Topic 2.1: Reading. As long as, providing (that), unless.
|
TOPIC 1: As long as, providing (that), unless. |
|
READING |
|
As long as, providing (that), unless. |
Chapter 2: Shadows in the Desert
The sun was already beginning to set over the horizon, tinting the sky a warm, slowly fading orange. The team walked in silence, their boots sinking into the sand of the Kazakh desert, as they moved away from the ruins of the destroyed base. Their senses were still alert, but the immediate danger had passed, and fatigue was beginning to outweigh the tension.
Jack Callahan, at the front, couldn't help but let out a sigh. He had survived the mission, and although the objective had been accomplished, there was something in the air that kept him restless. It was as if the adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. Still, he took advantage of the moment to lighten the mood.
"Remember when Viktor tried to hack the door?" Jack broke the silence, looking at his teammates with a subtle smile.
Viktor's face, which had remained silent the entire journey, briefly twitched. A faint blush appeared on his cheeks, almost imperceptible through his stubble.
"The door system was... poorly designed," Viktor muttered, crossing his arms. "Let's not talk about it."
Elijah Kane, who always seemed to have something to say, couldn't hold back a laugh.
"Poorly designed! That's what you call a 'system error,' right?" Elijah laughed, referring to the time Viktor had tried to force the door with an improvised code, only to trigger an alarm that nearly gave away their location. "I think the only thing you 'hacked' was the process of making us run."
"I didn't run," Amina N'Dour said from behind, her tone dry. "I was on a roof, watching the others run like mice again." Her voice, though cold, carried a barely perceptible smile, something Jack recognized as a rarity for her.
"For your information, Amina," Elijah continued, "at least my 'running' technique allowed us to get out before everything turned into a chaos of drones and explosions."
"Sure, sure," Jack replied, his tone ironic, "and if you hadn't taken so long hacking the door, the drones wouldn't even have had time to arrive."
"Who told me to be the one keeping them busy?!" Elijah exclaimed, throwing his hands up to the sky as if he were overworked.
Anya Sokolov, who was walking behind the group, joined the conversation with a mischievous smile.
"And the best part," she said, looking at Elijah, "is when you gave me the 'super signal' to throw the grenade. I thought you were ordering a coffee, not me coming over to throw something."
Elijah raised an eyebrow. "I told you 'Advance!' Don't you know what that means in combat?"
"Sure," Anya replied, "but an 'advance signal' doesn't normally include waving your arms like an idiot." Everyone laughed.
Viktor, seeing an opportunity to change the subject, spoke quietly. "And what about that drone that tried to sweep the entrance? Remember how Amina took it down with a single shot?"
Amina, without losing her composure, responded with a simple, "I saw it coming." It wasn't something to brag about, but the shot had certainly been a display of precision that left the others impressed.
"I saw you from the roof," Jack commented, looking at Amina. "And I wasn't sure if your shot would be as clean as usual, but you did well."
Amina nodded, her face showing a faint but real satisfaction.
"I'm glad at least someone trusts my abilities," she said sarcastically, turning her head to Viktor. "Because the only one who didn't at the critical moment was Viktor."
"And what did you expect?" Viktor retorted. "I was... busy defusing the bomb."
The team laughed as they remembered that Viktor, while all the chaos was unfolding, had found himself in a nearby room defusing a device they didn't even know how it got there.
"Come on, Viktor," Jack chimed in, "there was some artistry in how you defused that bomb. Although I don't know whether to call it 'art' or 'luck.'"
"That was precision," Viktor said with a fierce glare, but the others knew he enjoyed the joke. "Sometimes precision also includes ignoring warning signs."
Jack finally stopped and turned back to his team.
"Well, even though the day was full of... 'misadventures,' we managed to stick together and complete the mission. That's no small feat," he said, sounding like a leader, but his gaze was relaxed.
"And by the way, before anyone else says it, I'm going to take the blame for the damn gate system. But if any of you have a suggestion for the next access point, I'm all ears."
The conversation became more relaxed, the group finally finding their rhythm in the middle of the desert that had witnessed their first success as a unit. The shadows of the sunset lengthened behind them as they moved forward, certain that the road ahead would be much more difficult, but at least now, they knew how to work together.
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario