Antetsation Warehouse (Abandoned)
Penstrat, Reford Republic
22:43

In almost an hour and a half since Price had taken the chance to talk to Zoe, they had left her in peace. Whether as a way to keep her alone with her thoughts and to keep her on edge, or wanting to give her some space so she wouldn't completely hate their guts for keeping her in the cold, dark, abandoned warehouse they were held up in. Zoe wasn't jumping for joy with this situation. Life out in Penstrat wasn't amazing, especially when most people here knew the truth about her. Still, her freedom was better than being stuck on the nest of blankets. She had her arms wrapped around her knees, bringing them close to her chest as her eyes were trained on the patterns of the blankets, trying to keep her emotions in check.

This wasn't fair. Zoe had stuff she had to do and deadlines to meet. The last thing she wanted was to pass them by, she already learned what happens due to that mistake at a younger age. From what she could tell, there would be no easy way to escape, not when the four men were sitting by the only exit that she could see from where she was sitting. She had no idea what it was they were going on about, as they were talking low enough to keep out of earshot. Whatever. She didn't care about what they had to say anyway.

Zoe let out a sigh, reached down, and began to gently pull at a thread sticking up from one of the blankets. What else was she supposed to do now? Wait for the Extraction Team to figure out she was gone and search for her? How was she supposed to explain to them that she didn't purposely seek these guys out? That she didn't want to go with them but somehow tracked her down? There was no way she could contact them, so whatever happened at this point would happen. Even when the Extraction Team showed up it wasn't like these guys would have a chance against them. The Government of the Reford Republic knew what it wanted and would do whatever it could to get its hands on it.

"It's gettin' a little late, isn't it?" Soap commented softly as he approached the girl, smiling slightly to show that he didn't mean any harm. "Can't sleep?"

Zoe hummed quietly, not raising her head to look at him, and kept her eyes focused on the thread she was fidgeting with. The less attention she gave him the sooner he would go away. Although, she could feel his authentic intention toward her.

"You only had one protein bar. Are you still hungry?"

Silence.

"I'm sorry about Ghost," Soap continued, hoping that anything he says will be enough to put her at ease. "He's not bad. And Price is a good man too."

"Does that make you the bad one then?" Zoe questioned, deciding that she needed to get at least one smart comment in during this one-way conversation. "One of you has to be the bad cop, right?"

Soap chuckled. "If any of us would be the bad cop it'd be Ghost, trust me." He glanced at the burns on Zoe's arms that Price had mentioned to them once they left her to her thoughts. "What happened? Nobody like… hurt you? They did?"

"Why would you care if they did?"

"So there is a 'they'?"

Huffing, Zoe turned her back to Soap, feeling as though she spoke too much already. She knew what would happen if she told anyone on the outside anything about the project they were working on. Zoe had no idea who these guys were supposed to be, but they reminded her of the green plastic soldiers that she and her brother used to play with when he was still around. She had no idea who they worked for, but she knew they weren't a part of the Reford Military. Anybody outside of the Reford Military was considered an enemy.

"We just want to help."

"You can't!" Zoe snapped, lowering her head onto her knees. A ball of anxiety was growing in Zoe's chest now, as she was scared of what would happen to her once they found out she was gone. Would they believe that she didn't tell them anything? She had been trained to withstand torture of many kinds and avoid spilling any information about the project. "I'm not gonna tell you guys anything, so why don't you just kill me already."

Soap was taken aback by that comment. Did Zoe seriously think they would hurt her in the slightest? Whatever she knows, whatever she's hiding, and whoever taught her to assume the worst like this, most likely did whatever they could to ensure that this child wouldn't break. This entire situation was messed up. She is a child and obviously not from around here, which led Soap to believe that she was kidnapped or held as a hostage of some sort.

"Why would we do that?" Was the only thing that Soap could think of to say. Honestly, if anyone of them were to kill her it would be Ghost; but even he had his limits, especially if Price was around. "That's…" Soap trailed off, letting out a defeated sigh. He had no idea how to appropriately respond. A child was asking him why they wouldn't kill her.

Heartbreaking, to say the least.

Soap was a child at heart, so he needed to dig deep and figure out what he could do to help Zoe feel better. What could he do?

