Chapter 60 - Hope and Despair
By Cille
The crisis of the ninja was over, but the tumultuous aftermath was just beginning.
The men who came to check out the incident in the mech workshop had found Larry still clinging to life out in the hallway, and had rushed both him and Walter to the infirmary as quickly and carefully as they could.
While Walter remained in a deep coma, Larry had immediately gone into surgery. The good news was that it had been a relatively simple matter to sew up the gash in his back and give him a blood transfusion. The bad news was having to tell him what had happened after he woke up.
Solomon came in to see him in the morning as Tenma was checking him out.
"Looks like you pulled through all right," Solomon said, as encouragingly as he could.
Larry just nodded, looking like he was still feeling traumatized by his encounter with the assassin.
"What do you say, doctor?" Solomon asked.
"It was fortunate that he made it here when he did," Tenma said. "But now that he's been treated, he'll be fine with some time to recover."
"What happened to Walter?" Larry murmured. "He said he was going to come back..."
"Walter's doing... okay," Solomon said, glancing at Tenma. "He fought with the ninja and managed to kill him. He's unconscious right now, but he survived."
Larry closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that."
Solomon looked grim, but he knew that he couldn't hold back the rest of the news. "I have to tell you something else, though. You won't like to hear it, but you need to know."
Larry opened his eyes and looked at Solomon with trepidation.
Solomon took a deep breath. "That ninja killed six people before Walter stopped him. One of them... was Winry."
Larry looked stunned, and tears appeared in his eyes. "I was hoping... I knew he was heading that way, but I really hoped he wouldn't..."
"From what we can gather, Walter got to the workshop just a minute too late to save her," Solomon continued. "But that was where he took the intruder down. It's sad to say it, but we're fortunate there weren't more victims."
Larry nodded numbly. "I can't believe it... I should have been there..."
"What do you mean?" Tenma asked gently.
Larry sniffled. "We were both working in the lab last night. She asked me to look at some of her new designs so I stayed late with her. I was there with her until like two minutes before it all happened. The only reason I wasn't there was because I had to go to the bathroom. If I hadn't gone, then maybe..."
Solomon shook his head. "You couldn't have saved her. If you'd tried to stand up to him, he would have killed you too. Running away was the only thing that saved you. That, and the fact that you got incredibly lucky."
Larry didn't seem too consoled by the thought.
"I know it's hard when we lose friends," Tenma said, trying to be comforting.
"No, you don't understand. She wasn't just..." Larry seemed conflicted about how much to say, and then just started talking. "She was the only girl I've ever met who thought what I did was cool. She actually liked hearing about all my stupid nerdy science stuff. She even listened to me when I made suggestions and had ideas. Nobody's ever listened to my ideas before. I kinda thought... And now... she's gone..."
He couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and stopped caring about seeming tough. Solomon found himself tearing up too, and Tenma looked down sympathetically.
"I'll do my best to take care of you," Tenma said steadfastly. "Once you've recovered, you can get back to working on your ideas. I'm sure that's what she would want for you."
Larry nodded at him through his tears, and then started bawling again. Tenma looked discreetly at Solomon, who nodded back, and the two of them excused themselves to give Larry some privacy to grieve.
As they left Larry's room, Solomon quietly asked, "What about Walter? What's his prognosis?"
Tenma scratched his head. "It's a very strange thing. X-rays show no broken bones, there's no major bruising, no damage to his internal organs, in truth, no actual physical trauma aside from a few very minor abrasions... but it's like his body just collapsed from some kind of incredible strain. He's about as stable as he can be, but it's like his body and his mind are fighting just to keep from giving up."
Solomon looked thoughtful. "That's incredible. I've heard of Soul Reapers being able to overwhelm others with the strength of their spiritual pressure. And the Uchiha clan was well-known for their formidable chakra. Is it possible that Walter went through something like that and survived?"
"You'd know more about that kind of thing than I would," Tenma replied. "All I can do is try to keep his body as stable as possible. Kaia and Scheris have been using their powers on him, and that seems to be helping, but I have the feeling it'll be entirely up to him and his own willpower whether he comes around again."
Roxie and Hikki came up to them in the hall. Roxie was looking more worried than usual. "How is he?" she asked.
"He didn't take the news about Winry too well, but as far as his own injuries, he'll be okay," Solomon answered.
Roxie nodded and wiped away some tears of her own. She'd been friends with Winry since the two of them were coworkers in the city morgue, and they'd remained close since Winry's induction into the Order of Glass.
Hikki patted her shoulder. He'd been as freaked out as anyone when he found out about the attack, but he was doing his best to stay calm. Somehow being able to comfort his friends helped distract him from thinking about how they all could have been murdered in their sleep. And he sure wasn't about to let anyone leave him alone while there might be scary things lurking in the shadows.
Roxie took a deep breath. "I'll be okay. It's not the first person we've lost. I just thought we were done with people dying."
"We're sure zat zere ees nobody else een ze base, right?" Hikki asked Solomon.
"We've had people scouring every corner of the place. If there's anybody else in here, he's doing a damn good job of hiding."
"We are talking about ninjas," Roxie pointed out. "They are pretty good at hiding."
Solomon chuckled. "Well true. But trust me, our people know what they're doing. They had the whole bunker staked out within a few hours of Walter's call to the workout room. I'm pretty confident that there's nobody else here."
Roxie still seemed unsettled. "I guess I'm just nervous because of the baby."
"Zere's a baby?" Hikki asked, confused.
Roxie and Solomon exchanged glances.
"Roxie is pregnant," Solomon explained.
"Pregnant?" Hikki exclaimed.
Roxie nodded. "I found out right before we came out here. I wasn't about to let it get in the way of helping with our mission, so I kept it a secret. I thought it wouldn't make a difference. But the longer all of this has gone on, the more nervous I've gotten about keeping my child safe. I kind of hate being so jittery, but I guess that's maternal instinct kicking in."
