<USS Avalon> Survivors: Day two - seeking shelter (a.k.a. Confessions of a former Boy Scout)

Mac looked over the bedraggled group of survivors. Most were wounded so badly 
as to be completely defenseless. Those that were able to do anything at all 
would not be able to sustain any sort of rally for long. There were only five 
left who were fully able to do anything, and they were all so worn out already 
that they’d be useless before long.
"We can’t stay out here in the open like this." He announced tiredly. 
 
Rae nodded in agreement. Tran waited patiently for him to continue. 
 
"What do you have in mind?" Fielding asked. 
 
"We need to try to find better shelter. Maybe if we can find where that shuttle 
went down. If it’s near enough there’s a hope of shelter for us." Mac answered. 
 
Linc asked quietly. "And if it’s not?"
 
"We need to find a more defensible place to be before nightfall one way or 
another." Mac responded without hesitation. "We’re sitting ducks out here in 
the open like this."
 
Nobody could argue with that. 
 
"Tran, Fielding, make sure that the walking wounded here are well armed, then 
start scanning East. Rae and I will start looking to the west. I want you to 
check in every half hour with an update. If you spot the shuttle do not 
approach it on your own. We have no way of knowing if whoever stole those 
weapons are still there and waiting, so contact, observe and wait for the rest 
of us before we try moving in. If you spot any other possible shelter, let me 
know right away, too. One way or another, we’ve got to get out of the open."
 
The small chorus of "aye, sir"s sounded and everyone moved to their respective 
assignments quickly. 
 
After an hour of walking west,checking their readouts constantly, Rae’s 
curiousity got the best of her. "Did your wife really just leave you for 
someone else like that? No warning or anything?" 
 
"No," Mac admitted sadly. "Not like that, and not without warning. She tried to 
be the dutiful wife and mother. When we found out the kids were not mine, I was 
furious. I yelled at her. Said hateful things." He swallowed, checking his 
tricorder again, before stating flatly. "I was a real bastard."
 
"But she cheated on you," Rae defended. 
 
"No, she didn’t." Rae looked stunned. Before she could ask anything else, he 
continued. "We hooked up so quick. Got married so fast. We never took the time 
to think about it. If we’d paid any attention to the math, we’d have realized 
that she was already pregnant when we got together. He was there in a moment of 
weakness before we were even a thought. She'd been with someone else she 
thought she loved and been scorned. He took advantage of that moment of pain 
and the babies were the result of that one night. She was everything she ever 
promised she would be even with me when she shouldn’t have been anymore. And 
the thing about the babies is, it shouldn’t have mattered. If I’d really loved 
her or them as much as I said I did, as much as I'd promised to, it wouldn’t 
have. But see, I was such a selfish …" He shook his head, unable to think of a 
word strong enough to describe how despicable he’d been toward the woman he’d 
once loved. "I
 used Bean’s death as an excuse. Stayed gone all night. Drank like a fish. Left 
her to deal with the babies and the surgeries and everything by herself. Then, 
when they said they needed a donor for them and not only wasn’t I a match, I 
wasn’t even the biological father, I turned on her right there in the middle of 
sickbay. I got so wrapped up in self pity for all I’d lost that I ignored the 
fact that it was still right there. I ignored how much she was hurting after 
that. I left her to deal with everything on her own. I wasn’t there for her or 
them, and finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She said left me a note saying 
she loved me, but she needed more than I could give her. Said that since I 
obviously didn’t want to be there for her or the babies, she wouldn’t try to 
make me anymore. Then she left. Last I heard she’d taken a posting on Earth. 
She was with a wonderful woman who treated her and the babies well. She was 
happy." He drew
 a slow breath. "They all were."
 
"I’m sorry." Rae said after he’d grown silent. "I shouldn’t have asked."
 
Mac shook his head. "No, it’s fine. You deserve to know who it is you’re 
following, if only so you realize I’m not the Boy Scout you and everyone else 
seem to think I am."
 
"No, you’re definitely not a Boy Scout," Rae agreed gently. "But you are a good 
man. You’re human, though and you…"
 
"Don’t," Mac interrupted. "Don’t make excuses for me. There aren't any. Not for 
that."
 
Rae nodded. "Okay…I won’t…."
 
Just then his com sounded. "No sign of the shuttled sir, but we’ve found a cave 
that we might be able to use." Tran’s voice sounded. 
 
"Good enough," Mac answered. "give us the coordinates. Rae and I are on our 
way. Let’s get it retrofitted, warm, well lit and ready as quickly as possible. 
I want everyone there well before nightfall."
 
"Aye, sir. Sending you the coordinates now." Tran replied.
 
Seven hours and a lot of sweat later, the cave to the East was ready and 
everyone was inside just as night began to fall.

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