The Secret War: Terrible Truth

Chapter 4 of my crossover story, enjoy.

Reviews:

Boris Yeltsin: Strange, nothing at this camp hinted at anything to do with the Agency and everything to do with the US government.
Wolfgirl2013: Yeah :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Last of Us, Metal Gear or its characters.

A New Horror

Making her way back into the camp, Abby was tense, she knew Joel was right about the guards being more alert and already she was taking cover, listening to two ahead of her, on the edge of the prison area.

"Intruders, you're sure?" One queried.

"How else could we all have been knocked out." The other replied. "They even removed one of the prisoners, the girl that was due for execution."

"Why would they take her, more to the point, they used non-lethal force on is, that doesn't make sense." The first continued.

"Don't ask questions, just use this mistake to our advantage." The second told him. "C'mon, we need to sweep the area."

Abby leaned out and watched as the guards began running to the other side of the prison area, giving her a chance to move. She was somewhat amused that what she had accomplished single-handed was being attributed to a team of intruders, when it was just her.

She finally stopped, hidden by crates as she analysed the area ahead of her. She was now in sight of the maintenance building and the final AA gun. Four guards were patrolling the area however while aside from the crates, only another set of crates and a few patches of tall grass provided cover.

'Joel was right about my earlier actions being costly...just not in the way he thinks.' Abby mused. 'I only have a few tranquilliser darts left, also the silencer on the gun is going to wear out soon. I'll have to be extra careful from now on.'

So she stopped and continued to analyse the situation, memorising patrol routes and trying to figure out a plan. Finally she formulated her plan, she knew what she had to do.

So when no one else could see, she slipped over to the second pile of crates. When the guard returned Abby pulled him behind the crates and choked him out. Once he was out cold she set him down, out of sight. She then took his rifle and waited for the other guard to approach, acting quickly she clubbed him down with it, again knocking him out and pulling him into the shadows. She paused to watch and wait for her moment then took it, moving to the patch of tall grass and taking cover, she let out a low whistle, enough to draw the attention of the third guard and waited for his approach. She sprang up and pulled him down into the grass before again choking him out. One guard left and only one way to handle. She took aim and fired, the dart hit home and he fell to the ground in an unconscious heap. She hurried over and pulled him into the other patch of tall grass before setting the C4 charge on the last AA gun, now the guards were out of harms way.

Mentally preparing herself for whatever she may find, Abby finally approached and opened the door to the maintenance shed, slipping inside. The building was full of machines, generators and tools as expected, but what immediately caught Abby's eye was another door. Seeing no other means of entering such a room, she was sure this was the way to the boiler room. Creeping over she opened it and began to cautiously descend the stairs. Sure enough she was in the boiler and she gasped in horror for she almost immediately found Lev. The poor boy showed obvious signs of his recent torture, wounds that were still not healed. His hair, which had begun to grow back, had been shaved again and he knelt on the floor in an orange version of the prison uniform, his arms spread out to his sides and chained, trapping him in this position as his head slumped, only the slight rise and fall of his chest showed he was still alive.

As Abby drew closer however she saw the most disgusting part of the torture, especially with what she knew about Lev. There was an ominous and sickening circle of blood on the crotch of Lev's prisoner attire. Abby had to fight back the bile that threatened to overcome her.

'Those...sick bastards.'

Doing her best to stay calm Abby reached out Lev, gently lifting his head, cupping his face tenderly. Lev's eyelids fluttered then a small gasp escaped him.

"A-Abby, you...what are you doing here, you-" He choked out, then noting, like Yara, Abby's attire. "This isn't a real mission."

"No, Joel and I are doing this ourselves, along with a pilot who owes Joel a favour." She said softly. "Now c'mon, lets get you down so we can get out of here."

Lev let out a slow breath, seeming to revive somewhat at that while Abby worked on freeing his arms from the restraints.

But Lev was still weakened and would have collapsed completely had Abby not caught him.

"I, they...they..." He choked out, tears springing to his eyes. "The, the one in charge, the one who tortured me, did this...kept, kept calling me..."

Abby said nothing and just held Lev, trying to comfort him. She knew exactly what sort of bigoted things such a sadistic monster would have said. In Lev's current state, even something like the wrong pronoun would have a drastic effect.

"It's okay Lev, it's okay, it's over now." Abby said softly, still hugging Lev. "I'm gonna get you outta here, we'll get your injuries treated and I'm gonna keep hounding the Agency until they give you that surgery they promised."

Lev sniffled but managed a smile, finally finding the strength to return Abby's hug.

Finally, Lev found the strength to speak again.

"Yara, they said, is she...?"

"She's still alive." Abby confirmed. "I rescued her and she's in a safe place by the extraction zone."

"Good, good." Lev breathed, looking up at Abby, eyes shining with tears. "They said she'd be executed at dawn, they'd make me watch...then do the same to me. Just as a final torment, show her that her plan to try and save me from the pain hadn't worked."

Abby sighed. "You knew about that then?"

"He told he, told me while holding the gun to my head before pointing it away at the last second and firing." Lev admitted with a shudder.

Abby bowed her head, despairing over the fact she hadn't been quick enough to spare either of them the torment they had endured.

Still she took solace in the fact it was over now.

"Don't worry Lev, that's no longer going to happen, now let's get you out of here." She told him reassuringly. "I'll take you to Yara then we can escape this hole."

Lev brightened at that. "Right. Only..."

Abby nodded, knowing what Lev was going to say, Lev was still too weak to walk after all, but she already thought of that. Taking care not to jostle him too much due to his injuries, Abby hoisted Lev up over her shoulders and stood up.

"Alright, you okay?"

Lev nodded, holding on. "Yeah, I'm okay, I can take it."

Abby smiled softly. "Just a little longer."

With that she made her way to the stairs to head out of the boiler room. It was time to end this nightmare, time to finally escape this hell on earth.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.