"Mon dieu... eef you have to geev birth here..." Hikki groaned, dreading even imagining it.
"We'll be long gone before then," Solomon said. "She's got about another five months to go."
Hikki almost pointed out that they'd run out of food well before then too, but he kept the thought to himself for Roxie's sake.
"You are working on an escape plan, right, Hikki?" Roxie asked, looking at him expectantly.
"Well, yes, I'm sure we'll have someseeng worked out soon," Hikki said, realizing once again that he really had no clue what Cille and the others were planning. "Eet weel all depend on when ze eenjured pepole are ready to leave, of course."
"I was thinking we'll need to call the council together to take stock of things," Solomon said. "People are going to be panicking and I think this is going to be a big wake-up call. We've been taking it easy for almost a month, but we really do need to figure out how we're going to get out of here."
"Okay, we'll meet later zees morning," Hikki agreed. "Spread ze word to whomever you want to be zere."
"Will do." Solomon turned to his wife. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, concerned.
"I'll pull it together," Roxie answered. "Once we get into our rounds, I'll be concentrating too much on work to worry about myself."
"Keep an eye on her, Hikki," Solomon said as he turned to go. "If she starts working too hard, you have my permission to tie her to a chair to rest."
"Um... okay," Hikki said uncertainly. Roxie just laughed and shook her head.
"It's probably about time for another checkup, when you feel up to it," Tenma said to her. "It's been a few weeks since the last one."
"You knew about zees?" Hikki asked.
Tenma smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm a poor excuse for an OB/GYN, but I guess Roxie felt it was worth confiding in me to have me looking after her."
"Better a real doctor than anybody else in this base," Roxie said. "And you can keep a secret, which I appreciate."
Tenma looked modest, and Hikki had one more thing to add to his list of reasons to admire the doctor.
**********
Cille had been awake for hours, having been notified about the attack immediately after it happened. She had done her best to work with Solomon and the Glass crew to coordinate their search of the bunker without causing too much of a stir for everyone who was still sleeping.
Things were under control in the base now, although hell was almost certain to break loose once people started waking up and the news started getting around. Cille knew she should be planning ahead to try to keep the panic and rumor-spreading to a minimum, but there was only one thing she could think about right now.
Cougar hadn't come back.
Cille sat in the control room glued to the monitor, waiting for the telltale alarm that would signal his return. But as the hours stretched on, the monitor was silent, leaving Cille's mind to replay that last awful argument they'd had over and over.
Eric sat beside her, hoping his presence would provide some moral support to his worried friend.
At his computer, Aoi was cracking into any outside communication he could get his virtual hands on, looking for any discussion of Itachi's break-in. It was difficult with all of the jamming and encryption the army was using, but from what he could tell, it seemed thus far that things were pretty quiet in the army ranks.
Kamina ran in breathlessly. "I made it down there to the hatch and took a look around," he announced.
Cille rose from her seat. "And?"
"There's nothing out there. At least nothing I could see."
"Did you go outside to look?" Cille asked.
"Nah, thought about it, but I remember what happened last time someone tried that," Kamina said soberly. "I just used the video."
Cille furrowed her brow, but nodded. "That was probably smart. At least we know the coast is pretty much clear out there."
"As far as we can see," Eric said. "I've been thinking, though... given the fact that that ninja probably used the hatch to get in here, we should probably change the access code and seal it up."
Cille looked at him with surprise.
"You know, I was thinking the same thing," Kamina agreed. "Better safe than sorry."
"You can't seal up that door," Cille insisted. "Cougar's still out there. When he gets back, that's the only way he can get back in here."
"Yeah, well..." Kamina looked at Eric, who was looking similarly grim. They had both had the obvious thought, but neither one of them really wanted to be the one to say it out loud to Cille.
"I hate to say this, but..." Kamina continued with a sigh. "You have to consider the possibility that when Cougar left last night, he went straight into the waiting arms of Ozzal's army."
Cille started. "...What?"
"If they already knew about that door, they would have been out there waiting in the bushes. Hell, when he left was probably when that ninja slipped in here."
"Well..." Cille's mind was working frantically, still not wanting to believe that this could be possible. "Even if that's so, that doesn't mean he was captured. He could be just waiting for the coast to be clear so he can get back in."
"If the army's doing their job, the coast won't be clear. He's not an idiot, he wouldn't try to get back here if it's not safe," Eric said. "And if they did grab him, we need to get this code changed in case they get it out of him."
"He would never give up information like that," Cille said resolutely. "He's not that weak."
"You don't have to get defensive," Kamina said. "We're not trying to smack-talk Cougar. We're talking about protecting everyone here. No matter how you look at it, we've been compromised. We need to make sure no one else who wants to kill us can ever get in here again."
Cille was at a loss for words. Aoi looked uncertainly between her and Eric, not sure what he should do about the code without Cille's approval.
This can't be happening, Cille thought. He was going to be careful...
But it had been nearly eight hours since he'd left the base, and if all was well he should have been back long before now. Emotionally, she didn't want to give up on him, but tactically, she knew what had to be done.
"Change the code," she murmured.
She closed her eyes in defeat as Aoi started tapping at his keys. She tried not to imagine Cougar trapped outside, but the mere thought of it made her start tearing up.
Eric put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It'll be all right. This is the right thing to do. And Cougar can take care of himself."
Cille nodded glumly.
"We need to have someone stationed down there to open the door for him when he comes back," she said quietly but resolutely. "And Aoi, the moment you catch even a whisper about anyone being captured, you let me know immediately."
"Why don't you let us take care of that," Eric suggested. "Go get some rest for a few hours. We'll come get you if anything happens."
Just then Solomon arrived. "Ah, good, I was hoping I'd find you here," he said. "Hikki's calling a meeting at ten o'clock to do some damage control. We'll convene up here if that's okay with you."
