Chapter 12:

Chapter 12

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Arthur's squad advances quickly and stealthily over a narrow, dark wood, they were taking the utmost care not to make too much noise as they passed through the plants. In front of them you could see a patch of light coming from a spot, it was one of the enemy's hiding places, they were about 200 meters away from them.

-Very well, do as you were trained until now. The Trap Disarm Squad will lead the way, while the rest watch from afar and from cover. (captain)

Traps are a crucial factor for those who have an advantage over the terrain, as the enemy has no idea what types of traps they used or where they might be. As usual, they don't have a high budget, so the ones that should be armed are probably simple traps like a lanyard thread tied to cans to make noise and warn them about enemy attack, the other one that is often used is a bear trap. (Arthur)

-All right, the perimeter ahead has already been checked. (Soldier)

-Great, with caution we will move forward. (captain)

The group advanced slowly, until they managed to reach a distance of 80 meters from the place, from that distance they could observe the actions of enemies in more detail.

-Sir, look at this. (Soldier)

One of the soldiers passed the binoculars to the captain.

-45° northwest. (Soldier)

The captain and a few other soldiers look in the direction of the last coordinate, in that direction a group of enemy soldiers could be seen unloading wooden crates and taking them inside a hut.

-What's inside? (soldier 1)

-Are they porn magazines? (Mike)

-It's definitely porn magazines. (soldier 1)

-All right men, change of plans, our mission will go from collecting information from afar to infiltrating the enemy base. We can't let that package go unnoticed. (captain)

-Excuse me, captain. That package could just be some smuggled weapons, I don't know if it would be wise to take such chances for information like that. (Soldier)

-I understand your soldier point. But we are just numbers, as long as you have others to replace us it will not change, so we must do as much as possible for the sake of our nation. (captain)

-Such nonsense, all we have to do is kill some strangers, it's not like we're going to die, remember that, these are animals we're facing, they didn't have the same training as us, as long as you follow the plan correctly it will be impossible to be defeated . (Thomas)

-Animals? (Arthur)

-Yes, animals. The same way you pull the trigger to shoot and kill a dove you will do this to them. (Thomas)

-I never killed a dove. (Arthur)

-So this will be the first time. (Thomas)

-Sir they left near the tent, only three soldiers are guarding the post. (soldier 2)

-Very well, the infiltration group will move forward, while the rest will be covering from afar. The mission is to have as little contact with the enemy as possible, so shooting is the last chance. But in case one of you has to pull the trigger, the rest who were just watching will move forward and we will annihilate as many enemies as possible. Remember, we are outnumbered, so we must act smart. (captain)

Everyone listened carefully to every word of the captain, he was the oldest person there and the one who had more experience with these situations, one wrong step could cost the life of one person or even the entire squadron. Arthur followed with the infiltration group, as they got a little closer to the hideout, they realized that there were some people who were not enemy soldiers.

-Who are they? (Arthur)

-Must be the inhabitants of the city of enemies. (Mike)

-Like this? What do you mean by... (Arthur)

-Shhhh. Stop talking and focus on the mission. (captain)

They stopped talking for a moment and when the enemies were out of range they started to move towards the hut that contained the unloaded packages. When they arrived at the cabin, they realized that the only ones guarding it were still the only two guards. The captain makes a hand signal and moves forward with another soldier, while Arthur, Mike, and three more soldiers stay in the bush. The captain appears from behind the soldier and kills him with a knife to the neck while the other ally takes care of the other guard. He watches the perimeter and signals that everything is safe in the area.

-Let's go. (Mike)

-OK. (Arthur)

Mike, Arthur, and another soldier made their way inside the cabin, while the two who remained guarded the perimeter from outside.

-This place is colder than I thought. (Mike)

-Really, it's not a natural temperature. Why did they leave this room so cold? (Arthur)

-Captain, here it is. (Soldier)


The soldier had brought a crowbar and handed it to his captain.

-Very well, let's see what's in those boxes. (captain)

After standing on the wood he noticed something strange.

