Chapter 4: Unsubtle Infiltration

Gabby's breath misted in front of her as she made her way through the forest. The temperature had plummeted like a rock since she had started her trek to the farm. Even with the furs the Resistance had “given” her, it was all Gabby could do to keep feeling in her hands and feet. Thankfully, the snow was holding off on burying her and was just giving the area a layer of white icing. Still, it was only a matter of time till it opened up fully, knowing her recent luck.

After what seemed like an eternity trudging through the snowy forest, the farm's fence came into view. Gabby made sure to keep low as she moved a bit closer, wary of being spotted. However, as she started to get a good look at its defenses, she saw that might not be an issue. There were a number of watchtowers with spotlights and lookouts on them spread across the area, but most were facing inward, rather than outward. And while the large fence was tall enough to discourage people from just running in, it was nothing a determined attacker couldn't blast right through. It was almost like the defenses were more to keep people IN rather than out. Gabby hoped whoever had designed this shit had gotten canned, cause they deserved it. It was a wonder the Resistance hadn’t trashed this place already. That said,  it was going to make sneaking in a lot easier.

Putting her annoyance at the sorry state of the defenses aside, Gabby started to move around the perimeter and look for a way in. Scaling the fence was out thanks to its barbed-wire top, not to mention the risk of being seen. She couldn't go through it either since she didn't have anything to cut through the metal.. That left only one real choice, disguising herself and sneaking in. She thought that was going to be a tall order till she spotted a few guards patrolling outside the fence....alone...and outside of each other's field of vision... Fucking hell, were these guys TRYING to get ambushed?! Suddenly, Gabby felt a lot less bad for having to knock some sense into one of them, cause hell they all needed it.

Gabby waited at the edge of the woods (which ALSO were allowed to grow way too close to the fence, dammit were these "guards" just for show?) for one of the guards to move toward her. After a minute or two of waiting, a man came into sight and started to move past her. The guard looked to be rather young and had an somewhat scrawny build. Gabby frowned a bit as she wondered if her larger frame would fit in those clothing. Maybe she should wait for someone else...

As he passed her, all while not even pretending to be watchful; however, she saw that no one was even looking in his direction. Figuring she might not get a more perfect chance, Gabby decided to risk the tight fit. She rushed the failure-of-a-guard as quietly as she could manage. Despite making some noise from moving through the brush, she easily got up to the boy’s back without him noticing. Gabby wrapped her arm around his neck and squeezed his throat to make sure he didn’t cry out for help. The boy started to trash a bit in panic at suddenly being unable to breath, but Gabby was more than a match for him in strength. Cursing a bit at his futile fidgeting, Gabby used her free hand to hit the back of his neck like she had been taught in basic. The boy grunting in pain before falling limp in Gabby’s arms. She smiled as her knockout blow had worked perfectly.

Gabby dragged the knocked out boy back into the woods and out of sight. She checked his pulse just in case and was glad to feel it still going. He was going to be out for a long while and have one hell of a headache when he did wake up, but he should be grateful that he was going to wake up at all. His lax in attention made him a target and if she been the Resistance he would have a slit throat, rather than a bruised neck. Disciplining him, though, would come later. For now, she needed to strip him.

Someone else might have been shy about doing that, but Gabby couldn't have cared less. She had stripped a few men in her time, most more than willing, so he had nothing she hadn’t seen or touched before. Once she had gotten his uniform off, she took off her furs and replaced them with his clothing. Sadly, her fear about him being small proved somewhat true. Her above average build made his clothing a bit... snug, though she still managed to get them on. Part of her had wished they had just been flat-out too small rather than this. Then she could have justified trying to find someone bigger. However, they did fit, just uncomfortably so, and no amount of shifting or pulling helped make them fit. Damn pipsqueak boy... At least she had a disguise, though.

While his clothing left a lot to be desired, his gear was more than welcome. He had a stun baton complete with a built in taser which was very, very welcome. Gabby was starting to feel naked without a weapon of some kind. The guard also had a flashlight, a flare gun, and even a small wrist unit. Sadly, the wrist unit was a low grade one that didn't connect to the full Society network, just the local one. She could have contacted Isabella directly with a proper one like Rangers got, but that would have been too easy... Still, it would get her into the farm and, hopefully, access to a radio or something like it. And she did have a weapon, which was the important thing. When it doubt, beat the shit out of someone.

Gabby dragged her new friend further back into the forest to make sure he wasn't found before wrapping the furs she had been wearing around him. The boy might be a terrible guard, but she didn't want to leave him to freeze to death. She even found a small little cubbyhole in a tree to put him so that the wind wouldn’t get to him. Satisfied that he would at least last the night, Gabby headed for the fence.

