Three or four more chapters until...the big confrontation...oh! I feel all giddy inside...I can't wait to write the scene but I have to...

Liquid's Bodyguard

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. All the guards were doing regular patrol and calls. No alarm or intruder alerts. She could have sworn Liquid would have raised some kind of racket after she nearly decapitated him with her FAMAS. The whole incident played out in her head again. Cockiness filled her head of how brilliantly executed that move was and in return for her moment of excellent timing, she got his Desert Eagle.

Meryl looked below at her belt wrapped around her green, long pants. The Desert Eagle's shimmering, silver lining gave a tinkled to her eye of her rigor training back when she was younger. She sighed as old memories flashed into her head of her little self shooting wooden targets shouting with joy.

She ascended up the stairs in front of her staring at the large missiles with long, pointy heads as she took steps closer. Meryl took her eyes off them swiftly. Staring at those missiles made her anxious and dreadful of the government's capacity for making such weapons of destructive force much less the amount they created. She quickly headed towards the elevator on that floor.

Reaching for her codec, she contacted Angel to get an update, "Angel, how are you holding up?"

The elevator door opened. One guard passed her and gave a nod of greeting as she did the same.

Angel's face brightened, "I'm just fine. Where are you, Meryl?"

"I'm heading towards Dr. Emmerich's lab to make sure he is okay."

"Don't worry," Angel reassured, "I bet they won't kill off their lead scientist just yet."

"Probably," Meryl needed something to do, "I'll check the area for Snake, so I can warn him of any danger. Not like last time."

Snake...her hero...the man who inspired her...counted on her to help him with his mission. She couldn't look at herself in the mirror ever again if she caused her idol to die.

Angel noticed her face frown with ignominy, "Hey, that little skirmish in the cargo bay wasn't your fault. Don't think about it."

"Hey, speaking of Snake," the elevator door chimed and she stepped out. The bluish interior of the room was deserted.

Angel held her hand to the monitor to halt Meryl's mouth, "I left him in the Canyon. The supplies I left him should do him some good. That handsome man will be fine."

"Handsome, huh," she was showing a hint of envy towards Angel, "You're in love with him."

"What," Angel yelped in disgust, "No, it's not like that. I was making an observation that's all."

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh, don't bite my head off about it."

"Sorry."

"Where are you, Angel?"

Meryl shifted her eyes to the clear, glass door in the upper right corner of the room as Angel's long stare in the space gave her no answer.

"Well, Angel," she disregarded Angel's hesitation, "Why don't you met me here?

Meryl didn't need a babysitter but since Angel knew the area more, she probably won't make any more rookie mistakes.

Another long pause answered the codec, Angel's blank stare irritated Meryl, "What's the matter?"

Shaking her golden locks, Angel shivered, "I'll talk to you later."

"Hey," her cry didn't stop the monitor on her screen from turning black.

Angel's strange behavior really concerned her but she dismally waved her mind of prejudged thoughts. Meryl entered the clear, glass door with a three on top of it. If memory serve her right, Dr. Emmerich's lab was nearby.

The walkway in front of her had doors on its left side and the floor was gated with vents. Guards were at the other end of the hall gathering in a circle formation. Walking slowly forward, she heard cackling and snickering coming from the guards.

Their conversations were jokingly horrible as she clearly heard their loud mouths blister with mockery.

"Hey, what should we do with the scientist," Meryl eavesdropped on the guards' banter but with her disguise, she tried to act droopy about what they were saying. Their uniforms were the same as the guards up in the first floor were wearing.

"I say we toughen him up a bit, if you get my drift."

"Nah, he couldn't handle the pressure."

"That's the point."

"Just shut up, you guys. The guy is going to end up dead in a few days anyway."

"Hey, let's head back to patrol."

The guards disappeared as Meryl followed their trail. Turning left, she headed towards a door with a rectangular opening. Red markings were on the door reading "Hal's Lab". She also spotted a gun camera hanging in the upper corner of the door. The door opened and introduced her to a small, brightly lit room. In the center of each wall on the left and right, small air holes batched together blew cool air towards her uniform. It blew away dust and smaller particles from her disguise. Exiting the room, a gray interior room directed her to her left where a third security level door laid.

