22 The Reluctant Hero
22: ch.
22 The Reluctant Hero
At this time, the Carter family trapped in the New Mexico Desert had not felt the danger that was slowly circling them.
Bob’s wife, Ethel, was preparing dinner within the RV as the eldest daughter, Lynn, was taking care of her one year old daughter Catherine in the car.
Her husband, Doug, was walking in the opposite direction as Bob in order to try to find help and has not returned yet.
The second daughter Brenda had moved a lounge chair outside, but was about to pack it up as it was gettimg dark
The youngest son Bobby took the two German shepherds and explored the nearby rocks as he was bored.
Everyone was too preoccupied to notice that Bobby had gradually fallen out of their sight of the adults and entered the rugged mountains.
Bobby held a wooden stick and waved it in the air at will as he walked along with his German shepherds, he preferred walking alone with his pets than sitting with his family having small talk.
As they walked along the mountain hill side, the shepherd dogs came to a dead stop.
The fur on their back stood on end and their hackles raised as they growled forward st the rocks ahead.
Bobby was taken aback and looked forward only to see a little girl in a slightly dirty dress standing next to a huge rock not far in front, she was peeking at them from behind a rock but doing a bad job at hiding.
“Beauty!
Beast!
Stop barking!”
As Bobby calmed his dogs down, he got a careful look at the girl and although the shadows of the mountain hid her face, it was easy to see how gaunt and malnourished she looked.
“…..Um hello?…My name is Bobby, what’s your name?…..Are you lost?
Do you need help?”
The little girl didn’t speak, but stepped back with some fear in her face as she looked at the dogs.
“Don’t be afraid, I am not a bad person…
Are you afraid of dogs?
Don’t worry, these two dogs will not hurt you, they are actually very friendly.” Bobby hurriedly said
Before Bobby finished speaking, his German shepherd snarled and barked, almost appearing unhinged in the girl’s presence.
The little girl immediately turned her head and ran without saying a word.
“Damn dog!” Bobby cursed, and quickly chased after the girl who looked in desperate need of help.
And faster than him was a shepherd dog, who rushed forward first and cleared the way for Bobby, while the other shepherd dog was behind.
As Bobby chased after the girl, a stone the size of a water tank suddenly rolled down from above…
Looking at the road blocked by large rocks in front, Nick had no choice but to stop the car that now only had back tires, and asked in a gruff voice, “How far is the RV?”
Bob gritted his teeth and said, “It’d probably take around 5 minutes to drive.”
“Speed limits 80 mph so that’s about 6 Mile’s we’re gonna have to walk” Nick looked sideways at the sun setting on the top of the mountain.
“Then we have to hurry up, if we’re fast we can arrive just before it’s dark out” Saying this, Nick got out of the car and popped the trunk.
As Bob followed after him, he saw Nick open a secret apartment filled with different types of knives, guns, crossbows, herbs and bottles of strange liquids.
“Ive only been retired for a few years now, has the NIA agents always been so prepared” Bob looked at the arsenal with both shock and concern.
Handing the retired detective an AR-15 and an extra mag, Nick loaded his bag with different items he’d need if this was a supernatural creature before grabbing a huge and bulky satellite phone.
He immediately turned the phone on and dialed HQ, “Special Agent Nick Valentine, number 001, security code 7313520.
Calling in a report on a possible anomaly” Nick quickly said.
“Category Green, low threat level but is intelligent and is stalking me while laying traps.
Vehicles disabled and unable to retreat, currently trying to save civilians.”
There was a stoic female voice on the phone “Received agent 001, identity has been confirmed, the request for help has been sent, please persevere until they arrive…”
Hanging up the phone, Nick slung his bag off his shoulder before grabbing the HK416 and slamming the trunk closed.
He didn’t care if this was a group of human traffickers, bandits or a pack of werewolves, he’d be dumb not to call reinforcements just because they were possibly humans.
“Are you ready?” As he scanned the dim surroundings
“Don’t worry, I’m ready at any time.
