As the wind blew gently against his face, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. Each passing moment his friends could be getting tortured, and since by now it'd been close to 40 hours since they disappeared and each passing moment made him twice as anxious as he'd been before. Despite how all the seats were filled, the truck felt empty to him, being devoid of the friendly chatter he was used to whenever he went somewhere in a vehicle.
Eventually he felt the truck slow to a stop, shaking him from his thoughts as he was brought back to reality. He looked back out of the window to see them stopped in a warehouse zone that appeared abandoned.
"Alright, base number one, we've arrived," Paul stated from the front seat, leaning his arm on the steering wheel as he turned to look behind him. He nodded before looking at Matt, seeing how nervous he himself appeared. Everyone clambered out of the truck, him standing next to Matt as he took in the view around them. The place was run down, nature reclaiming the land as weeds, bushes, vines and trees masking a lot of the warehouses around the area. It looks like a mini jungle in the making, but it smelt awful, as if dead bodies were scattered all over the place.
"Alright, I have the disrupter, you got your toffee?" Pat walked up to him, which he turned to him. He fumbled in his pocket before pulling out the green wrapped candy piece while nodding.
"Good, we're all set then, follow us and do not stray away or go ahead, alright?" Paul directed.
"Yeah, we got it," Edd replied, Matt nodding behind him. They followed the two older men for what felt like forever before they paused, Paul and Patryck exchanging a few words in their native languages before turning to the two British men. Edd recognized the silent look on their faces, questioning if he was ready to do his part. He swallowed, trying to push his anxieties away as he nodded, clasping the candy in his hand. Paul bent down in front of himself, planting the disruptor on the floor before starting to activate it. It looked like some mini rocket with a solar panel radar on it, which looked kind of funny. He then stopped as a beeping sound came from the device, Paul grinning before standing up, giving Edd a thumbs up. He unwrapped the toffee piece from the wrapping, the candy glowing a bright green in contrast to its caramel color, before shoving it into his mouth.
If not for the radiation he'd probably have let the toffee simmer in his mouth for a bit, but the taste accompanying the toxic infusion made it so he had to put his fist over his mouth to prevent himself from spitting it out instantly. He forced himself to swallow before spitting on the ground, shaking his head.
"Eugh, forgot about how awful radiation tastes.." He complained, getting a look of confusion from Paul and Pat.
"Radiation has a taste..?" Pat inquired.
"Unfortunately," Edd replied, before his body went numb. He felt a wave of dizziness hit him for a brief second before fading away, taking the numbness with it. He blinked a few times to readjust, immediately noticing the green tinge at the corners of his vision. He then noticed the look he was receiving, Matt of reassurance while the others of surprise.
"That.. was weird.." Paul muttered.
"Huh..?" Edd tilted his own head in confusion, Paul shaking his head.
"N-nevermind," Edd gave Matt a look of confusion. He returned it with a blank stare before laughing.
"Oh! Right, that weird glowy thing you do. Totally forgot that was something not normal to them," Edd facepalmed at that with his own giggle.
"Oh, yeah.. forgot about that too," He mused, before looking around.
"Which one..?" Pat immediately pointed ahead, towards a rusty red warehouse half falling apart.
"That one, it looks rusty and old but inside of it looks like a sci-fi movie, I guarantee you," Edd nodded at this, stepping next to the disruptor before taking a deep breath. He looked at the warehouse with a hard stare, focusing himself. In an instant colors and shapes faded away as his X-Ray activated, allowing him to see within the old structure. He let a smirk pull at his mouth before scanning what he could see, examining the upper levels before looking towards the ground for the other ones Paul had originally mentioned.
After a few minutes of searching he felt his shoulders sag with a frustrated sigh, letting his X-Ray fade away as he looked at the others.
"No good, there's barely anyone even inside let alone down in the lower areas," He stated, getting a grumble out of Paul while Matt deflated.
"Alright, we'll try zone 3 next since it's the closer one, and then from there we'll do zone 2 if we come up empty in zone 3," He made sure everyone was behind the disruptor before turning it off, removing it from the ground before hoisting it under his arm, heading back to the truck with the others.
Zone 3 had come up dry to him much like zone 1 had, which had been both frustrating and relieving to him. On one hand he hadn't found Tom or Tord yet, but on the other hand it meant he was that much closer to finding them. Despite how accustomed his body was to radiation at this point he still felt a little sick from how much he'd been straining his vision for this, which has caused him to snap at Matt in a way he didn't want, apologizing immediately after.