The hall rumbled with laughter and whimpers. Meryl pierced through the hallway with speed. She was worried about Dr. Emmerich. Again laughter ricocheted the dull indigo hallway. Penetrating the fourth security level door, she pierced through the lab which was full of glass cubicles and silver walls. The fluorscent lights hanging overhead brightly colored the room. She noticed two guards poking and slapping a man wearing a white lab coat. The scientist was sitting on one of those chairs with wheels staring at a computer monitor pasted on a wide station. His hands were over top his brown hair as he tried to defend himself weakly.

Meryl growled under her balaclava as the two guards who were wearing the same gas masks and enviro-suit as the men outside. Noticing that her disguise will probably give attention, her forehead drizzled sweat but her anger at the guys through fear out the window.

"Come on," the guard on the left, who had a southern accent, slapped the table, "watch the video! I bet you want to see your friends."

"Though their faces might look a bit mutilated," the other guard laughed menacingly.

Meryl strolled past a couple of cubicles stalking when one of the guards caught a glimpse of her.

"Hey," one of the guards yelled, "are you the one assigned to look after this pip-squeak?"

"Come on," the guard on the right slapped the coy scientist in the head.

The guard with the southern accent placed a small disk inside one of the computer monitor's CD drives. He waved his hand at Meryl motioning her to join them. In disgust, she imagined herself beat the crap outta these guys for torturing this poor man. She knew how futile it was though. If they discover she is not who they think she is, they could raise an alarm and that will put Snake, Angel, and herself in danger. Meryl bit her lip to silence her resentment towards the men. She followed the man's hand and drew her head closer to the computer screen.

The scientist was trying to escape the video but the guards were too strong for him. The screen on the monitor showed a loading bar. As the yellow stream reached the ended of the bar, the screen went black again yet reloaded to white flash of snow. The video seemed to be from a camera from above. Snow was gently falling on the screen as Meryl realized that the place she was looking at was the Canyon area but she also noticed that it was bigger than the Canyon area. Heck, she never saw that place before. She closed her thoughts as she saw people moving inside the camera's lens

Six men and two women wearing white lab coats were sitting down on the snowy ground against the wall of rocks. Some were holding their knees together shivering in the night's brisk wind.

"Alright, all of you stand up," a man wearing a tan trenchcoat appeared waving his revolver up and down with the jolt of his wrist.

"Ocelot, stand back from the prisoners," a furtive British accent echoed in the blizzard.

The man stood in the camera view with a pride stride and only one name uttered from Meryl's mind, "Liquid."

Ocelot stood back and chuckled as he placed his revolver back inside the leather gun holder.

"Please," a woman with square glasses and long, brunette tied in a ponytail begged, "let us go."

Liquid chuckled and laughed mockingly at the woman as he stood 3 feet away from them. His stance changed from arrogant pride to a more darker, menacing posture, "You all here today to see your wrongs."

"What wrongs? What are we being accused of," a tall, black-haired man who was in the middle of the line-up stomped his feet forward.

Liquid hissed like a snake, "Watch your feet, Dr. Davis."

In fright, the man put his back against the wall and cursed his wimpy nature. Liquid rubbed his blond hair, "As I was saying, you all need to be punished."

"What did we do," the second woman with a red bobcut, who was last in line, quivered, "What are you accusing us with."

"For murder," Liquid made his voice sound flawless.

"Murder," a man with red highlights on his blonde hair shouted, "we never killed anyone unlike you and your band of weirdos!"

"You're wrong," Liquid stepped forward slightly ignoring the insult, "when you helped Dr. Emmerich with Metal Gear Rex, you made a weapon of mass destruction.

"You liar! It's just a TMD module!"

"Such naïve souls," Liquid almost showed a glow of pity but it turned back to an evil grin, "Metal Gear Rex is a new weapon that will lead the world into war. Your superiors lied to you so that you, college grads, would put your young, energetic selfs into a government's secret black project. That whole story about it being a defensive mechanism against nuclear warfare was a clever ploy to suck your pathetic souls into their web od deception. Metal Gear Rex will spread fire and ash throughout the world. Conflicts...wars...A perfect weapon for my perfect world."

