Operation: Arctic Fortress

Soldier lead Wynter through a door that was near the exit of Medic’s lab. It lead outside, back into the freezing cold. Looking to the horizon, she could see the sunrise slowly appearing.

"I’ve uh… how long was I in a coma?"she asked as they trekked through a narrow, compressed path in the middle of junk piles. There were scraps everywhere, of every kind of material. It seemed like they were all somewhat separated, as if they were being saved for something.

"Just until earlier this afternoon. Scout hit you in the head pretty hard."

"Who’s Scout?"

Soldier laughed. “One of our teammates. In case Medic didn’t tell you, there’s nine of us. I guess you make ten, but that’s not important right now. So tell me, where are you from?”

"Originally? I’m from a really small town in British Columbia, in Canada. I don’t remember a lot of it personally because I was really young when my dad and I had to leave to go into hiding, but from what he says, it must have been nice."

"How old were you?"

"Two or three. I think my mom saw this shitstorm coming because she had stocked up on food and supplies. When we gave a little to a friend, his family got paranoid and turned the whole town on us. I remember having to get up really early one morning to pack everything we could into the back of an old pickup truck and hauling ass out of there because they were gonna kill us all for what we had. My mom didn’t last too long after we left, between the stress and the cold it all just kind of got to her."

Soldier was quiet. “She killed herself?”

Wynter shrugged. “You know, my dad and I never found out what happened to her. One night we all went to sleep huddled in the truck as we did every night, and woke up one morning to find she wasn’t there. We never really talked about it, even when I was old enough to understand.”

They reached a large shed at the end of their path, one side appeared to be attached to the wall of the hospital. The door inside was facing them, and Soldier went ahead to open the door, letting her inside.

Inside, there were weapons hung everywhere, with crates full of ammo and bullets on the floor. Wynter was impressed by the multitude of weapons RED had to their name. Practically every gun, knife, or otherwise dangerous memorabilia was there, ready to use.

"So how much do you know about fighting?" Soldier asked.

"Enough, I guess?" Wynter said, "My dad taught me how to shoot with the guns we had and have good aim, but that’s about it."

"Well, I want to see how good your aim is, as that’s one of the most important things to know in the field." He pointed to a target hanging on the wall, and handed her a loaded Glock 17. "Do you know how to shoot this?"

"Yeah, we had one just like this." Wynter said, taking it in her hand and immediately shooting at a plywood cutout of a mercenary she didn’t recognize that had been placed a few feet out the window. She missed the first time, but landed a good shot in the chest her second.

"Well, I’ll be damned." Soldier said to himself, patting Wynter on the back.

Wynter shrugged, a little surprised herself. “I’ve only used weapons for self-defense, I haven’t really… gone out and shot people to kill them.”

"Technically speaking we’re only defending ourselves as well. I told you about that scientist and his gang of clones. They’re going to destroy the world if we don’t do something about it."

"Medic told me all about him." Wynter said, "does he have a name?"

"Dira Smith. Once you put a name to someone you start thinking of them as a person, and we can’t have any sympathy towards that bastard. So, we just call him by what he really is. A scientist that’s out of his fucking mind, a threat that needs to be relinquished."

"That’s not a mouthful." Wynter said with a smirk.

"That’s why we don’t speak of him."

Wynter looked over the guns laid out on the table before her. “So, where do you guys get all this stuff?”

"Everywhere." Soldier said, "You’ve got to understand we’ve been at this since we were young…some of us younger than you right now. We’ve stolen supplies from the enemy, we’ve taken care of our own weapons in good shape, and we’re on good terms with an arms dealer who’ll send new weapons up if it’s safe."

"And I thought just about everyone here was the last on earth." Wynter laughed.

"Nah, there’s a few people scattered here and there. Not enough to make quite a hundred, but enough that there’s still hope. That’s why we fight." Soldier said, pausing breifly. "Well, that’s why some of us fight. I personally just like whipping sissies into shape and kicking ‘em into the ground."

Wynter felt something snake around her throat, and she instinctively reached around her. She could feel something, someone there, but she couldn’t see anything… as the constriction around her neck got tighter she panicked, and was dragged to the ground.

"Spy! Knock it off!" Soldier commanded.

At once, Wynter could see her attacker. It appeared he could make himself invisible…

She rose to her feet immediately and grabbed a gun off the table, pointing it in the direction of the tall, thin man that had dared to surprise her.

"My lady, now is not the time to draw your weapons. I am an ally, they call me Spy." He took her hand and kissed the back of it, politely curtsying slightly to her. "I apologize for the rude introduction but it is an important lesson you must learn. You should always be aware of your surroundings, for there are always spies like me to be found if you are careless enough…. and their intents are not to show you a lesson." He pulled a box of cigarettes out of his suit pocket and light one up.

"He has a point." Soldier said, "Always be on the look out for spies. They’re sneaky little bastards, and twice as dangerous as they are ugly."

"excusez-moi?" Spy said, pulling out his butterfly knife and pointing it towards Soldier.

"You heard me, maggot!" He shouted, causing both Spy and Wynter to jump a little.

Spy cleared his throat. “How is she… doing.”

"She’s doing great!" Soldier said enthusiastically, motioning him to follow to the window and see Wynter’s shot.

"Ah. How many tries did that take you, chérie?"

"Two." Wynter replied.

Spy reached into his suitcoat with a snicker and took out a revolver, checking to see if it had at least one bullet inside the barrel. He handed it to her. “Impress me.”

Wynter didn’t want to admit it, but it made her nervous. The tone of his voice was slightly intimidating, cold, and she could sense a bit of… disapproval.

Her hand shook a little as she held the revolver out, pulling the trigger and missing the target.

"Damnit." She grumbled to herself, handing the gun back to Spy.

"See, this is something you need to work on." Spy said calmly as he walked over to the table to reload, "On the field you’re not going to be coddled by a teacher or mentor." He looked over to Soldier for a moment. "You’re going to be on the spot. I put you on the spot, I made you nervous, and that is a grave mistake on your part."

"It’s not a mistake for me to be nervous." Wynter objected.

Spy chuckled. “I had my hands around your neck. You struggled, and if Soldier had not intervened, you would be dead. You struggled because you were nervous, you were scared. The element of surprise is a great weapon, but it’s also a weakness. Work on that. Learn to expect things that aren’t present, because they just might be. And when they’re there, block it out. Don’t allow it to hinder your performance. Do you understand?”

"Yes."

"Good." Spy smiled, "Welcome to the team, darling." he looked to Soldier again, "If you wouldn’t mind, I suspect your training with Heavy is in about five minutes, I shall take her and show her around the main quarters and what not."

"I didn’t even get time to-"

"You can pick up where you left of later, mon ami." Spy interrupted, dismissing himself as well as Wynter.