As Gabby moved out of the forest, she made sure to walk as confident and purposeful as she could manage. Gabby had "snuck" into the mess hall once or twice back in basic using this same strategy. Sometimes, just looking like you belonged was enough for a lax guard to let you slip by. And ho boy were these guys lax... The few patrolling guards she passed either ignored her or just nodded a greeting. Not one even looked curious as to who she was or why they hadn't seen her before. In fact, the only real attention she drew was from a few of the male guards she passed and that was only so they could ogle her figure. Normally, she would have liked their slack jaws, but these dumbasses were on guard duty! The Resistance could be sneaking up on them while they were busy drooling over her ass. When she got this being shrunk thing settled, she was going to beat these idiots into shape or just plain beat them. Probably both.

The entrance into the farm was flanked by two watchtowers with a few guards on each. Just like outside, though, the guards on them seemed more interested in staring off into space than keeping watch. The entrance lead into a corridor made of fencing that ended in a large, automatic, steel door. A small scanner was set up beside it and an automated voice asked for her wrist unit. Gabby placed the unit next to the scanner and after a second a small ding came from the scanner.

"Identity verified," the voice said as the door gave a low hiss. As it slid to the side to let Gabby enter, she couldn't help but smile. If she wasn't so glad to be back in Society territory, she would have been furious at how easy it had been to sneak in. And she was the unsubtle type too!

Shaking off her thoughts, Gabby headed into the farm and looked over the place. The area closest to the fence was lined with pre-fabricated buildings that didn’t have any identifying marks or signs. Gabby guessed they were defensive buildings used as a fall back position, though they were looking rather worn and misused. Further in was a road that ran around the outer part of the farm that looked in need of some maintenance. Another square of buildings all just as bare as the first ones came after that, though they looked better maintained. Finally, in the middle was the farmland itself. Even from this distance, Gabby could see farming vehicles scattered about the area. A large net had been set up above the farmland and had a good bit of snow on it. Obviously, something was being grown , but Gabby couldn't tell what. To Gabby’s annoyance, none of the buildings nearby had anything that would mark it as the HQ or radio station. Maybe one of the civilians could point her to it.

It wasn't quite daybreak yet, but the horizon was beginning to brighten with its approach and a few civilians were already up and about doing various things. Oddly, most of them looked just as scrawny as the guard outside and none of them looked too happy to be awake. Course, Gabby wouldn't be too happy having to wake up at this hour either. Gabby moved toward a man who looked on his way to the field to ask him where the HQ was. No sooner had he noticed her moving toward him, though, did he suddenly dart forward and scurry into the farmlands. Gabby blinked a few times in confusion, but shrugged and tried again with a nearby woman. However, the woman quickly rushed into a nearby house before she could even get a word out. What the hell was going on?

Gabby tried twice more and, after getting pretty much the same reaction, gave up on asking a civilian anything. Damn these people were skittish. Course Gabby was, well herself, so maybe she was just too intimidating for her own good. Deciding to try a guard instead, Gabby walked through the area hoping to find one. As Gabby moved through the area she couldn't help but notice the civilians were coming out of the buildings near the fence. Odd... were they repairing them or something? No...many of them headed right to the field after coming out... Surely they couldn't be the living quarters. They would be the first buildings hit in an attack and many of them looked on the verge of falling apart. Yet civilians keep coming out of them...

Before Gabby could worry on this more, she noticed a guard exit one of the building on the inside ring. Unlike the guard from outside, though, this guy looked like a real guard and had some definition to him. He wasn't huge, but he sure as hell wasn't scrawny either. He started to head toward the outside buildings and Gabby moved to meet him. He noticed her moving toward him and gave her a once over before stopping to let her catch up. Ahh, the advantages of being damn sexy.

"Hello, there. Haven't seen you around," the guard said in the worst attempt at a seductive voice Gabby had ever heard. Gabby had to fight herself not to laugh in his face, though it did make keeping a smile up rather easy.

"I... was just transferred a few days ago. Name's Emily," Gabby lied. Though the lie was unnecessary as the guard was way too busy undressing her with his eyes to have heard a damn thing she said. Gabby sighed inwardly as her humor started to run low.

"Huh? Oh Emily, yeah... You can call me Big John. How about you and I head back to the barracks an-" Gabby stopped him there as her humor hit empty. She wiped out the stun baton she had taken and jammed it right into John's crotch. Her thumb hovered just above the on switch while her free hand lifted John's head up and away from her chest.