Soap knelt down in front of the nest of blankets, digging through his vest pocket without saying anything. Without trying to make it evident that she was curious as to what he was up to, Zoe side-eyed him. She couldn't tell what he was up to, but the pocket didn't appear big enough to hold any weapons.

"Ever heard of Void Monsters?" Soap questioned with a slight smile as he pulled out a deck of colourful cards.

Zoe didn't say anything yet her attention was on the cards he began shuffling.

"They're just…" He held up the first card of the deck; an interesting drawing of a sizeable turtle-like monster shined in the light. "I dunno," Soap shrugged, holding the card out to her. "Some people play a game with them. I just think they're neat."

"You collect them?" Zoe questioned cautiously, turning slightly to face him. She looked between him and the card before taking it. She moved the card around, watching as the light made the colours move and shine brighter. "Then what?"

"They're just fun to collect." He let out a small groan. "You're starting to sound like Ghost and Alejandro now. They think it's a waste of money."

"We don't have these here." Her eyes haven't left the card once, taking in all the shiny details.

"That's sad. Here." Soap held out the deck of cards to her. "Take 'em. You can start your own collection."

Zoe didn't say anything as she took the cards from him; she had no idea what to say. Nobody has ever given her something like this before. Growing up, Zoe didn't have any toys or collectable cards. The moment she could demonstrate what she was capable of, that's when her childhood ended. Ended before it could even start.

Tears welled up in Zoe's eyes, and she used the back of her arm to wipe them away before they could fall. Soap's heart sank at this sight; even though she was trying to hide her emotions, he could see through it. He wasn't sure what he did to upset her, but he felt terrible.

"Hey, hey… I'm sorry." Soap reached out, putting a gentle hand on Zoe's shoulder as a way to comfort her, but she only recoiled in response. "Sorry, sorry." He pulled his arm back.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Zoe finally questioned, feeling exhausted once the adrenaline crashed. "Why am I here?"

"You were targeted as someone who knew about some missiles. Do you know anything about it? You're not in trouble or anything. We just need to know where they came from and who's making them." Soap wasn't sure if his attempt at getting her to talk would do anything, but he had to try.

"I can't tell you…" Zoe whispered, slowly rocking back and forth as a way to soothe herself from her anxiety.

Soap tilted his head to the side.

"Are you worried you'll get in trouble? Because you won't. We want to help you."

"Why was I targeted?"

"Honestly… I dunno." Soap searched Zoe's face for any trace of her being untruthful, but the only thing he could read was that she was scared and anxious. Why wouldn't she be? She was being kept in an unknown place with unknown people asking her about weapons of mass destruction. Soap ran a hand down his face, not knowing what else to say that would make her feel better. "We want to make sure you're safe, that's all. Alright?"

"Alright…"

"You'll be okay. I promise." Soap pulled himself up from the floor. "Get some rest and relax, okay?" He motioned towards the mountain of blankets that she was still sitting on. "You'll feel better in the morning."

As soon as Soap began walking away, Zoe decided she had a question for him.

"Soap," she called out, stopping the man in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"Is that your actual name?"

Soap chuckled. "Ah… no. Johnny MacTavish."

"Then why do you get called Soap?"

"We'll talk about it some other time. It's getting late."

Zoe went silent at that, fidgeting with the deck of cards still in her possession, tracing the picture printed on the top card.

She wasn't tired, thanks to her nap earlier. Too many racing thoughts that spiked her anxiety would have made it too difficult, even if she was sleepy. Would she wake up to a gun to her head from the Extraction Team? She's been here long enough. Sooner or later, they would show up to get a hold of her and take her back home.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Soap questioned, thinking that maybe he was about to get somewhere.

"Aren't you worried that the government will find you here?"

"Nah. We're out here on vacation."

Seeing the smile on Zoe's face filled Soap with a sense of pride. He had figured that if anyone would get her to open up, even a little, would have been Price.

"Sleep, yeah? We'll talk tomorrow."

She nodded at him, laying back down on the nest of blankets, pulling the heavier one over her in an attempt to fall back asleep for the night.

