by Tom Jones
Arcades looked at his face in the mirror when he stepped into the bathroom, and he looked at his face. The fox could not remember the last time he looked at himself, but he did not really look different when compared to the last time he viewed himself. The fox removed his nightshirt in front of the mirror, and he looked at bare torso. Arcades examined his thin body, and he was glad to see that he was not looking too rough given the circumstances over the past week. Fortunately, the fox’s body was not harmed during the entire ordeal so far, and Arcades preferred that he would not be harmed in the future. When the fox dropped his shorts, he looked down at his bare legs and thought about the last time they were locked in carbon steel. From what the fox remembered, the last time he was restrained was the night of the attack which forced him to leave his home. Though Arcades would not be getting rid of his bag of restraints, he was unsure of the next time he would use anything inside of that bag. Nothing was really stopping him from wearing them again, but he would rather wait for a better time. After all, there were plenty of more important things to do for the time being. Arcades turned on the water in the shower, and he waited for the water to heat up. While he waited, the fox continued to look at himself in the mirror, and he continued to think about what he needed to do. Brushing his hand through the water coming out of the shower, the fox could feel that it was now warm enough for him to get in. Arcades dropped his underwear and stepped into the shower.
“We’re going back there pretty early today, aren’t we?” the passenger of the black Ford Explorer said as the vehicle proceeded down the road that would take them to the same place where they flew their drone the last time. The driver looked at the time and replied, “It is eleven in the morning, but do you have any better ideas? What else are we supposed to do out here?” The passenger sighed, “Well… I got nothin’. Is this day four or day three?” The driver had to stop and think for a moment; he was not prepared to give his answer immediately. The driver responded when he was ready, “Uhhh… I wanna say that it’s day four, but I’d have to count it out.” The passenger snickered, “Heh. I guess it’s a bit hard to count the days when they’re all practically the same.” The driver looked back at the clock in the vehicle, but it read the same time, “Perhaps us coming out earlier today will shake things up. Maybe we’ll actually be able to tell when our week is over.” The passenger looked at the window and viewed the surroundings; they weren’t really that interesting to look at, so he turned back to face the driver and said, “And once this week is over, we’ll be back to doing what we were doing before they called us out for this. You know, I don’t even know why they wanted us to do this in the first place. I guess they couldn’t get anyone else.” The driver kept his eyes on the road, “I’m pretty sure most of the resources were put into the Foundation anyways. I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with that mess.” The passenger raised both of his eyebrows, “It was a mess in more ways than one.” The driver shook his head, “I would not be bummed out at all if we don’t find the guy we’re looking for.” The passenger nodded, “I know what you mean. Let’s just waste time and get this over with.”
Arcades pulled into the clearing with his 4Runner, and he drove through the unkempt grass until he reached the Ford Mustang that was still covered with a green tarp. Stopping his vehicle, the fox turned to face his two companions and announced, “Looks like we’re here again.” The wolf was looking at the covered Mustang from the passenger seat, “And it looks exactly like it did from before.” Arcades shot a look at the covered vehicle and said, “Yep. I reckon not too many people come out here. Let’s see what we can get.” Jason was the first to undo his seatbelt and open the door. Arcades released his seatbelt as well, but he turned to see that Jackie did not seem to be in the process of releasing her own seatbelt. The fox paused before he opened the door, and Jason paused as well when he saw that Arcades had stopped. The wolf was about to ask the fox what the problem was, but Arcades spoke to the vixen first, “Are you planning on staying inside?” Jackie gave a reply, “Unless you guys need me for something.” The fox did not require the vixen’s assistance, but he did suggest that she still stepped out of the vehicle, “You don’t want to be cooped up in the car all day. Why don’t you come out and get some air?” Jackie proceeded to exit the vehicle without saying anything else.