-What happened captain? (Arthur) Is it just me or... (Captain)

He breaks a piece of wood and out of the hole formed ice cubes.

-What is it? Are they by any chance thinking about making slushies in winter or something? (Mike)

The captain breaks another piece of wood and puts his hand inside the ice turning it, as if he were behind something, while he looked for his soldiers looked curious to know what he would be looking for with his hand that must be freezing surrounded by those countless ice cubes. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, he lifts and takes his hand out of the inside along with a plastic bag, but what scared the soldiers was what was inside the bag.

-Is that a heart? (Arthur)

What was inside all those packages were still intact human organs surrounded by ice cubes so they wouldn't rot, which is why the room was so cold.

-For what reason would they be after so many organs? Are they in need to help their soldiers? (Arthur)

-They don't need them. They want the money they're worth. (Mike)

-Like this? (Arthur)

-They will sell these organs on the black market, and with all the money they can get, they will buy the weapons I need for this war. (captain)
-But where did they get so many organs? (Arthur)

-You ask that, but I believe you have seen it earlier. Those people coming back surrounded by soldiers. (captain)

-It's not possible. (Arthur)

-I confess that I thought they were some kind of citizens for whom soldiers fought and sacrificed their lives, but it seems I was wrong. (Mike)

-But there are many organs here, I believe the enemy wouldn't get that many with that alone, I think they steal most of the dead enemies' bodies. (captain)

-Why? Why do they do something so cruel like that? (Arthur)

-You don't seem to want to accept the facts, but Mike had already answered for you. For money. Sustaining a war is not easy, you need to pay for supplies, clothing, medicine and most importantly... weapons. They actually cost a fortune and they need countless of them. As you can see the enemy was not well equipped, they are from extremely poor territory, so they are desperate for money to buy their weapons. But... just as something that takes a life so easily can be expensive, something that saves a life has the same monetary value. Each of these bodies here could buy a firearm for the enemy. I think that in this way even a person who cannot accept the facts was able to understand the situation. (captain)

-Sir, someone's coming. (Soldier)

-Hide. (captain)

Everyone hid behind the boxes and noticed that only two enemy soldiers entered the hut, they only carried a submachine gun in their arms and nothing else.

-Freeze! If you care about your lives, you better not make any stupid moves. (captain)

The soldiers surrounded by enemies immediately surrendered without offering any skittish reaction.

-Please don't shoot. (enemy)

-Don't worry, I won't shoot. (captain)

The soldiers who were guarding the tent from the outside were sneaking around behind the enemies and quickly and effectively they put the knife into the enemies' necks with no time for them to scream for help and let the rest of their friends know what was happening an invasion.

-All right sir. (Soldier)

-Why did you do that? I thought you said you wouldn't shoot? (Arthur)

-And I didn't shoot, that would have made a lot of noise. (captain)

-They had already surrendered, there was no need for that, we could have taken them as prisoners... (Arthur)

-We could? Tell me soldier, what if halfway outside one of them decided to betray us and scream to warn the rest of their friends? Do you really think that on an infiltration mission at the enemy's base, we would be able to carry something from them back with us? We won't even be able to take the organs to our base, let alone people. We cannot do anything to make our mission even more difficult. Have I been understood? (captain)

-I do not agree with this. No matter how I look at it, it's wrong. (Arthur)

-I didn't ask if you agreed or not. Did I ask if I was understood? (captain)

-Yes sir... (Arthur)

-Very good. Attention soldiers we will immediately return to our base to report to superiors about the information we got today. (captain)

Arthur was half down and Mike had noticed that so he was going to him to comfort him, but was stopped by a hand that held his shoulder and stopped him from walking towards him.

-Are you by any chance trying to play his mother? Leave him alone for a bit. (Thomas)

After you say that he left and with a little doubt of what he should do Mike followed right behind. After a few seconds, regardless of what was going on in his head, Arthur knew he couldn't stay there for long, so he followed his companions.