Chapter 7 - Unglued
"This is for your own good Private," Skipper said, locking the door of the cage Private had been placed in.
"But, Skippah! I didn't do it!" cried Private. "I didn't even know that thing existed!" He was standing in a small caged crate not much unlike one of those pet carriers that Alice used to take the penguins to the vet.
"The evidence says you did, soldier," returned Skipper, feeling his gut turning into a knot at the thought that his teammate could have done such a thing. "And besides, Rico might pummel you if you come out."
Rico was sitting in the opposite corner of the bunker, holding his plastic doll. He was glaring at Private as though he was a deadly enemy. Private averted his eyes from the heavyset penguin's and tried to ignore him, but Skipper could tell Rico's stare was burning into Private's skull.
"Taking classified weaponry without authorization," Skipper explained softly, "Is cause for immediate discharge."
"But..."
"That's enough, Private," Skipper interrupted, shaking his head. He didn't want to believe his teammate had broken his trust in such a way, but right now there were no other explanation. The item of controversy was laying on a table not too far from where Skipper now stood. It was a Powerline 15XT air pistol, that looked much like a real firearm. It had a shiny but dark surface that mysteriously glinted any light back into the looker's eyes. Right now, it had a few blotches of dried blood on it. Skipper walked over to check the ammunition. Sure enough, exactly three pellets were missing.
"Boys, I think we found our murder weapon," he stated solemnly. "A few pumps and this would inflict the exact wounds we saw on Julien to any creature,"
"This doesn't add up," Kowalski started, "there's no way private could have killed Julien... what motive does he have?" Skipper remained silent and looked at the pistol laying on the table. "Skipper?"
"None at all, Kowalski," he said, "none at all." Skipper wanted to believe what he said was true, but something deep inside him was telling him that it wasn't. He wished he could just rip that little part out and trust his comrade again. He looked back at the little penguin locked up in the cage, and felt a knot form in his throat when he saw tears streaking down the penguin's face. The sight was almost torturer for the older penguin.
"Skippah!" he pleaded, "I didn't do it!" Skipper wondered if Private could sense what he was feeling. He hoped not. The leader penguin turned and walked away from Private, feeling the best thing to do was ignore him. "Skippah!"
Skipper walked up to Kowalski and then spoke softly. "How did he find out about it?" He asked.
"I'm not really sure, Skipper." Kowalski responded, shrugging his shoulders. "I never told him." Skipper nodded. He had found the air pistol a few years back. It was in a purse that had been abandoned on a zoo bench, along with some additional pellets. He remembered bringing it back to HQ and showing it to Kowalski and Rico, then thought about throwing it out. He knew back then that something like that would not be a good thing to have around the zoo, in case it fell into the wrong hands. Oh, how he wished he had listened to his gut back then. If he had just thrown out the stupid weapon in the first place none of this would be happening. Julien might even still be alive.
Skipper glanced to the weapon's former place of concealment. It was a hidden trapdoor in the floor of the bunker, one that seamlessly fit in with the rest of the ground. One could not wish to find it unless they had previous knowledge of where it was or a very keen eye. Skipper thought that it would remained hidden there, like some lost treasure. Apparently it wasn't as well hidden as he thought.
"Skipper, are you alright?" asked Kowalski quietly, breaking Skipper's trance. He realized he had been staring at the taller penguin for a few minutes.
"Yes," he responded, "just a little shaken up.
"Aye." Kowalski glanced at the ground, then looked back up. "What should we do about Rico?" The heavyset penguin was still sitting across the room from his teammate, glaring with the same amount of anger as previously.
"I..." Skipper paused, "I don't know."
"I tried to comfort him while you were talking to Private, but his nerves are unmoving." Kowalski explained. "Although I'm not sure if he thinks that Private killed Julien or not now."
Silence. "We'll leave him be for now," Skipper finally said. "Rico, time to get some shuteye. We resume full duty early tomorrow morning." Rico removed his eyes from a shaken Private, and waddled off to his bunk. Kowalski did the same. Skipper shut off the lights and went to his bed. He heard a slight whimper from the cage across the room.
"Sleep tight, Private," Skipper said to himself.
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A loud alarm sounded. Skipper's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in his bunk. There was a red light flashing somewhere and sound of a lot of struggling. His vision became less blurry and suddenly he realized he was in HQ, still in his bunk. A small computer like device was sounding "evacuate!" over and over again. All at once he knew the alarm was the intruder alarm that Kowalski had installed. He jumped out of his bed and assumed combat position.
In front of him he could see two dark figures rolling on the floor. Each time the red light flashed he could make out more and more minute details about the two, but he was still dumbfounded at who they could be.
"Men! Battle stations!" He yelled, but none of the penguins sprang up behind him. The leader penguin saw on a particularly bright flash of light that one of the two figures rolling on the ground was a penguin.
