Sorry I haven't updated… I've had this tremendous lack of creativity and no time. So hopefully this time I'll update more often.

Chapter 2: Soldier Talk

"You know Kid, it is funny. A couple of days ago I asked Sarge for a little pussy." Portman started, the Kid smirked at him ready for the punch line, "The next day he brought you onto the team."

The Kid's smile fell and Cory shook her head, "Don't give me an excuse Portman," Portman and Cory turned to Reaper, "No one here will miss you." He looked up from loading his gun and smacked his gum.

Cory smiled and voiced her opinion from beside Portman "You need some ointment for that burn?" She smirked at him as she leaned over to stick her knife back in her boot.

"Shut up," Portman pushed her against Duke as Cory chuckled.

"Men look in," everyone moved so Sarge could get by, "This is what we got from Simcon. We have a quarantine situation on Olduvai. They sent this message when the research team stopped responding to all communications."

Goat shook his head, "Olduvai?"

Sarge turned on the monitor and the panicked face of a man Cory assumed was the top scientist came on, "This is Dr. Carmack, Classified Research, Olduvai, ID 6627." He glanced nervously over his shoulder, "We've had a level five breach. Implement quarantine procedures immediately. I repeat. This is Dr. Carmack, Classified research, Olduvai, ID 6627." His voice became more panicked as the background noise became louder, "We've had a level five breach. Implement quarantine procedures now." Sarge turned off the monitor.

"UAC has shut down the lab, men. We need to go up there, locate the team, eliminate the threat, and secure the facility."

The kid leaned forward a little, "What threat?"

Duke leaned over Goat, "It goes like this see: If it's trying to kill you, it's a threat."

Cory shook her head, "We may be soldiers, Kid, and we may not be too bright; but there was no excuse for that question." The Kid opened his mouth to respond, "It's common sense, Kid, get some or you might just get killed."

The Kid rolled his head back, looking worried; as Sarge passed him, he ruffled the Kid's hair reassuringly. The Kid glared at his back and smoothed his hair down, "Why does he treat me like a kid?"

"Considering you're half his age and the newbie on the team, are you sure you want me to answer that?" Cory arched an eyebrow.

The Kid looked like he wanted to say something but he caught a glimpse of the knife sticking out of her boot and wisely decided to change the subject, "When did you join?"

Cory straightened up in her seat and looked at him, "Straight out of high school. How about you?"

"I went to college for a year, ran out of tuition money after the foster parents decided they didn't care anymore. So I decided to go into the military and maybe finish my degree later."

"What did you want to do?"

"I just wanted a business degree, I've wanted to run my own shop since before I could remember," He looked down at his boots, "What did you want to be when you were a kid?"

"A Marine."

The Kid's head snapped up and his eyes met Cory's, "What?"

"I wanted to serve my country." She gave a half-hearted shrugged, "Besides, I was a Grandpa's girl… I loved listening to his old war stories, it was a lot more interesting then my parents' damn tree-hugger meetings anyways." She smirked nostalgically and rolled her eyes, "And you know they say every family has a rebel… well I was the rebel." She stopped momentarily looking thoughtful. "Well actually, I was the only normal one…"

"You normal?" Duke chuckled and Cory glared at him.

"Yeah imagine that…"

"I'm trying really hard…" Duke shook his head and Cory flicked him off.

"The point is I stick out like a sore thumb in my family…"

"Why?"

"Well I was popular… my brothers on the other hand…" she paused and chuckled, "they went out of their way make everyone miserable… especially me… I remember one time they had one of those recruitment booths set up in the lunchroom; I went up there to talk and stuff. They told my parents… I don't think I had ever seen them so angry… although… they weren't lucid often enough to get that mad very often."

"Sounds like life sucked for you…" Kid looked over at her brows knitting in confusion at her burst of laughter.

"It could have been worse kid… I don't doubt it… sure I didn't fit in with my immediate family but my extended family loved me… so all is well."

The Kid paused awkwardly but continued, "So what are your brother's names?"

"Salt and Pepper," The Kid's eyes went wide and Cory chuckled, "You have to stop taking me so seriously…"

"So what are their names, really?" he replied looking somewhere in between annoyed and curious.

"Cayan and Basil."

"I'm serious, what are their names?" Cory rose a slightly bushy eyebrow.

"Cayan and Basil." Cory grinned, "Doncha get it? We're all spices!!"

"Cory isn't a spice…"

"But Coriander is."

"Oh… I didn't know your name was Coriander."

"Therefore you will be not be held accountable; besides Cory is too mainstream for my parents. I'm actually kind of grateful… I coulda been a 'Ginger' or a 'Cinnamon'… Coriander is a blessing compared to those names."

Duke smirked, "Though it did open her up to some interesting jokes, didn't it Spice Girl?"

Cory flicked off while chuckling and the Kid just looked confused, "Who's Spice Girl?"

"The Spice GIRLS were a British pop group in the nineties…" Coriander rolled her eyes.

"Okay men, here we go…" They felt the lurch as the helicopter descended and though no one spoke, they all agreed: there was something seriously fucked up about this place.

I'm sorry this took so long… I was actually thinking about taking it off the web until Hollow was finished, but all the reviews changed my mind. So here ya go.