The fox reached into his pockets of his black Tru-Spec tactical shorts, but they were completely empty, “Oops. I forgot my EDC. It’s still in the 4Runner.” Jason turned around to face the fox and said, “Well that’s not so bad. At least you didn’t leave it back in the room.” The fox debated on going back to the 4Runner to retrieve the items he carried on a daily basis, but he decided that he would not really need it since he was standing right next to his SUV. If the fox truly needed something, all he needed to do was just retrieve it from the 4Runner. Arcades looked at the black cargo pants Jason wore and asked, “Do you have your EDC on you?” The wolf shook his head and smiled, “Nope. It’s in the sport ute as well.” Arcades shrugged, “Ah well. Let’s just get on with what we need to do.” Jason started pulling the tarp off of the Mustang, and he said, “Yeah, for sure. Do you know what guns we’re planning on breaking down today, mate?”
The fox opened the trunk of the car with the keyfob he grabbed from the 4Runner, and he looked at the cache of guns which were still left behind, “Hmm… Last time we got rid of some HK guns. How about we go with FN Herstal products today? We have a SCAR or two in there. We’d be able to sell the uppers on those. We have a Minimi as well, but I think we should get rid of the SCARs first. I know we have a Five-seveN Mk2, but we don’t need to take that apart since it’s a non-NFA handgun.” Jason looked back towards the fox and asked, “Well, Kurt. Which guns are we going with today?” Arcades briefly looked up to Jackie who leaned against the side of the Mustang, and he replied to the wolf once he looked back down at the contents of the trunk, “We’ll go with the two SCARs. We should get a couple thousand a piece for those, and that’ll definitely hold us for the time being. The Minimi’s fully-automatic as well, but I think we should wait on that one since that’ll be a harder sale. Not many people have SCARs, and I don’t think too many people have those semi-automatic Minimis. They do exist, but they’re pretty uncommon.”
After some digging in the trunk, the wolf pulled out the FN SCAR-H which the fox had. Jason placed the rifle on the damaged roof of the Mustang, “This one, Kurt?” Arcades nodded, “Yep. The SCAR-16 should be in there as well. We’ll do both of those, and that’ll be all for today.” The fox moved next to the wolf, and he reached into the trunk to remove the remaining FN SCAR-L before placing it on the roof of the Mustang directly next to the SCAR-H. Arcades looked down at his dark blue polo shirt to make sure it was not coming untucked from his shorts, and he went back to attend to his business once he saw that his shirt was not coming loose, “Alright. All we need to do is just detach the lower and strip it like we did with the HK guns from last time.” The wolf picked up the SCAR-H, and he pulled the charging handle back to make sure that the rifle was completely empty. Since the empty magazine was inserted into the rifle, the bolt locked back when it was pulled backwards. The wolf dropped the magazine from the rifle, and he looked into the chamber to see that it was definitely clear. Jason pressed the bolt release button, and the rifle made a loud metallic click when the bolt carrier returned to battery. The fox nodded towards the wolf after hearing the bolt close, “Ah, I’m gonna miss that sound… Right. Let’s get started.”
“Is this the right place?” the passenger asked as the Ford Explorer came up to the clearing. The driver nodded and slowed the vehicle down to be able to safely make the turn, “Yup. It sure is.” With the SUV at a slow speed, the driver made a right turn, and he entered the clearing. However, instead making another right and arriving at the place where Arcades currently was, the driver made a left instead. After driving for a few more meters, the driver stopped the SUV and said, “Yup. This is it. Let’s go and get the drone flying.” Both the driv
er and the passenger exited the SUV, and they went around to the back to open their trunk as well. Inside of the trunk was the same DJI Matrice that they used the last time. The passenger removed the UAV from the SUV while the driver located the radio controller for the aircraft. The passenger began to lament on his job once more, “You know what’s bullshit?” The driver toggled the power on the radio controller, and he waited for the device to start up, “What’s that?” The passenger briefly checked over the aircraft to make sure it was ready to fly while he spoke, “What the fuck would anybody even do with this drone footage anyways? Flying at the altitude we’re supposed to, you still can’t see shit. If this guy is down there, you’re definitely not going to see him.” The driver synced the controller up with the drone and said, “Beats me. Would you rather not get paid to do this?” The passenger stepped away from the drone once he finished checking it over and toggling its power, “I mean, most of the time, we already don’t do much, but this is just… Fuck me… This week is so boring.”
