Chapter 12: The 'Outside'

"Outside... what does that mean?" Red grabbed the paper and scrutinized it, getting more confused by the second. "Is this some sort of code you came up with?" He wondered.

"Come on Gadge, why didn't you come up with an easier code?" Scar joined in, scratching his head as per his habit.

Gadge furiously shook his head in puzzlement. "Give me a break, guys. I don't even know why I wrote that in the first place, assuming I was the one who wrote it, of course."

"Then, do you have any idea or hint as to what it meant?" Red confirmed one more time but Gadge just straight up denied it.

The group continued brainstorming, trying to come up with the most suitable meaning for the word. To their disappointment, however, they couldn't make heads nor tails of it. Nevertheless, it didn't dishearten them. They became more preoccupied with the word...

... everyone except Blond, that is.

Strange...

That's strange...

Blond looked at Red with a distrustful eye. I knew it! But why is Red acting so strange? He thought as he observed him.

Although it's almost entirely inconspicuous, Blond managed to notice Red's unnatural gesture. Whether Red was doing it on purpose or not, Blond could only assume. Either way, it reeks of suspiciousness for him. Blond was very perceptive when it comes to those things. Not only was he good at deducing, but he's also equally adept in observing and noticing slight differences.

Meanwhile, Red stopped shaking and began acting normally as they blamed Gadge for not giving a better clue. Only Blond noticed it, and he knew that his instincts were always spot-on when it comes to these things.

He's definitely acting strange. He concluded, putting it out of the way and joining in on deciphering the single clue they managed to find. Blond was tempted to glance at Red from time to time but he was already back to his normal self.

"Whatever, I'm going to ask him about it later."

"Anyways, here you go." Red finally gave up as he handed Gadge the earpiece. "I know you mean well, but try pulling anything strange and I won't let you off," Red warned.

Gadge gave him a reassuring nod as he received the earpiece with two hands. "Let's get out of here, together," Gadge said, staring each and everyone in the eyes and receiving a series of nods in return.

Returning to his bunk, Gadge started examining the earpiece. The longer he did, the more puzzled he became. It's as if he knew the earpiece like the back of his hand. He carefully "unpieced" the small machinery.

What's going on? He muttered to himself as the wire patterns got ingrained in his head. As if getting a divine inspiration, he grabbed his knife from underneath his shirt and twisted its handle.

"Wha?!"

To his disbelief, the handle unscrewed and a hollow spot inside it was revealed. Well, it wasn't entirely hollow since there were tens of different screwdrivers in it, all in different shapes and sizes.

His exclamation attracted Red and the others, making them quickly rushed to his aid. Although taken aback at the sight of his tools, they weren't entirely shocked by it. They've already encountered plenty of surprises in the past day, after all.

"That's pretty cool." Scar simply complimented. But after a few seconds of admiring it, he also went back to his bunk and left Gadge to his own devices.

It might seem strange, but all of them unanimously decided to give Gadge some space so he could finish transforming the earpiece into a miniature radio. That way, they could gather intel as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Gadge set to work on the earpiece, blocking everyone from his senses. He deftly used the screwdrivers he found inside his knife. It came as second nature to him, like an extended limb he always had since birth.

.....

"And why are you still here?" Red said in a low-voice after seeing Curl casually hanging out on the other side of his bunk. "Don't you have your own bunk to sleep in?"

"Yeah, I do." Curl teased, pointing to the very spot where she was seated.

Red just looked at her, speechless. What's wrong with this girl? He asked himself but somehow, it just gives him more headache than normal.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Curl assured him with a cheerful smile and a pinkish glow on her face. "I meant the top bunk. I call dibs on the top bunk." She continued.

Red wanted to slap his forehead but he managed to hold off his annoyance of not being able to stop Curl. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to talk back to Curl and it frustrated him. It's the same feeling when your dog chewed on your favorite slippers and start drooping its head in an apologetic manner and you just can't bring yourself to hit its mouth.

"Fine, do whatever you want." Red completely admitted defeat.

"Hey, Red,"

"Yup?" Red whirled around and saw Blond, staring at him with intense bloodlust. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Blond asked him back, this time, his glare became filled with rage and vexation. "You tell me what's wrong."

Curl hurriedly stood up and stood between Red and Blond. She could tell there was some sort of bad blood between the two. "Blond, calm down. What's wrong?" She nervously repeated the question, doing a t-pose in front of him, thinking that it would discourage him from attacking Red even just a little bit.

But it was all in vain.

"Move."

"No, you tell us what's wrong first, then I'll gladly move away!" Curl shot back.

"I said... MOVE!" Blond yelled, shoving Curl to the side and grabbing Red by the collar.

"WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?!" Blond screamed in front of Red, violently shaking him. However, Red just smiled back at him with a conceited look on his face.

"YOU!!!"