Zone 2 was their last stop, Pat assuring a jittery Matt while Paul set up the disruptor for the last time that trip. It was a miracle they hadn't encountered anyone but themselves, yet Edd felt off about such. He couldn't help feeling like the bases were too reliant on their security systems so easily defeated by a simple signal blocker like the one they were using, and he honestly expected a militia would have guards posted around the bases.. it probably wouldn't matter too much until they performed a rescue mission anyways, but it would be helpful to note their posts at least…
As they finalized the last disruptor, he felt his gut twist in fear. Fear of what, he had no idea. As soon as he was given the ok he started to examine the building they stood by, an abandoned university off the side of a small town. He could see it had a lot of people within, whether soldiers, associates or other he wasn't too sure due to how far he was from some. He scanned each floor carefully, doing his best to spot the features he could to try and identify. The more he searched the more hope faded from him, each person he examined having no features he could recognize through his X-Ray.
Just as he was about to give up, something caught his eye. He squinted to try and make it out,desperate in his attempts. He felt his heart skip a beat as he finally managed to examine the features he could see, two familiar horn-like protrustions just barely noticeable with the outlines he was provided with his ability. He let out a tiny gasp as he noticed, catching the attention of the others.
"Spot one of them??" Matt asked. Edd quickly nodded with a smile.
"I think I see Tord, I-I'm not sure about Tom though, and I can't really tell what he's doing based on the position he's in.." Matt let out a squeak at this, Pat and Paul shooting hopeful glances at each other. He kept frantically searching, his hope sparking anew as he kept note where he'd spotted the Norwegian. After a few more minutes he was able to make out a familiar pattern of spiked up hair, the person seemingly sitting with their back against the wall.
"I think… I think I see Tom..! I can see what he's doing more clearly though, he's sitting down against a wall," He immediately turned his X-Ray off to look at the others, Paul nodding at this information as he scribbled onto his notepad.
"Alright, so we're unsure with Tord but based by that Tom is definitely in a holding cell of sorts," Paul then bore a wide grin, relief overcoming the anxiety he'd worn before.
"Good to know our assumptions were correct at least, that they'd be held in one of the three bases," Pat nodded at this while Matt rocked on his heels, looking antsy.
"Well then what are we waiting for?! We need to rescue them, and you said we were going to do that at the apartments," He stated, Paul nodding at this.
"I agree with the impatience, it's better we get this out of the way ASAP lest-" He then paused, his body tensing as his head snapped around, alarm crossing Pat's face at the motion.
"What-" He began, Paul instantly putting a finger to his mouth to silence him as he scanned around the group, eyes narrowed. Edd and Matt gave each other anxious looks before Paul spoke up.
"Who's there," He demanded, glaring around the area behind them. It took a moment of silence before the group noticed two figures step out from behind a clump of trees. One was dressed in a blue trenchcoat coupled with red undercuffs to what could be seen as a red long sleeve. He wore a pin with the same horned symbol as the one they'd found at the apartment, but the spiky blonde hair he sported made him much more distinctive from the other. He has tanned skin like Patryck, but an aviator hat hid his hair. He wore a blue unbuttoned overcoat with a brown aviator jacket soorted underneath, the fluff around the hood pulled out to rest on tip of the overcoat. He also wore a pin like the blonde, and was prominently taller by at least 4 inches. It appeared upon them revealing themselves Paul and Patryck immediately recognized them, only both had very different reactions.
"Y-Yuu..? Yanov?? W-what- what are you doing over here..?" Pat stuttered, looking nervous and confused. Paul however was glaring at them in disdain. Edd and Matt took their own steps back, Edd feeling dread well up. Either they were about to get busted, or worse…
"C-calm, Paul.. uh, we knew you guys would be coming.." Yuu muttered, British accent thick with anxiety.
"Mm, come to get your hands on us first so you can brag about how good you are?" He retorted. Jeez, Paul didn't like this guy at all. Actually… didn't Pat call one of them Yuu? Wasn't that a name Paul mentioned…? Oh, yes, when he was talking about that military camp! Paul hated talking about that guy.. yikes...
"No, Paul. We… we actually want to help you and Patryck," The other said, Russian accent slurring some of the pronunciations. Paul raised a brow, clearly not buying it while Pat cleared his throat, his own weariness having overcome his original surprise.
