Tears of the past (A Shadamy story)

Chapter 4: Chain of Command

Content warning: this chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence and blood.

Shadow's POV: Thursday night

"Shadow!" The voice hisses at me from out of the darkness as I creep through the grass. "Shadow, listen to me!"
"Rouge, enough. I've already told you what we are doing, how we are doing it and why we are doing it." i whisper back. The white-furred bat woman slowly comes into view as she moves closer.

"That doesn't stop it from being an incredibly stupid idea!" She hisses. "I don't know why I'm even going along with you on this! You've taken some dumb risks in the past, but this be the dumbest risk of all! Forget our careers, you're putting our lives in danger!"
"That's why you agreed to come with me. To get me out of danger if i need it. Not that i will. This operation is stealth, not loud." I understand where Rouge is coming from, but I don't need or want to hear her complaining. "Now, stop talking." Her face goes pink with frustration.
"Not until you hear sense, Shadow! Not only are you putting us in danger, but you're also putting us in danger for something that might be completely pointless! What if it isn't there? What if this is all for nothing?" She whisper-shouts.
"If this is all for nothing, then this is all for nothing." I give a suitably vague answer that doesn't answer anything. Rouge seethes but stops talking. We keep sneaking through the grass, hidden in the darkness of the night as we approach our destination. However, Rouge chooses this moment to say something else.

"Look, Shadow, let me just say this one thing." She . I growl in frustration, but I nod my head to give her permission to keep talking. "I'm just going to list the laws we are about to break by doing this. You want us to break into a government facility so that we can infiltrate a high-security sector of the complex and steal data on a top-secret project that was shut down 58 years ago. Do you see why I have a problem with this?" She glares at me, daring me to argue. I take a deep breath before I respond.
"Rouge, I understand where you are coming from. But please, try to see where I am coming from. This is personal for me. I am trying to fix a mistake from my past that has been a dagger in my heart for decades. If I choose to not do this... I do not know where I will be left." I look Rouge square in the eyes, doing my best to show her the situation from my point of view. Her expression softens.
"Alright. I understand, Shadow. If this is something that you feel you need to do, then I'll help you. But I am not going to get myself killed for you, got it?" This last comment hits me like a bullet, and I can tell by her next expression that my eyes are betraying my true feelings.

"Don't go there, please. Just... don't." Rouge nods, and we keep moving in silence.

Apparently, I had got the distance to the facility wrong, as we were travelling for much longer than I had expected. But at long last, the compound slowly comes into view as we climb to the top of a hill. It's a huge site, bordered by a wire fence surrounding an area of at least one kilometre. Within the fence, there are many buildings, some large, some smaller, all surrounding a central building that is composed of four of the ten total sectors in the facility. However, I am not interested in this building. My attention is focused on one of the medium size buildings that lies further out. This building holds sectors seven and eight, and this is where I need to go.

I signal to Rouge, and we silently run over to the compound, leaping over the fence that had clearly been designed to keep out humans, not like us. We hide behind a small sentry post, staying away from the areas that are illuminated by the floodlights. Unfortunately, the building that we are targeting is found on the far side of the compound, which means that we cross the entire facility get there.
I dart across a pathway and hide in the shadow of a black car. I am about to go further when a guard holding an assault rifle suddenly steps into view. I stop just before he gets a good look at me, but Rouge, not expecting my sudden halt, walks straight into me, barely pushing me into the guard's view. I back away instantly, but I can tell that he saw a flash of me. I hear a faint muttering from his direction, followed by a garbled sound of a radio.