"It's fine," Cille said, still preoccupied.
"That'll give you some time to rest," Eric said. "You can come back here when it's time for the meeting."
Cille didn't protest, and tried not to let her weary mind think too much as she went slowly to her room.
**********
As expected, word of the attack spread like wildfire as the morning continued. And with it, the anxious murmurs took on a new panicked tone.
"Holy crap, a ninja broke in here? I thought we were supposed to be safe as long as we stayed inside the bunker."
"They had to seal up our last escape hatch. Now there's no way out."
"You know Cougar never got back last night? If even he couldn't get away from the military, we're all super screwed."
"It doesn't matter whether the military gets us or not, we're just going to starve in here."
The more level-headed among them tried to maintain some semblance of calm, but there was no denying that the ninja's failed mission had still succeeded in instilling a new sense of fear into the rebels.
**********
Just after 10:00, the group of tired and grim-faced rebel leaders had assembled in the command room. Cille, Hikki, Clarice, Mustang, Kamina, Foley, Lloyd, Roxie, Solomon, Eric, and Raef sat in a circle around the table that held Cille's maps and books.
They had all been briefed on the events of the previous night, the identities of the slain, and the status of the injured. Next came the quartermaster's update on the contents of the stock room.
Foley flipped through the pages on his clipboard. "Thanks to Cougar's efforts, our food reserves have been augmented quite a bit." He glanced at Cille, who was trying to remain stoic. "If we needed to, we could still survive in here for at least three more months. Of course there was that little incident with the alcohol, but Kittan has graciously arranged guards for the storage room since then."
"Do we have any idea who deed zat?" Hikki asked.
"I took care of it," Mustang said. "Wasn't able to recover everything since the damn pirates had drunk most of it already, but I gave them a good thrashing as punishment."
"Oh? Who was it, then?" Kamina asked.
"I just said, it was the pirates," Mustang reiterated. "That green-haired swordsman and the zombie robot guy."
"Captain Yemman, I should have known..." Clarice groaned.
"Well even if we technically can stay in here for months, that doesn't mean we should," Cille commented. "People are already worried about what's going to happen to us, and now they're freaking out even more thinking that we're not safe."
"We are safe now, aren't we?" Hikki asked. "Now zat ze codes have all been changed?"
"You'd think so, but that won't stop people from fearing the worst," Cille said. "The longer we have to stay in here, the more unrest there's likely to be."
"I have to agree," Solomon said. "I've been observing the same thing. And there are those among us who have special reasons for wanting to reach safety." He and Roxie exchanged understanding glances.
"Okay, so..." Clarice sighed. "If we need to get out of here, how are we going to do it?"
Cille turned to Lloyd. "You guys are getting escape vehicles ready, right? How are those coming?"
Lloyd cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "Well, we've been working on reconstructing a transport mech, but given recent developments, the mech program might as well be considered on-hold."
"What do you mean by that?" Clarice asked.
Lloyd crossed his arms. "If you hadn't noticed, half of my staff just got wiped out by a ninja, and the other quarter has been shirking his duties for a good week. I wish I had better news for you, but if I have to do all of the work by myself from now on, I can't tell you when anything will be actually finished."
"Where is Matrix, anyway?" Cille asked. "He ought to be able to help you get something up and running."
"If you find him, let me know," Lloyd said curtly.
"He's probably wetting himself somewhere," Mustang said sardonically.
"You know, I heard you mention something about going after Professor Matrix the other day," Foley spoke up. "If you don't mind my saying so, I think this may be a good time to set personal rivalries aside for the greater good."
The room was silent and everyone looked at Foley with wide eyes. They'd forgotten that he could remember anything he overheard, and apparently he was also one of the few people with the cojones to call Mustang on his grudges.
Mustang cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked around at the others, who were watching to see how he would react. "Well, under the circumstances, you may be right," he said begrudgingly. "If you think you need him to make this escape plan work, I promise I won't char-broil him."
Foley seemed satisfied with this answer, and looked expectantly at Hikki.
"Okay, zen..." Hikki said, trying to get back on track. "We steel need to find ze professor, zoh..."
"I think I can help with that," Solomon said. "I remember Kirara saying she ran across him while they were searching the base this morning. I'll have her bring him in here."
A short while later Kirara appeared with a skittish-looking Matrix, who looked even more reluctant to come in when he saw Mustang sitting with the group.
"Relax, this is a strict peacekeeping zone," Clarice said. "Personal issues are to be left at the door."
Matrix warily took a seat next to Lloyd, and Kirara sat down next to Solomon. For the rest of the meeting, Mustang shot intimidating glares at Matrix, and he would eventually come to realize that psyching the scientist out might actually be more gratifying than torching his nethers.
In the meantime, though, the group had to get back to the serious business.
"I'll let Lloyd and Matrix work out their plans for the escape transports," Cille said. "I expect they'll want to talk things over and decide how to finish the project."
"That sounds reasonable, now that I'm not completely on my own," Lloyd replied.
"Then the next issue is where we go once we leave the base," Cille continued, spreading out a map on the table. "I've mapped out three potential escape routes to the Comedian border." She pointed to a purple line. "This one is the shortest but it requires crossing a river and going over some rougher terrain. The blue line is a more roundabout route but should be easier going. And the red line is a third option that passes closer to known enemy encampments, but we may have to use it if the other two are blocked for some reason."
"It's like Oregon Trail," Raef said.
"Except actual people could die if we can't ford the river," Kirara added.
"Indeed," Cille said seriously. "This is anything but a game."
Hikki studied the map and then turned to Roxie.
"Eef we need to carry ze eenjured pepole weez us, weel ze reever and heells be a problem?" he asked.
