Get along

by Cockatrice   

For his next mission, Alec gets paired with someone who views him with suspicion, but soon the two soldiers have to learn to work together.

“First Lieutenant Coachman,” Major Redford said from behind his desk to the man entering the room.

Alec was standing at the side of the desk. He gave the new arrival a short nod of acknowledgement.

Coachman turned to the Major. “Sir.”

“Lieutenant.” Redford gestured to Alec. “This is Sergeant Turner. He is your partner for your next mission.”

Coachman studied Alec’s face. “Alec Turner?”

Alec swallowed. Looked like his reputation preceded him. “Yes, sir.”

“You already know Turner?” Redford asked Coachman.

Coachman turned back to Redford. “Only heard of the… Incident at Crow’s Bay.”

Redford briefly looked at Alec, before replying to Coachman. “Yes, well, command—me included—have deemed that the Crow’s Bay incident should not negatively influence your mission. Turner has been assigned to multiple missions since and has gained our trust in his abilities again. Consider this my personal reference on his behalf.”

Alec noticed that Redford was facing him, but Alec couldn’t get himself to look either man in the eyes, so he was simply staring at the ground in front of him.

“As for your mission,” Redford continued, “you and Turner will do a patrol using a civilian helicopter and check three caves we assume are used as stashes by the local cartels. They are further in than our regular patrols, which is why we are sending you. Two of those caves are flooded and complex, which is where Turner comes in.” Redford gestured to Alec. “Turner is a transformer, wetsuit specifically, and has extensive experience with navigating caves.”

Alec looked up at Coachman and swore that he could see the hint of a sneer on his face.

“Should you find something that can be safely removed, you are to bring it back. Otherwise mark it so a follow-up ground team can extract the contraband. Any questions?”

Coachman hesitated but then straightened up. “Am I allowed to speak freely?”

“Please.”

“I would rather be paired with a real soldier.”

Redford took a breath. “Your objection has been noted,” he said slowly, to show his disapproval over Coachman’s wording. “However, Turner here is one of the best transformers we have. He holds the record for transforming into a piece of clothing, at 1.28 seconds. And as I said before, he has extensive experience with underwater cave navigation.”

“Did the Crow’s Bay incident not involve a cave?”

“Can you recommend anyone else with the experience that Turner has?”

Coachman clenched his jaw in defeat. “No, sir.”

“In that case, Turner will remain your partner for this mission.” Redford’s tone softened ever so slightly. “Both of you have been picked for your abilities and experience. Turner is an expert cave diver and you know the area better than most others. We have never sent a patrol this deep into enemy territory. You two are our best men for this mission.”

Coachman side-eyed Alec, the disapproval on his face subtle, but clear. “Yes, sir.”

“Very well. You will receive your mission brief at 0900 hours tomorrow. Ensure your gear is at the ready.” Redford turned his attention to the papers in front of him. “Dismissed.”

Alec was getting ready in the locker room together with Coachman. In Alec’s case getting ready was more about putting on his transformation suit and stowing away his stuff. As an object, he traveled lightly. When he would turn into a wetsuit, anything he brought along would only burden his partner even more. He was basically carrying nothing except for stuff he could fit in his pockets.

Coachman meanwhile was packing his backpack. They had been preparing in silence. Alec was being extra slow because he would be done in mere seconds otherwise, while Coachman would be still packing. And Alec didn’t want to leave first. They would be going to the hangars and that was Coachman’s domain. Alec had never taken a patrol trip by flight before. In fact, he hated flying. He would be standing before their vehicle even more uselessly than he was sitting here in the locker room.

Alec turned around and decided to break the awkward silence. “What are you packing?”

Coachman gave him a dark look without stopping his motions. “Supplies, mainly.”

Alec looked at the backpack. “I thought it’s only one day.”

“If everything goes well.” He stuffed a flashlight in between what looked like a tarp and a sleeping bag. “I don’t like to plan on things going well.” He looked up at Alec. “Especially not today.”

