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The Recreation Center on Mother Base was quiet, except for the bubbling of the whirlpool tubs, as Snake and Mother Base’s lead physician relaxed luxuriously in the roiling water. PT that day was exceptionally arduous, almost hellish, in its intensity. Tumblers filled with a home brew of whiskey that had come to be called Heathen’s Hate occupied hands that rested on the edge of their respective tubs.
The Medic snorted ferociously, as something dawned upon him. Snake merely looked up from his own reverie with a quirked eyebrow, which was his version of a shout, demanding answers. “So, all this time we’ve know each other and I know nothing of your family. We’ve killed together and fought together, you’ve at least heard the horror story of mine.” A cloud of dark emotion passed across his face, but was quickly replaced with the mirth behind the question that was implied.
“Not much to say,” Snake shrugged as if that was all there could possibly be to say.
“Don’t expect me to be sold on that bullshit, I’ve known you since you were a damn kid, you’ve told me about your fear of vampires and your experience. I know you like playing with people, who just assume your seriousness is all there is. I also know about how you met The Boss. Why those, but not your family? I promise you it won’t turn into some after school special.” The Medic waves his hands in a gesture of fuck that nonsense. Somehow avoiding spilling a drop.
In a sound that was halfway between a forlorn sigh and a pained grunt, Snake relented. “Fine. It’s just boring shit anyways. My family are, or were, sovereign citizens. My father, John, had been a sovereign citizen his whole life, living in the Alleghany Mountains and occasionally coming down to Franklin to trade carvings and other goods he would craft for food and drink. It was in Franklin that he would meet his wife to be, Sarah Dawning.”
Taking a long sip of his whiskey, Snake seemed lost in a bit of thought but continued his story, “They married in the summer of ‘34 and I was born the next year, about springtime. They didn’t mark either day in any calendar I ever saw. Probably why birthdays don’t mean much to me. My childhood wasn’t too bad. Father taught me to hunt and how to survive in the woods and mountains. Not too long after I was born, men came and asked Father to come with them. It was the kind of request that clearly was no such thing. That’s how my father got drafted for the Second World War. I was enthralled by those men in uniform, they looked strong, confident, and unshakeable.”
Both took long sips this time, practically a mirror image of one another. Snake picked up where he left off, “I spent the years Father was gone pretending to be a soldier. Every deer I hunted was an enemy soldier. Every time I went into the woods, I was on patrol. It wore on Mother, but I made full effort to keep us fed and warm, so she let it be. She filled her time with mending the things I broke and cooking whatever I brought in, from opossum to moose.”
Snake grimaced but continued to speak, “Well, Father came back, healthy and whole, at least in body. The first thing Father did was demand I stop playing at being a soldier and set aside the foolish notion of ever being one. I never took well to being told no about anything, so eventually it came down to fights and beatings. I am good, but my Father had real experience. I was no match for him and it burned that I couldn’t win against him. I even took to ambushing him when I thought he wasn’t paying attention. It never worked, even in his sleep he was still on guard and alert, all while tossing, turning, and muttering something about freak shows and Amazons. When I look back, I wonder if he knew them, and Her.”
The pained look in Snake’s eye was clear as day to The Medic, he chose to not comment upon it and let Snake continue uninterrupted.
“I left the cabin, wandering and stealing my way to where I tried to hold you up at the gas station just outside West Point. I’ll never forget how you reacted.” Snake laughed, a gravelly rumble that filled the silence of the Rec. Center. “What do you think? All you hoped it would be?”
The Medic sat in a state of contemplation, puzzle pieces fitting neatly where they should, while his expression was stoic, inside he felt joy that his friend yielded and shared a bit more about himself. Hell, if it took him this long to open up about his parents it would be a good bit before he opened up about anything else important. “Can’t say I would have guessed those were the cards you were dealt but it does make a certain kind of sense. Don’t worry, I won’t say sappy things that would make us both cringe. Still, it’s good to tell our stories, you never know what might be lost if a story goes untold.” The Medic took one last sip, draining his glass. “Time to get out before we turn to raisins, sure is nice to get a good soak in while getting drunk.”
Snake sputtered, “Lightweight. You get out before heat and alcohol go to your head, you got work tomorrow, after all.”
The Medic laughed, “Yeah, the thing you never do, because Kaz is all over trying to do everything he can do to try to keep you and all the women of Mother Base pleased? You don’t even have to ride him hard, he does it for you.” With that said The Medic left Snake to his thoughts.