Chapter 40: World War II Base
"Don't move! I'm coming to find you right away!" Condor's eyes shot open, but he couldn't see a thing.
The three of them had fallen into a tunnel.
Amy's voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness. "I didn't move! You need to get here fast!"
The tunnel was pitch black, and Condor felt around blindly. Suddenly, his hand touched something soft.
"Ah!!" It was Lisa's scream, so close it was practically in his ear.
Feeling the stinging pain on his face, he realized exactly what he'd just grabbed.
"Women have incredible aim; they can slap you dead-on even when they can't see," Condor muttered under his breath.
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized to Lisa, though his sheepish grin made him sound less than sincere.
He pulled out his tactical flashlight, and the beam finally cut through the darkness, easing Condor's nerves.
"What's this?" Lisa's voice trembled as she felt something beneath her.
"...Uh, looks like a foot." Condor picked up the skeleton wrapped in rotting fabric. The flesh was long gone, decomposed over decades.
"Ah!!!" Under Condor's light, Lisa saw what lay beside her—a human skeleton! She screamed in horror.
"It's okay, it's okay, keep quiet." Seeing Lisa jumping around in panic, Condor quickly stood to calm her down. Moving erratically in such an unfamiliar place was dangerous.
Meanwhile, Amy, alone in another section, was also startled by Lisa's screams.
Condor played babysitter, comforting both women—though babysitting two beautiful ladies was a job most guys wouldn't complain about.
He suddenly spotted German words stenciled on the wall: "No Smoking at the Base." He felt like they were getting close to their destination.
After finding Amy, led by Condor, the trio began exploring the mysterious base.
Soon they discovered a command center.
No one had been here in decades, and the entire facility was blanketed in dust. A sudden draft sent the dust on a table swirling thick and heavy, like sand in a desert storm.
Lisa finally found her grandfather's body in the command post, though only his skeleton remained.
"What's that?" Amy noticed Condor searching the body, pulling out a dark object that sent a chill down her spine.
"It's a diary," he said, handing it to Lisa. Since it belonged to her grandfather, she should have it.
"Quick, see what it says!"
"This was my grandfather's journal," Lisa said, flipping through the brittle pages.
Standing six feet away, Amy was curious about the contents but too grossed out to get closer. She kept asking, "Was there a final message? Did he say who killed him?"
Lisa opened the diary and began reading: "Today we advanced twenty-five miles, four men suffered heatstroke..."
"Skip to the next page!" Amy interrupted hastily. She had zero interest in the daily routine of a German soldier in World War II.
"The battle situation looks bad for our forces, but I believe the Führer will lead us to final victory, and our commander Rommel is an unmatched military genius..."
"Isn't there anything more important?" Amy had to cut her off again.
Lisa flipped through more pages. "A shipment of heavy metals arrived today. The officer ordered me to move them into Laboratory One immediately. What kind of metal is this heavy? Could it be gold?"
"You said gold!" Amy's entire face lit up with excitement.
"...I'm devastated," Lisa continued reading. "The officer gave me eighteen pills and told me to distribute them after we moved the gold. He also said that closing the base requires a password, so I'll use Elizabeth's birthday."
"Who's Elizabeth?" Amy felt this was critical information.
"She's my mother."
"Do you remember her birthday?" Amy asked, eyes wide.
"I do," Lisa nodded, then asked, confused, "But why was my grandfather so devastated?"
"I know why," Condor, who'd finished surveying the area, stepped forward. "If I'm not mistaken, these people were your grandfather's guard unit. After they completed their mission, your grandfather gave them poison."
"No wonder your grandfather was heartbroken," Amy exclaimed. "He had to kill eighteen comrades at once."
"But something's off," Condor pointed to the surrounding corpses. "There are fifteen here, and seventeen including the two upstairs. Where's the last one?"
Just then, a bright light pierced the darkness, and an old man in a wheelchair rolled in. "Because one guard was smart enough not to take the poison your grandfather handed out."
It was Adolf, captured by Jake.
His sudden appearance startled both women, who scrambled behind Condor.
Condor glanced at the solitary Adolf with suspicion, confirming he was alone. Still, he voiced his doubts: "If I'm not mistaken, you're Adolf."
"Oh?" Adolf's expression shifted. Was his identity that obvious? How did everyone know?
He controlled his face and asked, "How did you figure that out?"
"Because your name's engraved on this knife. You're the smart guard who didn't take the poison!" He held up a combat knife he'd pulled from Lisa's grandfather's corpse.
Lisa looked at the name on the blade, then at Adolf's unmistakable face. "So you killed my grandfather!" she cried out angrily.
Adolf's face contorted with rage. "Your grandfather was no saint! He tried to poison us, and when I refused, he shattered my legs! You have no idea how long I've waited for this day!" Facing the granddaughter of the man who'd crippled him, his anger was understandable.
Lisa wanted to respond, but Amy interrupted, "The ownership of that gold belongs to the UN."
"No, this gold belongs to me!" Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind Adolf.
It was Jake, who'd been watching the drama unfold!
Seeing Jake, Adolf wisely wheeled his chair aside to clear the path.
"It's you!!" "It's you!!" Condor and Lisa exclaimed simultaneously.
"What? Who is it?" Amy had only glimpsed Jake from a distance and had already forgotten his face.
"Our competition." Condor frowned as he studied Jake, who looked impossibly clean and put-together. He couldn't understand how Jake could move around the Sahara dressed so pristinely.
Even if he'd stayed in his vehicle the entire time, it shouldn't be possible.
"Hello, Amy... or should I call you by your real name here? Hello, Miss Amy," he greeted with a casual wave. "And Mr. Condor and Lisa, hello to you as well."
"I said, the ownership of the gold belongs to the UN, you have no right to it..." Amy tried to continue, but seeing the long rifle Jake pulled from behind his back, she immediately shut her mouth. That weapon was definitely a shotgun.
She'd heard it could blow someone apart with one blast, so...
"Alright, I'm officially announcing now that this place belongs to me."
Jake instinctively didn't want to hurt Condor, because that face reminded him of action heroes from classic movies he'd watched growing up—the kind of fearless operatives who inspired countless kids to dream about adventure.
It was only after CGI-heavy blockbusters took over Hollywood, with special effects replacing real stunts and practical action, that Jake's viewing preferences had gradually shifted.
Still, those old-school action films remained among his favorites.
He snatched the key, forced Condor and the two women out of the underground base at gunpoint, then tossed a grenade that collapsed the entire entrance in a thunderous explosion.
Now, the base was quiet—at least for the moment.
"Adolf, lead the way. Let me see my gold."
"Yes, sir." Adolf gripped his wheelchair's rims and began to guide him forward...
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