Waiting was the worst part. Knowing that something awful was creeping towards you, only you didn't know when it would finally come. It was one of the worst feelings Cammy could think of. She'd been pacing the small room for a while, though she couldn't be sure how long it'd been. She didn't have her phone, a watch, anything to keep track of time with. There weren't even windows in here. It felt late, but then, that was just an assumption.
Where was Rose? Chun-Li? Vega wasn't coming, she'd decided some time ago. That much was obvious, or surely he would have been here by now. There was no telling when Bison would erase her mind again, and if Vega did care about her, he would've come for her as soon as possible. But it must've at least been over an hour since she'd been deposited here. She'd given up on waiting for him, and maybe it'd been naive of her to expect him to help her at all. Rose and Chun-Li were still viable hopes. Chun-Li had probably come up with a plan soon after Bison left. And Rose would help, right? She frowned as she thought of how Rose said this was the only way for her to be herself again. How she couldn't do anything to save her. Was it true?
Food had been supplied for her, but she refused it. She would do so as long as she still had control over her own mind. It could have easily been contaminated, and she didn't want to give Bison the satisfaction of her eating out of his hands anyway. Since the food had been brought to her awhile ago-long enough for it to have since gotten cold-she hadn't seen anyone. The man who brought it was middle-aged, looked quite bored, or maybe tired. She couldn't be certain. He wasn't dressed in the uniform of the troops or guards, but he wasn't dressed like one of the doctors or scientists either. The guards wore armored vests, with helmets that looked more like something a motorcyclist would wear so prisoners couldn't identify their captors. This man was casually clothed, which seemed out of place. Were there people that worked here who weren't either soldiers or scientists? Then, she supposed, someone had had to cook the food. Someone probably had to wash dishes too. Bison wouldn't waste such menial tasks on people developing weapons and biological agents for him, she supposed. How many people here weren't actively contributing to the more horrible things Shadaloo had done? How many were just desperate people in search of money? And how many were coerced into their work? She thought of the other Dolls, who had been freed from that life with her help some time ago. Were there others here with similar problems? People who had been kidnapped from their homes, turned into drones. Like she would be soon.
She bit her lip, trying not to think about that. She'd already searched for any way out of the room, and there were at least two people posted outside the door. The vents were too high for her to reach, and even if she could get to them, they were quite small. She wasn't a large person, but she knew she couldn't use them to crawl out of the building. There were no windows at all, so that wasn't an option either. She'd crawled along the floor looking for loose tiles, but came up with nothing. It was a long shot, but she felt that if she was trying, then at least she was spending her last moments in a worthwhile manner. The door was the only way out. She pressed her ear against it again, as she had several times since she'd been left in the cell. She heard someone shifting their weight, clothes rustling. She heard a man speaking. It was all in Russian and she couldn't understand it. As great a fighter as she was, she didn't have much chance of getting farther than opening the door before she was shot at. In an open area, or a larger room, she could take them, easily. But she knew, the second the door opened and alerted them to her presence, they'd have her.
In a frustrated rage, she cried out, and kicked the tray of food that had been supplied for her. The plastic bowl-because Bison knew better than to give her any metal-smashed into the wall, spilling its contents onto the floor. It rattled noisily as it fell, spinning on its rim until it finally settled upside down on the floor. The men outside hadn't even paused to listen. They'd probably been ordered to not pay any attention to her. This irritated her even more. It was like she wasn't even here. Already, Bison was erasing her from existence. Gritting her teeth, she turned around and planted a foot in the door. It rattled, but again, the men didn't pay attention. "Tell me what time it is!" she shouted loudly. They didn't answer. It wasn't even that important to her to know. She just wanted to be acknowledged. "Come on, answer me!" Did they even speak English? She kicked the door once more, then again, and gave up.
That feeling was eating away at her insides. She couldn't stand not knowing. She dropped down onto the cot, and covered her face with her hands. She didn't know how to take her mind off of it. Food was not an option. She just simply didn't want it, never mind all the other reasons there were to not eat it. She had no way to entertain herself-there was nothing here but the bed she was laying on. She tapped the toe of her shoe against the wall in a steady rhythm. They were her sneakers, not her combat boots. Those two pairs of shoes were the only ones she had. She didn't really see an extensive wardrobe as necessary, though even she could admit she needed to invest in some 'nice' shoes. It must've driven Vega crazy to have to dress in something that wasn't very stylish. It felt like it'd been years since she was trapped in his body. It was the strangest experience of her life, and she doubted if anything would ever top it. In a weird way, she was starting to miss it, though she was certain it had to do with her current, desperate situation. At least then, she wasn't so alone.