“You think we might get stuck in hostile territory?” Truth be told, Alec had never been in an openly hostile environment. So far his missions had been in neutral territory or at the edges of contested areas. The place where they would be going today, however, was no man’s land controlled by the local cartels. They would not hesitate to open fire on military patrols.

“That’s a possibility, yes.” Coachman slammed his locker shut. “But that’s the least of my worries.”

“Then, what are you worried about?”

Coachman heaved the backpack onto his back. “That we get stuck in a fucking cave.” He turned and left.

So he was still on about that. Part of Alec felt like he was already stuck in hostile territory. He took a deep breath and followed the Lieutenant.

“We’re gonna fly this thing?” Alec looked at the helicopter in front of him. A white chassis, the front and sides almost all windows. There was only room for two seats with a little bit of stow-away room behind them.

Coachman threw his backpack in the back. “Yes, what did you think?”

“It’s… small.”

“It’s a stealth helo.” Coachman got inside. “They can’t get bigger than this.”

Alec got into his seat and fastened his seat belt. “Never been inside of one.”

Coachman didn’t say anything and instead started working the controls to start up the engines. He gestured towards the headset in front of Alec.

Alec put it on and noticed that he could hear Coachman’s breathing. They had to use these to talk.

“Didn’t you say this was a stealth helo?” Alec asked.

“Relatively, yes.” He heard Coachman’s voice through the headset. “It’s still going to be pretty noisy inside of this thing once the engine is fully up.”

“And we won’t be heard?”

“We’ll fly up too high for the noise to reach the ground, so we only need to be careful when we land and take off. We’ll have to circle a little to make sure the landing area is safe. Anyone who looks up into the sky will be able to see us though.”

“So they will literally just see us?”

“Hopefully not. The place is densely forested, apart from the sinkholes. They’d have to stand on a clearing and look up at just the right moment to see us.”

“But that means we also won’t see them…” Alec pointed out.

“Hence why we need to circle the landing areas a bit to make sure. Plus, we have heat sensors on the bottom of the helo. We’re more likely to detect them than the other way around.”

By now the engines had reached their full power and Alec was glad the headset was covering his ears. One of the men outside gave Coachman a sign, which he confirmed. Then the helicopter started lifting off the ground.

Alec tensed up. He hated flying. Normally it wasn’t so bad. On a plane he could simply sit in the middle aisle and not think about it and it was fine, but the window’s on the helo’s doors went all the way to the bottom. Alec felt like he was inside a flying fishbowl. Still, he wasn’t panicking. His fear of flying wasn’t that bad, but he could really do without.

Alec decided to take his mind off the land below him and studied the mission file again. The area where they were going was the border between two nations. The land itself was useless for literally anything. It was almost entirely made of karst and as such, unstable and hollowed out by the humid environment. Sinkholes dotted the landscape, opening up into the vast, partially flooded cave systems below. These caves were used as stashes for the cartels and the sinkholes were the targets for their mission. Command had identified three sinkholes of particular interest, so they would visit all three, if possible, and mark any stashes they found.

Studying the mission brief again proved not to occupy Alec for long, so he was back to trying to find a way to distract himself from the green landscape below.

He figured that preparing himself for the worst would take some of the anxiety off his mind. Alec looked around trying to find the parachute, but couldn’t find it. He looked under his seat, behind him, but there was nothing he could identify as a parachute.

Coachman’s voice appeared in the headset. “What are you searching for?”

“The parachutes.”

Coachman let out a short laugh. “There are none.”

“What?!”

“Look above you.” He gestured to the rotor blades. “When this thing falls and you jump out, you’ll be minced meat before either of you hits the ground.”

“So what if…” Alec’s voice trailed off.

“We pray that it’ll be quick,” Coachman deadpanned. “Don’t worry though, I am not known for accidents during my missions.”

Alec noticed the jab in Coachman’s delivery and decided to end the conversation. The rest of the trip they flew in silence.

The landing near the first cave went without a hitch. They circled the spot several times and looked out for telltale signs of a patrol being nearby or in the cave itself, such as gear lying around, but everything was clear. They landed a little bit further away, just in case they’d get visitors.

