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(Humphrey's POV)
It took me quite some time to access the situation at hand. We were surrounded by armed soldiers who all had their weapon's aim trained towards us. We had been caught. But caught doing what? Surely the military wouldn't go through so much trouble only to seize two runaway civilians. There had to be another reason as to their extreme and seemingly ridiculous efforts to contain us.
Kate let out a low pitched whimper as the commander slowly approached us, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Freeze! Don't move or we'll be forced to shoot!" the commander yelled towards us.
He didn't even need to ask. Kate and I were already standing perfectly still due to the fear and shock of the situation.
"Good!" the commander yelled. "Now place your hands on your heads and turn around slowly, I want your backs facing me"!
I looked towards the now trembling Kate. Her entire body was shaking, It really broke my heart to see her this way. I knew I had to calm her down.
"Kate, do as he says. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you" I whispered towards her.
She gave a slight and suspicious nod before slowly obeying the commanders instructions.
We were now standing with our hands on our heads and our backs facing the commander. I looked towards Kate who was still trembling, and then shifted my gaze over my shoulder towards the commander.
"OK, we have obeyed your commands. We are not a threat. Please just bring us home, we promise to never leave the safe zone again" I yelled over my shoulder.
There was a moment of silence until the commander finally spoke.
"Oh you're not going anywhere, son" he replied with an unsettling grin.
He then turned to face his soldiers.
"Alright soldiers, take aim"!
My heart skipped a beat, as I heard Kate release a whimper. Did he seriously intend on killing us?!
"You're… you're gonna shoot us?!" I screamed.
"Steady…"!
I couldn't believe my ears. They were actually preparing to shoot us!
"What the hell did we do?!" I screamed in a final effort to save our lives.
"FIRE"!
Time seemed to stop as a sharp pain instantly shot through my leg. I didn't understand. Why had they shot me in the leg? Had they missed?
As I slowly lowered my eyes down towards my leg, everything finally made sense. Sticking into my right lower calf, was a tranquilizer dart.
I slowly looked towards towards Kate, just in time to see her fall to the ground, unconscious.
It was at that moment that I too began to feel lightheaded. The world around me began to spin. I fell to my knees and slowly looked up towards the commander, who was now looking down at me.
"G-Go to hell…" was all I managed to say before everything went black as I fell to the ground.
(current time and location: unknown)
I slowly opened my eyes, only to be blinded momentarily by the bright light that surrounded me. Sitting up and squinting my eyes, I noticed that I was currently sitting on what seemed to be a hospital bed.
"Humphrey! You're awake"!
Turning myself towards the noise, I noticed Kate who was sitting upright on a hospital bed parallel to mine.
"Hey, Kate. Where are we?" I asked in a tired voice.
"I don't know, Humphrey. I just woke up a few minutes ago" she answered.
I groaned as I looked around the room we were currently in. It was a small and very bright room, the only objects inside being these two beds.
As I continued to look around, I noticed a large grey door that obviously led out of the room.
As I was about to get up and make my way over to the door, Kate seemed to sense my thoughts.
"Don't bother, it's locked. I already tried it" she said.
I groaned again before collapsing onto the bed.
"Just great" I said, "first they knock us out, and then they bring us here! For what?! All we did was sneak out"!
Kate sighed. "I know, Humphrey. They obviously must have another reason for bringing us here" Kate said tiredly.
"I wouldn't be so sure" I spat, "this corrupt military seems to do as they please. They could have brought us here simply because they felt like it. Don't forget that they lied to us, Kate. They've sure got a lot to explain for themselves!" I hissed.
Kate just remained calm. She clearly didn't share my hatred towards the military, but I certainly had my reasons for hating them.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see, Humphrey".
Just as she had finished her sentence, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard, only stopping once the person reached our door. What came next was the sound of fumbling keys as the person unlocked the door, slowly swinging it open.
As the door opened, a tall brown wolf wearing a white coat and glasses walked in. He was obviously some kind of doctor.
"I'm glad to see that you two are awake" he said as he approached us.
"Who are you? And where are we?" I asked in a slightly agitated tone.
The mysterious doctor simply smiled at me before answering.
"My name is Doctor Levine. Now to answer your second question, I unfortunately can't say".
I growled under my breath. "Why? Why can't you tell us?" I asked, growing more and more agitated by the second.
The doctor simply kept his cool.
"I'm sorry, young man. I'm simply not permitted to" he said, pausing for a moment before continuing.
"Someone has requested to speak with you two, and I'm sure he'll answer all your questions".
"Who is this person?" Kate asked curiously.
The doctor turned to face Kate before addressing her question.
"I've actually been sent to escort you two to him, miss. Now if you guys are ready, please follow me".
