Penguins of Anarchy III: Edge of Disaster

Sixteen

"You're insane!" Fragnile exclaimed as he and the other Penguins of Anarchy engaged in a heated debate. Dreemo had relayed Drake and Gostt's plan to them and now was proposing an absurd idea. "You'll get yourself killed, Dreemo!"

"What choice do I have?" Dreemo countered. "Now I know where Drake and Felly are, or at least where they've been, so what kind of person would I be if I didn't at least try to save them?"

"You'd be a wise person!" Fragnile shouted intensely. "I said that going to get them would be a suicide mission, and even if you had the entire Antarctican Army behind you, you wouldn't be able to penetrate the American defenses!"

"And you won't have the Antarctican Army behind you," Ursynz added. "They're not interested in dying just to save two penguins."

"But if we just went in on our own, then we could sneak in unnoticed!" Dreemo stated. The others looked doubtful. Dreemo threw up his arms in disgust. He looked around at his teammates, who were all sitting at the meeting table. "Is this what this task force has become? We used to be willing to give our own lives to protect each other; now we won't even consider it. We used to be brothers, but now we've become estranged. If I have to go to Alcatraz alone, then fine. But am I really the only one with the guts to do this?"

"No way," Sam replied with an assertive shake of the head. "You know I've got your back, Dreemo. We can't just leave them behind enemy lines. If there's any chance of bringing Drake and Felly back, then I'm in."

"Me too," Riker said, leaning back in his chair. "I'm tired of sitting around, waiting for the fight to come to me. Whether we can pull this off or not, I'm not going to do nothing any longer."

"Me either," Marcosis added. "Staying here seems even bleaker than a suicide mission if we can at least die on the offensive. And if we do end up rescuing Drake and Felly, then things will get a whole lot better around here."

Dreemo nodded, glad that he had at least three of his friends by his side—especially Sam. "Anyone else?" he asked. He looked around at his silent comrades. He locked eyes with the only young member who hadn't spoken up. "Ursynz?"

Ursynz shook his head somberly. "It won't work, Dreemo," he stated grimly. "You'll die out there. Unless everyone else agrees to it, I'm not throwing my life away for nothing."

Dreemo sighed. "No one else will come?"

"I'll go," Gostt announced.

"No!" Dreemo lashed out. "I don't trust you, Gostt—I never did. We've got a better chance of success if you stay behind."

"I can help!" Gostt insisted. "You know I'm not a traitor!"

"No I don't. You lied to us. You kept Drake and your plan a secret from us. I don't care what excuses you make. You're not coming."

Gostt didn't speak up; he couldn't argue.

Dreemo looked at Fragnile. "C'mon, Fragnile. You're really going to let us go without you?"

Fragnile was frowning. "Ursynz is right. You're going to die, and I won't let us all go down with you."

Camo moaned. "I'll go."

"No way," Dreemo replied darkly. "You've been nothing but trouble ever since we rescued you from that bloody hospital. You're nothing but dead weight anymore, Camo."

"I'm your uncle!" Camo protested. "I'm finally trying to help and you're just going to say no?!"

Dreemo nodded gravely. "You only ever look out for yourself; you made that pretty clear. You don't trust us any more than we trust you. So do us all a favor, and just go back to drinking."