Both men were standing at the edge of the sinkhole that would have the entrance to the cave at the bottom. But while Coachman was looking down into the cave, Alec was more concerned with the sky.

Coachman followed Alec’s gaze up into the sky. “Anything wrong?”

“No, I’m just concerned about the weather.”

“The forecast didn’t give a storm warning. Otherwise we wouldn’t have started the trip.”

Alec kept his gaze at the sky. It didn’t look like rain, but it wasn’t clear sky, just uniform cloud cover, if not particularly dense. And in this humid climate, rain could come unannounced. “Simple rain is already bad enough. If we are inside a cave when it floods…” He shook his head. “We should hurry.”

“Well, in that case,” Coachman began. “Let’s see what you got.”

Alec looked at him. He wasn’t particularly interested in winning Coachman over as a friend, but maybe he could get his respect. Maybe, if he showed him how quickly he could turn…

He took a deep breath and concentrated. The familiar sensation of feeling his body contract and deflate at the same time, his skin merging with the transformation suit and becoming rubber. Not even two seconds later he felt his body dropping to the ground. He opened his eyes to find himself staring at the canopy above.

Coachman entered his field of view, an eyebrow raised. “Not bad, I guess.”

Alec wanted to roll his eyes. Not bad? No one else could turn this quickly.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. Coachman picked Alec up and started to angle him so that he could step into his legs. Moments later Coachman was fully inside Alec’s wetsuit body, reaching for the zipper in his back.

Alec felt his face stretch over Coachman’s chest. He could hear Coachman’s heart pounding, a special perk of being a wetsuit. While worn, Alec had heightened senses over his wearer’s vitals, including pulse and body temperature. It was one of the main reasons why they used transformers, rather than regular inanimate wetsuits.

However, Coachman’s heart was much calmer than he anticipated. Alec was nervous, he’d never been this deep into enemy territory, but for Coachman it appeared to be routine.

Now that Alec was just a suit, Coachman pulled a rope from his backpack. Climbing down after transforming Alec was saving them from having to rappel down individually.

The two made their way into the sinkhole and down one of the tunnels. Portions of it were flooded, as was expected. Alec took in the surroundings and tried to remember specific landmarks, rock formations and such. They couldn’t leave behind markers because they didn’t want to alert the cartels that someone had been here.

Eventually the two got to a fork in the tunnel. The left one was wide and went down, while the other seemed to stay about the level they were on and looked narrower.

“Mmh,” Coachman mused. “Let’s try left first.”

“Wait,” Alec interrupted. “Take right.”

“Why?”

“The lower portions are more likely to get flooded during rain. Not a great place for a stash.”

“There could be air pockets,” Coachman countered.

“Look above you.”

Coachman looked to the ceiling, which had smooth limestone formations hanging from it and from the walls. It almost looked as if they were flowing out of holes in the ceiling and down the walls, like an ocher waterfall frozen in time.

“Those formations are caused by water running down and depositing limestone,” Alec continued. “There’s an above average amount of that here, which means the ceiling is rather porous. If this place does get flooded, there will be no air pockets as the air escapes through the holes in the ceiling.”

“Means the lower levels would be useless for a stash,” Coachman finished the thought.

“Yes.”

Coachman continued towards the right tunnel.

Turns out, Alec was right. And he continued to be right about several things in the other caves as well. Marking the stashes went without a hitch and if it weren’t for the flight sections, and the constant threat of running into enemies, Alec could have almost enjoyed the trip.

Now The two men were back in the helo. It was several hours later and they had lifted off from the last sinkhole half an hour ago.

Alec allowed himself a moment of satisfaction. Coachman hadn’t said anything, but Alec had proven his fears to be unfounded. As he reclined in his seat, he even managed to relax a little bit, despite the view.