Let’s get back to my family!” Bob said as he gripped the gun tight.
“Let’s go!”
Located at the NIA headquarters in Washington, Holly was rubbing her temples as she looked at the files on the table.
There was a photo of Edward Kim, the man who placed nearly a thousand venomous snakes on Nick’s plane, alongside a long file that is tracking his past and present actions.
Suddenly the landline on her desk rang, forcing Holly to look away
“What’s the matter…another agent called in a possible anomaly, who was it?…Hold on a moment, I’ll be over immediately!
Quickly throwing the file into her safe, Holly speed walked to the conference room and saw dozens of people working away on laptops.
“What’s the situation?” Holly said to her second in command, Henry, who was in charge of dispatching Units.
“Five minutes ago we received a request for assistance by agent Nick Valentine on a possible Green ranked abnormality.
After tracking his coordinates, we found that he is now around the area of the abandoned Kandal testing ground in New Mexico.”
Saying this, Henry pulled out files of Kandal and handed it to Holly.
“The Kandal Testing grounds mainly focused on Nuclear weapons experiments and is said to have accumulated 331 experiments.
However, all that radiation deemed the Kandal Testing grounds no longer fit for human habitation and was abandoned.”
Taking out a paper, Henry showed the different levels of recorded radiation in the Kandal area, all showing that prolonged exposure to the area would undoubtedly damage one’s health.
“If this anomaly is inhabiting a radiation zone, then we can draw the conclusion that it isn’t supernatural in nature but is instead a mutation.
I have dispatched a team to apprehend the abnormality and passed along my hypothesis.”
Hearing his hypothesis and how quickly he dispatched the retrieval team, Holly was relieved she chose Henry as her second in command in leading this new Division.
“Any word about agent Nick Valentine?”
“We lost contact with him immediately after he reported the abnormality, but he said there were civilains in danger and that he was going to rescue them.”
‘Of course, that brat Nick has to play the hero!
He loves to say otherwise but he’s always been helping others.’ Holly raised Nick since he was a child and knew him better than anyone else.
He was a go with the flow guy that didn’t have any major goals or aspirations, the only reason he became an N.I.A.
Agent was because Holly was one.
It was like he was drifting through life waiting to die, but that was changing.
Nick had always proclaims himself as selfish but routinely gave to others, albeit begrudgingly.
In Holly’s mind Nick was a good boy forced to act cold after his parents passing, a reluctant Hero.
She didn’t know why or when, but Holly noticed that there seemed to be a light in his eyes now.
The boy who studied just enough to barely pass the NIA’s test, had spent multiple months straight of just studying and copying books on supernatural creatures.
‘Just what has overcome Nick?
That boy’s once dull eyes have been replaced by an all consuming desire, but what is that desire?…’ For the first time in both worlds, Nick was fighting the flow to follow his owm ambitions.
Nick had been a little too optimistic about the time, they were only halfway there but the sun was blocked by the mountains in the distance, and the darkness was shrouded in this desolate land.
As they ran along the desert road, Nick’s eyes turned into vertical slits and the world turned bright blue as his absorbed Snake’s thermal vision took affect
Looking at his surroundings, Nick could see faint red and orange creatures off in the distance that signified it was a living being.
With each step he took they followed, keeping their distance.
They were too far away to get a good look at, but the distance provided Nick with some safety as even he wouldn’t be able to get an accurate shot off at this distance, let alone who or whatever was out there stalking them.
Nick was so preoccupied with his surroundings that he wasn’t paying attention to what was nearby, but it was Bob who paid the price!
*Clank*
“AAARRGGGHHHH!!!!” Letting out a bloodcurdling scream, Nick turned off his thermal vision to look down and spotted Bob’s foot stuck in an old and rusty bear trap!
Looking down at the bear trap, Nick came to a realization and looked up with his thermal vision activated.
Those multiple beings were quickly jumping down the mountain at immense speed and charging straight for the duo!