creeper
written by: sylenis

It was only a few hours to daybreak, and the Lazurian soldiers were uneasy. None of them slept well, and their commanders were no better. Dark circles under their eyes, and wrinkled with worry, all they could do was to stare into the black of the night, anticipating Caulder's next move.

Tasha sighed, her eyelids drooping. If only I could get at least two hours of sleep…I'll be set, I promise…she thought as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. She looked over to her commanding partner, Gage, who seemed incredibly unfazed by the whole thing.

She knew he was sleepy as well. Perhaps they could alternate hours. She wondered though, how he could remain so calm, despite the events that happened earlier that day. Did this man ever worry?

"Hey Gage," Tasha began slowly, stifling a yawn. "You've heard about the virus's 'mark' that appears on your skin after you've had it for a while, right?"

"Yep."

"It tends to be diamond-shaped...a little darker than the rest of your skin…not too large? You know how it looks?"

"That I do."

"…Aren't you…kinda frightened?"

"Nope." He didn't even know the meaning of the word.

Tasha gave an annoyed grunt and plopped her head onto her propped up hand. This guy really couldn't be moved! She oft wondered if he was really human. Well, she did try to cut him open once to test the questionable theory and that didn't turn out so well…she sighed, and then suddenly locked her eyes on his figure as he went over his tactics notes. It was way too early in the morning for that.

There were very few times where Tasha could remain silent for more than a minute. This was one of them. Neither of them could deny the uncomfortable air in the room, as he occasionally flipped a page of notes. After a couple of minutes, without looking up, he finally inquired.

"What…on Earth…are you doing." It was almost a question.

"Just checkin' you over to see if you have the mark," she simply replied. "Seems like you don't. No wonder you're not bothered."

"Hn," he simply responded as he looked up to her. She was biting her thumbnail. "Why does this bother you so much? Do you have it?"

"Uh…" Tasha blurted, as the tables were turned. "Y…yeah…"

For a split second, Gage's visible eye widened and the sound of a stifled gasp caught in his throat. He hadn't realized the potential damage of the answer to that question. Tasha smirked viciously, and jumped up, slamming the table, belting out a triumphant "HA!" Some drowsy soldiers jumped up, startled.

His eyes immediately narrowed at his companion.

"I knew you weren't soulless. I don't really have it. You were worried about me!" Tasha teased lovingly.

He grunted in disapproval as an annoyed scowl came over his features, and scribbled furiously in his notebook. "D…don't play with me like that again."

Tasha was restraining her chuckles as she rubbed his shoulder. "Geez, lighten up. At least I'm not as bad as Dr. Morris…" Gage snorted in what seemed like agreement.

"Well, good night. Or morning, whatever. We have quite a day ahead of us."

"'Night."

Tasha's smile dwindled as she headed toward her dinky corner on the other side of the shelter, as she looked at the underside of her wrist. That ominous mark just sat there, taunting her, and all she could imagine were flowers just bursting out of there any second now. This time, she couldn't fight her tears.