"It would certainly make things more difficult," Roxie answered. "As you know there are still quite a few people laid up in bed. Even more now with Larry and Walter being in bad shape. We've been able to discharge many of the people who were injured during the war, but there are still a lot left. The harder the journey, the worse it will be for them."
"That's what the evacuation mech will be for," Cille pointed out.
"But it won't be able to hold that many people at a time," Solomon said. "It'd have to make return trips, which would get increasingly risky."
"True," Cille acknowledged. "Maybe we should plan to wait another month or two so that more people will be on their feet again."
"If we at least tell people that's what we're planning, hopefully they won't panic too much," Raef suggested.
"We steel need to find a way out of here," Hikki said worriedly. "Weez ze escape hatch closed up..."
"Figuring that out will be your job," Lloyd said. "Please tell me you'll be able to come up with something within a month."
Hikki wasn't sure he liked Lloyd's tone, but he looked at Clarice and Cille uncertainly. They shared his somber demeanor.
"We'll come up with something," Clarice said. "We have to."
"Let's adjourn for now," Solomon suggested. "We all have things to work on. Those who want to brainstorm escape plans can stay to discuss."
The others murmured their agreement, and some of them stood to go while others gathered closer around Cille's maps.
As Matrix was about to bolt for the exit, Kamina stood in his way.
"So uh, hey Prof, I got a question for you," Kamina said.
"Mmm?" Matrix responded warily.
Kamina motioned with his head for the two of them to step aside. They moved to the side of the room, out of earshot of the others.
Kamina leaned against the wall, looking nonchalant and speaking to Matrix out of the corner of his mouth. "So... you got any more of those tentacles around?"
Matrix raised his eyebrows, and did some shifty eyes of his own. "Um... why do you ask?"
"Heh." Kamina crossed his arms. "Well I remember that drawing you showed me, that crazy mech you rigged up."
"Yeah?" Matrix still wasn't sure what he was getting at.
Kamina gave him a sidelong look. "I had kind of a crazy idea. And I think you're the only one here crazy enough to help me pull it off."
Matrix suddenly kind of liked what he was hearing. "What is it?"
"Let's get out of here and discuss it. I still don't know if this is going to work, so I don't want to get anybody excited about it."
Matrix followed him out, wondering if he at least was allowed to get excited about it if it was going to involve tentacles.
**********
Long after the meeting had broken up, as the day stretched into evening, Cille couldn't stop thinking about Cougar. Something about the earlier conversation in the control room had stayed with her the entire day.
"There's nothing out there. At least nothing I could see."
"As far as we can see..."
There hadn't been any enemy soldiers within view of their surveillance camera, but that didn't mean they weren't out there. And as it approached 24 hours with no contact from Cougar, Cille found herself needing to know for sure.
She went to Elian, who had fully recovered from his wartime exertion. Since neither of them really wanted to walk all the way to the escape hatch, Cille enlisted Tres to give them a ride. Using a wagon procured from a storage room, Tres deployed the motorized rollerblades installed in his feet and towed them down the tunnel.
Tres was his usual poker-faced self when he learned about Itachi's attack. Cille thought she sensed a little bit of sadness when she told him about Winry's death, as the android contemplated the automail arm that she had built for him.
At the end of the tunnel, Elian patched into the monitor and cautiously deployed his Alter outside. Just as Kamina had reported, the clearing around the entrance was deserted aside from a few small woodland animals.
"Pan around a wider area," Cille instructed. "See what's in those trees over there."
Cille and Tres both intently scrutinized the small screen as Elian maneuvered his camera around.
"Motion detected," Tres announced suddenly.
Cille wasn't sure if she'd seen something or not. "Move in closer if you can, Elian," she said.
The view zoomed in behind some trees, and then they could all see what Tres had noticed: A small army encampment, cleverly camouflaged just past the tree line. A handful of soldiers lay hunkered down at the edge of the forest, some using binoculars to peer at the escape hatch. Others moved around behind them, relaying messages to and from a tent that presumably served as their control center.
"Oh no..." Cille murmured. She tried to get some sense of how many enemies they were looking at. Suddenly a couple of the soldiers looked directly at them, furrowing their brows and reaching for their guns.
"AAH!" Cille cried, jumping back as if she'd been caught spying. "The camera! Elian, turn it off!"
Elian disintegrated his Alter, and the monitor returned to its passive default view of the empty clearing.
It took a few moments for Cille to calm down from her scare. Then, with no further movement from the enemy and nothing more they could do there, they took another wagon ride back down the tunnel.
Cille had plenty to think about. For one thing, the enemy probably knew they'd been spotted, unless they'd been similarly spooked by the random camera appearing from nowhere. But, all things considered, being caught spying probably wasn't the worst thing they had to deal with.
There was no longer any doubt. They were trapped.
Chapter 60 Author's Notes
Recurring Characters:
Larry Zorin - LAZY17
Kaia Namek - namek_kaia
Roxie Goldsmith - anime_goddess05
Hikki Follet - Kohikki
Lucille "Cille" Compton - Cille
Eric Ominae - OMNI-Enforcer
Clarice Rowe - QueenoftheDorks
Foley S. Goode - Foley_is_Good_149
Raef Compton - Maenos
Captain Yemman - myname
Professor M. Matrix - matrixman124
Kirara Amour - kiraralove
*Itachi Uchiha - Naruto
Walter Dornez - Hellsing
Solomon Goldsmith - Blood+
Kenzou Tenma - Monster
*Winry Rockbell - Fullmetal Alchemist
Scheris Adjani - s-CRY-ed
Straight Cougar - s-CRY-ed
Aoi - Ghost in the Shell
Kamina - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Roy Mustang - Fullmetal Alchemist
Lloyd Asplund - Code Geass
Kittan - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Zoro - One Piece (the green-haired swordsman)
Elian - s-CRY-ed
Tres - Trinity Blood
* Characters marked with an asterisk are mentioned but do not take an active part in the story.
