kind of distaste for you. “Ugh, shut up. If I change my mind, I’ll see you before the lights go out.”

“Whatever,” you spit back. “I’ll poke around the area a bit more. You won’t have a hard time finding me.”

With that, you and Scarlet go your separate ways. That woman had a way of making you feel stupid and spiteful but also weak and needy. Your mind was still swimming in after-thoughts that you couldn’t get rid of. You couldn’t walk outside of the cave, but as far as you knew, there was no place to walk. Jordyn was walking about, and Alexandra was going through the weapons. Jordyn catches your glance and smiles, wiggling her fingers in the form of a wave.