D.E.B.S (Chaelisa)

06| Encounter

"Shit, I almost had her!" Jennie said as she regrouped with the rest of the squad.

After a vicious shootout ensued, events took a turn when the CIA gunmen finally intervened and entered the fray, shooting at Lisa as well who then escaped the scene by using one of the metallic tabletops as a shield.

"Rosie, Yeri, head Lisa off by the kitchen, me and Jisoo are going to take the back."

"But Mr Teddy specifically ordered us not to engage her," Yeri pointed out.

"Yeri," Jennie began in exasperation then changed tack and took a deep breath. "Who here isn't gonna graduate?"

Chaeyoung and Jisoo exchanged glances because this was a scene all too familiar whenever they were out on missions. Jennie would take it to her head to go above and beyond the mission brief, or put some reckless plan in motion, and Yeri would always be the one to speak out against it, and then Jennie would chastise her.

"Me," Yeri said ashamedly. "I'm not gonna graduate."

"Oh. And why is that, hmm?"

Jisoo checked her watch but Jennie paid no attention.

"I haven't earned my stripes," Yeri sighed.

"Oh. Would that be...this thing here?" Jennie asked sweetly, pointing at her own stripes badge pinned to her tank top. "And why is that?"

"You need to give me a recommendation," Yeri muttered then burst out: "I don't see why you won't just—"

"Ah ah zip!" Jennie said. "Not what I asked. Try again."

Chaeyoung tapped her foot, silently urging Jennie to get on with it. She was surprised Jisoo hadn't started smoking a new cigarette already.

"I need to show courage in the face of unspeakable danger," Yeri recited, with Jennie mouthing the words along.

"Exactly. So quit your whining, and follow my orders," Jennie said and snapped her fingers. "Chop chop!"

"Let's go!" Chaeyoung said urgently as she grabbed Yeri's hand and ran to the kitchen staff area. 

"Okay, I'll check the parking lot, you go that way, see if anyone saw her. Stay in communication range."

"But Mr Teddy—"

"Ah ah! You can do this, Yeri," Chaeyoung admonished.

Yeri gave one final unhappy nod but obeyed and scuttled away while Chaeyoung rushed out of the side doors.

>

The parking lot had been devoid of people so Chaeyoung went in through a metal double door which turned out to be a dimly lit storeroom. She advanced warily, gun up in case Lisa were to jump out from the shadows.

It was deathly silent inside, punctuated by distant noises and hums of machinery. Even Chaeyoung's breathing sounded too loud—it reminded her of a mission the D.E.B.S had a year ago hunting down a mafia gang that holed up in a crypt. At least the air here was quite dry, even drier than usual actually.

Upon closer inspection, she discovered why: she was apparently standing amongst tall rolls of paper wrapped in brown paper and stamped with the logo PanAsia Paper.

They were densely packed together to form impenetrable walls and as Chaeyoung wandered through the labyrinth, she felt distinctly like Alice in a desolate warped version of Wonderland.

At one point she paused to check in with Yeri on the communicator watch.

"Yeri, are you there?" she whispered. She sighed when only static crackled on her screen, like a TV with a bad signal.