Base Gamma

"BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!!"

"Ugh!" I groaned as my alarm rang loudly.

Rolling over, I slapped the top button before shoving my face back into my pillow.

"BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!" Another alarm I had set across my room went off.

"Fuuckk!" I groaned again, throwing my toasty blankets off while sitting up.

I had always had an issue with falling back to sleep after waking up while still tired.

And let's just say, the General has a real issue with those who aren't on time.

Which I get, it's the military.

But only allowing a man to get no more than four to five hours of sleep a night is just straight up evil.

Rubbing my eyes, I stood up and did a few light stretches.

Twisting my body to the side, I heard, as well as felt, a satisfying crack from my stiff back.

Letting out a satisfying grunt, I stumbled in the dark to my dest against the wall of my small room, turning off the other alarm clock, which was still beeping.

Turning on the single light that illuminated my small five by ten room, I looked around the well kept room.

It had already been a month since I had been transferred to General Ross's command, and to Base Gamma.

The day after getting my order to transfer to general Ross, I was shoved on a plane to New Mexico, where I was unceremoniously shoved into a car with a blindfold.

We drove for no more than seven hours straight, most likely to keep me from getting an accurate distance from the airport to where the base actually is.

Smart, but also quite stuiped, so I had thought.

As it turned out, the base wasn't exactly your typical base.

As in an above ground base like all the others I had been to.

Instead, when I had my blindfold removed, it became pretty clear that it was an underground base, meaning I actually had no idea where I had been taken.

Because as far as I had known, there weren't any underground bases in New Mexico.

That is if we were even in New Mexico still to begin with.

But still, all the underground bases I had known about were in the North West, like Norad in Colorado and the US's grid of Nuclear silos sprinkled across the northern parts of America.

After arriving, I was led deep into the base, passing glass rooms with people in white lab coats scurrying about, and large hangers with strange looking weapons, tanks, and helicopters.

All of that led me to the understanding that this was a top secret research base, the likes that you only heard rumors of, or see on those conspiracy channels on TV.

Walking at a steady pace through long cement hallways, we finally walked through a large metal door that brought us to the office section of the base.

Gone was the cement walls, which were now replaced by white plaster and carpet flooring, as well as framed pictures on the walls.

Following the major, who was my guide, we stepped into a small reception room, with a neat desk by the only other door in the room with a pretty woman seated behind it.

Ignoring us, the woman spoke.

"He is expecting you." She said, writing in a folder.

Stepping through the door, I instantly came to attention as I caught sight of the General seated behind his desk.

"At ease, soldier." The General said in a deep authoritative Voice.

Keeping my movements crisp, I shifted into the at ease position, waiting to be spoken to.

"Thank you, Major. That will be all." General Ross said to the Major.

"Sir!" The Major said, snapping off a salute before turning on his heels and marching out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, the General turned to look me over.

"So…you're the one they call 'the Demon.'"

General Ross said with a small grin, covered mostly by his mustache.

I didn't say anything.

Leaning on his desk with his elbows, General Ross's smile vanished.

"None of that means anything now." He said, pushing himself away from his desk, standing to his feet, his BDU's immaculately done up, not a crease to be seen.

Walking around his desk, General Ross stopped in front of me, his eyes trying to pierce into my own.

"Do you know what we do here?" He asked.

"No, Sir!" I said crisply.

He smirked.

"We are a research base, focused on anything to advance the US's ability to stay ahead of our enemy's and any country who thinks they're better than us!" He said gruffly.

"but none of that will matter to you," general Ross said, turning to pick up a leather folder from his desk. "I asked for you personally, as I want you to be leading the security detail for a new venture here at base Gamma." He said, turning back to me with the leather folder outstretched towards me.

Taking the folder, I quickly held it at my side, not leaving my position.

"The man you will be in charge of protecting, is one Dr. Bruce Banner. He has a doctorate in Nuclear Physics, and a degree in a number of other fields. He is to be starting a project I personally hope succeeds above all other projects here," the general said, as he started to pace the room.

"That project might be one you have heard of before…it's called the super soldier project. The same project that gave this country Captain America."

'No fucking way.' I thought as the General continued.

"As to why I'm telling you this," he said, coming to an abrupt halt in front of me. "Is because…I want you to spy on him for me. Become friends, get close, and tell me every detail about the experiment."

The General must have seen my now creased brow, so went into detail.