Alec decided to close his eyes. The gentle hum of the machine, filtered through the headset, coupled with the constant faint vibrations of the craft was calming as long as Alec didn’t think about how many meters they were above ground. He took a deep breath. In retrospect this was probably the most tense mission he had been on, with the potential of getting into a fight. But they were almost across the border. It would only be-

Suddenly Alec heard a loud bang above him and his body was jerked to his right, against the window of the door. His eyes shot open to see the outside world spin around the helo at dizzying speeds.

“Fuck!” Coachman’s voice rang in his headset. The pilot grabbed Alec’s arm. “Turn!”

Alec looked over to Coachman, who held onto the console in front of him to steady his body against the spinning motion. The red lights on the console and a constant droning warning sound made clear that things could hardly be worse.

“Turn now!” Coachman yelled.

Alec didn’t have time to question Coachman’s command. He concentrated and felt his body deflate. The headset slipped from his head and the noise became deafening. If Coachman was still talking to him, he didn’t hear it.

Coachman grabbed a backpack and stuffed Alec’s form between the straps. Then he crawled over the seat to open Alec’s door of the helo. Before Alec could object, Coachman tossed him together with the backpack out of the vehicle.

Alec had never fallen from great heights before. He was almost as if in trance. The entire situation felt unreal. Not even ten seconds ago he was relaxing in his seat, satisfied with a completed mission. Now he was tumbling through the air. Inside the helo, the world was spinning on a vertical axis, but now it was everywhere, seemingly all at once.

Still, the green from the canopy came closer and closer with each rotation of his body, or rather the backpack he was attached to.

Only moments later he made contact, crashing through the leaves.

And then everything stopped. He was lying on the forest floor.

After some seconds Alec began slowly forming parts of his body back into human shape, while trying to wiggle out of the backpack. Eventually, he stood. He almost regretted turning back as now his heart was racing and his head got dizzy from the shock.

He allowed himself a few moments to recover before picking up the backpack.

What was he supposed to do now? The map was in the helo. The backpack only had essentials in it, like first aid and emergency provisions. Coachman may have saved his life, but now he was lost. Lost in enemy territory.

Coachman. What are the odds he survived that crash?

Alec stumbled through the forest, finding a clearing to scan the sky for signs of the crash. Eventually he saw it: A column of black smoke, not too far from the looks of it. Maybe ten minutes, depending on obstacles along the way.

The odds of Coachman having survived may be slim, but they weren’t zero.

And Alec had to be quick, because the smoke would attract the local cartels without a doubt.

He started running.

Alec’s heart almost stopped when he found the wreck.

It fell into one of the sinkholes, though not one they had visited. The wreck was still burning and only a few meters away from it was Coachman’s body lying face-down, seemingly unharmed by the flames. He must have crawled out of the wreck before it started to catch fire.

However, he wasn’t moving.

“Shit shit shit shit shit.” Alec looked around for a way to get into the sinkhole. He didn’t have rope with him. How was he supposed to-

Of course. Alec tossed his backpack down into the sinkhole and then positioned himself at the edge. It was about 30 meters deep, which should be enough… Hopefully.

Alec took a deep breath and concentrated, while gently angling his body forward. Part of his body had already turned to rubber before he lost contact with the ledge.

After he reformed back into human shape at the bottom, he rushed over to Coachman’s body. He was prepared to do first aid, but Coachman was breathing and reacting to Alec’s presence, though as if in a daze.

“Can you hear me?” Alec helped Coachman onto his side.

Coachman only replied with an exhausted grunt.

“Are you hurt?”

Coachman’s voice was weak, but seemingly more to dizziness than injury. “We need to leave.”

“I know, but I don’t have rope with me and-”

“No, away from wreck.”

Alec looked at the burning helo.

“They’re coming,” Coachman clarified.

Alec’s eyes went wide. Of course. The smoke is going to attract whoever is in the area. Getting out of the hole was not an option, not now, but they needed to hide.

“Can you walk?” Alec wanted to know.

“Maybe.”

Alec helped Coachman up, supporting him with his body. He noticed that one of Coachman’s legs was bleeding and that he was limping. Together they made their way into a dark corner of the sinkhole, behind a rock. If someone would come, they would not be spotted, not unless someone went down here and investigated further.