But then, his brain had been a little scary sometimes. She wondered for a few seconds how he would react to being in such a situation-trapped, alone, no way out, desperate. She decided she couldn't be sure what he would do if he were in her place. She sighed quietly, staring up at the ceiling. Keeping calm was the best idea right now. That's what Chun-Li would do. Maybe, she thought, an opportunity would present itself to her.
"I read the news today, oh boy..." she muttered quietly. She wasn't very good at singing, but she wanted to think about something else, needed a distraction. She glanced at the door. It was probably very annoying of her to keep going. Maybe they'd pay attention to that. "About a lucky man who made the grade!" she cried louder. Had the speaking stopped? "And though the news was rather sad!" she yowled like a sick cat. The door handle was rattling. Her heart raced. Were they going to come in here and try to get her to be quiet? Maybe this was her chance. "Well I just had to laugh!" she crowed, completely out of tune. The door opened, and one of the uniformed men stepped in. She jumped up to her feet, entire body tense and ready for a fight. "I saw the photogra-a-aph!" she all but screamed in the guard's covered face. Would he shoot her for getting to close to him? Maybe death was better than spending the rest of her life as a mindless killing machine anyway.
"What in God's name is wrong with you?"
Her heart caught in her throat, adrenaline still pumping through her. As if to confirm it wasn't just her desperation making the guard sound suspiciously Spanish, he pushed up the tinted visor of his helmet and gave her a stern look. She didn't know how or why, but Vega had come back for her. She smiled slowly, and said, "Well I just sort of like that song."
"You can like it all you want, but I'd rather you didn't sing it."
She leaped to her feet and threw her arms around him, unsure of why. Maybe it was the relief. When she thought he'd given up on her, he came back. There was a chance of escape now. "I thought no one was coming," she whispered, hands moving to his shoulders and holding him at arms length.
He seemed uncomfortable, and shrugged. He didn't do so well with this sort of thing. That much was obvious from his current body language. He turned away from her, popping back into the corridor to drag the unconscious bodies of the two guards into the room. He pushed the first against the wall, and turned away again to retrieve the second. "We don't have much time. Your friends will be here soon, a few kilometers from the base." He propped the second guard against the cot, and nodded to the door.
Her heart leaped into her throat. Her friends hadn't given up on her? She felt a pang of guilt for her assumptions. He slung the assault rifle across his back, and took her by the wrist with one hand. "It's late. Most people are asleep by now, but you were up for...that procedure in half an hour. If anyone sees us, look upset. As far as you know, I was ordered to transport you to the lab." He pulled her hands behind her back, cuffing them together. She winced. They were a little tight, but she supposed handcuffs weren't exactly meant to be comfortable. "If we can get out of Shadaloo without being spotted, we should be fine."
"How likely do you think it is that we won't be seen?" she asked, watching him turn around to lock the door. She could barely see his eyes now as he slid the visor back down.
"Just keep your head down and look angry," he advised, pushing her gently down the hall. She did her best to comply. Her heart was racing. When was the last time she'd been this nervous? He kept one gloved hand on her shoulder, the other on her wrist. The corridors weren't narrow, and were still well lit. She supposed the lights never went off in here. She wondered what other sort of people Bison kidnapped, or if most of them were simply his own employees serving time for some infraction or another. None of the other rooms had been guarded like hers. Were they empty, or were the people inside simply not considered as much of a threat?
She tensed up as she heard footsteps ahead of them. Keeping her head down, she glanced up, and saw another guard approaching. The men simply nodded to each other as they passed, and continued on without incident. Cammy closed her eyes briefly, hoping they wouldn't be passing by too many people on their way out of here. If she got that nervous over what was just another guard, she didn't know what they would do if they passed anyone with any kind of seniority. Or worse, Bison himself.
"Face the wall," Vega ordered, and she did so hesitantly. He let go of her shoulder to slide some kind of identification card through a reader, and tapped at a few numbers on the keypad. There was a chime, and the reader blinked a green light as the door unlocked. He pushed it open, and took hold of her again. "Come on." They were in some security room now, and she thought she'd have a heart attack. There were four men in here watching their computer monitors which displayed different areas of Shadaloo. She panicked, wanted to bolt, but Vega kept a firm grip on her shoulder. The men glanced up, and when Vega spoke, his Spanish accent was gone from his voice. She supposed even with the slight distortion provided by the helmet, he didn't want to take any chances that one of them would recognize him. "Prisoner transfer," he stated simply.
