Chapter XIV: D.O.A.

K-unit's jeep came screeching to a halt in front of the ruined building. With practiced motions, they leapt out and headed inside.

"What are the chances, do you think, that he got out in time?" Lynx was almost afraid to ask.

The corner of Fox's mouth twitched. "Never underestimate that kid, mate. If he's not the one who set off the explosion, I'll eat Donald Trump's hair." His cheery tone was belied by his pallor which was veering towards gray.

"Both explosions, you mean," Lynx muttered.

As K-unit was barrelling towards ground zero, Smithers had been digging up more camera footage. The explosion that they'd seen had actually been the second one in half an hour. The first had been smaller and didn't do much damage. A bit of broken glass followed by people in lab coats fleeing the building.

The second had taken out half the building. Gas tanks, Smithers suggested. After that, a few inconsequential residual aftershocks followed. By now, almost two hours later, smoke still billowed but the major fires had gone out. Thank goodness for concrete.

It was laughably easy to "infiltrate" the enemy base. Anyone left inside was only concerned with escaping the smoke, rushing past the soldiers coughing and spluttering. K-unit kept low, face masks secured. With a nod to each other, they split into two groups and slipped deeper into the wreckage.

It became apparent that the damage was more or less concentrated in one area. Past it, the infrastructure was blackened by soot but intact. Lynx frowned as they passed a pristine lab, all chrome and glass, standing out in stark contrast amidst the dirty concrete. They didn't have time to stop and investigate.

The two teams kept in radio contact but the message was consistent.

"Nothing here."

It was beginning to look like Alex had escaped after all. Or…

Snake exchanged a look with Fox and Lynx. "We've not checked the whole building yet," he said.

Right on cue, they opened an inconspicuous door expecting to find another storage closet. Instead, it revealed steps leading downwards. With trepidation, they headed down after sending an update to the other two.

It was pitch dark at the bottom but not silent. Occasional muted sounds travelled down from what seemed to be a long corridor, not too narrow but not exactly spacious either judging by the way sound echoed. Fox almost hit someone in the face as he reached up to feel along the wall. A few seconds later, his hand hit a switch and their view was lit up by a dim, flickering glow.

As expected, it was indeed a hallway and it was lined by several doors on their left, spaced a few metres apart. Each door featured a barred window perfect for peering in. The light seemed to have alerted the inhabitants and the muffled sounds grew louder with agitation.

The soldiers moved in tandem towards the first door. Lynx held himself ready facing the door while the other two flanked each side. Fox looked through the window and then back at them, shaking his head. No movement. Lynx shot at the door's lock and Snake pulled it open. It was empty.

Next door, also empty.

Next.

At the fourth door, Fox paused. Snake glanced at him sharply but he didn't say anything, just signaled to continue. When Snake nearly ripped the door off its hinges, Lynx had to steady his breathing and remember procedure.

It took a lot not to rush to the figure slumped in the corner, face masked by shadow. The person was completely still and they could vaguely make out their tattered clothing and short, brown hair. Lynx swallowed and raised his weapon even as Fox called out in English, then Spanish. There was no answer.

Snake approached slowly while the other two remained on guard watching his every move. They watched him reach out to take a pulse, to shake their shoulder, to tilt their face up…

Hoarsely, Snake said, "It's not him."

Lynx's sigh of relief was a little too loud in the small cell.

"The man is still alive though. No life threatening injuries that I can see or feel but it's hard to say. But the local authorities are here anyway. They'll be better equipped to help him." Snake reached for his radio and gave a few curt instructions to their teammates to ask for medical assistance.

"No, no, it's not for Cub. No sign of him…yet."

Grimly, they continued on.

Thankfully, they have no more scares. Most of the other cells are empty save for two and once the captives made sense of what was happening, they were all grateful and cooperative. K-unit were also immensely grateful they could easily leave them to the locals to take care of. They really didn't want to lose any more time.

There were two more doors left when a small commotion sounded from the last door at the end of the hall. A dull thud was followed by a groan. Then came loud and undoubtedly furious swearing.

Alarmed, the soldiers switched gears to approach, just in time for a face to appear in the windows, snarling and twisted.

"Let me out of here, goddamn you!"

The man's face was bloodied and bruised but the injuries did not cover up an eye-catching scar that marred his skin. His Australian accent was unexpected and Lynx had a feeling he wasn't simply a prisoner like the others.

Before any of them could ask, the man seemed to finally register their presence.

"Who are you? Are you his friends, here to rescue him?" He let out a shrill laugh, edged with mania.

"Him? Who are you talking about?" Lynx stalked forward, his breath quickening. His hand rose as if he wanted to grab onto the man's collar. Snake put out a steadying arm to stop him but he and Fox were also staring fixedly at the man.

Footsteps behind them signalled their teammates' arrival just in time to hear the man let loose another piercing laugh.

"I didn't think anyone would be coming this time but I should've known – those two-faced bastards! I'll kill him next time, you hear me? You tell him that. I'll kill Rider! I'll kill all of them!"

"He can't have gotten far," Snake said through gritted teeth as K-unit dashed out of the building.

It had been hard to get anything out of the deranged man but they managed to get enough useful details to piece together a story. Somehow Alex had been able to escape his imprisonment and lock up his captors in his place. No doubt the explosions had been his doing after all. But it was the man's gleeful descriptions of the "fun" he'd had with Alex that made K-unit want to screw ethics and smash the man's face into pulp.

So they knew Alex must be roughed up but they had no idea to what extent, especially after this latest stint. Their footsteps took on an extra edge of urgency. Lynx, for one, didn't want to find the kid bleeding out in some dusty corner.

Abandoning their vehicle, they headed straight into town. Alex wouldn't have wanted to stray too far from the GPS signal if he was holding onto any hope for a rescue. Besides, the chaos from the explosions would've been a nice cover, making it easier to blend into the fleeing crowd. The trouble was, enough time had passed for Alex to find a decent hiding spot and they had no way to contact him.

K-unit didn't dare to spread out too much but they did split into two teams again, staying within a block's distance. Ten minutes later, Lynx stuck his head into his tenth sunless alleyway and found nothing.

"You know," Lynx said as they jogged on, "Why aren't we calling out for him?"

"Is that a good idea? We don't know who else is looking for him," Snake replied.

Fox tilted his head, considering. "Well, the leader of the local crime ring was that man in the cell right? What are the risks here at this point?"

"We certainly aren't getting far like this…"

They exchanged a glance, then Lynx cupped a hand around his mouth.

"CUB!"

Many more minutes passed like this, garnering bewildered stares from passersby. At some point, the other two K-unit members caught on as well and answering calls drifted from somewhere out of their line of sight.

They'd ran a good kilometre away from the building by now, in a more run-down area. The shabby little houses were more like cabins, some looking severely out of repair.

"Cub! Cub, where-!"

Fox and Snake barely had time to curse in surprise when a hand shot out of a barely open door and dragged Lynx into the shadows. The door shut behind him, swirling up a small plume of dust.

A/N: Voila, a short new chapter fresh off the burner, completed unedited… Someone remind me never to write anything with plot ever again. Also, probably not how explosions work…please suspend your disbelief lol. The next update may take a while longer because I don't actually know how to write things.

But thanks everyone who left a review! I was totally surprised there was interest left!