Alec put the first-aid kit next to him and pulled up the sleeve of Coachman’s injured leg. “Shit, what happened?”

“Huh?”

“The crash.” Alec investigated the wound and drenched a few cotton balls with alcohol to disinfect it. “One moment everything was fine and then...”

Coachman leaned back. His dizziness seemed to have largely subsided by now. “Oh that.”

“Did we get attacked?”

“Nah. You didn’t see it?”

“I had my eyes closed,” Alec had to admit.

“Bird flew into our rotors.”

“A bird?”

“About goose-sized. Maybe an eagle. A parrot? Something like that. Deformed the rotors, which caused the helo to spin like a… I dunno, something that spins fast.”

“Shit…” Alec started bandaging the wound. “Just our luck, huh?”

There was no reply from Coachman, which caused Alec to look at him. The lieutenant was frowning, but it wasn’t from the pain.

“It was bad luck this time, yes,” he finally said. “We did get lucky though that the rotor didn’t get shredded by that, or the helo would’ve dropped like a rock.”

“Wait, the rotor was still active?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you know I wouldn’t get caught by the rotor when you tossed me out?”

“Momentum was on your side, but yes, it was a bit risky.” Coachman shrugged. “Worked out, though, didn’t it?”

Alec returned his attention to the bandage. “And what if it hadn’t?”

There was no reply.

It wasn’t long before the first people arrived. Alec and Coachman couldn’t figure out what they were saying, or even who they were, but they were definitely not military.

And they were holding guns. It was clear they weren’t there for a rescue mission, unless it was about rescuing supplies from the wreckage. After about half an hour, the men dispersed.

The two men at the bottom of the sinkhole watched the whole time, hidden behind their rock.

“You think they’ll be back?” Alec asked.

“Unlikely. If they intended to loot the wreck, they would have stayed to fend off others who had the same idea.” Coachman glanced over to the wreck that was still smoldering. “They probably figured there’d be nothing of worth that survived the flames, or that the logistics of getting it back up wouldn’t be worth it.”

“So… what’s our plan now?”

There was a brief moment of silence, before Coachman replied. “I don’t know. Even if the tracker survived the flames, they wouldn’t find us down here. It’s too hidden with the smoke gone.”

“I have flares in my backpack. If we hear a rescue helo-”

“They will not send one.”

“What?!”

Coachman gestured around him. “We’re too deep in enemy territory. If they get detected, then the whole area will be on their tails. That’s why we took a stealth helo.”

“So, we’re stuck here.”

Coachman let out a grunt. “Fucking irony.”

“What is?”

Coachman stared at Alec before he replied. “That we get fucked up by a bird and not by you.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean, sir,” Coachman corrected him.

“Fuck you. Are you seriously trying to discipline me, like right now? What the hell is your problem?”

“You are my problem,” Coachman hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “Everyone knows about the Crow’s Bay incident. Almost got two people killed because of your shit decision making.”

“That-” Alec caught himself. “You don’t know shit.”

“I know that I crash landed deep in enemy territory, and instead of someone useful, I’m stuck with a civilian wearing a nametag who has a history of almost getting his team killed.”

“I’m not a civilian!” Alec lowered his voice after his initial outburst. “Transformers receive the same basic training as everyone else. I know how to fire a gun.”

“You think firing a gun is all there is to being a proper soldier?”

Alec rolled his eyes. That wasn’t the point.

“Where’s your gun?” Coachman continued. “You ever carried one during a mission?”

“No…” Alec had to admit. “You know I have to travel lightly. Or else you’d have to carry mine when I turn.”

“Pff.”

“Where’s yours anyway?”

It took a few seconds for Coachman to answer. “I don’t know. It wasn’t in my holster when you found me and I don’t remember anything from between the crash and when I woke up. Maybe I pulled it out in a haze after I landed and then dropped it as I tried to get out.”