One of the men picked up a clipboard, and asked, "Case number?" Vega rattled off a string of numbers, and the man jotted something down. Cammy glanced around at the monitors and it made her realize just how many cameras were around Shadaloo. Could they really get out without being noticed? "Identification?" The question brought Cammy's attention back to the man. If Bison thought Vega was a risk to the success of her brainwashing, he wouldn't allow Vega near her. But Vega readily handed the man a card, which the man inspected, cross-referencing the name on the ID with the one on his list. "All right, Officer Lehtonen...? I said that right?"
"I don't expect anybody to," Vega said with a shrug.
The man smirked and handed the card back over. Cammy caught a glimpse of it. Simo Lehtonen, aged twenty-five, blood type A positive, height: six foot even, weight: a hundred and fifty pounds. That was a lot of information for one ID, but she supposed Shadaloo didn't get to be so successful by cutting corners. The picture was of a dark-haired young man that didn't even look much like Vega. They left the room without any problems, but she didn't exactly feel very relieved. They weren't out of Shadaloo yet, but had passed by the first obstacle. Outside, the night air was warm. It was very quiet, except for the sounds from the jungle which surrounded the place. "Simo?" she whispered.
"I wasn't permitted any access to your cell block. Bison knew better than that," he whispered back. "So I made someone up, and he just happened to be assigned the duty of transferring you to the lab tonight."
"He wouldn't think that's suspicious, either?"
"As far as Bison, or those guards know, Simo Lehtonen has been working here for years."
"Crafty," Cammy whispered.
"Not exactly. He taught me all of these things-faking identification, what sort of files to alter, just general necessities for assignments requiring a degree of infiltration. I'm sure he'll figure out exactly what's going on soon enough," Vega said. "So we have to hurry."
"What will he do to you if he catches you?" she asked as they walked between buildings. They were pretty plain, looked like they could have a mess of cubicles in them instead of labs for developing weapons or drugs. For experimenting on humans and erasing minds.
"Don't worry about it," he replied. It was unusual of him, she thought, to downplay a risk this big. He seemed pretty upset with Rose for covering up what he'd done for Cammy before, so it struck her as strange that he wasn't making a bigger deal out of this now. This made her wonder if the consequences could be so dire that even he didn't want to think about them.
"Will he kill you?" she asked.
He didn't answer. Cammy bit her lip as the tall fence which surrounded the perimeter of Shadaloo came into view. He was risking his life for her. She couldn't be completely sure of that, but given that Vega hadn't responded, and Bison's intolerance for malfeasance, it seemed likely. She didn't want somebody to die because of her. How could she say she was worth more than someone else? But then, he had harmed so many people. Even if he was a killer, even if he was highly disturbed, she couldn't say anyone deserved to die.
"Let's just not be caught," he replied finally. But he knew there wasn't any escaping the punishment. Bison would know who'd gotten her free regardless of what measures he took to cover his tracks. Hiding his face, using a fake identification card, it was all to simply stall for time. So that she had a chance of getting away. He glanced around quickly, searching along the fence for any other guards. "We have to get further back," he said, nodding the direction they needed to go. The back of the compound would be the best place to jump the fence-it was not as well lit, and while it was surveyed as much as the rest of the borders, he knew that it was only by a few men who walked the length of the fence. If they could time it right, they would have a few minutes to slip out silently, and once they were in the jungle, they were as good as free.
They waited in the shadow of the building which housed most of the vehicles, and he watched the perimeter intently. His ears strained to hear any footsteps, and Cammy tensed up when she saw an armed guard walking along the fence, cigarette in his mouth. The man leaned back for a minute before taking another drag and exhaling a cloud of smoke. His eyes traveled lazily over the area, and he kept walking. Cammy and Vega waited a few painful, tense minutes, staying there as long as was necessary. "Ready?" he whispered. She felt the metal cuffs slide off of her wrists. She nodded, anxiety taking hold of her.
The fence was tall, Cammy realized. Much too tall for even herself or Vega to jump, and they were both light on their feet. She started climbing the fence beside him, doing her best to do it quietly, but it was difficult. The noise her feet made as the toes of her shoes wedged into the chain link seemed monstrous in the quiet, tense night, but she didn't stop. Neither did he, until he reached the razor wire bundles coiled along the top of the fence like a snake with blades for scales. With one hand on the fence, he used his other to pull a tool from his belt. Wire cutters, she noticed, and he started snipping away part of the razor wire. He didn't get very far before he heard frantic shouting, and dropped the tool altogether. "Go!" he shouted, grabbing her shirt and urging her upward. She gasped as she felt him pushing her over the top, felt something bite at her skin, and then suddenly she dropped to the ground on the other side of the fence. She inspected her arm, saw a little bit of blood. The razor had mostly cut at her clothing and she was lucky. There was a quiet thud, and she saw him land next to her. She pulled him to his feet and they disappeared into the jungle, running for their lives.