She couldn't believe what she heard from Liquid's mouth. Pitting the world in war...murder...red glares of bombs exploding...Meryl shook her head in revolt.

"No," the woman with brunette hair shook her head in agony, "they lied to us."

"Yes, it's a pity. Thank you for all your help in creating my dream," Liquid put his hands up in the air.

"It's a shame that you all won't live long enough to witness it."

"Go to hell," the woman with the bobcut screamed."

"We are already in hell, my dear," Liquid stated coldly, "though I won't spread your blood on my hands. No, I have to keep some room for my brother."

Meryl noticed a shadow floating around as Liquid sidestepped and ambled backwards. Meryl couldn't see who it was as the person blended in with the snow and had a hood covering his head.

Liquid nodded his head, "Meet my personal bodyguard. Though I really don't need one but she really knows how to do wetworks."

"She is also my personal executioner."

The white hooded figure pulled out a weapon. The scientists screamed as it aimed. The figure tilted the weapon slowly and fired. Flashes of light beamed at the scientists. Blood spattered on the rocks and covered the white snow.

Emmerich went nuts and tried to get away from the reality of it but the two guards pinned his shoulders, "Hey, it's not done yet, Dr. Emmerich."

Some tried to run but the bullet hit their spinal cord paralyzing them. The woman with the bobcut hair begged the figure to stop but the bodyguard just shot her in the head ruthlessly.

All the people who were paralyzed met the same fate. A bullet to the brain. At the end of all the killing, the hooded figure walked closer to the camera above but when the face was about to be revealed, the snowy blizzard worsened.

The camera went dark.

Meryl was nauseous. Those scientists were harmless...defenseless. They were exterminated like rats in a cage.

"That was refreshing," the guard with the southern accent stretched his arms, "Let this soldier take care of him until we get off our patrol routes."

"All right."

The guards left the room roaring with laughter as Dr. Emmerich had his head buried in his arms. Meryl didn't know what to do. Setting her FAMAS down, she tried to seem as harmless as she could to the scientist.

"Dr. Emmerich," she tried to get his attention but to no avail. He murmured something but it was too muffled.

"Dr. Emmerich, I'm here to make you're okay."

Suddenly, a force pulled the shaky scientist towards the waste can near one of the cubicles. He coughed and gagged as all the blood of his friends caused his insides to burst. Meryl placed her hand on the man's shoulder as he tried to pull himself together. He wiped his mouth on the long, white sleeve of his coat before looking at her with fear and rage.

"No," the timid man shook his head moving under the computer console where he witnessed the murder of his fellow colleagues, "you are here to make me watch this video again. No, I won't be trick the third time."

"Look at me, Emmerich," she let out an irritated sigh and took off her mask. Her red hair puffed out like a balloon. She shook it a little and gave it more volume.

"Do you see females wearing these types of green uniforms," she shrugged her arms. Emmerich looked up from his fetal position in awe.

"Wait, you are the red-head that the men are looking for," he breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out of his little hole, "so you're not one of them."

"Look, I can't stay here for long or get you out of here," the look of despair on Emmerich's face made her cringe herself for that direct statement, "but I have a friend who might help you out if you give him information."

"Really," his light, hazelnut eyes lid up. He pushed his silver lining glasses back towards his nose.

"Yes," she heard something outside, "Look, tell Snake I'll meet him in the girl's bathroom. I have to go."

Meryl put her balaclava back on. She made sure none of her red hair stuck out. Emmerich took out the disk from the computer and placed it down right next to it shaking.

Picking her FAMAS back up, she nodded, "Don't worry! Snake will be by soon to rescue you. I'm heading to the 1st basement. Bye."

Emmerich gave out a weak departing as Meryl walked out of the room curving her hips side to side.

She headed towards the elevator to get to the 1st floor basement where in due time she will meet the legendary Solid Snake. She pushed the button of the elevator and stepped inside. A flicker of static caught her attention as the elevator's door closed.

"What was that?"

Who is Liquid's bodyguard? Can you guess? Meryl is really beating herself up about her mistake.

"The biggest mistake we make is the greatest lesson we learn."