With that he stepped out of the room as me and Kate got up and began following him.
As we walked down numerous quoridors and walked by countless rooms, it quickly became clear that we were in some kind of military building. A few approaching officers dressed in military uniforms further confirmed my assumption.
"Kate, we're in some kind of military building" I whispered.
"Yeah, I realized" she whispered back.
As we followed the doctor, we finally reached a secretary who sat behind a desk, typing away on her computer's keyboard.
The doctor cleared his throat to grab her attention, followed by the secretary raising her head to face us.
"Sorry to bother you, miss, but the general has requested their presence" the doctor said, motioning to us.
The secretary typed a few words on her keyboard, looking at the computer screen before raising her head to face us.
"Go up to level 14, turn left at the end of the hall. Look for room B417, it should be on your right. The general is waiting" the secretary said in a low voice.
"Thanks, miss. Have a good day" the doctor said before motioning us to follow him.
Kate gave a question look to which I simply shrugged, as we continued on after the doctor.
We took a nearby elevator up to level 14, the doors opened with 'ding'.
We stepped out of the elevator and began walking down the hall, taking a left at its end.
We then started to search for room 'B417'. After about a minute of searching, the doctor let out a whistle, letting us know he had found it.
We slowly approached the doctor, who was standing next to a door labeled 'B417'.
Kate nudged my arm and pointed towards a golden plaque that hung next to the door. Squinting my eyes so I could see better, I again looked towards the plaque which had the words 'Intelligence General' written on it.
The doctor knocked twice and waited for a response.
After a few moments, we finally got one.
"Come in!" spoke a voice from inside the room.
The doctor opened the door and we all stepped in. At the end of the large room sat a military officer behind a large wooden desk. He was a middle aged man, dressed in a dark green uniform which was decorated by many medals. He was clearly of high rank.
The officer raised his head from his laptop to face us.
"Ah, you've made it. Thanks for bringing them here, doctor. That is all" the officer said.
The doctor nodded slowly before walking back out the door, closing it behind him.
Kate and I just stood still as we both looked towards the officer.
"Come now, have a seat" he said, motioning towards two seats that sat before his desk.
Kate looked towards me and I gave her a reassuring nod. We both slowly approached the officer and took a seat.
A long moment of silence passed before I spoke.
"Who are you? And where are we?" I asked in an annoyed and demanding tone.
"First of all, please lose the attitude, young man. There is no need for that" the officer replied nonchalantly.
I was now beyond pissed. Kate squeezed my hand in an attempt to cool me down, though it wasn't working.
"Well you knocked us out, and brought us here against our will. So will you please just answer the question" I asked, trying to remain respectful.
"Gladly" the officer began, "my name is General Mike Griffin. Regarding your second question, you're currently in a top secret military complex".
I wasn't satisfied, the officer who I now knew to be a general, had only partially answered my question.
"OK, general. But what is our location?" I asked.
The general gave me a smile before speaking.
" Unfortunately, I cannot release that information. The location of this complex is heavily classifieds. But let's just say that we're so far underground that we can basically avoid even the most efficient forms of detection" the general replied.
Again there was a long moment of silence until Kate spoke.
"Why have you brought us here?" she asked.
The general slowly rose from his seat and turned around to face the back wall. He just stared at the blank wall for what like ages, until he finally turned back around to face the pair.
"Now that is a good question, young lady" the general said, his gaze aimed towards Kate.
"Well? What's the answer?" Kate asked.
The general took a long deep breath as he once again turned around to face the wall behind.
"Now this may confuse you" he began, his back still facing then.
"You two were chosen for a top secret mission. This mission is dangerous and very challenging" the general said, turning to face us as he finished his sentence.
I looked at Kate. She was just as shocked and confused as I was.
"What… what do you mean? What mission?" I asked, confusion clearly present in my voice.
The general sat down in his seat and crossed his arms.
"Before I get into the details, I need to give you the background first. Now I'm sure you're both aware of the past 'World War', am I correct?" the general asked.
I almost laughed at the question. "Of course we're aware, sir. It was only three years ago. We've both lost so much as a result" I said.
"Good" the general began, "now listen carefully. The information that I'm about to pass on to you is top secret. It is for you two to know, and you two only. You are not to tell a soul, and that includes family members and close friends. Am I understood"?
If I wasn't completely confused before, I sure was now. All I could do was nod slowly as Kate did the same.
"Splendid" the general exclaimed. "Now this may come as a shock, so I'm glad that you're both sitting. You see, the 'war' wasn't even a war at all!" the general said.
I was now beyond confused. If it wasn't a war, then what had killed so many people?
"What do you mean it wasn't a war? What was it then?!" Kate demanded.
"A terrorist attack!" the general yelled, leaping up from his seat.