Alec didn’t know how to reply. Coachman barely survived a crash in a helo and only barely escaped the flames afterwards. It didn’t feel right to blame him for misplacing his gun.

And yet, Alec was still angry, hurt over what Coachman said. He wanted to leave, to storm off, disciplinary consequences be damned, but there was nowhere to go and right now survival was more important than hurt feelings.

So, the two men continued to sit in silence.

Just when Alec thought the two of them were starting to get along okay…

Minutes passed, maybe even an hour. The sun had passed the zenith a while ago and was moving towards the horizon. It wasn’t evening, not yet, but the air was slowly cooling down and wind was kicking up. Maybe it was going to rain soon.

Alec and Coachman hadn’t exchanged a single word since their spat earlier.

Then Alec felt something on his skin. A draft of air, coming from behind. He raised an arm to feel it with the back of his hand.

He turned around. There was a narrow opening in the rock behind them, barely enough to squeeze oneself through.

“Do you feel that?” Alec asked Coachman.

“What?”

“A draft of air.”

Coachman gave him a puzzled look. “So?”

“It means that this opening must connect to the outside somewhere.”

Coachman peered into the opening. “What if it becomes too narrow further in?”

“That’s a possibility, sure,” Alec had to admit. “But I don’t hear a whistle, which may indicate that the tunnels are wide enough.”

Coachman didn’t say anything.

“Besides, do you have a better idea?”

The lieutenant frowned but got onto his feet. “Let’s go.”

Alec decided to go in front, with a lighter in hand to illuminate the way. The tunnels were extremely narrow, more like crevices in the rock. There were multiple times when it almost looked like they couldn’t continue, but they managed to squeeze their way through.

Eventually they came to a tiny cavern with only two openings big enough for a human body. One went almost straight down and had a sharp bend back up about one and a half meters in, while the other was above them and hard to get into.

Alec held the lighter in front of each hole. “Mmh, the air flows from both tunnels. They must both connect to the outside.”

Coachman peered over Alec’s shoulder, more out of a lack of room than curiosity. “Let’s pick the bottom one?”

Alec thought for a moment. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“It’s too narrow. Too easy to get stuck.”

“We can just crawl back out if we can’t go forward.”

Alec nodded his head. “No, you can’t. It’s too narrow, you won’t have any way to push yourself off.”

“We can pull each other out.”

“Won’t work either. You won’t be able to get a proper grip. There’s just not enough space.”

“We should still try it.”

“No, we really shouldn’t. It’s a death trap. Such an easy way to die in a cave.” Alec paused for a moment. “And a long and painful one too.”

Coachman looked up at the tunnel above them. “But if we slip while climbing up that tunnel…”

“You’ll go first, so I can steady you.”

“Then you won’t be able to lead the way.”

“I’ll guide you.” Alec handed Coachman the lighter. “Just do exactly as I tell you, okay?”

Alec tried to squeeze himself out of the way, though Coachman hesitated.

Eventually, he moved past Alec, towards the wall to climb up.

“We did it!” Alec walked into the open area behind the tunnel’s exit.

Coachman limped ahead. “Well, almost.” He looked up the walls around them.

The two of them had found themselves in another sinkhole, though this one was not nearly as deep, only a few meters. One side was four meters high, the other more like six. The rest of the sinkhole had considerable overhang and thus was unsuitable for climbing out.

Coachman made his way towards the lower wall.

“Wait,” Alec called after him.

“Why?”

“We should use this one.” Alec pointed to the taller wall. “That one… It doesn’t look stable.”

Coachman frowned. “That’s too tall, I won’t be able to make it.”

“The lower end has been hollowed out by rain. It’s filled with earth and debris. The odds of it collapsing while we climb is too big.”

Coachman gave both walls a good look, before he replied. “We’ll take the lower one.”

“Lieutenant, listen to me. I know my shit.”

“Like you knew your shit at Crow’s Bay?”

“Can you fucking stop bringing that up?” Alec snapped. “You have no idea what happened!”

“Then enlighten me, sergeant.” Coachman stared Alec down. “What did happen?”