The crisis of the ninja was over, but the tumultuous aftermath was just beginning.
The men who came to check out the incident in the mech workshop had found Larry still clinging to life out in the hallway, and had rushed both him and Walter to the infirmary as quickly and carefully as they could.
While Walter remained in a deep coma, Larry had immediately gone into surgery. The good news was that it had been a relatively simple matter to sew up the gash in his back and give him a blood transfusion. The bad news was having to tell him what had happened after he woke up.
Solomon came in to see him in the morning as Tenma was checking him out.
"Looks like you pulled through all right," Solomon said, as encouragingly as he could.
Larry just nodded, looking like he was still feeling traumatized by his encounter with the assassin.
"What do you say, doctor?" Solomon asked.
"It was fortunate that he made it here when he did," Tenma said. "But now that he's been treated, he'll be fine with some time to recover."
"What happened to Walter?" Larry murmured. "He said he was going to come back..."
"Walter's doing... okay," Solomon said, glancing at Tenma. "He fought with the ninja and managed to kill him. He's unconscious right now, but he survived."
Larry closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that."
Solomon looked grim, but he knew that he couldn't hold back the rest of the news. "I have to tell you something else, though. You won't like to hear it, but you need to know."
Larry opened his eyes and looked at Solomon with trepidation.
Solomon took a deep breath. "That ninja killed six people before Walter stopped him. One of them... was Winry."
Larry looked stunned, and tears appeared in his eyes. "I was hoping... I knew he was heading that way, but I really hoped he wouldn't..."
"From what we can gather, Walter got to the workshop just a minute too late to save her," Solomon continued. "But that was where he took the intruder down. It's sad to say it, but we're fortunate there weren't more victims."
Larry nodded numbly. "I can't believe it... I should have been there..."
"What do you mean?" Tenma asked gently.
Larry sniffled. "We were both working in the lab last night. She asked me to look at some of her new designs so I stayed late with her. I was there with her until like two minutes before it all happened. The only reason I wasn't there was because I had to go to the bathroom. If I hadn't gone, then maybe..."
Solomon shook his head. "You couldn't have saved her. If you'd tried to stand up to him, he would have killed you too. Running away was the only thing that saved you. That, and the fact that you got incredibly lucky."
Larry didn't seem too consoled by the thought.
"I know it's hard when we lose friends," Tenma said, trying to be comforting.
"No, you don't understand. She wasn't just..." Larry seemed conflicted about how much to say, and then just started talking. "She was the only girl I've ever met who thought what I did was cool. She actually liked hearing about all my stupid nerdy science stuff. She even listened to me when I made suggestions and had ideas. Nobody's ever listened to my ideas before. I kinda thought... And now... she's gone..."
He couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and stopped caring about seeming tough. Solomon found himself tearing up too, and Tenma looked down sympathetically.
"I'll do my best to take care of you," Tenma said steadfastly. "Once you've recovered, you can get back to working on your ideas. I'm sure that's what she would want for you."
Larry nodded at him through his tears, and then started bawling again. Tenma looked discreetly at Solomon, who nodded back, and the two of them excused themselves to give Larry some privacy to grieve.
As they left Larry's room, Solomon quietly asked, "What about Walter? What's his prognosis?"
Tenma scratched his head. "It's a very strange thing. X-rays show no broken bones, there's no major bruising, no damage to his internal organs, in truth, no actual physical trauma aside from a few very minor abrasions... but it's like his body just collapsed from some kind of incredible strain. He's about as stable as he can be, but it's like his body and his mind are fighting just to keep from giving up."
Solomon looked thoughtful. "That's incredible. I've heard of Soul Reapers being able to overwhelm others with the strength of their spiritual pressure. And the Uchiha clan was well-known for their formidable chakra. Is it possible that Walter went through something like that and survived?"
"You'd know more about that kind of thing than I would," Tenma replied. "All I can do is try to keep his body as stable as possible. Kaia and Scheris have been using their powers on him, and that seems to be helping, but I have the feeling it'll be entirely up to him and his own willpower whether he comes around again."
Roxie and Hikki came up to them in the hall. Roxie was looking more worried than usual. "How is he?" she asked.
"He didn't take the news about Winry too well, but as far as his own injuries, he'll be okay," Solomon answered.
Roxie nodded and wiped away some tears of her own. She'd been friends with Winry since the two of them were coworkers in the city morgue, and they'd remained close since Winry's induction into the Order of Glass.
Hikki patted her shoulder. He'd been as freaked out as anyone when he found out about the attack, but he was doing his best to stay calm. Somehow being able to comfort his friends helped distract him from thinking about how they all could have been murdered in their sleep. And he sure wasn't about to let anyone leave him alone while there might be scary things lurking in the shadows.
Roxie took a deep breath. "I'll be okay. It's not the first person we've lost. I just thought we were done with people dying."
"We're sure zat zere ees nobody else een ze base, right?" Hikki asked Solomon.
"We've had people scouring every corner of the place. If there's anybody else in here, he's doing a damn good job of hiding."
"We are talking about ninjas," Roxie pointed out. "They are pretty good at hiding."
Solomon chuckled. "Well true. But trust me, our people know what they're doing. They had the whole bunker staked out within a few hours of Walter's call to the workout room. I'm pretty confident that there's nobody else here."
Roxie still seemed unsettled. "I guess I'm just nervous because of the baby."
"Zere's a baby?" Hikki asked, confused.
Roxie and Solomon exchanged glances.
"Roxie is pregnant," Solomon explained.
"Pregnant?" Hikki exclaimed.
Roxie nodded. "I found out right before we came out here. I wasn't about to let it get in the way of helping with our mission, so I kept it a secret. I thought it wouldn't make a difference. But the longer all of this has gone on, the more nervous I've gotten about keeping my child safe. I kind of hate being so jittery, but I guess that's maternal instinct kicking in."