Both humans watched the UAV as it came to life and started spinning its four rotors, and the drone took flight once it generated enough lift to do so. As the drone flew off into the sky, the driver looked at the screen attached to the controller in order to see where the aircraft was flying, and the passenger was left with practically nothing to look at for himself. The passenger lamented yet again, “And now for the part where I do fuck all for the next forty-five minutes.” The driver replied even though he kept his eyes on the drone’s camera feed, “Think of it as you getting paid to do nothing for the next forty-five minutes.” The passenger shook his head and sighed, “Damn. With that logic, I guess you could say that we both are getting paid to do nothing for the entire week.” The driver shrugged as he continued to fly the drone, “Something like that.” The passenger looked back at his colleague, but it was clear that the driver was not looking to have a conversation.
Looking away from the driver, the passenger could see the same Ford Mustang he saw the previous time, but there was now a second vehicle parked next to it. The passenger commented on the additional vehicle, “I don’t remember seeing that SUV out there.” The driver was barely paying attention to what his colleague was saying, “The fuck are you on about?” The passenger pointed towards the gray 4Runner, but the driver did not pay him any mind, “Right there. Remember how last time we showed up there was a gray Ford Mustang? Now, there’s a gray Toyota 4Runner parked right next to it.” The driver still did not look up from his controller, “Don’t fuck with them, and they probably won’t fuck with us.” The passenger looked back to his colleague, “Are you sure this is a good place to be right now?” The driver was becoming annoyed, “Dammit. What the fuck does it look like we’re doing out here?” The passenger took a step back and said, “We’re flying a drone.” The driver gave a somewhat irritated nod of the head, “Yeah. That’s not fucking suspicious. Just don’t pay those fuckers any mind, and you won’t have anything to worry about.” The passenger looked back at the 4Runner, but he could not see anybody from where he was standing. He was not sure how long the SUV was parked there for, but he did not remember seeing the vehicle pull in during the short time they were parked in the clearing themselves.
“That didn’t take so long,” Jason said as he looked down at the two FN SCARs that were now lacking their lower receivers. Arcades was curious as to how much time had passed, but he had neither a watch nor a phone on him. The fox caught himself trying to look for something to tell the time with, “I would tell you how long that took, but I literally have absolutely nothing on me.” The wolf smiled and said, “I don’t have anything on me either, mate.” Arcades turned towards the vixen who was silently watching the fox and the wolf, but Arcades could see that like Jason, Jackie did not seem to be carrying anything for herself. The fox looked back at the wolf and said, “I can’t tell you an official duration, but I guess we can both agree that it surely did not seem like it took that long.” Arcades looked back towards Jackie and asked, “How long do you reckon that took?” The vixen raised her right hand up to her torso to provide some sort of gesture for the two anthros she was with, “I’m going to guess we’ve been out here for ten minutes.” Arcades spoke to the wolf next in order to get his opinion, “Ten minutes. Jason, does that sound about right?” The wolf scratched his chin before speaking, “Hmm… I’m gonna say that’s a large probability.” Arcades nodded and said, “I guess it’s even quicker since there’s a rifle for each of us. If one of us did both of these, it would’ve probably taken longer.”
The fox took a step back from his companions and said, “Well. We’re a bit ahead of schedule. I thought it would’ve taken us a bit longer to do this.” The wolf was already heading back to the SUV to retrieve the same bag they used to keep the previous parts kits in from before. Jason spoke once he arrived with the open bag, “Yeah? I guess you can thank the modular designs of these guns for that, mate.” Arcades began to load the stripped weapons into the bag, and he started speaking to both of the anthros while he did so, “Anyways. Did you guys like breakfast this morning?” Jason was the first to reply, “Yeah. It was pretty good.” The fox then looked up to the vixen while he neatly packed the parts kits into the bag, “How about you Jackie?” The vixen replied, “It was good.” Arcades replied to both of his companions, “That’s nice to hear. It feels pretty good out here today. It’s not too hot, and it’s not too cold.”
