Operation: Arctic Fortress

"Gee Medic, if I had known you were gonna revive her I wouldna bashed her head in so hard."

"Nonono. Zis is just fine. It was better for her to be unconscious anyhow… much less of a struggle."

"You uh. You sure, doc?"

”I am poszitive, herr Scout.”

"Alrightie then I guess. I’m gonna go get something to eat, you want anything?"

"No."

There was a slamming of the door, and it seemed to snap Wynter out of whatever remained of her coma. Her vision and memory were both blurry for a moment, but the latter returned within a few minutes and evoked an instant reaction.

She jolted upright, only to be restrained against the cold metal of an operating table. This, along with the sight of a huge, gun-like contraption chained above and pointed towards her was nothing short of frightening, definitely not a sight one would like to see upon awakening.

She screamed in terror, and started to thrash about in a feeble attempt to get free, panic clouding her mind. After all, of all the things her father taught her nothing her couldn’t have prepared her for this… a man clad in doctor’s garb complete with a white, bloodstained lab coat rushed to her side and strapped her down even tighter. She could feel the veins in her limbs constricting under the abrasive restraints, guaranteeing there would be more than several bruises later.

If she even made it out alive.

"Now, now. Don’t make a mess, and don’t frighten my birds." he said in an uncomfortably calm and menacing tone, motioning to several pigeons roosting above, his thick German accent only adding to his statement.

"What are you doing with me? What do you want?" Wynter asked frantically.

"Vell, I’m not sure. Zhat depends on who exactly you are." He said, taking his bright red gloves off and setting them down on the table next to her. "You know, it’s been a while since I’ve had a new patient."

"Gee, I wonder why." Winter hissed.

"Oh, does my Medi Gun frighten you?" He asked unsympathetically.

"Medi Gun? Is that what you call that thing?" Wynter said, looking at the mechanism in front of her. Surely something that looked that threatening couldn’t possibly be used for any sort of good.

"Ja." He said, walking towards it and adjusting it above her. "It’s a beauty, iz it not? She’s my greatest achievement yet. I can heal people instantly and even make them invinzible, very convenient for battle you know. But don’t worry, it’s just medicine. It won’t kill you. Vell it could, there’s just more convenient ways I could go about doing zhat other than waiting for you to overdose.”

"You’re a doctor." She said calmly.

He cringed. “Vell…. yes and no. Don’t get excited, human beings are a dime a dozen. I don’t consider you an exception.”

Wynter scoffed. “Yeah, so dime-a-dozen that there’s only a hundred of them left on earth.”

"Shhh." he said, putting a finger to her mouth and leaning closer to whisper in her ear. "Eighty five. Ze blue team are clones."

Wynter rolled her eyes. “Like science has gotten advanced enough for that while we’ve all been busy killing eachother off.”

"Goes to show just how little you know, my naïve girl." the doctor replied, as a pigeon landed on his shoulder.

The two stared at eachother blankly for a few minutes.

"I’m waiting to hear more about this whole thing I clearly know nothing about." Wynter retorted.

Medic chuckled. “Ah. Vell, since you’re going to be here for a while, I suppose I have ze time to tell you. You should feel special, you’re the first patient I’ve talked to that was still living!" He started to break out in uproarous laughter. "Oh, I kill myzelf." he said, wiping a tear from his eye and bracing himself on the edge of the table. "What iz your name?"

"Wynter."

"Ah. Like the season as cold as my heart. Heh heh. Vell. I do not go by any name but Medic. Zo, you can call me Medic. Not Doktor. Never Doktor. I haven’t been a doktor for years."

"Well that’s shocking." Wynter said sarcastically.

Medic leaned in to whisper in her ear again. “You know, if I were in your position I wouldn’t put in such an effort to make me angry.” He chuckled and pulled on her restraints, “I juzt might show you how I lost my medical license.”

"I can only imagine. A ‘doctor’ like you.” Wynter said, her words basically dripping with acidity. She wasn’t afraid of him. She knew was that although he had all the bonesaws hanging on the wall, the scapels on the table next to her, and the massive “Medi Gun” hanging above, he was most possibly bluffing with every threat he made. She had heard something about revival while she was in that coma, and he wouldn’t have made an effort in reviving her if he was just going to kill her.

…Right?

Medic didn’t bother correcting her, but instead lovingly cradled another pidgeon in his hands as he pulled up a chair next to her.

"Now where should I begin. Oh yes. Vell, my eight teammates and I are all ex-military from all around ze world. Except for ze Scout, we just sort of took him in. Anyway. When ze shit really hit the fan, a nemesis arose. He was very driven, intelligent, he had zo much to offer and accomplish. Unfortunatley, all zese ambitions were to deztroy ze world. He’s responsible for all ze wars happening long ago.

"Now. My team and I, we’re eazily the best around. And I don’t say zaht to be arrogant, I mean it. We almost had him defeated zhat one time years ago, but there was a slip-up. A Spy had infiltrated our devenzes, and wounded all of us. Zere was no other option than to retreat. I spent months in zis very room trying to heal zem. Which is how I ended up with zis baby." He patted his Medi-Gun affectionatley.

“But with every good, zere must be some bad. Ze spy had stolen DNA samples from each of us, enabling ze scientist to create a team exactly like ours. In fact, ze only way you can tell us apart is from our clothes. We wear red, zey wear blue. We must deztroy zem at all costs, or zey will destroy ze world.”

The Medic sighed quietly as he continued to stroke the feathers of his bird.

"Why do you want to save the world? There’s nothing left… even if all the war stopped, there’s no way we can save ourselves from being wiped out. There’s nothing to save." Wynter asked.

"Ze question just reverts back to you, Wynter. Why are you still alive if there’s nothing left?”

"Because I grew up with a father who told me suicide is not an option, no matter how bad life gets. And besides, I’m only eighteen. This is all I know of the world, is war and corruption. Through my eyes, it isn’t really that bad. And when it is, it’s just the nature of the beast."

"Ah. I’d been meaning to ask, where exactly is your father?" Medic asked. "Zhat’s very irresponzible parenting to let your daughter out on the field like you were… even if you are considered an adult.”

"My father died extremely recently… in fact, more or less a week ago." Wynter said quietly. "He was the only family or friends I had left, so I’m kind of on my own here. Speaking of suicide and shit…. are you going to kill me now?" Wynter asked.

"No." Medic objected. "Ze Scout thought you could be of use to us." He chuckled, "And without your father you’ll clearly starve, so what choice do you really have?"

"I have plenty of choices."

"Zhat’s not ze point. We need all ze help we can get."

"Oh what, so you’re just going to kidnap me and throw me out in the battlefield to fight for your side?"

"Vell, nobody said you had to be out in ze field." Medic said, getting up and walking towards the door. "I vill be back. I have important matters to discuss with my team."

There was a slam shut, and Wynter was alone in the quiet room.

"Great, what have I gotten myself into now…" she thought to herself.