"What do you mean? And why would you even want to help us know what happened when we left..?" Both of the men looked at each other before the Russian steadily approached them.
"Look, Crims- er, Tord gave us a chance to do something when neither of us had the option from others, and despite how… unorderly the both of us can be we still respect him and his wishes unlike every other moron in this group," He paused when he saw Paul reach towards his belt, stopping his own approach with a sigh.
"Once it's found out we won't be welcome anyways," He pulled out a stack of papers from his overcoat before holding them out for the group. Pat and Paul exchanged weary glances before Pat nodded, approaching to take the papers from him cautiously. He flipped through a few of them before scoffing in disbelief.
"You fucking stole documents from Dr. Bonfire?? Have you lost your minds??" He looked at the two men in pure shock. The Russian- Yanov shrugged sheepishly before scratching the back of his neck.
"Well, it was Yuu's idea, I just kinda tagged along for support but… you see why we'd rather not face hostility from you guys..?" He sounded fearfully questioning, which got a grumble from Pat. He walked back over to Paul to show him the papers, Paul himself looking confused before narrowing his eyes at the two men.
"So you want to continue being loyal to Tord? What's so wrong with Nightshot as the new leader?" He sounded almost accusing.
"Oh, where would we even begin with that.." Yanov muttered, face sour. Yuu also looked displeased.
"For starters, The Red Army is now, on Nightshot's orders, based on a Communist Dictatorship meant to benefit us only, whereas the boss wanted a Communist rule with properties of socialism and prosperity for everyone, not including the army," Yanov grumbled.
"Now everyone is an unsophisticated prick and only care about the share they'll receive once we enter the age of a 'Utopian Kingdom' as he's branded it as," Yuu rolled his eyes behind Yanov before speaking up.
"We joined the army based on Crimson- Tord's belief of ruling under one leader to benefit the world as a whole, so seeing that we now serve a selfish dictator has made us distasteful of the legacy he's trying to lead to cover up our original purpose. Everyone else with our views have already abandoned the army themselves, we're the only ones left Tord trusted that shared his opinions and beliefs, everyone else was like Dr. Bonfire or was hired by Nightshot to replace the ones that left," He finished, mocking as much about the topic as he could. Edd pondered on some of the information. Despite not knowing either of these men he could sense how much they hated the environment they were in, and could tell there wasn't a hint of a lie in what they said. Paul and Patryck were silently whispering to themselves, clearly trying to debate whether or not it was true.
"Hey, Edd?" Matt whispered next to him. Edd looked up at him with a raised brow.
"What's up?"
"I feel like we should trust them… the help would be useful trying to get Tom and Tord back, and… they sound REALLY unhappy with whatever the army is doing.." Edd nodded at this, understanding Matt's point.
"Yeah, I agree.. they are suspicious but they don't seem to be lying at all.." Edd then looked towards the other two before clearing his throat.
"I say we trust them with this," Paul immediately stood up straight and looked at him, confusion riddling his face.
"Before you say anything, I can tell neither of them are happy being associated with the Red Army right now, and it wouldn't take a genius to agree to that. The four of us alone also is a higher risk when it comes to a rescue plan. More people means more resources and opportunities to try and get them both out alive, and preferably uninjured," Matt hummed in agreement beside him. Paul narrowed his eyes before muttering under his breath, but Pat seemed to consider it before nodding.
"I suppose… it couldn't hurt.." Paul glanced at him from the side, Pat sighing.
"We can make sure they have no way to contact the army, remove all the equipment, that stuff. Edd has a point though Paul," He gave the shorter man a hard stare before sighing.
"... Fine, we'll bring them along to help." Paul grumbled hesitantly. Yuu and Yanov exchanged relieved glances before Yanov ushered the group over.
"We'll let you go through our stuff to check for trackers and the like, we don't mind. You also don't have to worry about transport since we're just using Yuu's car.. we were actually going to leave just now to find the two of you.. I guess it's convenient you guys came here…?" His voice then faded to confusion.
"Why are you guys even here? I don't deny it and say you have the right base but.." Pat winced before waving a hand.
"Don't worry about it, let's just make sure you guys can be trusted to a degree before we go further with this," He then walked over to the two to follow them to their vehicle. Paul appeared to be cursing under his breath, moving to disable the disruptor while Edd and Matt hesitantly followed after Pat and the other men.