Matthew

Driving leisurely onto the craggy dirt path, Matthew is heading toward a research outpost. Eric is in tow, and he occupies himself by clicking his ballpoint pen and minutely adjusting the radio frequency to vary the static it was playing. The only thing on Matthew's mind was the wind blowing his hair out of place, as he drove on blankly.

They've both shared so much time together that their car rides last way longer than their conversations. Of course, it is always because they were hours in to a long distance drive to where ever they were needed. Today, it was five hours through the countryside hills.

They come across a small wooden unit hosting only a door, and roll to a stop.  Eric flips out his phone and rings a number on speed dial. They get out immediately, and he puts the phone back in his pocket as they lean against the metal of the car. They both stare at the odd structure in front of them. The shapeless yet functional woodwork behind the building reveals its purpose as access to an underground facility.

As if by magic, it opens and Sarah flashes them a bright smile. Her white coat contrasts their dull v-necks and jeans. "So which one of you is coming in?" she enquires. Eric nods at her, lifting his weight from the body of the Honda. Matthew smiles back at Sarah and gets back in the car, heading back down the road.

The sky is a bright orange, and the deep sun refused to set, popping in and out of the cover of the hills they were going through. They both pulled down the sun visors earlier, and the vanity mirror is exposed. "Why the hell did they even make this car with that mirror on the wrong side?" he thinks. He looks over to the passenger side, as if the damned mirror would switch back to its natural place. He and Eric have spit out various insults at the intellect of the guy who decided how the visors would turn out. He smiles, remembering them as they repeated those so many times.

Back there at the outpost, two other men drive up to the outpost just as Eric and Sarah are done with their small talk. Out of the car comes two men, one with a pistol aimed at Eric that fires half a dozen rounds at him. His body goes down to the ground before his assailant is done firing. "We're the ones who are coming in today," says the gunman as he tosses his gun into the car casually.

-TBC-