The wolf looked towards the sky, and he could spot a small UAV flying pretty far out in the distance. Ignoring the drone, Jason commented on the weather, “A bit humid out here, but I guess that’s just about what you expect from living down here.” Arcades zipped up the bag once the two SCAR parts kits were loaded the way he wanted, “Yeah. You should be used to it by now, Jason. You’ve lived out in this general region for over a whole year with me.” The wolf made a mental note to view the UAV with the XMP-1’s scope, but he did not speak his thoughts aloud. Instead, Jason continued the conversation he was having with the fox, “I guess it’s just something that I notice.” Arcades grabbed the bag from off of the Mustang, and he closed the empty trunk of the car before carrying the bag back to the 4Runner and speaking, “It’s just about springtime, so I guess it makes sense that it would be humid out here.”
The fox placed the bag in the trunk of the gray SUV, and he closed it once it was properly loaded into the vehicle. Arcades then turned around and saw two humans standing in the distance next to a black Ford Explorer. The fox looked at the rims of the Explorer, and he could see that they were the same rims that were featured on the police package variant for the vehicle. Arcades commented on the vehicle, “Hey, check this out. I wonder what these guys are here for.” Jason moved to meet with the fox, and Jackie came along as well. The wolf looked at the two humans, “Heh. Who are those blokes? Bloody bogan?” Arcades shook his head, “No idea. Maybe they’re policemen? They’re driving a police package Explorer.” Jason saw one of the humans holding a device of some sort, “They look like they’re controlling something. I think I saw a drone in the air.” The fox looked up to the sky, but he could not see the UAV that the wolf was talking about. Jason looked up in the air again and could not locate the unmanned aircraft for himself. The wolf said, “I don’t see it anymore. If I had to guess, they were controlling it.” Arcades looked at the two humans and started developing an idea in his head, “I wonder if they’re the guys looking for me. If they are, then we might be able to see who sent them.”
The wolf was unsure what Arcades was suggesting, “What are you planning on doing, Kurt?” Arcades replied, “How about I go over there and see just what they’re up to?” The wolf dissented, “Are you sure about that? What if they’re the guys looking for you?” Arcades looked back at Jason, “We could use that to our advantage. We can figure out just how many more of them there are, and we can probably figure out the method they’re actually using to find us.” The wolf continued looking at the two humans and their vehicle, “How is that going
to work? What if they take you away?” Arcades replied, “We’ve been taken away more than once. Besides, you’ll be able to follow us and see where we’re going if that does happen. These guys might not even be with the Foundation. They might just be regular people who bought a police package Explorer.” Jason took a deep breath, “I dunno, mate.” The fox turned back around to face the wolf, “I’ll be alright. Keep your distance. If you see their car leaving and I’m not left here, follow the car, but I don’t want you to intervene, not yet. Besides, if anything, they want me, not you. I’ve dealt with worse. Maybe I’ll be able to finally end this whole runaround once and for all.”
The wolf was very reluctant, but he decided to trust the fox, “Alright, Kurt… God be with you.” Arcades smiled, and he gave the wolf a hug, “I’ll be fine, Jason. Here, I’ll make it easy as well.” The fox let go of the wolf, and he opened the passenger door of his 4Runner. After a short moment spent searching, Arcades emerged with a double-bitted ASP handcuff key. Jason watched as the fox deposited the key into his back pocket. The key was very small, and Arcades commented on the key, “This key can open practically every American-made police restraint excluding the Smith & Wesson 104 and those models with BOA locksets. Alright Jason, I want you to stay out of sight for now. If they take me, I won’t resist them. We’ll find more information about them in the place they take me, anyways. I sincerely doubt we’d find anything notable out here.” Jackie stood by, and she was surprised she was seeing this situation go down. The fox briefly looked over to Jackie and then spoke to Jason, “I might not even need you guys to come and get me. I still know where we’re staying, and you have practically everything you need here. It’s not like I’m losing anything.” Jason watched as the fox walked towards the two men, and he was starting to question whether or not Arcades really knew what he was doing.