"Finish that sentence and Tiny John is going to turn into a lightning rod. Understand?" Gabby asked as she gave John hard glare. John stared at her in stupefied silence before, finally, nodding.

"Good," Gabby said as she put the baton back in its holster. John let out a relieved sigh before shooting an angry look at Gabby. Gabby purposely tightened her grip on her baton as she returned the look ten fold. John, quickly, glanced away and seemed to deflate completely. Good, now she could get some information from her new bitch.

"Now that you are using your little head rather than your tiny one, where can I find a radio in this place?" Gabby asked, making sure to use her commanding voice. John's fists clenched at the insult, but he still answered like a good boy.

"They didn't tell you when you came in? Only the Commander can send messages, and only if he gets permission from the big bitch herself. She's the only one with a radio that reaches outside the area," John said as he nodded toward the massive house that made up one whole side of the fence. His annoyed look, though, did a 180 as his mind seemed to catch up with what he said.

"Oh shit, please, please, don't tell anyone I called her, that...please," John, quickly, begged in a near complete panic. Gabby had to fight not to look surprised with how quickly his attitude had changed. Even after owning him so completely, he had still be partly defiant. But not a hint of it showed as he begged Gabby for her silence. Fuck he was scared out of his wits!

"I...I won't tell, just beat it before I change my mind," Gabby said. John nodded a thanks before taking off at nearly a full on run. Jesus...he wasn't just scared, he was terrified! What the hell was the Society member assigned here doing? Bah, she could worry about that later, right not she needed to focus.

If John was telling the truth, and Gabby doubted he had the balls to lie, the only radio was inside the full-sized house...where a full-sized Society member lived... A full-sized Society member who, apparently, filled her soldiers with dread... Ho boy, this was going to be fun... Still, it could be just be the woman valued her soldiers thinking she was the meanest, toughest, motherfucker in the Society. Or that John was a fucking manlet.

Whatever the case, Gabby didn't have much choice but to head toward the massive building. The only way she was going to get in touch with Command and report what had happened was in there. Maybe Gabby would get lucky and the Member inside was a Shield. If she was, Gabby could easily prove who she was and get the help she needed. But if she was a Sword... Considering they were the ones who had shrunk her and left her to die in the first place, there was no way in hell Gabby was trusting any of them. If it came to that, she would just have to hope the radio was somewhere easy to reach and out of sight. Worse came to worse, she would just wait till nightfall to try to use it.

With her "plan" made, Gabby headed for the house of the Society member in charge. She did her best to avoid any other guards while the few civilians avoided her. None of the guards paid her enough attention to notice they didn't recognize her and she made her way to the wall of the house without incident.

A shrunken-sized steel door had been built into the wall and it had a scanner just like the one at the entrance. Gabby put her wrist unit up to the scanner like before, but this time the scanner beeped to itself.

"Entry denied," the automated voice said drawing a curse from Gabby. Figures...she supposed she should have guessed they wouldn't let just anyone go wandering into the boss' house. The Commander John talked about could, probably, get in. Course, finding him/her would be a pain in the ass, not to mention getting their wrist unit. Gabby groaned as she glanced down to rub her temple. As she did, she saw her stun baton hooked to her belt. Aww fuck it, worth a try.

Gabby glanced around the area to make sure no one was watching her. With the coast looking clear, Gabby took out her baton and switched it on. She then jammed the humming baton into the scanner. The machine sputtered and sparked as the baton's electric charge began to fry its systems. The automated voice spoke up for a second to spout off random words before going completely silent. Smoke began to drift out of the scanner as Gabby pulled the baton back. Gabby didn't need to be a mechanic to know it was completely ruined. And the door was still closed. Great...

"Fucking hell," Gabby said as she shoved her baton back into its holster. Fuck...all she had managed to do was make it impossible to get in through this door. Now she had to find some ot-

A sudden click from the door drew Gabby's attention back to it. It was still closed, but Gabby knew she had heard some kind of click come from it. Wait...could it have...? Deciding to take a chance, Gabby gave the door a push. To her relief, it began to swing inward and Gabby smiled as she entered into the home. She didn't celebrate her entry, though, as she whirled around and closed the door as fast as possible. Hopefully, no one saw that.

Gabby turned away from the door and looked around the area. She looked to be in the living area of the house which connected directly to the kitchen. Gigantic furniture was set up in their usual places: tables, chairs, sofas, end tables, etc... On the opposite side of the home were two doors that lead off to seperate rooms, though both were closed. A monumental bar was set up between the kitchen and living area which made seeing into the kitchen proper impossible. Four massive pillars were near to Gabby an- wait a minute...

