Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - The Novel

Interrogation

March 12th, 1975

"Paz!" Chico cried as she was dragged out of her cage again.

Even if she didn't appreciate his rescue attempt, Chico still couldn't bear the thought of Paz going through another day of torture. That uncomfortable truth haunted him for an hour until another soldier approached his cell. He wasted no time in opening the door to his cage and aimed his rifle at the young boy.

"On your feet!" the soldier ordered.

"Okay..." Chico fearfully replied.

The soldier escorted the captured revolutionary to his jeep and drove him to the Administration Building of the naval base. The jeep soon stopped in front of a large gate, providing Chico with a view of how secure the base was. The surplus of guards, armories, watchtowers and anti-air guns... This realization was what finally hammered it into the child how foolish it was to try and rescue Paz on his own. But he couldn't lose hope, because if he did... then any chance of rescuing Paz would truly be lost. Suddenly, the gate slowly opened revealing a section of the base that was even more secured than what he has seen so far. There were cameras around every corners and guards covering the blind spot of each one.

"How does Snake deal with this every day?" Chico mumbled as the soldier parked his jeep in front of a nearby armory.

The moment the engine stopped the guard dragged Chico to the boiler room where he found Paz indeed suffering another day of torture.

"Paz..." the child muttered.

"You've got company..." Skull Face informed Paz.

Skull Face approached the frightened boy and slapped him across his face.

"Does it hurt?" asked Skull Face.

Chico didn't respond. He couldn't respond. He wasn't sure what the right answer would be or whether there was a right one at all. Unfortunately, that indecisiveness resulted in him being mercilessly slapped again.

"Talk," Skull Face demanded.

Skull Face struck the young boy once more.

"Talk!" Skull Face demanded once more before striking Chico again. "You can speak, can't you?

Skull Face then jerked Chico towards him, intimidating the boy even more than he had yesterday.

"Then talk," Skull Face ordered before shoving him back to the concrete floor.

"Okay!" Chico relented. "Okay..."

"Good boy," Skull Face smirked. "Your boss and I go way back. Don't count on him coming to rescue you. If you're a real soldier, you'll find your own way out. But don't bother trying to escape. Let's say you get lucky – and you don't look very lucky – and by some miracle you get out of your cage. Let's even say you're able to elude the guards. Then what?

The nearest Cuban border is four miles to the east. Four miles of barren, America-controlled soil. Think you'd make it? You wouldn't get any help from the Cubans. And the border's a mess of live minefields. Think you'd make it through that? With your girlfriend in tow? If you were that lucky, you wouldn't even be here right now."

Skull Face's words drilled into Chico the reality of his situation. The only reason he was able to get to the base was because MSF unknowingly gave him a good head start. There was no way he could get himself and Paz out of their predicament by himself and no one knew where he was. There was truly nothing he could do.

"Don't lose hope," said Skull Face. "There's another way out. For both you and the girl. This way is... much simpler. I ask, you answer. Easy, right? Just tell me what you know."