What Was Kept Inside

"Shut up Hunter, we missed you too dumbass." Tom said as he drove on.

"Not as much as I did, not you though Kross, you suck." I said to Kross.

"No one missed your sculpted ass." Kross smirked.

"Hah, gotten British I see." Tom laughed.

"Being here with Daniel and Ben for so damn long, also you two idiots. I caught your stupid accent." Kross yawned.

It was just about after sunrise, I was exhausted and needed sleep, but I also needed to stay awake just in case things go south. Tom and Kross could take care of themselves, but I just needed to keep an eye for them, you can never be too careful these days.

"Would you say Daniel is there already?" Tom asked.

"Manchester? I bloody hope so." I said.

"You see, Daniel is a man of sheer will and commitment, he stops at nothing but what he wants, and I'm sure he can rally some people who will get him there." Kross explained.

"What if the bounty hunters get there before him? They will just setup an ambush for him and he is toast." I said.

"He is too smart for that shit." Tom added.

"There is a was into the bunker, where he is going, that only myself, him and Ben know about." Kross revealed.

"That is enough for Ben to take him out before he can breath." I worried. "Then again, it is Daniel, bastard has lived through so much shit, I can't see why he can't out smart some idiots with guns."

"I guess so." Tom said.

The buggy was not the most comfortable, but with the cloak, it was our safest bet to get to Manchester. I looked at Tom and Kross closely, Tom grew a beard for once in his life, and Kross, well, he was just Kross, glasses on, hair combed to a side and an expressionless look on his face all the time. The buggy on the other hand, it was a bit more different, Tom had added a couple of seats at the back so it was better and safer for up to five people to travel in it, however I just prefer it the way it was back then, just me and Tom going around finishing missions and having fun, especially when we went for supply runs. I wanted to know what happened back at the base, how the pair of them got out with Henderson being there.

"So how are things going back at the bunker?" I asked.

"Chaotic as ever, just a bit more nowadays." Kross said.

"Mother fucker turned the whole bunker against us, now we are labelled 'Kill on sight' for everyone within The Syndicate, even our best mates man." Tom said in clear anger and frustration.

"What happened?" I was taken a back by what Tom said.

"Mother fuckin Henderson happened. We told him that we needed to go, he put us in jail and we got out and then he sent the people we grew up with, our freaking family, to kill us." Tom said as his voice sounded more hurt than angry.

"It's okay brother, we will tell the family what really happened. He won't get away with what he has done since day one." I promised.

"We will take him out for good, once we finish what Daniel started." Kross added.

"Yeah, hey doc, what is so important about Daniel, and what he has to do?" I asked curiously.

"That is irrelevant to you guys, for now, in time I'm sure he will tell you by himself. This information is not for me to spread." Kross replied, more serious than ever.

"Well, it will give us a better understanding of the mission and what we need to get done and what to expect." Tom added.

"It is top priority mission, more important than every other mission you have ever been on, this, perhaps is the most important and most dangerous mission you two will go on. Also, expectations wise, expect maximum resistance from all sides fighting to get a grip on Daniel." Kross explained.

'Why the hell is Daniel that important?' I thought to myself.

"Doc, with all due respect, we still need more info to go off of, I mean, what is the point of this whole thing?" Tom asked.

"Thomas Andrews." Kross said as myself and Tom went kaput. "I said that information is not to be spread out. I know and trust you two with everything that I am, but still I can't speak about that." Kross said as he started panting.

"Doc, we meant no intruding, but it is the nature of our work, I'm sorry for sounding disrespectful, but still, we need to know or else we have less chance of succeeding." I added.

Kross took a deep breath after sighing, he looked worried and sad, maybe he really couldn't share the information.

"Okay, I trust you two to not give away any of this classified information, not even for your lives. Is that clear?" He asked for reassurance.

"I guess so, we never gave away anything in any mission, how is this different?" Tom responded.

"This is different, the documents Daniel is after, are documents for Projekt-X, a project Jack Hughes, his father, started before him and his brother Ben took over the company. Jack wanted this microorganism to enhance all living creatures, whether humans, dogs, cats, insects, or even sea creatures. Everything would benefit from this project. Myself and a few other scientists were assigned with the task of enhancing the organism's ability to rebuild cells rapidly, recreate them within the host as well as increase their size. So, Jack brought us certain test subjects, ranging from roaches, and up to elephants, size wise. Now, I was the lead scientist here and I genuinely thought this was a noble cause and a great project. Little did I know what was hiding behind the closed doors." Kross explained as he suddenly stopped.

"What is wrong doc?" Tom said as he pulled over the buggy.

"It is... too much... thinking that I'm one of the main reasons why this whole shit is happening. I fucked this world up." Kross let out a few tears.

"Listen Kross, we know this wasn't your fault, Jack, Ben and Daniel had something to do with it without telling you." I said.

"But Hunter, Daniel himself warned me from the evil his father and brother may have had within them, the things they were willing to do in order to get in control." Kross started crying.

Myself and Tom were shocked, 'Kross??? Crying???' I thought as I placed my right hand on his shoulder. He was not himself, I guess that is what happens when you keep every emotion in and act like a robot to everyone.

"Henry warned me too, he told me not to work with billionaires because all they care about is money." Kross sniffled. "But I ignored my best friend, and I went through with it."

"Wait, uncle Henry was your best friend?" I asked in surprise.

"We have known each other for more than thirty five years, he is... was... a one of a kind person, no one will be as pure as him." Kross revealed.

"How did he never tell me that?" I thought out loud.

"Maybe because he knew how much trouble myself and the others were, and he was right, our project single-handedly decreased humanity's chances of survival to a minimum." Kross replied.

"But still, he wouldn't keep that from me." I said.

"He kept a lot to himself as well, he... never wanted anyone to suffer, because he suffered more than anyone else, he knew how hard it was."

"You lot have a lot to catch up on." Tom jumped in as he giggled.

"Wait, who told you to stop driving? Keep driving dumbass." I said as I smacked his shoulder.

"Hunter, I swear..." He was cut off by a slap to the head by Kross.

"Silent, and drive." Kross brought a finger to his mouth and made a shutting motion to indicate to Tom not to speak.

I laughed at that and how Tom went kaput straight after that. Then all three of us laughed it off.

We still had a long way to go, Manchester was about four hours away, maybe five if there are complications. We were taking the route to Birmingham first, we needed to pay a visit to the bunker we had there to test the waters, just in case we needed backup in Manchester. Because the bunker near Southend was completely against us by the looks of it.