Gabby looked up and couldn't help but gawk as she realized that she was underneath a small, compared to the rest of the furniture, end table. Compared to her, however, it might as well have been an office building. Seeing just how huge it was nearly gave her vertigo and she had to pull her head away from it. Fuck, a damn end table was THAT big compared to her?!

Shaking off her shock, Gabby focused back on her goal. She needed to find the radio or find out if the woman in charge was a Shield. But doing either one meant moving out into the open...where she would be an easy target. It was a risk she had to take, though. Staying here would just risk discovery and get her nowhere. Deciding the dinner table directly ahead of her would make for a good first stop, Gabby sprinting out from under her cover and into the open carpet.

To Gabby's relief, the carpet was the cheap kind used in most office buildings. Her feet only sank a few scale inches into the fluff and it didn't really slow her. Of course, that didn't make the dinner table any less far than it was... Dammit, the thing was like two or three steps away from where she started, at least to normal-sized people, but to her it was yards and yards away! Ugh, she was getting really sick of this being small shit.

Gabby slowed her sprint down to a light jog as she, finally, reached a chair next to the table. She moved up to one of the legs of the chair and took a second to rest. Fucking hell, the table had looked a lot closer than it had been. At least she hadn't been spotted...so far.

Having caught her breath, Gabby moved further under the table. The table itself was just your average wood dinner table as were the chairs. Underneath it was the usual stuff that one would expect to find under a table: dust, occasional garbage, and crumbs...that were almost as big as Gabby. Dammit it all, being small sucked.  Gabby ignored all the junk and headed for the opposite side of the table to find her next stop.

Beyond the table, however, was nothing but wide areas of open ground. Straight ahead lead to nothing save the far wall while the ot-

"Hahahah!" someone, suddenly, laughed. Gabby whipped out her baton and whirled around, but saw nothing. What the hell? Someone ha-

"Hahahahah!" the laugh came again, and Gabby realized why she hadn't seen anyone. The laugh was coming from the kitchen area...and only someone full-sized would have a laugh that carried that far. Well... she had found the woman in charge.

Putting her baton away, Gabby moved toward the side of the table closest to the kitchen. The laughing continued in random spurts as she neared the right edge of the table. The massive bar and its stools loomed high overhead and blocked Gabby’s view of the kitchen. Was the woman past that bar? No, if she was that close Gabby would have been able to feel her moving around and the laugh wouldn't be as muffled. She had to be past the kitchen area and in some other room.

Gabby frowned to herself as she debated what to do. She needed to find out if that woman was a Sword or Shield, but that was a long sprint to the bar. And there was no telling what was past it... She could try to focus on finding the radio, but she had no idea where to even start to look for it... Ahh, screw it, she would rather risk discovery than wander around here aimlessly.

Once again, Gabby sprinted out from her cover and made a beeline for the bar. Even with her great stamina, though, she started to run out of steam as she reached the halfway point. Her sprint turned into something more like a gasping run as she reached the welcome sight of the stools' legs. Gabby didn't even bother to try and keep her feet as she collapsed to the ground. Fucking...hell...she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. And that had only been a few steps to a normal-sized person!

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from out past the kitchen. Gabby leap to her feet and dived toward the bar for cover. Odd rhythmic booms and quakes started to shake Gabby as something really, really big moved closer to Gabby. Footsteps...big footsteps.

Having caught a second wind of adrenaline, Gabby moved to the edge of the bar and peeked around the corner. Past the bar was a typical kitchen with the usual assortment of utilities: fridge, microwave, oven, etc... In front of the oven was the massive woman in charge of this farm. Her brown hair was in an unwashed mass of bed-head and she was wearing a simple nightgown. Something looked to be in her hand, though Gabby couldn’t tell what. Past the kitchen was a door leading off to what looked to be a bedroom. That must have been the loud bang...but what had made her to storm out like that?

"So you want some food, huh? Complain about your tummies rather than do your jobs?" the woman said with an angry tone. Her free hand switched one of the eyes on the stove on and she let out a soft chuckle as it sparked to life.

"Well then, let me make some food for you, then. How about a nice chargrilled mom?!" the woman yelled before her free hand moved to her other one and pulled something from it. Gabby had to squint to see what the woman had grabbed...and her blood ran cold when she did.

Jesus Christ, it was a woman! She had a woman pitched between her thumb and index finger and was... oh God no! She was lowering her toward the eye! Even from this distance, Gabby could hear screams of terror coming from the woman as she was lowered to her death. She had to do something! Gabby snatched out her baton and, not even thinking of the sheer scale of the opponent she was about to challenge, charged forward.

