The cold wind found ways to creep into the interior of Jay’s clothes. She grumbled and tightened her clothes. Luckily, there wasn’t any blistering wind and the snow had fell to a stop. But it was still freezing cold that she felt like her fingers were going to fall off. And they weren’t even outside yet.

“Here.”

She delicately picked up the pack and stuffed in her jacket. “Thanks,” she muttered in response. “Thank god you guys developed such lightweight and high-tech warming packs.”

The boy grinned. “We had to. Jo Kwon wasn’t about to do it himself. Plus, we’re the ones who patrolled the most often. It became a necessity.”

The warming packs were similar to the hot packs you could buy at the store, but instead of warming just one place, they had made it so that it warmed your whole body. She never knew how it worked and she never understood when they tried to explain it, but she was thankful they invented it.

She looked at the boys she picked out, all wearing black winter jackets.

Jinyoung, the boy who had handed her the warming pack, was a young man who had great tactical practice. He was the one who patrolled the most often. He knew the area of the base outside like the back of his hand.

Jackson was another who patrolled quite often. He never liked being cooped up inside often and liked to go outside despite it being so cold. He was also one of their best in combat.

Youngjae was a quiet boy but quite talkative with people he was comfortable with. He was well-rounded, being both above average in research and combat. He didn’t have a preference, only simply wanting to do something.

And finally, Mark. Mark excelled in his studies, but he liked a little excitement occasionally. When he wasn’t stimulated in one way or another, he would get extremely bored. He and Jackson often competed in term of combat.

All of them, along with a few others, had stayed at Jay’s base a while back, training with her in the back of the woods.

They treated her well and liked her well enough to call her a mentor and a friend.

“Y’all ready?” Jackson shouted through his heavy mask.

Jinyoung gave him a thumbs up, and Jackson pushed in a few buttons that opened the large metal doors that rumbled with a growl.

The snow winds hit them immediately, and Jay was glad for the extra gear the other guys provided them.

Jinyoung gestured with his hands to get a move on, and they followed his lead.

“We’re start on the west side and move over to the east,” his voice crackled into Jay’s ears. She winced at the static and tried to adjust them. In addition to the gear, they also provided with headsets to communicate with each other. It was a lot easier than shouting to each other, Jinyoung had told them.

Jinyoung and Youngjae led the group followed by Seungcheol and Jay. Mark and Jackson rounded out the back.

Even though Seungcheol didn’t possess any combat knowledge, she thought it would be a good way for to get experience. She made sure that everyone kept a close eye on him if they did approach trouble, although Jackson was very adamant that nothing ever did. She also told Seungcheol that he should stay clear and hidden if something did happen. She could tell that he wasn’t exactly too pleased to be told that, but he understood why he had too. She made it reminder for herself to start training Seungcheol once they got back home.

But true to their words, they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The guys were quiet, except for Jackson who hated the silence and try and start up conversations.

“Where exactly have you guys been missing stuff?” Jay finally asked when they had scoped out half the area.

“Errr,” Jinyoung hummed. “I think Jae and Wonpil mentioned that it came from the patrolling storage shed. We have sheds around the area that have supplies just in case you forgot or are need of it. It helps when you’re far from the base.”

“And what exactly have you been missing?”

“Just some small things,” Youngjae answered. “Like flashlights, blankets, and some of our extra food provisions for the patrollers.”

Jay frowned. “Have you thought about who the perpetrator could be?”

“I thought it could have been some kind of wild animal, you know?” Jackson brought up. “I mean, they got to have some keen senses in this snow. And it could have awesome to see something like that.”

“Right, because this wild animal could sneak into the storage to steal stuff they probably don’t need. What’s an animal going to do with a flashlight? Wave it around like they just don’t care?” Mark snorted.

“I don’t know!” Jackson defensively shot back. “Maybe it thought it was toy or something. It was just a suggestion, jeez.”

“But then that would mean that you guys concluded that it was probably human,” Jay murmured.

They stopped and looked at each other. Jinyoung sighed. “Yes, that’s true. We did end up coming with the conclusion that it was most likely human. But the thing is, we don’t where he or she is hiding.”

“It’s true. We’ve combed the area a couple of times, but we never have any luck,” Youngjae added.

They were quiet for a moment until Seungcheol spoke up softly.

“Dead,” he murmured. “You think that the person dead?”

Jackson frowned. “Yeah, we came up with the possibility. How else can we not find the guy? Or girl.”

“But the begs the question on how this person even came here in the first place. It’s not like this is the most habitable place around,” Jay answered.

Mark looked at the rest of his group and then back at Jay.

“Well, there was a plane crash a couple of weeks ago. No survivors.All of them were sent back home to be properly buried. We thought that perhaps there was indeed a survivor amongst the crash.”

“What caused the crash?” Jay asked.

Jinyoung answered. “It looked like the pilot was killed. Apparently, he was stabbed by an unidentifiable object.” He used air quotes for the word stabbed.

“Apparently?” Seungcheol asked.

“We weren’t allowed to touch the bodies,” Mark explained. “We had to turn it over the SP authorities.”

“Oh,” Jay mumbled. “Of course. Because of who we are.”

Seungcheol looked at them in confusion. “SP? What do you mean?”

“Unless it directly involves nibras, we don’t have any control of it. We might not be known to the general public, but some police authorities know about us. They’re just not…very accepting. Especially around here,” Jinyoung tried to say. “SP stands for Special Protection. They’re not well known because of… security reasons. But they deal with anything out of the ordinary.”

