When The Dead Arise

Chapter 24

You woke up that morning to Rip shouting at you. Well, actually that wasn't entirely true. You had already woken up, just didn't want to leave the bed. But once Will started shuffling closer you jumped up and nearly punched him. He blocked you with ease, smirking as he did so.

"Where are we going?" You asked Will as he lead the way to the jets. These weren't above ground, these were surrounded by a giant metal cave. Several people were rushing to and fro doing who knows what.

"To meet the Baroness," He responded, stopping at a man with a helmet and red yellow jacket to hand him something.

"Who's that?" You asked. Jinx and Snake failed to mention her. You wondered if it was because they didn't like her, didn't care about her, or had no time. It was most likely the later. Too late you realized that you were being just as nosy as they were, and wished you had bitten back the question.

"She worked for Destro," Rip snapped, "Any Joe would know that," She said the next few words in a voice just above a whisper.

"Good," You sighed, "A real mission." You ignored Rip's comment, not that it bothered you in the first place:

"Why didn't they teach you that in Japan?" Wild Style finally spoke up, after the entire morning.

"Time was limited," You said bluntly. You needed to talk as little as a ninja. You needed to be observant like a ninja. Talk less and listen more, that's what they were supposed to do.

Wild Style sat next to you in the jet. You wondered why she wanted to be close all of a sudden, but didn't complain. Rip would fire annoying comments. LGK would shiver at the sight of you, and Will would flirt the whole ride. Well, he was still doing it right across from you. But, out of all of them, Wild Style was the best to get along with.

"Why did you decide to become a ninja?" After Wild Style's question the jet seemed to draw silent. Rip stopped throwing daggers at a target. Will stopped whistling an unknown tune. And LGK stopped tapping on his tablet.

You thought over this question for several seconds. You thought back to forever ago, back when you were still unknown. Back to when you didn't know Jinx, or Snake, or Azure. You thought about how important those children were to you.

"The children," You responded, realizing all to late that you spoke out of impulse, but there was no way to take it back.

"Children?" Wild Style pressed on, after waiting a few seconds. You hesitated before giving a nod, making sure not to show emotion on your face.

"What children?" Will leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. You glanced at him in disgust and released a long breath.

"The children from the orphanage."

Will released a sigh "Oh good! So they're not yours! I was a bit worried." He winked, and you scowled.

"Instead of dodging the bullet," Rip walked over and plopped down beside Will, "Why don't you tell us the whole story?" She was kinder than usual as she spoke. Her eyes said it as well.

You waited a few moments before turning to the trembling LGK, "How long do we have?"

"Thirty minutes," He whispered.

"Good," Wild Style said in a voice that seemed all too loud, "Plenty of time to get to know each other. Since you're the newest, you can go first," She turned to you. You felt all their gazes fall on you, even though you were staring at the floor. You hadn't told that many people about yourself. Snake didn't even know anything about you. And you felt wrong to tell anyone other than him.

So, you went for a short answer, "My mom died when I was young, and my dad never appeared. I was on my own for a while, before meeting someone named Zach. He took me to the orphanage run by an Old Lady. I've lived to help that Old Lady, and the children there that are just like me. Roadblock, Snake Eyes, and Jinx came and offered to care for them if I became a Joe.

I trained with them in Japan for nine months before coming here. Who's next?" You said the last two words quickly, to move on from the tension in your chest, even if it had felt nice to finally say some of those things out loud.

"Such a blunt story," Wild Style seemed slightly annoyed. She looked up, "But I'll go next."

Her story wasn't much better. Raised by her uncle and aunt she ran away at the age of twelve. She met another boy who brought her into his mansion. They grew up together and trained together. She was asked to join G.I.Joe at the age of eighteen and has been serving for a year now.

"Time for a guy to stop being so manly," He smiled, even if it wasn't funny. Will started his story, "My dad was a Joe. He started training me when I was old enough to walk, that's why I'm so good at it," To test him you flung a needle at him. He caught it with ease and tossed it back. You placed it back where it belonged wordlessly and continued to listen, "It wasn't long before they asked me to join. I was at the giant fight against Destro the first time. When I survived that I was made into a team captain. Something you should know too," Will gave you a wink, "I hand picked all of you."

You turned to Rip, she shook her head, "That ain't happening," Rip leaned back and crossed her legs.

"Guess that leaves me," LGK gulped. He released a shaky breath, "I've been working with computers and such since I was maybe five. When I was eight I was the best coder in comparison to a coding college. They put me through the classes and I passed with a 4.0 unweighted grade average. I was recruited when I was twelve, and up until now I've always been in the command room." That explains why he looks like a scared chicken all the time.

"Now that we know each other," Will said, amused, "Let's get going to interrogate that mind controlled freak," He stood up and led the way. You spent a few seconds longer than the others to stand up. You had just told these people, who you had known for maybe a day, your basic life story. You did this to Roadblock, Jinx, and Snake too. You realized how open you were, and scolded yourself for it. Ninjas are never that open.

He pulled open the jail door. You stepped in first and gazed upon the woman. She sat in a metal chair with her uniform loosely hanging on her. She sat with wonderful posture, but her head showed remorse as it hung from her neck.
Her hair was up to her mid neck, and blond. Her skin was pale from lack of sunlight.

"I thought the baroness was black haired," Will commented to LGK.

"It was originally blond," Her sing song voice spoke up, "but I dyed it black. It's growing back out blond again."

"Why black?" Rip asked, leaning against the metal bars, her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes had black contacts over them today.

"I thought it would help me be more undercover," She responded. She was more of a shell of a person than an actual person. From how she acted she wasn't too proud of herself. She gave a breath and lifted her head up slightly, "What do I owe the pleasure of guests?"

You turned to Will. You had been so busy listening to stories you didn't even know why you were here. Rip closed her eyes slightly, going deep into thought. Wild Style went into a far corner and gazed out the metal barred window. LGK seated himself at a computer that the guards had brought in and began to type everything that was being said.

"We are on the hunt for Destro," Will became serious again, "We need any information you can give us."

She gave a sour face, "As if I would know."

"What do you know?" You spoke up. Jinx had given you brief lessons on the best way to interrogate anyone, "What do you know about Destro?"