Alec avoided Coachman’s stare. He had never told anyone the truth of what happened back there.

He finally gathered his courage to reply. “Two of our squad mates were trapped. We needed to get them out. The officer in charge and I didn’t agree on how. It was his mission to prove himself. He was being observed for a possible promotion.” He finally looked at Coachman again. “I decided to go with his plan.”

“That’s not what it said in the report…”

Alec didn’t answer right away. “We lied.”

Coachman stared at Alec like a superior desperate to hear a good reason for a major fuck-up. “Why?”

“As I said, he was being observed for a possible promotion,” Alec explained while avoiding eye contact. “And good transformers aren’t punished as severely. We are too rare for serious disciplinary action. It was my idea.”

There was a moment of silence before Coachman continued. “There’s more to it, isn’t there?”

Alec swallowed. “We were an item.”

Coachman turned away in disbelief, shaking his head. “Fucking perfect.” He thought for a moment. “Are you still together?”

“He left the military some time after that. We broke up.”

Coachman only shrugged and gestured internal defeat. Then he looked at the two walls, and finally at Alec again. “We’ll take the lower wall. There is no way I can climb up six meters.”

Alec felt defeated, so he didn’t argue. “What’s the plan?”

“You’ll turn into a suit, then I’ll throw you up on the ledge and then you look around for ways to help me climb up. In the worst case I’ll have to do it the hard way.”

“All right.” Alec started to turn.

Moments later, he was quickly reforming back into human shape at the edge of the sinkhole. He looked around, but found nothing that could help them and walked over to the edge.

“And?” Coachman asked from inside the sinkhole.

Alec shook his head. “Nothing.”

“All right, I’ll try my luck then.”

Coachman trying to climb up the wall was painful to watch. He only had three limbs to really support his weight and more than once did some rock give in under him.

Still, Coachman slowly made his way up, inch by inch.

Suddenly Alec felt something hit his shoulder. He thought it was an insect at first and he tried to brush it off. Instead, the spot was wet. Then he felt it again, elsewhere on his body, and then it started raining in earnest.

Alec looked down at Coachman. “Shit, hurry up!”

Coachman’s eyes shot open in panic. The rain was sudden and heavy. It wouldn’t be long until the rock became too slippery to continue. The problem was, he was already about two meters off the ground. If he fell with his injured leg, he might not be able to walk the way back.

Alec extended his right arm down. Coachman was only inches away from grabbing it.

Then they made contact. As each man was holding onto the other’s lower arm, Alec saw Coachman smile for the first time since they were assigned to each other.

Suddenly, Coachman was yanked down by gravity, as the rock he was standing on gave away. He almost slipped out of Alec’s grasp, but they were able to hold on. Coachman tried his best to get a grip on the rock, but the surface was too slippery by now and the wet soil caused more rocks to get loose whenever he held onto anything.

Alec tried to pull Coachman up, but he was slowly losing ground as well, his body sliding towards the edge on the wet forest floor.

He saw a rock sticking out of the ground, not far from him and tried to reach it. He was only inches away from getting a proper grip.

Alec looked down at Coachman, and back to the rock. He needed just a few inches, but Coachman’s weight kept pulling him down, and if he didn’t act fast, away from the rock.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, turning his right arm into rubber. With his elastic limb stretching down, he managed to crawl away from the ledge and got close enough to the rock to get a good grip.

“Pull yourself up.” Alec brought out through gritted teeth. “I got you.”

Coachman tried his best to use Alec’s arm to climb up. Alec felt his rubber arm get stretched thin with the weight, but he held on.

Eventually he felt the weight disappear as Coachman made it over the ledge, collapsing next to Alec. He finally let go of the rock.

Coachman turned Alec over so his face was turned up towards the sky. Only now did Alec realize that he had fully turned into a wetsuit. Was it due to the exhaustion? That had never happened before.

“We did it!” Alec exclaimed.

“Yeah we did.” Coachman gathered his breath.

Both men were laughing with relief.