"Mon dieu... eef you have to geev birth here..." Hikki groaned, dreading even imagining it.
"We'll be long gone before then," Solomon said. "She's got about another five months to go."
Hikki almost pointed out that they'd run out of food well before then too, but he kept the thought to himself for Roxie's sake.
"You are working on an escape plan, right, Hikki?" Roxie asked, looking at him expectantly.
"Well, yes, I'm sure we'll have someseeng worked out soon," Hikki said, realizing once again that he really had no clue what Cille and the others were planning. "Eet weel all depend on when ze eenjured pepole are ready to leave, of course."
"I was thinking we'll need to call the council together to take stock of things," Solomon said. "People are going to be panicking and I think this is going to be a big wake-up call. We've been taking it easy for almost a month, but we really do need to figure out how we're going to get out of here."
"Okay, we'll meet later zees morning," Hikki agreed. "Spread ze word to whomever you want to be zere."
"Will do." Solomon turned to his wife. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, concerned.
"I'll pull it together," Roxie answered. "Once we get into our rounds, I'll be concentrating too much on work to worry about myself."
"Keep an eye on her, Hikki," Solomon said as he turned to go. "If she starts working too hard, you have my permission to tie her to a chair to rest."
"Um... okay," Hikki said uncertainly. Roxie just laughed and shook her head.
"It's probably about time for another checkup, when you feel up to it," Tenma said to her. "It's been a few weeks since the last one."
"You knew about zees?" Hikki asked.
Tenma smiled sheepishly. "Well, I'm a poor excuse for an OB/GYN, but I guess Roxie felt it was worth confiding in me to have me looking after her."
"Better a real doctor than anybody else in this base," Roxie said. "And you can keep a secret, which I appreciate."
Tenma looked modest, and Hikki had one more thing to add to his list of reasons to admire the doctor.
**********
Cille had been awake for hours, having been notified about the attack immediately after it happened. She had done her best to work with Solomon and the Glass crew to coordinate their search of the bunker without causing too much of a stir for everyone who was still sleeping.
Things were under control in the base now, although hell was almost certain to break loose once people started waking up and the news started getting around. Cille knew she should be planning ahead to try to keep the panic and rumor-spreading to a minimum, but there was only one thing she could think about right now.
Cougar hadn't come back.
Cille sat in the control room glued to the monitor, waiting for the telltale alarm that would signal his return. But as the hours stretched on, the monitor was silent, leaving Cille's mind to replay that last awful argument they'd had over and over.
Eric sat beside her, hoping his presence would provide some moral support to his worried friend.
At his computer, Aoi was cracking into any outside communication he could get his virtual hands on, looking for any discussion of Itachi's break-in. It was difficult with all of the jamming and encryption the army was using, but from what he could tell, it seemed thus far that things were pretty quiet in the army ranks.
Kamina ran in breathlessly. "I made it down there to the hatch and took a look around," he announced.
Cille rose from her seat. "And?"
"There's nothing out there. At least nothing I could see."
"Did you go outside to look?" Cille asked.
"Nah, thought about it, but I remember what happened last time someone tried that," Kamina said soberly. "I just used the video."
Cille furrowed her brow, but nodded. "That was probably smart. At least we know the coast is pretty much clear out there."
"As far as we can see," Eric said. "I've been thinking, though... given the fact that that ninja probably used the hatch to get in here, we should probably change the access code and seal it up."
Cille looked at him with surprise.
"You know, I was thinking the same thing," Kamina agreed. "Better safe than sorry."
"You can't seal up that door," Cille insisted. "Cougar's still out there. When he gets back, that's the only way he can get back in here."
"Yeah, well..." Kamina looked at Eric, who was looking similarly grim. They had both had the obvious thought, but neither one of them really wanted to be the one to say it out loud to Cille.
"I hate to say this, but..." Kamina continued with a sigh. "You have to consider the possibility that when Cougar left last night, he went straight into the waiting arms of Ozzal's army."
Cille started. "...What?"
"If they already knew about that door, they would have been out there waiting in the bushes. Hell, when he left was probably when that ninja slipped in here."
"Well..." Cille's mind was working frantically, still not wanting to believe that this could be possible. "Even if that's so, that doesn't mean he was captured. He could be just waiting for the coast to be clear so he can get back in."
"If the army's doing their job, the coast won't be clear. He's not an idiot, he wouldn't try to get back here if it's not safe," Eric said. "And if they did grab him, we need to get this code changed in case they get it out of him."
"He would never give up information like that," Cille said resolutely. "He's not that weak."
"You don't have to get defensive," Kamina said. "We're not trying to smack-talk Cougar. We're talking about protecting everyone here. No matter how you look at it, we've been compromised. We need to make sure no one else who wants to kill us can ever get in here again."
Cille was at a loss for words. Aoi looked uncertainly between her and Eric, not sure what he should do about the code without Cille's approval.
This can't be happening, Cille thought. He was going to be careful...
But it had been nearly eight hours since he'd left the base, and if all was well he should have been back long before now. Emotionally, she didn't want to give up on him, but tactically, she knew what had to be done.
"Change the code," she murmured.
She closed her eyes in defeat as Aoi started tapping at his keys. She tried not to imagine Cougar trapped outside, but the mere thought of it made her start tearing up.
Eric put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It'll be all right. This is the right thing to do. And Cougar can take care of himself."
Cille nodded glumly.
"We need to have someone stationed down there to open the door for him when he comes back," she said quietly but resolutely. "And Aoi, the moment you catch even a whisper about anyone being captured, you let me know immediately."
"Why don't you let us take care of that," Eric suggested. "Go get some rest for a few hours. We'll come get you if anything happens."
Just then Solomon arrived. "Ah, good, I was hoping I'd find you here," he said. "Hikki's calling a meeting at ten o'clock to do some damage control. We'll convene up here if that's okay with you."
