A New Friend

The sound of typing on the keyboard sounded quite loud as a man was busy doing his job of tracking the whereabouts of their target. He was looking for any information he could get from their current target. The man did not want their mission this time to fail again, so he prepared even more carefully.

Meanwhile, a blonde woman sitting behind him was busy eating the biscuits and milk she bought before coming to the headquarters. Occasionally she glanced at her colleague and senior who was so focused on the monitor screen.

She didn't want to engage the man in conversation because she was still very upset with the man's behavior towards her.

"Marin," called her partner suddenly.

"Huh, yes?"

William's chair swiveled to face Marin. His brown eyes looked at Marin with a serious gaze. The woman knew that there was something important William wanted to tell her, and it wasn't something good.

"This mission won't be as difficult as the previous one. So I need you to do it carefully or the boss won't trust us with more missions than this," the man said.

"I... What do you want me to do? You want me to fight a lot of people like that again?" Marin asked.

"That's our job. We have to get the briefcase containing some important and dangerous equipment before they leave the docks this morning. You need to be able to sneak onto the ship and retrieve the briefcase," William explained.

Marin gulped as she listened to her mission this time. She knew it would be very difficult. She had to sneak onto a ship that would obviously be heavily guarded and could sail at any time. Then she had to go out carrying a suitcase full of dangerous goods while passing them by?

"What... Are you going on this mission? I'm afraid I'll mess it up again if I don't get guidance. This is my first time doing a mission this difficult," Marin explained.

She admitted that she was so talented that she always got perfect scores in her training as a secret agent. But the mission she got this time, was tougher than the ones she had handled before.

Hearing Marin's request, William thought for a moment. If he came down to go with Marin, he could do it. But who would keep an eye on the outside if he also went inside together with Marin?

After thinking for a while, the man agreed to do so.

"Alright, I'll go down on this mission with you. Think of it as a lesson, watch what I do to carry out this mission. Then next time you should be able to run it alone, do you understand?"

Marin didn't expect that William would change his mind and help her in the execution of the mission. The woman nodded and she would learn that lesson well.

"Good. We will do this mission the day after tomorrow. Prepare yourself until that day comes," William said then turned his chair back to stare at the monitor screen. The sound of typing was again heard from his keyboard.

For some reason the woman felt happy because this time she didn't have to carry out this difficult mission alone. She also wanted to know how William was doing during the mission. Could he be better than her?

'We'll see, is he really a great guy or just a nerd who is busy with the monitor?' she thought at that moment.

******

That night, the snow falling in District 36 was not as heavy as before. New Year's Eve was approaching and the moon would soon change. Spring will arrive soon after the snow melts.

At that time, Amanda intended to go to the convenience store because she saw that her food supplies were running low. She had wanted to go this afternoon, but she had overslept. If she didn't go shopping that night, there would be no food for tomorrow morning.

"What can I do, I have to go now..." she said as she put on her thick coat and a scarf around her neck.

Going out at night was not a problem for Amanda, but since the attack that night, Amanda had become more vigilant. Worried that the man would come back again and attack her. It was already difficult for her to fight now that she was pregnant.

The woman left her house and walked to the mini market which was quite far away. However, because Amanda was used to walking far, for her it was a normal thing.

Arriving at the convenience store, she immediately checked the shopping list she wanted to buy.

"Milk, cheese, melon... Then..." Amanda walked around while carrying a shopping cart. She took the items on her list one by one and then went to the cashier after she finished buying.

Finished with all her groceries, Amanda walked back to her house with both hands carrying a paper bag filled with groceries.

During the trip, her attention kept on the dark side of the street. Thinking that someone could be hiding there and watching her.

"I have to stay alert. Someone could be following me right now..." she muttered softly.

As she passed a tall snowdrift, Amanda faintly heard a small moaning sound coming from the snowdrift.

"What is that sound?" she said in confusion.

"Ung... Ung..." the sound continued, making Amanda feel suspicious and approached the snow pile.

She put down her groceries and dug into the snow. As the snow began to thin, behind it Amanda could see a small dog trembling, groaning from the cold buried in the snow.

"Oh my..." Without thinking, Amanda took off her scarf and wrapped it around the puppy and picked it up. "Oh my gosh... You must be freezing. Hold on."

The woman took the puppy and her groceries back home.

At home, Amanda used her small pillow and laid the dog down in the living room. This is where the heating is. She wiped the puppy's body with warm water, hoping that the puppy would no longer be cold.

Slowly the puppy was no longer shaking. His body began to warm up. Amanda got a bowl of water for the puppy to drink, he must be feeling dehydrated from the cold.

"Now let's drink... A little bit."

Helped by Amanda, the puppy began to drink the water she gave him. After that the dog fell back asleep. Amanda was confused about what to feed the puppy as she had no pets before.

She searched the internet for alternative food for a dog.

"They can be fed boiled eggs? I think I just bought eggs earlier, maybe I can feed them until I buy dog food."

After boiling the egg to feed the dog, Amanda immediately softened it so that the dog could easily eat it. She also looked up the breed of dog she found this time. She wasn't very familiar with dogs, so she didn't know what kind of dog she found this time.

"Dobermann Pinscher? So this is a Dobermann dog? This dog is a guard dog... Oh... But how did he get lost in the snow? He doesn't have a collar either," Amanda said as she read the article.

"This dog is quite dangerous, but if I train him well, he can be tamed, right?"

Amanda had seen dog training when she was training as a new agent. So she knew a few things about training them.

The brunette woman continued to watch the puppy. She rubbed the puppy's head.

"If you don't have anyone or a previous owner. How about I become your owner now? Hmn... What kind of name should I give you?"

"Woof! Woof!" the puppy barked while eating his food.

"Hmn... Hugo? How about your name Hugo?"

The little dog rubbed his face against Amanda's finger and licked it, indicating that he liked the name. Amanda looked very happy, like a child who had just made a friend.

"Okay... From now on your name is Hugo."