It wasn't much of a surprise that the Prop named Schrader was in a crappy mood today. He seemed to be a jackass anyhow, but then I'd probably be in a pretty pissy mood too if I had to stand out in the heat all day in armor holding weapons. From the way he acted when Harper led us up to the gate, it was obvious that the heat wasn't what was on his mind and he pushed past our guide to block our way. Maybe he was bored or just wanted to challenge the new guys, but it didn't matter either way to me. I was quickly becoming myself again and didn't mind messing with him.
"So you're Cole?" he asked. The way he said it was more like a statement than a question. "You're an operative?"
"Yes," I answered. "And you're Schroeder, right?"
"Schrader, jackass."
He posed in that dramatic way that a lot of Props like to and cradled his weapon. The goggles were so dark that I couldn't see his eyes but I imagined he was doing his best to stare me down.
"You get out of line and they'll give you to me," he growled.
Now he sounded just like one of those dumb mooks from one of Obie's bad action movies and I couldn't stop myself from grinning. A dust cloud blew over me about then and I had to spit out grit before I could speak.
"Is guess that's supposed to scare me?" I asked with more amusement than I should have. These guys were taking themselves so seriously that they had absolutely no sense of humor.
"It should."
Props are never pushovers, but their attitude is always enough to encourage people to take shots at them. It's almost like they like looking for trouble and today I wasn't too willing to avoid it. Blame it on getting a full night 's rest and being alive for another day, but derision must have come through in my voice and he picked up on it.
"Oh," I said as I ignored the Prop and looked at Harper. "Harper, let's go."
I started to walk around him but Schrader stepped in front of me like the bad Prop stereotype he wanted to be and refused to give ground. Glancing over at K'rth, I saw agreement in his eyes and started to step around again. If he tried to block me again, these Props were going to get the fight they were asking for. At the nearly one to one odds and with us armed, it wasn't one that they were going to win.
"Uh, Schrader," Harper said with a shaky voice. "Roman wants to see them. We're going to be late. You are going to make us late."
"This won't take long," the Prop said, still trying to stare me down. He really needed to learn that it's easier to stare someone down if they can see your eyes.
"No it won't," I agreed. My feet were positioned comfortably and I visualized putting my foot between his eyes and cracking his face. Visualization is a good thing when it's positive.
We stood there for a few moments, both acting like a couple kids on a playground until someone called out from the gate.
"Yo! Schrader!" the voice yelled. It was a man's voice and I didn't recognize it. "Let 'em pass! NOW!"
The Prop snorted what might have been a half-laugh and stepped back, partially out of my way. Behind him, his men spread to the sides and someone swung the gate open.
"This ain't over," he said as I walked past him and I shook my head.
"It hasn't even started yet, Prop," I answered and kept going. Guys like that deserve to have their feet knocked out from under them, but now wasn't the time or the place for it. Nix let me get past the gate before deciding to ruin my macho act and scratched my arm deep enough to draw blood. I snapped around to glare at her and she just grinned back.
"Shoulda killed them," Nix said. "Going to have to sooner or later."
"Yeah, I know," I answered as rubbed my arm. "Let's hope it's much later."
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