Gabby had taken two steps before her charge was stopped dead in its tracks by a pair of arms that wrapped around her neck. She stumbled a bit from the sudden attack and gasped as her air was cut off. Gabby was far from beat, however, as she lunged backwards and smashed her head into her attacker. A man cursed as her head hit home and the arms loosened just enough for Gabby to break free. She whirled around and swiped her activated baton at her attacker. Despite her speed, however, her opponent leap back just in time to avoid being struck by it. Gabby would have tried again with a back swing, but she found herself dumbstruck by who was attacking her.

Standing in front of her wasn't one of the guards of the farm, but the leader of the Resistance squad that had attacked her. Just like before, his face was hidden behind a large cowl while the rest of him was, mostly, protected by bits of fur and such. He raised his hands toward her and shook his head.

"I don't want to fight. I just want to talk," the man said in a calm tone. Gabby, though, wasn't having any of it. She didn't know what the fucker was here, but she could deal with that af-

A gut-wrenching scream, suddenly, echoed down from behind Gabby. She whirled around and watched in horror as the Society member pulled the woman away from the stove. She was still being consumed by flames and her body was writhing in agony. Another pained and horrified scream joined the woman's, only this one sounded like someone far younger. Char-grilled mom....no...she couldn't have...

"What, you don't want her? What a shame... and she went and died for you and everything. Such an ungrateful child," the wo- no, monster said as she let the flaming woman plummet to her death on the ground far below. Gabby couldn't believe what she had just saw and her blood began to turn to molten magma with her fury. Her vision turned blood red as she glared up at the demon in human skin. She started to move toward the giant fucking devil when she felt the Resistance shit-head grab her shoulder.

"Stop! You ca-" was all he got out before Gabby slammed her elbow into his chest. He staggered back as Gabby whirled on him.

"You fucking bastard! I could have saved her if you hadn't stopped me!" Gabby yelled as she grabbed the baton with both hands and brought it crashed down toward him. The man, though, leap back away from her double-handed blow and reached behind him. Gabby didn't give a damn what he had grabbed and charged forward after him. However, her charge came to a grinding halt  when she saw him pull out a rifle. Gabby swore and started to dive out of the way, but stopped when she noticed the gun wasn't pointed at her. What the hell was he- The laughing from behind her answered her question.

"You think you can beat that giantess by yourself with only a little zap stick, then attack me again. I'll shoot her and we can see how well that works out. Or you can calm down and let me explain your friend's and my plan before you get yourself killed," the man said. Gabby raised her eyebrow at the word friend and her vision slowly turned back to normal.

"Friend? The hell are you talking about?" Gabby asked as her blood lowered to a slow simmer. Suddenly, a loud beep echoed from above them and the monster's laugh died away. She turned toward the bar and both Gabby and the Resistance asshole dived for cover. Part of Gabby kicked herself for hiding from that...that....THING. But, now that she had calmed down, Gabby knew she was no match for that giant monster. Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!

The demon's footsteps boomed closer before stopping on the other side of the bar.

"This better be important, Commander," the fucker said in an annoyed tone. Looks like she was talking into radio. Oh shit, a radio! She had found it, but...how the hell was she going to get up there?

"Ma'am, there is an injured Ranger who just arrived on site. She says she was ambushed by the Resistance and needs aid. Your orders?" a male voice answered back. It was definitely a radio up there and, even better, there was a Ranger here! Gabby didn't know all the Rangers, but she stood a much better chance getting help from them, doubly so if she could prove what that fucking monster had just did.

"Ugh...tell her to come to the door and I'll patch her up," the fucker said before stomping off back to the room. Gabby was about to move out to the dinner table, but the Resistance bastard pulled her back.

"Dammit, would you stop getting in my way!" she yelled at him. The man glared at her through his hood.

"I would if you would stop trying to get yourself killed. She isn't going to be gone long enough to reach the table," he said with all the certainty of a sage. Gabby just glared at him and was about to go anyway till she heard the monster's footsteps coming back. They both flattened themselves against the bar as her massive form walked past them and toward the front of the house. Once she was past, the Resistance guy rushed out of cover and headed for the table. Gabby grumbled a bit to herself, but followed him.

By the time they had reached the table, the monster had opened the door and lead the Ranger inside. Gabby had been so focused on running that she really hadn't paid much attention to their talking. However, as she slowed to a gasping stop beside the Resistance guy, who was also gasping for air, she recognized something about the Ranger's voice. Wait...that couldn't be... Gabby moved forward and peeked out of the table to see the most welcome sight she had seen in days.

Alice.