Barriers to Entry

Tucker is doing squats as Wash watches him.

Tucker: Sixty! Sixty-One! Sixty-Two! Sixty-Three! Sixty-Four! Sixty-Five! Sixty-Six! Sixty-Seven! Sixty-Eight! Sixty-Nine...

Wash: Tucker, you can't keep stopping on Sixty-Nine.

Tucker: No! This time, my legs went out.

Wash: (sighs) Come on.

Wash yanks Tucker to his full height.

Tucker: Ohohoh, holy Christ! I haven't been this sore since that bachelorette party on Bourbon Street.

Wash: You want me to believe you banged an entire bachelorette party?

Tucker: I want you to, but really the groom just showed up and cracked three of my ribs.

Wash: That's what I thought.

Tucker: Why do we have to train so much? We never had to do squats when Church was in charge.

Wash: Exactly. I'd say you two have fallen out of shape, but generally in order to fall out of something you have to be in it first.

Tucker: Hey, that's funny! You should try comedy Wash. Why make one person miserable, when you can work over an entire room?

Wash: Alright! Time for sprints.

Tucker: Fuck you!

Wash: I want five laps around the canyon.

Tucker: Die in a fire.

Wash: Six laps, around the canyon!

Tucker: Hey! Why isn't Caboose down here? Shouldn't you be making him do dumbbell rolls, or inverted push-ups or something?

Wash: I think he's having one of his... off days.

Tucker: Oh...

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Inside Red Base, Sarge walks down a ramp and speaks to Grif and Simmons.

Sarge: Men! It has come to my attention that we have been approaching this base problem from the wrong direction.

Simmons: What do you mean?

Sarge: I mean we've been approaching it from the inside. What we should have been focusing on is the interior, the layout is all wrong. Upon reflection, I realized that a man of my military expertise, requires more private quarters, a place where I can reflect on my vast victories. And contemplate, on my non-existent failures.

Grif: Is the place called denial?

Sarge: Which is why I ordered Private Grif here to erect this new wall.

Simmons looks around for a wall.

Simmons: Okay, I give up.

Grif: The sandbags.

Simmons: What?! That's the wall?

Simmons and Grif approach a small pile of sandbags.

Sarge: Grif! I asked you to give me a proper erection, not to stiff me!

Simmons: SO glad Donut's not here.

Grif: Hey! It's not like I'm some expert carpenter or something.

Simmons: This isn't even carpentry, this is stacking things in a straight line... poorly.

Grif: Well, it's all I could find, so build a bridge and get over it!

Simmons: Hey Grif, when I build a bridge, should I use a few sandbags, or you know, something fucking useful?!

Sarge: Useful or not, I hereby declare that from this point forward, this side of the wall is to be reserved for my own personal use.

Simmons: Wait wait wait, you get half of the base all to yourself? What about me and Grif?

Sarge: Sorry Simmons, afraid I can't hear you from the next room. These walls are just too thick!

Sarge backs up from the two.

Simmons: But I-

Sarge: Enjoy your new roommate! (chuckles)

Sarge leaves.

Grif: Ground rules, if there's a sock on the door, don't come in!

Simmons: But we don't have socks, or a door.

Grif: And I don't have an internet connection, but we've all gotta find some way to masturbate, now don't we?

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Caboose is looking at a mirror as Doomguy and Kan watch on in awkwardness.

Caboose: (depressed) Sigh. Groan. Oh, woe is me. Oh, I don't know what that even means.

Rho: (appears) Uhh, Caboose? You okay?

Caboose: Oh yeah. Yeah, I just... yeah, I just miss Church sometimes.

Kan: We know you do, my friend.

Kan walks over and holds Caboose's shoulder as Doomguy stands on the other side of the blue Sim Trooper.

Caboose: Yeah, I am just...I, I'm just so lost without him! I... I don't even recognize my own face!

Rho: Well, you don't have your Mark V helmet anymore Caboose. Plus, your helmet isn't exactly your face.

Caboose: Oh, god, that explains the blinking contest. (walks towards the ledge, sounding distraught) Why'd ya have to tell me that? Aghh, you just made it worse.

Rho disappears and reappears on Caboose's left.

Rho: Caboose, I'm sure that wherever Church is, he's missing you too.

Caboose: (sounding hopeful) You really think so?

~Flashback~

Caboose, Rho, Epsilon, and Wash are standing in the room they broke the two AI fragments out of and Caboose is speaking loudly over Church.

Epsilon: Shut up. Just shut your mouth. ...Shut up. Shut up. CABOOSE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT THE FU-

Caboose: (indistinct rambling) WE'LL GO ON ADVENTURES TOGETHER, WHILE WE RIDE BIKES AND SOLVE CRIMES! AND THEN WE'RE GONNA GO TO THE FAIR AND THEN WE'RE GONNA DRESS UP! AND THEN WE'RE GONNA FINGERPAINT-

~Flashback End~

Rho: Yeahhhh, of course. Hey, why don't you try going for a walk? Try to clear your head.

Caboose: Yeah. Yeah, I just... yeah, I'll go on a walk by myself, I guess. (starts walking away) That won't be depressing at all. Ohh. Oh god. I'm walking by myself now. Ohhhhhh. Ohhhhhh.

Rho: (sigh) Cal, shouldn't you be cheering him up? I'm a fragment based off strength, not mushy-feely-crap.

Doomguy: (in his mind) I took a vow of silence that I have to uphold.

Rho: Oh, my God! Again with this-

Wash: (from below) I said sprints, Private Tucker!

Doomguy, Rho, and Kan look down as Wash is berating Tucker, who's running across the canyon.

Tucker: (while running away) I'm going to spit in your next meal! And it's not going to be spit, if you know what I'm talking about!

Kan: I wasted so much time training that fool how to use a blade.

Rho: Who knows? Maybe he'll do us all a favor and stab himself.

Doomguy taps Kan's shoulder and nods for him to follow.

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