Judy woke in a sweat,
panting she looked to her left Sevastian was asleep atop his bunk, to her right Megan was also asleep. She quietly descended down the ladder of the bunk, she looked through the rungs at Nick, his ear was sticking straight up. "So, you heard it to hmm?" She whispered to Nick's sleeping form, She swore she heard a loud noise even if she wasn't sure Nick, asleep even, heard it to. She jumped off the bottom rung and snuck through the bunks towards the door she pushed it open. She quietly went down the hall listening at each corner. She was headed for an area Mike had told her that was forbidden, nightly curfew or not. Finally she came to the door she looked up at the glass pane showing what was behind the door, a red blinking light coming from out of sight. "So the noise came from here?" Judy whispered to herself. "Y'know if want to get in there I'm not stopping you." Judy jumped and clapped her paws against her mouth muffling a yelp. "M-MIKE!" She shout whispered, "HOW-how'd you find me?!" He raised a paw and taped his metal ear "This Ms. Hopps. I heard the scream too, I turn up the sensitivity at night. I can hear the nothingness, but the scream woke me" Judy stared at his face, his empty metallic eye socket staring back at her. "How the heck did you get that?" He smirked and pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and stuck it into a small hole near the bottom of his ear and rotated it until his ear was hanging by a few wires going to the rest of his head. He unplugged the ear from the rest of his head and quietly chuckled "First time I did that, Megan usually gets it for me." He sat against the wall and started.
"I was in a battle, as you know a war is going on, I was the platoon sniper, reloading a round I saw an animal trying to crawl out of one of the trenches that had just been hit with a shell, supposedly killing everyone in it. I couldn't just let them crawl carrying their guts behind them." A tear fell from his only eye "I clipped my rifle to my back and jumped over a trench between us. As I ran towards them another shell was launched and missed me by a few yards, lucky me. When I got to the animal it turned out to be Sevastian. He moaned then fell into my arms, guts an all. I knew a new shell had to have been loaded by then, so I bolted to Megan, who was in the nearest medical tent. Sevastian and I made it to the tent before either of us was shot. MEDIC! I shouted MEDIC! As I ran into the tent Megan turned and saw me carrying Sevastian, she pulled a stretcher out immediately and I set him onto it. Crap! she said, I'll need to get him to a safer place with better surgical instruments! She shoved a needle into Sevastian's arm, he cried out in pain but blacked out almost immediately after. I grabbed the radio and called for backup to carry him off the battlefield. I helped Megan Bandage him up, and after a few minutes two bears came and carried him back to the base. I grabbed another magazine of ammo because I needed one and crawled out of the trench. But as I stood up," Another tear fell and Judy put her paw on his shoulder. "A shell- a blank it didn't blow up. It just smashed in the top right of my face. Megan says I fell with a sickening thud back into the tent blood pooling all around me." Mike screwed his ear back in and pocketed the screwdriver. A thud made Judy look up. The door that was just locked was now open. And a giggling came from inside.
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Mike and Judy shot to their feet. "Who the hecks there?" Mike asked, but only a giggle came back. "Whats even in there?" Judy asked. "It's the mental ward," Mike, stooping over, stepped through the doorway. "I was in here once, getting this thing on." The hallway was dark with doors with nothing but large numbers painted in a dark red. "But I cant remember crap." Mike read the doors "Inmate number: 4210, 4211… 4212 his door is ajar!" Judy caught up and looked in "Wait there's something written on the floor, I-it was funner in hell… Sweet cheese and crackers! Its written in blood!" Heh Heh Heh Heh, Mike turned and saw that a hyena had snuck from behind their backs. Judy jumped so high she cleared Mikes head by a few inches at least. Mike threw an elbow at the hyena. Even though Mike probably messed up the teeth of the hyena, but it just kept giggling. "It happened to you! YOU! Yooou..." a fang covered in blood fell onto his straight jacket, then he fell onto the floor Heheheheheee the hyena rasped "The night is howling isn't it? Howling... hooowling…. ITS HOWLLLING!" Judy could smell them "Night howlers," she thought aloud, "What happened to me?" Mike shouted the hyena. Heh The hyena wouldn't shut up, "Your face stupid changed ya! Stupid chaaanged yaaa..." Mike heard a gun loading and then heard, "C'mon he got out around here!" Mike grabbed Judy by the arm and sprinted to the door "What are you doing?!" she yelled at him, "Saving our skins!" They closed the door just in time to see the guards tazing the hyena then shoving him into his cell. "C'mon back to the bunks," Mike whispered to Judy.
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"I didn't sleep at all last night," Mike yawned, He and Judy got back around one thirty. "What've we gotta do today?" Megan rolled her eyes and stretched "I think we're doing e senetesou." Nick caught a pillow throw from Sevastian. "Yeah, what the heck's that?" Mike pulled a shirt over his white highlighted tan fur. "It's a virtual reality, simulation of a battlefield. We kill the enemies, we win. We use Nerve-Gear so we don't move." Nick showed he understood "Nerve-Gear huh? And, showers?"
Mike showed Nick the showers and bathrooms, then headed to the mess-hall with Megan. "What do you think?" Megan asked him. "Well, they have never done it before I'll have to tell them about it." After Megan and him grabbing a coconut-milk and honey kefir, and a stack of strawberry-yogurt rice-cakes, Nick and Judy walked in and grabbed their breakfasts, and then weaved in and out to sit down with them. "Coffee?" Megan offered, "If its no trouble," Judy answer "Same," Nick added "No thanks, I've got this," Mike said holding up a syringe, "It's a bit quicker." then shoved it into his wrist and injected it. "Wait for it..." Mike said then a second later a shiver went through his whole body. He shook his head then said "That hit all the spots," Judy looked quizzical "What was it?" Mike popped the top of the syringe, threw it into the trash, and put the syringe back into his pocket and pulled a small whit pill out of it. "About one of these babies, caffeine pills, I dissolve 'em then inject 'em. Works a charm," Megan returned with three cups of coffee. "I think you all need a short tutorial, so the game works like a regular battlefield enough the bigger and tougher gear you have the slower you'll be get the idea? Pack light, find your balance point. Your speed in game is your speed in a real battle. There is a ton of different ways we play; Capture the flag, Team assault, Firefight. Capture the flag is obvious. Team assault is like a normal battle. But Firefight, Firefight has another army, this one an AI. Kill them to get points, get points to win. There is a few other game-modes, but those are on special occasions. Got it?" Megan looked at Mike "Did I get everything?" "Yup wouldn't have missed any of the basics." Mike sipped his kefir.
About an hour later Mike, Sevastian, Nick, Megan, and Judy with her cute bunny sized helmet were all ready to go. "See ya on the other side!" Mike pulled his helmet over his head and the system turned on "Fire team Deadalus online?" "Online" Sevastian's voice came through, "Loud and clear!" Megan's voice, "I'm on!" Judy's this time, "And finally me!" Nick said. "All right Einherjar get you load-outs and let's GO!" Mike appeared in a trench soon followed by Sevastian, Megan, Nick, then Judy. While waiting for the other team Nick looked around Sevastian had a heavy machine gun and bulky armor "A short and squat tank." Nick snickered "Shatup." Mike was going light with a sniper rifle, Megan had a pistol and almost no armor "The medic and," Judy spawned next to him light machine gun slung across er back and a medium grade armor. "The scout! I went with a shotgun and a bit higher than medium armor."
