5 Chapter V: Trapped

A loud bang coming from somewhere atop the dome reverberated followed by an electric fizzling sound. The dome fully closed and a crisp droning tune drowned all the noise. A rain of burnt feather was caught in his light.

" I need to know more but i must survive "

Amidst all the chaos there he stood in all his rugged glory. Jean who was moments away from a full on mental break from his discovery had composed himself with a clear grasp of the situation.

" I found something i wasn't supposed to, this is the price of truth." he thought

Collected and composed yet trembling with adrenaline, he slowly backed himself against the warm metal wall and turned off his light and hung it on his belt.

" I'm a moving target with my light on, it sucks to not see but i'd rather be blind than dead. "

The cold atmosphere steadily grew but he felt some ease with the warm surface of the metal.

" This much heat ? through thick metal? there must be a lot of energy surging behind these. "

Blinded by total darkness, his other senses begins to heighten, his mind runs wild in the background but he attaches himself to the predicament before him.

His greasy back slid on the metal surface as he inched to his left side. The surface behind was smooth for several meters until he felt the sound of ripping fabric, his top got stuck on something.

" ... ! " a semblance of warmth flowed from his scapula. He bled lightly from a graze.

He unstuck the cloth by backing away, there was a bit resistance so he felt it with his hand, he felt a pebble hinged on a thin flexible metal springing out from the surface and the strands of his top stuck on the jagged metal piece.

" Fuck it..." he whispered. He holstered his pistol and turned to face the wall, wrapped the torn cloth to his right hand and tried to pull out the pebble tightly stuck in the possible opening of the dome. As he tried, he felt cold vapors creeping to his back.

" Damn iit... " he whimpers as cold sweats gather to his face.

He continues for several seconds but the pebble wouldn't budge. The metal was far too thick to be simply bent. He sighs, stops for a second and leans back to the wall. He takes a deep breath but it turns to a fog. The severity of the situation sits behind his mind but he fights it.

" What should i do? " he asks himself, shivering from the cold.

Within a second he reminisces his childhood and his brother, the memory of summer and how perfectly sunny the days were in his hometown from the countryside. It brings a smile to his face. He is more of a battlefield than a man at this moment. between the glaring disparity of this moment and his memories. He opens his eyes and see nothing but pitchblack. His heart breaks a little.

Then suddenly

" Pksssssh " His radio sounds off

" Uncle Nurk! " He cries...

Uncle nurk standing atop the hill looking at the sunset senses the urgency in his favorite nephews voice however he brushed it off.

" Ha! you must be pretty near, i thought i " jean cut him off mid sentence.

" Uncle Listen... I found it " he said, weakened and shivering.

Nurkel picked up on his stuttering and he feels a sense of urgency. He then reached for his bag and drew something out.

" I'm trapped inside their dome. " Jean said with utmost control as he feels the cold digging into him.

Then a loud bang reverberated through the dome.

"You mean the one in the middle if the woods right Jeanie boy?" he says as his eyes are fixed on the scope.

" Save me Uncle " Jean says.

" I'll be damned if i let my son die, warm yourself up son " Nurkel said as he fixes his eyes on the gigantic black dome as is glitches in and out of visibility.

Jean buckles down to sit by the wall, takes out his lighter and unwraps the cloth from his finger. He lights it and picks up dry grass and puts the embering cloth in the middle. As it catches on fire he picks a twig he sat on and cast it to the fire.

Loud banging on metal filled the dome at intervals as Nurkel unleashes bullet after bullet to the same spot.

" Son, you'll be alright " Nurkel speaks through the radio as he begins to load another clip.

" I know, you'll save me right? " Jean replies serenely as he unholsters his pistol and holds it, ready to aim and shoot.

" As i have always done so, Son." nurkel reassures Jean as he pulls the trigger.

The bullet flew more than a few hundred meters, from it's elevation the dome now visible, can be seen right below the mountains foot, just beyond the treelines a river coursing from the top of the mountain can be seen, beside it was a helipad of sorts.

The bullet makes contact on the previous shrapnels and the cracking of glass is heard by jean, the crack ripples and an electric buzzing followed. A surge of gusts was heard and the fog leaked out of the hole atop the dome.

A loud siren shook the ground and beams of red light shone one after another until the whole dome interior is covered in red light.

A loud static initiated then a voice from the siren sounded off.

" Tresspasser, you are hereby declared a criminal by the federal government under the authority vested to preserving Project Hippocrates. You will either forfeit your life or surrender. We will send a platoon to escort you, remove all weapons you have or we will assume you as hostile. "

Jean was stunned and thoughtless in disbelief.

"Jean throw your weapons away!" Uncle Nurk spoke through the radio. Drowned by Tinnitus, Jean couldn't think properly, he was once again overwhelmed.

A sound roaring engine passed by.

"Jean?!, Jean!, listen... Stay alive, I'll save you..." uncle nurk said as Jean passes out from fatigue and extreme distress.

Those were the last words Jean ever heard from his beloved Uncle...

For Now...

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