At this point, Zoe didn't know who she should be rooting for, and it was causing her the pain of moral pulling. These guys gave a safe vibe to her, people that were going to keep her safe and out of harm's way. On the other hand, the Extraction Team and the others had been there her entire life; it was the only way of life that she had ever known. Turning her back on them was something that she always daydreamed about, but was it something that she would ever want to go through with? Most likely not. Zoe didn't know anything outside of this and wouldn't know how to relearn how to fit into modern society.

Silent tears finally rolled down her cheeks as she brought the heavy blanket over her head just in case somebody was watching her. The most important thing she was taught was that the moment any weakness or emotions were shown, they would use it to their advantage. All she needs to do now is keep her mouth shut and wait.

Soap let out a yawn as he made his way back towards the tiny nest of bedding that he and Ghost had set up on the uncomfortable, dirty warehouse concrete floor. To say it's been a long day was an understatement; he was ready to curl up and get a couple of hours to sleep. Although, he knew that half of the night, he would have to somehow coax Simon to get some sleep rather than staying up all night on guard. They spent almost two hours out and about the woods planting traps because they didn't want to take turns staying up.

"You too," Johnny said through another yawn, jabbing a finger against Simon's forehead, who only gave him a puzzled look from underneath the mask. Johnny knew Simon well enough by now that he knew what face he was making even though he was still wearing that stupid mask.

"Not a chance," Simon replied, lightly pushing Johnny's hand away.

Great. He was still on edge.

Johnny let out a groan, plopping down next to him on the bundle of blankets.

"C'mon…" Johnny practically whined. "Take off that mask and put on your nighttime mask." Simon glared at him. "A joke, Simon. It's just a joke."

Simon huffed, picking at the thread on the blanket much as Zoe had when she was frustrated with them and didn't want to talk. Johnny could tell that's where he was headed. He understood that Simon didn't like this situation and had a bad feeling about it. Still, there wasn't anything he could do about it. Captain's orders and all.

"She's a kid," Johnny reminded him, only to get a hum in response. Which either meant he was too far into his own thoughts and way that he wasn't willing to listen to anything that Johnny had to say, or he was beginning to close himself off. "Hey…" Johnny poked Simon's shoulder, the indicator that he was about to make physical contact with him; if Simon didn't pull away, that meant that Johnny was good to go. He wrapped his arms around Simon's shoulders, bringing him in closer as a way to prevent him from shutting down. "Everything'll be fine."

"You say that." Simon pushed himself up, breaking free of Johnny's grasp. He grabbed the rifle that was resting up against a metal chair, clutching it tightly. "I'm doing a walk," he announced to whoever may still be awake.

"For fuck's sake, Simon. Get some rest, would ya?" The exhaustion that washed over Johnny was taking hold, as he didn't typically vocalise whenever he was getting frustrated with his partner, but he couldn't help it.

And as much as Simon wanted to do precisely that, the pit in his stomach wasn't going to let him. He had a sense of dread that stuck with him for almost fifteenth minutes, and he couldn't shake it off. Simon wasn't somebody who had normal anxiety; adrenaline, for sure, but not fear. Something was triggering his adrenaline, and he wouldn't be able to rest until he figured it out.

"She brought up the government finding us!" Simon raised his voice angrily.

"Oh, my god…" Johnny buried his face into his hands, rubbing his tired eyes. He didn't know what he could say to put him at ease whenever he got like this. Johnny understood that Simon had his own way of doing things, especially with his trauma that manipulated what he needed to do to feel safe. With that in mind, Johnny knew that there was little he could actually do for him at this moment. "We got traps, remember? Surely that'll be enough."

The heavy silence between them was deafening, staring at each other and waiting for the other to say something. The unfortunate thing about Johnny and Simon is that they could both be incredibly stubborn, waiting for the other to break.

Just as Johnny was about to open his mouth to break the silence, the smash of glass did it for him. Simon whipped around quickly, holding his rifle up in prep over whatever had made that noise. He saw the broken window from the second floor but moved his attention to the cling clank that landed on the floor only feet away from where he and Soap were standing.

Ghost slowly moved forward, flickering on the light attachment from his rifle.

…

…

…

"Flashbang!"