"It's fine," Cille said, still preoccupied.
"That'll give you some time to rest," Eric said. "You can come back here when it's time for the meeting."
Cille didn't protest, and tried not to let her weary mind think too much as she went slowly to her room.
**********
As expected, word of the attack spread like wildfire as the morning continued. And with it, the anxious murmurs took on a new panicked tone.
"Holy crap, a ninja broke in here? I thought we were supposed to be safe as long as we stayed inside the bunker."
"They had to seal up our last escape hatch. Now there's no way out."
"You know Cougar never got back last night? If even he couldn't get away from the military, we're all super screwed."
"It doesn't matter whether the military gets us or not, we're just going to starve in here."
The more level-headed among them tried to maintain some semblance of calm, but there was no denying that the ninja's failed mission had still succeeded in instilling a new sense of fear into the rebels.
**********
Just after 10:00, the group of tired and grim-faced rebel leaders had assembled in the command room. Cille, Hikki, Clarice, Mustang, Kamina, Foley, Lloyd, Roxie, Solomon, Eric, and Raef sat in a circle around the table that held Cille's maps and books.
They had all been briefed on the events of the previous night, the identities of the slain, and the status of the injured. Next came the quartermaster's update on the contents of the stock room.
Foley flipped through the pages on his clipboard. "Thanks to Cougar's efforts, our food reserves have been augmented quite a bit." He glanced at Cille, who was trying to remain stoic. "If we needed to, we could still survive in here for at least three more months. Of course there was that little incident with the alcohol, but Kittan has graciously arranged guards for the storage room since then."
"Do we have any idea who deed zat?" Hikki asked.
"I took care of it," Mustang said. "Wasn't able to recover everything since the damn pirates had drunk most of it already, but I gave them a good thrashing as punishment."
"Oh? Who was it, then?" Kamina asked.
"I just said, it was the pirates," Mustang reiterated. "That green-haired swordsman and the zombie robot guy."
"Captain Yemman, I should have known..." Clarice groaned.
"Well even if we technically can stay in here for months, that doesn't mean we should," Cille commented. "People are already worried about what's going to happen to us, and now they're freaking out even more thinking that we're not safe."
"We are safe now, aren't we?" Hikki asked. "Now zat ze codes have all been changed?"
"You'd think so, but that won't stop people from fearing the worst," Cille said. "The longer we have to stay in here, the more unrest there's likely to be."
"I have to agree," Solomon said. "I've been observing the same thing. And there are those among us who have special reasons for wanting to reach safety." He and Roxie exchanged understanding glances.
"Okay, so..." Clarice sighed. "If we need to get out of here, how are we going to do it?"
Cille turned to Lloyd. "You guys are getting escape vehicles ready, right? How are those coming?"
Lloyd cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "Well, we've been working on reconstructing a transport mech, but given recent developments, the mech program might as well be considered on-hold."
"What do you mean by that?" Clarice asked.
Lloyd crossed his arms. "If you hadn't noticed, half of my staff just got wiped out by a ninja, and the other quarter has been shirking his duties for a good week. I wish I had better news for you, but if I have to do all of the work by myself from now on, I can't tell you when anything will be actually finished."
"Where is Matrix, anyway?" Cille asked. "He ought to be able to help you get something up and running."
"If you find him, let me know," Lloyd said curtly.
"He's probably wetting himself somewhere," Mustang said sardonically.
"You know, I heard you mention something about going after Professor Matrix the other day," Foley spoke up. "If you don't mind my saying so, I think this may be a good time to set personal rivalries aside for the greater good."
The room was silent and everyone looked at Foley with wide eyes. They'd forgotten that he could remember anything he overheard, and apparently he was also one of the few people with the cojones to call Mustang on his grudges.
Mustang cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked around at the others, who were watching to see how he would react. "Well, under the circumstances, you may be right," he said begrudgingly. "If you think you need him to make this escape plan work, I promise I won't char-broil him."
Foley seemed satisfied with this answer, and looked expectantly at Hikki.
"Okay, zen..." Hikki said, trying to get back on track. "We steel need to find ze professor, zoh..."
"I think I can help with that," Solomon said. "I remember Kirara saying she ran across him while they were searching the base this morning. I'll have her bring him in here."
A short while later Kirara appeared with a skittish-looking Matrix, who looked even more reluctant to come in when he saw Mustang sitting with the group.
"Relax, this is a strict peacekeeping zone," Clarice said. "Personal issues are to be left at the door."
Matrix warily took a seat next to Lloyd, and Kirara sat down next to Solomon. For the rest of the meeting, Mustang shot intimidating glares at Matrix, and he would eventually come to realize that psyching the scientist out might actually be more gratifying than torching his nethers.
In the meantime, though, the group had to get back to the serious business.
"I'll let Lloyd and Matrix work out their plans for the escape transports," Cille said. "I expect they'll want to talk things over and decide how to finish the project."
"That sounds reasonable, now that I'm not completely on my own," Lloyd replied.
"Then the next issue is where we go once we leave the base," Cille continued, spreading out a map on the table. "I've mapped out three potential escape routes to the Comedian border." She pointed to a purple line. "This one is the shortest but it requires crossing a river and going over some rougher terrain. The blue line is a more roundabout route but should be easier going. And the red line is a third option that passes closer to known enemy encampments, but we may have to use it if the other two are blocked for some reason."
"It's like Oregon Trail," Raef said.
"Except actual people could die if we can't ford the river," Kirara added.
"Indeed," Cille said seriously. "This is anything but a game."
Hikki studied the map and then turned to Roxie.
"Eef we need to carry ze eenjured pepole weez us, weel ze reever and heells be a problem?" he asked.
