Tunnel Rat's eyes flashed open. Where the hell was he? As his eyes slowly began to focus ,he realized he was in the med room at the base. He tried to sit up but he was hooked up to tons of machines. His wounds hadn't been that bad had they? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck ,fuck, fuck, he cursed mentally , as he detached all the machines.

Tunnel Rat stretched and looked around. The others must have rescued him. He dressed and slipped out silently. He heard voices in the meeting room. Sounded like Duke Giving the others the low-down on their next mission.
"This is going to be hard with Tunnel-Rat sleeping like a corpse down in medical-"Sleeping like a corpse huh?"-but it looks like Cobra's set up a new base in a large town called Nero Falls ,Kansas ,in a dingy neighborhood called the Boondocks-"The Boondocks? His eyes narrowed. Those bastard dared to set up shop in his home town-"and we need to give them their eviction notice. All right people, suit up and met in the hanger in ten minutes."

Tunnel Rat smiled. There was no way in hell he was letting them leave him behind. His wounds had already healed fully. He'd always been a fast healer. He slipped into his room and suited up.

When they entered the hanger to board the R.O.C.C ,Tunnel Rat was sitting on top of the vehicle. He smiled at them.

"You weren't planning to leave me behind were you?" He asked cynically.

"But your injured," Scarlett said.

"I heal fast. Besides, we're headed to the Boondocks right? That's home turf for me. I grew up there and it's small enough neighborhood that everybody knows everybody else. The people there trust me," He said, sliding the R.O.C.C ."Just trust me , ok?"

"I'd recommend it."

Everyone turned. A man stood in the hanger doorway. He was dressed in a military uniform and was clearly a general. He walked forward ,using a cane, and extended a hand to Duke ,who took it.

"You are?"

"General Collin. Hawk asked me to brief you on what kind of place the boondocks is."

After General Collin briefed them , a silence fell over those in the R.O.C.C 's back cabin. Tunnel Rat sat a little apart from them and Scarlett was worried about his injuries.

"Don't worry Scarlett , he's fine," Collin said.

"How do you know he's fine?"

"Didn't he tell you anything about himself? Tunnel Rat was in the army before he was a Joe," the general replied.

"How do you know?"

"I was his C.O. Best soldier in the unit. I was proud to call him my second-in-command."

The team stared at Collin like he was nuts.

"Ha, ha, ha , ha. I guess I should elaborate. Tunnel Rat is a grade A super genius. Graduated high school at age eight and college at age twelve, majoring in engineering and computer technology. He didn't have anything else to do. When the army created it's special tactics unit , he joined up. They didn't even ask him his age. He went through more grueling basic training then basic for the army ,navy ,air force and the marines rolled into one and passed through with flying colors. Then he came into my unit. He loved explosives even then. He was the youngest member of the unit. But he was the bravest. Four years after he joined, we were assigned to rescue three hundred prisoners from a terrorist base in the Amazon. Colonel Radcliff was my second-in-command then. His plan was to bust in guns blazing. Tunnel Rat came up with a better plan. Because there were forty-five soldiers in our unit , he proposed that we line the entrance to the back of the base and the path to the front of the base with explosives. Then twenty-two members of the unit go in through the back and distract the terrorists inside. Twenty-two other soldiers would get the prisoners out through the front. Then once all the prisoners and soldiers were safe and sound at the base ,which was about 30 feet from where the two paths meet, the last member of the unit would detonate the bombs."

"Let me guess, it didn't work."

"Well it worked but not as we'd hoped. Radcliff was angry that is plan hadn't been chosen. He went with twenty-one soldiers in the back, I went in the front with twenty-one and Tunnel Rat stayed behind to detonate the bomb at the right time. However, when Radcliff and his unit made it to the base after completing their part and Tunnel Rat detonated those bombs ,and we exited the front, Radcliff fired on one of the bombs causing it to explode as we were half way through with the prisoners. Thirty-seven prisoners and thirteen soldiers, including myself, were trapped. Tunnel Rat risked his life to save us, getting shot six times by the enemy . He received a purple heart and an Iron Cross for Courage."

Scarlett glanced at her comrade. Was Tunnel Rat really a hero?

"He wa awarded a second purple heart and a second Iron Cross after pulling a soldier from another unit out of a burning vehicle , getting a third-degree burn on his left arm."

The general finished his tale and left them to dwell on their comrade's bravery.

After entering the neighborhood, the team got into their under cover outfits. They were to be strategically placed around the neighborhood. Tunnel Rat, much to Duke's annoyance would be going off on his own because he knew the Boondocks well.

Before they split up , General Collin pulled Tunnel Rat to the side and spoke to him quietly. What they were talking about ,heaven only knows. The general gave him something and sent him on his way. Something about Tunnel Rat's manner changed as he walked away. This is going to be one hell of a mission, Duke thought.

Thank you AketchiDragon for your reiveiw. I enjoy reading reviews like yours. Speaking of which, if you read this story please reveiw. I work very hard.