My jaw dropped open as shock spread through my body.
"what… what do you-... How?!" I asked, not even able to properly structure the question due to shock.
The general took a long deep breath, before turning his head to face us.
"About four years ago, a terrorist group composed of talented hackers and a private army managed to hack into every major country's nuclear arsenal. How they managed to do so is unknown. What they then did is simple. They caused these major countries, Canada included, to nuke themselves!" the general explained.
I couldn't believe my ears, this was almost unimaginable! I had to clarify if I had heard the general correctly.
"S-so what you're saying is that this terrorist group hacked into our nuclear arsenal… and caused us to nuke ourselves?!" I asked.
"Well, they didn't just do it to us. They also did it to other major countries such as the US, Russia, France, China and so on" the general answered.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This terrorist group had targeted us using our own nuclear bombs! And they apparently did the same to other countries.
"So, you basically lied to the public, telling them that it had been a World War that was responsible for the nuclear attacks" Kate said as she put one-plus-one together.
"Why? Why would you lie us?!" I demanded.
"Think about it this way" the general began, "how do you think the public would react if they were to find out that just one terrorist group is threatening the whole world?! There would be havoc"!
Deep down, I knew he was right, but I was still blinded by my hatred towards the military.
"OK, but how exactly are they threatening us now?" Kate asked.
"Another excellent question, young lady. You see, the attacks four years ago were merely round one!" the general exclaimed.
I was once again confused. "And what does that mean?" I asked.
"Since the attacks, these major countries succeeded in re-securing their nuclear arsenals using new codes and other complex algorithms. But that hasn't stopped them, rather it simply bought us some more time. According to our Intel, they are just weeks away from cracking these new codes".
The general paused for a moment, allowing us to process what he had said before continuing.
"Once they manage to crack these codes, there will be no stopping them. They will launch every nuclear bomb in those countries' arsenals, until earth's surface is reduced to nothing but one big pile of ruble. They refer to this as 'round two' ".
All of this made sense, whether I liked it or not. Yet one question remained unanswered.
"So, what is this 'mission' about?" I asked.
"Your mission is as follows" the general began, "The only way to prevent this terrorist group from following through with their threat, is to take out their main hackers before they succeed in cracking the codes. And yes, by 'take them out' I do mean killing them, it is the only way to insure total safety.
Intelligence has located one of the major hacker's strongholds just north of Jasper. Your job is to sneak into this stronghold undetected, and take out these hackers before it's too late".
"But why have you specifically chosen us?" Kate asked. She had asked a very important question, though I hadn't thought of it.
"The reasons as to why you two have chosen are simple. Over the past few weeks, you two have demonstrated excellent stealth capabilities. Heck, It took us quite a while to notice that you two were regularly sneaking out of the safe zone. Basically, your excellent stealth capabilities combined with your swiftness and seemingly above average intelligences, make both of you perfect candidates for this specific mission" the general explained.
This was madness. First they lie to us for years, then they kidnap us and bring us here against our wills, and now they want us to complete a mission for them?! Ha! Not if I have a say in the matter…
"We may fit the description well, general, but I do not accept your offer. I will not allow myself to work with dirty liars such as yourselves. Your lies have gone on for too long! It's time to make the public aware of what we're dealing with!" I hissed.
I looked towards Kate. She had clearly been startled by my sudden outbursts.
"Humphrey, every lie or cover up that we have released was done out of the best interest of the public. It was curtail that we keep the truth from them, for their own safety and wellbeing. Now, if you too share the interest of the public's safety and wellbeing, you will keep this information to yourself. In time, you'll understand our motives".
"That is no excuse!" I replied coldly.
The general simply got up from his seat and once again turned to face the wall. After many long moments, he let out a sigh before asking me a question that sent chills down my spine.
"They never told you why they killed your family, did they"?
I instantly froze as I replayed the question in my mind. The general had just asked the question that had been haunting me ever since that terrible night. What disturbed me the most was the fact that he seemed to also know the answer. If the general truly had information regarding the reason my family had been murdered, I wasn't going anywhere until he told me everything he knew.
The troubled look on my face gave him his answer.
"I'll take that as a no… " he said.
I was on the verge of tears.
"They… they never told me what happened. All they ever said was that I had been lucky that I wasn't home when it happened" I said, my voice trembling.
"I didn't think so. And at the time, it really was for the best that you don't know" the general said calmly.
Tears were now slowly forming in my eyes. I had to know if he knew what happened to them.
"W-wait… d-does that mean that you-"
"Know what happened? Yes, Humphrey, I do know what happened. And it's time that you know as well" the general said, cutting me off.
"And after I finish telling you exactly what happened that night, I can assure you that you'll change your mind about not accepting the mission… "
A/N:
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