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Unlike the rest of the team who had more permanent housing, Clive had taken to sleeping on a ratty air mattress in the small corner office he'd claimed as his. It was a step up from sleeping in his Jeep in his opinion. The room was rather spartan with no decoration to speak of save a wooden table with a large map of the continental United States tacked to the wall behind it. The map was crisscrossed with strings of yarn and colored pins marking out areas of interest. The table was littered with various newspaper clippings, sticky notes, and a few composition books of various colors containing all his notes and observations in the field. Off in the corner of the room was a large rucksack already packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. A rifle and shotgun leaned against the rucksack and beside them was a pile of ammo boxes neatly stacked to about knee height. A gun rack sat opposite from the bag loaded down with various long guns and a smattering of pistols and revolvers complete with enough boxed ammo to outlast a siege.


As he did most mornings, Clive woke with a start, eyes darting around as if he didn't remember where he was. He clutched a hunting knife in a white knuckle grip as last night's less than pleasant dreams faded away. The moment passed quickly as he kicked the blanket off him and stood with the knife still clutched in his fist. He stretched and groaned with relief when his back popped. A thought crossed his mind that maybe he should consider getting a real mattress. Then again, he still wasn't fully convinced this teamwork business would last and if that was the case he would be leaving without the mattress anyway.


Pushing the negative thoughts away, Clive retrieved his pistol from under the pillow and tucked it into his waistband as he moved to the door. He was already dressed, having slept in his jeans, stained shirt, and jacket. The man even slept with hiking boots on. It was nigh impossible to catch him more than a few minutes away from being ready for a trek into the mountains. One by one he undid the one-sided deadbolt locks he'd taken the liberty of installing and made his way into the office proper to start the coffee machine. As he waited for the blessed jitter juice, Clive pulled a bag from the cupboard and poured a mouthful of granola directly into his face. He chewed with distended cheeks and waited for the team to gather.