Track of the Apocalypse Ch4 Ficbit – Unknown Unknowns

“Just take a few minutes to catch your breath. I’ve got quartermaster stuff to do, but – I’ll be back!”

Watching Kajika bustle off on what sounded like at least three other errands that needed to be handled immediately, Jack sat on the lower of the two bunks on their tiny corner of the first car. The upper one he’d left folded up, so people had enough room to fling their hands around in sheer indignant frustration at the universe. The universe deserved it. “Well. That happened.”

Sam helped Teal’c finish tacking up the tattered old indigo cloth Kajika and another lady in the car had hauled out for an impromptu privacy curtain, then slowly sat down on the floor, as if every last inch hurt. Teal’c waited a second for her to breathe, then sat where Sam could lean on him rather than shake down the curtain. Daniel didn’t even try to hold up his usual I’m fine, collapsing on the bunk right by Jack as if it took an effort just to make sure his head didn’t hit the wall.

Jack patted him on the shoulder. “Yeah. Definitely not my most favorite day ever.”

And how. Morning hike over hills through abandoned city, always hard on the nerves; then zombies, train jump, guy who’d committed suicide like it was just the proper thing to do, that ice-cold sluice down the nerves of what if we’re infected, and finally being bystanders on a facedown that could have turned into mass homicide with just one wrong word.

Not to mention Kurusu and Kibito had already vanished forward with Mumei before Kajika’d finished getting the curtain out, and he had no idea what kind of report they were going to give this Lady Ayame. Or how a noble lady would react to hearing about Teal’c and his involuntary sidekick. Especially given they’d lost a guy in the rescue.

Today sucked. Really, really sucked.

On top of that, we missed lunch.

When the world was falling apart, the little things made a difference. MREs would be okay. Something hot would be better. Though who knew how well anyone could cook on a moving train.

“What did- how did-” Daniel made a few frustrated gurgling noises that reminded Jack of the last time he’d had to unclog the sink, then took a deep breath. “This is horrible. How could Ma’chello, how could anyone-?”

Yeah. Yeah, Jack had been thinking that himself. But. “We don’t know who let the Kabane loose. We don’t know if they’re native here. We don’t know if there’s a meteor crater in the north and we should be watching out for a crazy silver-haired guy with one wing and a honkin’ big sword talking about Reunion. We just don’t know.”