"It would certainly make things more difficult," Roxie answered. "As you know there are still quite a few people laid up in bed. Even more now with Larry and Walter being in bad shape. We've been able to discharge many of the people who were injured during the war, but there are still a lot left. The harder the journey, the worse it will be for them."
"That's what the evacuation mech will be for," Cille pointed out.
"But it won't be able to hold that many people at a time," Solomon said. "It'd have to make return trips, which would get increasingly risky."
"True," Cille acknowledged. "Maybe we should plan to wait another month or two so that more people will be on their feet again."
"If we at least tell people that's what we're planning, hopefully they won't panic too much," Raef suggested.
"We steel need to find a way out of here," Hikki said worriedly. "Weez ze escape hatch closed up..."
"Figuring that out will be your job," Lloyd said. "Please tell me you'll be able to come up with something within a month."
Hikki wasn't sure he liked Lloyd's tone, but he looked at Clarice and Cille uncertainly. They shared his somber demeanor.
"We'll come up with something," Clarice said. "We have to."
"Let's adjourn for now," Solomon suggested. "We all have things to work on. Those who want to brainstorm escape plans can stay to discuss."
The others murmured their agreement, and some of them stood to go while others gathered closer around Cille's maps.
As Matrix was about to bolt for the exit, Kamina stood in his way.
"So uh, hey Prof, I got a question for you," Kamina said.
"Mmm?" Matrix responded warily.
Kamina motioned with his head for the two of them to step aside. They moved to the side of the room, out of earshot of the others.
Kamina leaned against the wall, looking nonchalant and speaking to Matrix out of the corner of his mouth. "So... you got any more of those tentacles around?"
Matrix raised his eyebrows, and did some shifty eyes of his own. "Um... why do you ask?"
"Heh." Kamina crossed his arms. "Well I remember that drawing you showed me, that crazy mech you rigged up."
"Yeah?" Matrix still wasn't sure what he was getting at.
Kamina gave him a sidelong look. "I had kind of a crazy idea. And I think you're the only one here crazy enough to help me pull it off."
Matrix suddenly kind of liked what he was hearing. "What is it?"
"Let's get out of here and discuss it. I still don't know if this is going to work, so I don't want to get anybody excited about it."
Matrix followed him out, wondering if he at least was allowed to get excited about it if it was going to involve tentacles.
**********
Long after the meeting had broken up, as the day stretched into evening, Cille couldn't stop thinking about Cougar. Something about the earlier conversation in the control room had stayed with her the entire day.
"There's nothing out there. At least nothing I could see."
"As far as we can see..."
There hadn't been any enemy soldiers within view of their surveillance camera, but that didn't mean they weren't out there. And as it approached 24 hours with no contact from Cougar, Cille found herself needing to know for sure.
She went to Elian, who had fully recovered from his wartime exertion. Since neither of them really wanted to walk all the way to the escape hatch, Cille enlisted Tres to give them a ride. Using a wagon procured from a storage room, Tres deployed the motorized rollerblades installed in his feet and towed them down the tunnel.
Tres was his usual poker-faced self when he learned about Itachi's attack. Cille thought she sensed a little bit of sadness when she told him about Winry's death, as the android contemplated the automail arm that she had built for him.
At the end of the tunnel, Elian patched into the monitor and cautiously deployed his Alter outside. Just as Kamina had reported, the clearing around the entrance was deserted aside from a few small woodland animals.
"Pan around a wider area," Cille instructed. "See what's in those trees over there."
Cille and Tres both intently scrutinized the small screen as Elian maneuvered his camera around.
"Motion detected," Tres announced suddenly.
Cille wasn't sure if she'd seen something or not. "Move in closer if you can, Elian," she said.
The view zoomed in behind some trees, and then they could all see what Tres had noticed: A small army encampment, cleverly camouflaged just past the tree line. A handful of soldiers lay hunkered down at the edge of the forest, some using binoculars to peer at the escape hatch. Others moved around behind them, relaying messages to and from a tent that presumably served as their control center.
"Oh no..." Cille murmured. She tried to get some sense of how many enemies they were looking at. Suddenly a couple of the soldiers looked directly at them, furrowing their brows and reaching for their guns.
"AAH!" Cille cried, jumping back as if she'd been caught spying. "The camera! Elian, turn it off!"
Elian disintegrated his Alter, and the monitor returned to its passive default view of the empty clearing.
It took a few moments for Cille to calm down from her scare. Then, with no further movement from the enemy and nothing more they could do there, they took another wagon ride back down the tunnel.
Cille had plenty to think about. For one thing, the enemy probably knew they'd been spotted, unless they'd been similarly spooked by the random camera appearing from nowhere. But, all things considered, being caught spying probably wasn't the worst thing they had to deal with.
There was no longer any doubt. They were trapped.
Chapter 60 Author's Notes
Recurring Characters:
Larry Zorin - LAZY17
Kaia Namek - namek_kaia
Roxie Goldsmith - anime_goddess05
Hikki Follet - Kohikki
Lucille "Cille" Compton - Cille
Eric Ominae - OMNI-Enforcer
Clarice Rowe - QueenoftheDorks
Foley S. Goode - Foley_is_Good_149
Raef Compton - Maenos
Captain Yemman - myname
Professor M. Matrix - matrixman124
Kirara Amour - kiraralove
*Itachi Uchiha - Naruto
Walter Dornez - Hellsing
Solomon Goldsmith - Blood+
Kenzou Tenma - Monster
*Winry Rockbell - Fullmetal Alchemist
Scheris Adjani - s-CRY-ed
Straight Cougar - s-CRY-ed
Aoi - Ghost in the Shell
Kamina - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Roy Mustang - Fullmetal Alchemist
Lloyd Asplund - Code Geass
Kittan - Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann
Zoro - One Piece (the green-haired swordsman)
Elian - s-CRY-ed
Tres - Trinity Blood
* Characters marked with an asterisk are mentioned but do not take an active part in the story.