“South is over there.” Coachman nodded into the distance. “Let’s go.”

He got up on his feet and looked down at Alec. “You should turn back.”

“I’m trying.” Alec concentrated, but nothing happened. “I… I can’t.”

Coachman knelt down to investigate Alec. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just-” Alec was confused. “Nothing is happening.”

Suddenly Coachman seemed to notice something and grabbed Alec’s right arm.

“What? What’s wrong?” Alec felt panic well up inside him.

Coachman frowned. “You’ve got a tear.”

“... Shit.”

“Hey guys, have you seen this dude yet?” Some guy was grinning at Alec, talking to his two buddies behind him.

After Alec and Coachman had escaped from the sinkhole, the two of them walked south, out of hostile territory. After several hours of walking, they crossed the border just after sundown. Once there, they used a flare to let a rescue team pick them up.

The mission itself was a success, but Alec was injured in the process. A tear at the seam inside the armpit prevented him from turning back into human form. Even though it was patched up, that didn’t solve the issue.

Injuries weren’t exactly rare among transformers, especially ones used in high-conflict scenarios. Normally, such humans-turned-objects would retire and be sent to family or loved ones, or special care-homes, but Alec’s injury didn’t impair his function, meaning he was allowed to continue serving, which he decided to do. He stayed on base and was placed in the break room while not on duty, draped across a wall so he would have a good view of the room.

Alec didn’t recognize any of the three men standing before him, so they were likely recent arrivals at the base.

“You like being an object so much that you decided to stay one permanently, huh?” The man sneered at Alec. “You into that sort of shit?”

People having low opinions of transformers wasn’t anything Alec hadn’t encountered before, but usually he could just leave. Not so this time, as he was completely immobile.

“How about you leave me alone?” Alec replied.

“Look, guys, he’s blushing,” the guy continued. “I was right. Fucker’s a total perv.” One of his buddies in the background grinned.

Alec felt powerless. Based on the guy’s insignias they were equal in rank. He couldn’t discipline him, as much as he wanted.

Suddenly a voice boomed at the back of the break room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that, Sergeant Crick.” The group turned to see Coachman standing at the entrance on the far side of the room. “Was that something you would like to repeat to me again?”

Crick looked to the ground. “No, sir.”

“Thought so.” Coachman approached the three men. “How about you report to your superior that you’re ready for duty?”

“We’re on a break, sir,” one of Crick’s friends said.

Coachman only threw him a stern look and tilted his head.

Crick ushered the two others out of the room. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Once the three men were out of the room, Coachman turned to Alec. “Those guys gave you trouble?”

Alec tried to shrug. “Eh, just the usual. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine,” Coachman countered. “I know you’re used to this kind of behavior but that is in no way how anyone should behave to a fellow soldier under any circumstance. Honestly I should have dragged them all the way to Redford’s office.”

“Heh.” Alec smiled. “Let them get off easy, huh?”

Coachman looked to the exit where the men had left moments ago. “Yeah, I suppose people deserve a second chance to change their opinion.” He looked back at Alec. “Just like I had.”

“That’s fair.”

Coachman looked at Alec’s body. “How’s the arm, by the way? Still not able to turn back?”

“No. My body is permanently damaged. The patch-job didn’t fix that. I will never be human again.”

Coachman looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“You need to stop apologizing for what happened. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I decided to climb the unstable wall.”

“Yeah, but you would have never made it up the high wall,” Alec countered. “Especially not with the rain.”

Coachman didn’t say anything.

“Lieutenant, there was no winning there.” Alec’s tone softened. “We tried our best.”

“Call me Marcus.”

“Huh?”

“I think you earned that much at least.”

Alec smiled. “Well, I’m Alec.”

Both men didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

Finally Marcus’ face lit up, as if changing the topic. “So, on a scale from 1 to 10, how bored are you in here?”

“Umm, 11?”

“I wanted to go swimming, wanna come along?”

Alec knew what Marcus was alluding to. He wanted to put him on. “Fuck, I’d love to.”

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