"Ugh!" it grunted through exertion, obviously struggling. Skipper began to move to help out who he thought might be one of his teammates, but as he took his first step his muscles locked up. Suddenly he felt very cold and alone. Most of all, he felt something building up inside him, something that he did not feel very often. He knew the cold, dark sense to be fear, and his heart began to beat faster. He wanted to turn and run, but for some reason his legs would not respond and he was frozen on the spot. Suddenly Skipper heard a sickening crunch of bone.
"Gah!" the penguin on the floor shouted, and Skipper saw its body fall limp.
"No!" Skipper shouted. He was still paralyzed by fear. It was a level of fear that he had never felt before. He had trained himself to be brave even when staring mortal peril in the face... but this feeling was eating him from the inside.
Suddenly, the other figure grabbed an object off the ground and picked itself up. Skipper recognized a glint off the object and knew exactly what it was. Suddenly the figure began to step slowly towards Skipper and the penguin felt his breath leave him. The dark shadow raised an arm that Skipper knew was holding the Powerline 15XT, and aimed it directly at the terrified penguin. Skipper covered his face with his flippers, expecting the worst.
"Aaiiiee!" screamed a small figure from nowhere, rushing towards the dark figure that was aiming the air pistol at Skipper. Skipper recognized the voice as Private's instantly. The short penguin's features were barely visible in the dim, flashing light, but Skipper could make out that his face was full of blind rage. The penguin tackled the threatening shadow full force, and they slid halfway across the room. Private began to throw random punches at the figure on the ground, ignoring his martial arts combat training.
"First, you kill King Julien," he said, between grunts and punches, "And now you kill Kowalski," Skipper's gut tied itself up into a tight knot at the thought that Kowalski was dead. "And now... its your turn to die!" Skipper could hear the young penguin's voice grow darker with the last words. Skipper knew he should be doing something to help the poor little penguin defend him. He couldn't find the courage inside of him, and suddenly he felt like he should be running away instead. He noticed that Private, enraged beyond control, was suddenly beginning to loose in his struggle. He cried out as the shadowy figure escaped his grasp, a kind of battle cry that is emitted soldiers on a battlefield. The sound penetrated deep into Skipper's mind and a shiver ran up his spine. He took a step back, gasping for breath as his heart raced.
"Skippah!" the small penguin screamed suddenly, but it was too late. Skipper heard a pop similar to the one he had heard the night Julien was killed and he watched his teammate fall to the floor. Private's body tumbled over itself as he fell, and as the red light continued flashing Skipper saw a gruesome looking bullet wound right between his eyes. The leader penguin fell to the ground, loosing all the strength he had in his legs. He managed to catch himself with his flippers, and his beak fell wide open.
"How... How..." he sputtered looking up at the dark figure, "Where's Rico?" For some odd reason he could not distinguish any of the shadow's features.
"Dead," the shadow spoke softly. The voice was male, very deep and steady. Skipper had never heard it before but for some reason it sounded vaguely familiar.
"Oh, my..." Skipper choked.
"Soon to be you as well, my friend." the shadow walked over to Skipper. Skipper didn't know what to do or say. He had just watched two of his teammates – his closest friends – die right before his eyes and he didn't do anything. He didn't even do anything to stop the murderer from slaughtering the two innocent penguins he now saw lifeless on the floor. He had no idea what happened to Rico, but he was sure his weapons specialist had met the same fate as private.
"Please," he pleaded shakily, "Just kill me. I got nothing to live for."
"As you wish," the dark shadow stated calmly, and aimed the air pistol at Skipper. Skipper gritted his teeth for what he knew was about to come. "Actually, I'll let you live. I'll let you suffer from knowing you let your teammates die and didn't do a thing to defend them." the shadow spat. His words burned Skipper's being worse than anything he had ever heard before. He felt a hot tear run from his eye.
"No..."
"See you around," the shadow said, turning to leave. The small computer device was still resounding 'Evacuate!' and the red light still flashed. The shadow turned off the alarm as he left, and Skipper fell to the floor in total darkness. His convulsed and wriggled on the floor like an infant. He could do nothing to stem a steady flow of tears that traveled to the floor.
"KOWALSKI!" he screamed on the top of his lungs.
"Skipper..." a voice said that seemed far off. "Skipper..." it began to get louder. Suddenly the leader penguin recognized the voice to be Kowalski's. "Skipper... wake up!"
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Skipper suddenly realized he was laying on the floor of a dark HQ. Kowalski was standing over him looking at him with an arched brow.
"Good, you're awake!"
AN ~~~~~~~~~ AN
Thanks again for all of the reviews I've been getting! Also, this story just surpassed 200 visits =D! I have the whole story planned out now, so as long as I can stay intrested I should be updating every few days. Keep checking back!
