Half and Half

Part 3 - Captured

Two years pass. Minhyun is 15 now and most soldiers have been sent out to the front lines. Daehwi was sent to spy in a Drachman prison. The few who are still at the command center, like Mustang's unit, are likely going to be sent out in a month. "Oi, Zain. There's an escort here for you. Apparently the Fuhrer wants to see you," Havoc said to Minhyun, who was sleeping behind a stack of papers the Colonel had given him.

"Me? But why?" Minhyun replied.

"Beats me."

Minhyun got up and followed the escort to the Fuhrer's office. He stood before the Fuhrer and saluted. Fuhrer Bradley smiled and said, "2nd Lieutenant Zain, thank you for coming here today. I had you come here because I have a secret mission that you may not tell anyone else about." He paused and waited for Minhyun to say something. When Minhyun didn't, he continued, "I have reason to believe that Colonel Mustang is planning a coup d'etat. You're part of his unit, therefore you can easily spy on him. You will report to me every Sunday. Don't leave out anything that could be regarded as suspicious."

"Why do you suspect the Colonel?"

"That doesn't concern you. All you need to know is that you are to keep an eye on him. Don't even think about leaving anything out."

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, you can go now." Minhyun saluted and left. "I hate to double-cross the Colonel...but if I don't do what the Fuhrer says, who knows what he'll do this time..." Minhyun thought to himself. In the end, he decided to do as the Fuhrer had said and report anything suspicious. It went fine for the first two weeks, nothing suspicious. The third week, the Colonel visited an anti-military's house, and it turned out to be an old war buddy of his. The fourth week, Minhyun was sent out to the front lines with another spy to gather intel. They were to take a tunnel to the right of the front lines, and wait for a spy who had already infiltrated their camps to give them Drachman uniforms. Minhyun and the other spy, Jaehyuk heard footsteps approaching from the Drachman side of the tunnel. A spy named Hyunsoek arrived, bringing the supplies they needed. They were just about to wear the Drachman uniforms when they heard more footsteps approaching, and a lot of them. "You must've been followed," said Jaehyuk to Hyunsoek. A squad of ten Drachman soldiers appeared. "Dang it," said Hyunsoek. Minhyun, Jaehyuk and Hyunsoek were all captured and taken to Manstire prison. Manstire had a reputation for being a terrible place for prisoners of war. Minhyun had always suspected that his mother would be there. It was where most prisoners of war were taken, especially those with a higher status. Minhyun had noticed that both Jaehyuk and Hyunsoek had been bound more tightly than him. He suspected this was because they were in their late 20s, while Minhyun was still 15. He could easily untie the rope within a few seconds. The older two were led down a different hallway while Minhyun was shoved into a cell. He only had his hands bound, if a guard came in and left the door open. He could knock him out and escape. After a few minutes, a Drachma captain entered the room and didn't close the door behind him. "I'm Captain Gun. In charge of your interrogation. Tell me your name, he said. When Minhyun looked at the ground and didn't answer, he said "Oh, a tough one, huh? Don't worry, we'll get that toughness out of you soon enough." He crouched down towards Minhyun, who still had his Xingese uniform on. "Last chance. Tell me your-" He paused. "Wait a minute. That rank. You're so young, yet you're a 2nd lieutenant?" He paused again. "Now I get it, you're the half-and-half spy they all talk about." He smirked, "This'll be fun. I've only interrogated the adults before." He grabbed Minhyun's shirt and yanked him upwards, only to be knocked to the ground by Minhyun, who had untied himself. Minhyun took the Captain's gun from it's holster and shot the two guards who had entered the cell. One, two. He took their guns and shoved them into the pocket of his uniform. Four other guards had shown up. Three, four, five, six. He ran past them as they dropped to the ground. There was no one else in the hallway, but at the end of it there was a 6-man squad patrolling the corridors. Minhyun shot one of them from behind the wall of the other hallway. Seven. He shot two more. Eight, nine. They had reached him, he shot one and kicked another into the last one, shooting them once they landed on top of each other. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. He ran down the hallway and found himself in between two groups of 6 soldier. He jumped up and shot their way at random, swiveling to dodge their bullets. "Take him alive!" one shouted. He eventually lost track of the amount of soldiers he had killed. He made it down seven hallways and two flights of steps when he heard a voice say, "Minhyun? Is that you?" He turned to see where that familiar voice came from. It was his mother, in the cell. She looked ill and tired. "Mother, I'm here now. I'm going to get you out, I swear I will," Minhyun said. Guards were approaching from both sides and Minhyun began shooting at them. There were too many. Four guards jumped on top of him at once and restrained him. "Minhyun!" his mother shouted. All Minhyun could see in her eye's was dullness. What had they done to her? They dragged him away as he shouted, "I'll come back, we'll escape together!"