CHAPTER 30: DO YOU KNOW THAT SONG?

The team’s latest assignment was simple enough. Get in, retrieve the R3AV3R vaccine from Country K’s high-security facility, and get out without a trace. That wasn’t Lachlan’s issue with everything.

His issue was that it was Dr. Layla Orhan doing the mission briefing.

For someone whom he considered to be a prisoner, she had an awful lot of power in the military base. Even Commander Jules was leaning against the back wall of the conference room, silent as he listened to everything going on.

As far as the briefing went, she gave them the essentials: Don’t ask questions. Get the sample. Bring it back home and deliver it. The rest, she claimed, was classified for their own safety.

Zubair, ever the leader, took in the details and silently dismissed the rest of the briefing. Elias, Lachlan, and Alexei stood by, nodding in agreement. No one was going to push Orhan for more information—they had done more with less from Commander Jules. But that didn’t calm down any of the KAS team members. Even Elias narrowed his eyes as he stared at the map of the high-security facility.

Why did they even care about this vaccine in the first place?

But that question would have to go unanswered.

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The helicopter’s blades cut through the night as they descended onto the isolated facility in Country K. A chill hung in the air as snowflakes drifted in the wind, but it wasn’t the cold that had Zubair’s senses on edge. The building below was too quiet, too isolated from the outside world. They’d seen plenty of high-security compounds before, but something about this place felt... different.

"You know, I thought we were supposed to be the ones hiding in shadows," Lachlan murmured as the team made their way into the compound. His voice, usually laced with humor, had a sharper edge tonight. His eyes flicked over the guards patrolling the area, his ever-present smirk fading. "This place is giving me the creeps."

Alexei, moving silently beside him, shot him a look. "Your jokes are as annoying as always. Focus," he grunted, his voice low but tinged with a rare edge of irritation.

Lachlan grinned. "Oh, come on. You can’t tell me you’re not curious about what’s going on in there. I mean, look at all the toys they’re playing with," he said, motioning toward the high-tech security systems and reinforced doors.

"Not our job," Zubair interjected quietly, his eyes scanning the darkened halls. "We’re here for the sample, not the toys. Keep your head on straight, and maybe you’ll make it out of this mission alive."

Lachlan shrugged but kept his mouth shut, following his team through the facility’s eerie, sterile corridors. The silence was heavy—unnerving even for them. There were no sounds except the distant hum of machinery, and it made Elias twitch with impatience. He’d been in places like this before, but tonight, it felt wrong.

They arrived at the specific lab where R3AV3R was reportedly kept. The team continued to push forward swiftly through the hallways, and Elias quickly started scanning the area for the secure storage. But as they neared a reinforced observation room, Elias’s sharp eyes caught something—someone. He motioned for the team to stop.

Through the one-way glass, the team saw a massive man strapped to a chair in the center of the room. His hair was stark white, his skin pallid and sickly. His eyes were glazed, staring into nothingness, but the most unsettling part? He was humming "The Muffin Man" under his breath, slow and rhythmic, as though trapped in a mental loop.

"What the hell?" Lachlan whispered, leaning forward to get a better look. "Is this some kind of freak show?"

Alexei’s eyes narrowed. "Not the time," he hissed the warning. Unlike the others, he wasn’t looking inside of the room, but rather the hallway on either side of them. After all, if there was someone inside the room, there would be people outside of it, too.

Lachlan ignored him, his voice dropping into a mock sing-song. "Do you know the muffin man, the muffin man..."

Zubair cut him off with a sharp look. "Focus. This isn’t our mission."

But despite Zubair’s directive, Elias couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that settled in his gut. The man in the chair—he didn’t look human anymore. He looked like something... broken. The scientists in the room were focused on their work, injecting him with substances, observing his reactions. But the man’s mental state was clearly fractured, and the constant humming made everything feel... off.

Zubair glanced at Elias, silently reading his hesitation. "Take the sample," he ordered. "We need to move now."

Elias nodded, breaking eye contact with the man in the chair. "On it," he replied.

Elias moved quickly, focusing on the task at hand. He reached the containment unit, carefully extracting the R3AV3R sample from its secure storage. His hands moved methodically, but his mind was still processing the sight of the man in the observation room, humming that eerie tune.

"Do you know the muffin man..." Lachlan continued in a whisper, grinning at Elias as he worked. "I gotta say, the tune’s catchy, but this place is messed up, huh?"

Alexei shot him another look. "Will you shut up? This is not the time for your games."

Lachlan smirked, unbothered by Alexei’s deadpan response. "Come on, you’ve got to admit, it’s a bit funny," he muttered, leaning against a wall. "You know, the creepy Country E guy humming nursery rhymes while scientists inject him with mystery juice? Classic sci-fi horror. He even has the accent down pat to up the creep factor."

Elias didn’t even look up, his eyes focused entirely on securing the sample. "We don’t have time for your jokes, Lachlan. Get serious."

Zubair gestured for them to move. "That’s enough. We’ve got what we came for. Let’s move."

The team quickly retraced their steps, moving with the practiced precision they were known for. No distractions. No delays. Their mission was clear. But even though they had the sample, Elias couldn’t shake the image of the man in the chair. His mind raced. What kind of experiments were they running here? And why was this man being subjected to it?

The four men had just reached the exit when they heard the sound of footsteps. Guards were on their way. The KAS team froze, instinctively melting into the shadows. Lachlan’s usual playful energy was gone as he practically disappeared in plain sight.

Grabbing a small object from his pocket, Lachlan threw it down the hallway, the sound of it clattering echoing through the hall.

The guards immediately diverted their attention, moving toward the source of the noise. The team moved past them in perfect silence, not even a footstep out of place. They reached the extraction point—an unmarked helicopter waiting just outside the compound.

As they climbed in, Elias let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Zubair glanced around, his sharp eyes scanning the horizon.

The helicopter took off, rising into the night sky. But despite the success of the mission, a cold unease lingered in the pit of Elias’s stomach. The humming of "The Muffin Man" wouldn’t leave his mind.