Chapter ten: Facing capture

It had almost been a month since Cody got transported to the other world. He had used that time to get acquainted with the mobs. In the process, he had become a close friend to all of them quickly. True, they were still a bit wary of him, as evident by the fact that they still didn't let him have his gun. This didn't really bother him, though: he understood their fear. Their kind has had to hide for a long time from the humans, so a human with a powerful weapon in his possession was the last thing they needed.

So far, Skelly had been guiding him the most. She explained how things work in the world and what they had to do to survive. Cody had been more than willing to help with chopping wood, working on the farm, gathering food, etc. The mobs taught him everything he needed to know in order to aid their survival, and he was a quick learner.

There was something else going on without the soldier knowing, however. When the mobs gave him shelter, they had planned to let him stay temporarily until he knew how to survive on his own. However, with the great help Cody offered and his ever-growing friendship with them, they were having second thoughts about doing so. They've really taken a liking to him.

The man was currently asleep. They've allowed him to take the bed in which they put him when they found him approximately a month ago, and he had been prepared to strain his body to its absolute limits to help the group in return. Said group, however, was in disagreement with that; he had already helped them a lot, and didn't want his selflessness to tire him out like that. He had been losing sleep over tasks several times, and now it was time for him to catch up. Unfortunately, even this night wouldn't be a relaxing one for him. Or for the girls, for that matter…

Cody woke up to Yaebi's voice next to his bed. Skelly and Spidey had taken the boy outside to teach him more about survival and self-defense, but now he seemed scared. The 23-year-old sat up in bed and tried to shake the sleepiness out of his head as Yaebi kept talking with a speed that could rival corporal Harry Foreman's reflexes – and that was saying something.

Once the sergeant was done shaking his head, he looked down at the young mob.

"Calm down, kid" he said, silencing the boy. "Stay calm. Take a deep breath, and tell me what's goin' on."

Yaebi did as he was told and proceeded to fill his lungs with air. Right at that moment, a few knocks were heard on the door.

"Is everything alright in there?" Cupa's worried voice asked. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Cody said. He never slept with too little clothing anyway.

The door opened, revealing a group of worried faces. They looked at the shaking boy and the soldier when the former spoke up.

"H-h-humans… a-attacked… Spidey a-and Skelly…" he stammered, before tears started running down his cheeks.

Gasps and worried whispers could be heard, and an electric shock went through Cody's body. Cupa walked forward to comfort Yaebi, but to no avail as the younger mob got drenched in tears. A sob left his throat.

When Yaebi finally settled down, Cody gently asked him to bring them to the crime scene. The sergeant had become slightly softer during his time in this world. He still seemed a bit insensitive most of the time, but he knew when he had to choose his words cautiously.

Yaebi did as he was told and brought the soldier and the girls to where his friends were abducted. It was a long way from the cave, so the young mob made sure to bring his heat-resistant jacket with him in case the sun would rise during their trip.

Once they were at the crime scene, Yaebi told them exactly what had happened. Apparently, the two girls were hit by some kind of blue light. They were badly hurt, but not immediately dead. Two men appeared from behind a tree, with weapons that fired more blue lights. Skelly told the boy to run, and so he did.

Cody froze. The men, the weapons, the blue light… his world had weapons that fired blue lasers. His sidearm was one of them! But the bodies of the girls were nowhere to be seen…

"What did the men look like?" the sergeant asked. Yaebi swallowed.

"W-well…" he began. "O-one of them sort of looked l-like a giant. H-he was b-big, s-strong…" he looked at Cody. "Stronger than you, Mr. Sergeant."

"Did he…" Cody, whose face had become a ghastly pale. "…have black hair with some gray stripes?" Yaebi froze now too, confused before nodding.

"Y-yes…" he answered. "T-the other man h-had black hair, too. H-his skin w-was slightly tanned. He was m-much thinner th-than the other man."

Cody's face made him look like he had seen a ghost. The girls gave him questioning looks. Why did he seem so worried? And how did he know that the first guy had black with gray hair?

What Cody said next answered their questions.

"I think I know who these men are," he said. "The big guy is almost certainly my father, a respected Resistance general. The younger man is likely corporal Harry Foreman, a friend of mine who also fights for the Resistance."

He looked at the girls.

"The weapons are from my world. My gun back at our base fires similar projectiles. We need to go back there to get it." He looked at the ground, where their adversaries' footprints were still visible. "Then, I'll go after them."