“Just say it how it is,” Mark scoffed. “They’re scared of us. Just because we work with nibras. Just because we study them and research on them. They think we’re some group of weird scientists.”

“Anyways, that is what the authorities told us. We just have to believe them,” Jinyoung shrugged.

“And yet you don’t,” Jay said with a look.

“You’re always too perceptive,” Youngjae murmured with a smile. “There were evidence that it may have been a nibra.”

Jay narrowed her eyes. “Then why wasn’t the investigation handed over to you guys?”

“There wasn’t enough evidence,” Mark replied. “We couldn’t find the nibra that caused the accident. Alive or dead. So without the nibra, we weren’t able to investigate properly.”

“We think it ran away; there is no trace of it,” Jinyoung finished.

Jay frowned. She understood why they came to that conclusion, if it was any other day, she probably would too. However, she felt like something was off. She didn’t like the feeling of it. Nor that smell.

She frowned. “Well, let’s continue on. And we better hurry.”

“Leader Jay?” Mark asked, his voice wondering why she seemed so worried.

They looked at each other and shrugged, continuing on with their patrol.

She glanced at the mountains nearby. “Those,” she spoke up, pointing at the mountains. “What’s over there?”

Jackson looked at where she was pointing. “The mountains? Nothing but caves in there.”

Jay didn’t seem to listen to what he was saying. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Jackson questioned.

She didn’t say anything and ran past them.

“Wait! Jay, you can’t just leave us! It’s dangerous!” Jinyoung shouted after. “Damn it,” he growled, seeing that she wasn’t listening to him. “Hurry up. We can’t leave her alone.”

They nodded, bounding after her.

“Can you keep up?” Jackson shouted at Seungcheol.

Seungcheol smirked. “Don’t underestimate me.”

Jackson grinned up. “Good.” And then he took off.

Luckily, Jay wasn’t running very fast; she knew that she shouldn’t leave the group. Therefore, she made it that she was at least visible to one of them at all times. But she wanted to go faster, she wanted to see what that unidentifiable smell was.

They reached the base of the cliffs in no time. She stared up at them with intensity, trying to pinpoint the area.

The boys fell behind after, some of them breathing hard.

“You run fast,” Youngjae mumbled.

“What is the matter? Why are the mountains so important?” Jinyoung asked.

“Someone or something is up in one of those caves,” Jay answered.

Even though the wind was what made her sense someone’s or something’s presence, it was also hindering her senses.

She could tell that she was at the right place, but she couldn’t tell which cave it was.

Hundreds of holes lined the cliffside, some on the bottom while some as high up to the peak.

She took a deep breath and focused, blocking out all unnecessary sounds and smells.

“There,” she muttered, pointing at one of the caves on the bottom.

She ran first, the rest of the group following her.

And then immediately stopped when she reached the entrance. She hissed, taking a jump back and crouched, her arm outstretched to hold the group back.

The trained boys immediately reacted, all of them laying low.

“What is it?” Jinyoung whispered.

“It’s a nibra.”

And true to her word, they saw the shadow of nibra as it hissed out smoke. It was hard to see what it was, but it didn't move from its spot. It was fixated on one particular direction. 

“We got this,” Mark said, creeping closer.

“Stop,” Jay responded. “There’s something else.”

They strained their eyes to see what she was seeing.

Seungcheol saw it first. “It’s a boy.”

A few feet away from the nibra was a mass covered with blankets, looking vaguely like a human body.

Jay looked at the boys. “Jinyoung, Jackson, and Youngjae,” she ordered, “Take care of nibra. Mark, you’re with me. We’re going after the boy. Seungcheol, stay low and watch our backs.”

She nodded and they took action. The team of three set out first, creeping up cautiously. They then immediately materialized their guns, keeping them close. At the mouth of the cave, they entered slowly, careful not to catch the attention of the nibra.

Jay, Mark, and Seungcheol followed them, edging closer to the boy. Once they were in reach, Jay immediately rushed to the boy.

He was wrapped tightly in the blanket, shivering. His hair was tinged with snow and matted from the sweat off his forehead. He was curled up in a ball, eyes shut in what looked like pain. 

“It’s hypothermia,” Mark said, looking at the boy with worry. "He's got a weak pulse, and his breathing's shallow." He pulled out a warming pack. “Thank goodness we brought extras.” He immediately positioned it on the boy’s body, covering it with the blanket.

A few minutes passed, and the boy stopped shivering, now breathing heavily.

“We need to get him back to the base,” Mark told Jay. “The pack will help, but he needs liquids.”

Jay nodded and looked at the attack trio.

They were a safe distance from the nibra and had it surrounded. It didn’t seem to be very keen on moving.

Jay immediately saw that something was wrong. She walked up to them.

“It’s done,” Youngjae revealed, relaxing his arm from the upright position.

“Its legs were burned from fire. It can’t move,” Jinyoung added. “It won’t die, but it won’t live either.”

The nibra shrieked as bursts of flame came out its mouth. It had black and red body with horns and a tail. There seemed to be a pair of wings that were singed from a fire, worthless and pathetic.

It screamed again, louder this time. Its eyes weren’t focused on them, but rather on the boy behind them.

Jay glanced at the boy and then back at the nibra.

She frowned and turned around. “End it. Its the only thing we can do.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jackson saluted. He pointed his gun and shot it clear through its heart.