"My bosses think it would be detrimental to Dr. Banner's experiments if I were to interfere with them in any way. But I'm a…cautious man, corporal, That's how I got to where I am today. And I'll be damned if I don't know every little thing that is happening on my base. From a mouse that decided to shit under a crate in storage to a science experiment that could change the trajectory of America's armed services!" The General said, slowly getting louder with every word he spoke.

Not wanting to be the point of his anger, I didn't say anything and instead continued to stare at the wall.

The General began to pace again, his nostrils flailing with every out-take of breath.

Seeming to get himself back under control, the General stopped in front of me again.

"To have you in command of a security team, I had you promoted to Staff Sargent. There will be a list of your men in your quarters. They will be arriving in a week, giving you time to get comfortable and familiar here. Dr. Banner will be arriving in three weeks from today, giving you and your team ample time to get prepared for his arrival. And one last thing 'Sargeant.'" General Rosse said, causing me to gulp.

"Your under my command. My bosses might have not wanted me to interfere with Banner, but you follow 'My' commands…are we clear 'sergeant.'" The General said in a cold tone.

Snapping into the attention stance, I spoke.

"Sir yes Sir!" I said, figuring a army General would appreciate the more common affirmative instead of the Marines 'Aye Aye, sir.'

"Good." General Ross said, turning to walk back to his desk.

"You are dismissed, Sergeant. I will be in contact with you soon." He said, sitting behind his desk again.

Snapping off a salute, and a 'Sir', I turned on my heels and left the room, the fact I was now a Staff Sergeant not even registering in my mind as I gently closed the door behind me.

Spitting out the toothpaste, I rinsed my mouth with water from the tap before looking myself over in the mirror.

My hair was buzz cut, and my dark green and brown BDU's were perfectly ironed and cleaned.

Letting out a sigh, I grabbed the black beret from the corner of my sink, placing it perfectly on my head.

Opening the door to my room, I was greeted by two young men, both standing on either side of my room's door.

"Jacob's, York." I said, walking past them and down the hall, both following behind me.

"Morning, Sarg." Corporal Jacob's said from behind me.

"Today's the day, boys," I said, turning down another hallway towards the large entrance of the base. "Everyone else up and ready, Jacob's?" I asked.

"Yup. Had to flip González's bed over to get him up, but they should all be up and getting ready now." Corporal Jacob's said with a chuckle.

"Good. York, you go check on them, if any of them fell back to sleep or aren't ready by the time I get there, I'm going to have them go through a hand to hand training session with me personally." I said, just as we reached the armory.

"On it." Privet York said, walking quickly towards the rest of my men's quarters.

Opening the door to the armory, I greeted the armorer.

"Mornin," I said to the Corporal that was manning the armory.

walking up to the counter, I signed out my sidearm.

Sliding the clipboard over, the Corporal looked it over before turning and grabbing my weapon.

As I waited for Corporal Jacob's to do the same, I strapped on my Wilson Combat CQB 1911, sliding it into my drop leg thigh holster.

"Sergeant." The armorer said behind me.

Turning, he lifted a black bulletproof vest.

"Thanks." I said, grabbing the vest.

As I strapped it on, Privet York stepped in.

"Everyone is heading this way now." He said, walking up to the caged armory.

"Good." I said, making sure the straps of my vest were secure.

Looking down at my watch, I saw we still had thirty minutes.

As I did so, the door to the armory was opened and the rest of my team walked in.

In total, I had fourteen people under me, all fresh recruits, except Corporal Jacob's that is.

Over the previous three weeks, I had put them through vigorous CGB training.

From hand to hand, to weapon usage in close proximity.

With the fact that we were in an underground base, where space was limited, CQB was crucial.

As all of them finished putting on their gear, I looked them over, looking for anything out of place.

Seeing nothing wrong, I nodded my head.

Checking my watch again, I saw we only had twenty minutes left.

"Right!" I said, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

"All of you will follow me to the entrance. Today is the day of the arrival of the Doctor. I have gone over it multiple times with all of you, but here's a refresher. Our role is to protect the doctor and keep anyone from interfering with his work. We will be in two shifts. First shift Is me, second shift is Corporal Jacob's. All of you know which shift you are in, correct?" I asked, continuing after seeing them all nod their head.

"Very good." I said, looking at my watch again.

"Alright, let's move." I said, walking towards the door.