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CHAPTER 8
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2024-10-29 19:42:56. The quiet was history as the bullets blasted freely into Alice's apartment, shards of glass, flying in the air, the dishes, the cabinets, the walls, all came crashing down as the metals shot right through them, this was completely different from how the movies made it seem, it was relentless, brutal, thirsty, one wrong move could mean sudden death, she was right to be scared, they were ready to kill anyone and everyone.
The gunshots stopped, but the room was in chaos, Alice was still too shaken to get up, until the sound of Mike's voice brought her back to the reality they were in.
" Alice ? Alice ? are you okay ? "his voice oozed with more concern for her life than his.
" I'm fine " she responded, with a tone of voice that could have passed for a whisper.
Her eyes scanned the room, which had suddenly become a pile of debris, the holes made by the bullets couldn't be anymore real, this was happening, death had come to her doorstep, and he wasn't a fan of small talks, again she felt Mike shake her back to reality.
" We have to go Alice, on your feet " her shock was yet to pass, and her legs staggered for balance, there was glass everywhere, Fasting's men had found them, they were dangerous, armed, and would kill without hesitation, as they had just proven.
With their hearts crossed, Mike guided her out of the kitchen, they stayed as low as they could to avoid being shot by anymore bullets, but escape would mean a miracle, both exits had been blocked and the front door was only minutes away from being hammered down, they were cornered, trapped, vulnerable, the goons hadn't given them a chance to make a run for it, everything happened so fast.
Nothing compared to the feeling of vulnerability she faced as they tore down her door, Mike had sustained a cut when they fell, he could barely defend himself, coupled with the fact that he was still recovering from his wounds, and she was hardly a match, the only thing separating them from the killers would be the door that was currently being hacked to pieces. In situations like this the options were limited, it was run, or die. With a solid blow the front door gave way, splinters flew across the living room, they were inside the house.
They gave a demeanor that reflected indifference, they were obviously acquainted with the kill, It was another one of those days, to them this was another job, Alice peered from where she hid, there were four of them, all muscular men, armed, fierce, ugly, one look and you would know these were the hounds of the alleys, their eyes were blood red, probably the after effect of so much coke. She hid under the dinning table, while Mike hid behind the library door, it was a tough situation, one sound and they would be discovered, the assassin's weren't going to leave without accomplishing their mission, and they sounded as bad as they looked. The one with the army green jacket and jungle boots seemed like the leader of the operation, as he gave instructions to the others to search the house, one went to the kitchen, another, the bathroom, and one headed for the bedroom, while he stayed in the living room, he exuded a disturbing amount of comfort and confidence, the numbers were obviously in their favour, and their targets were hardly a match. If not for anything, the guns would guarantee their success.
Alice fixed her eyes on him as he paraded the room like he owned the place, her heart skipped a beat when he moved closer to the table where she was hiding, but for some reason turned and dropped on the sofa, from his pocket he pulled out a lighter, and with it lit his cigar, the smoke came out from both his mouth and nostrils, then a deep breath and he relaxed himself, one by one they all came, the complete pack, and even though they didn't say a word, he got the message, he remained calm regardless, and only sucked on his cigar.
" It's a small house, they have to be here somewhere, " he finally said.
" What if they somehow found a way to escape ? " another one suggested.
" That won't make any difference, they can't have gone far, in the mean time, bring the fuel, we'll light it up on our way out, yellow was never my colour " he said referring to the colour of the paint, then a wild, bizarre, cunning grin shot across his face.
They were planning to burn the house down, only demented animals would think of such a cruel act, Alice thought to herself, but as bad as that sounded, there was an even bigger problem, " Mike " he had hurt himself, and the wound was leaving a trail of blood that would lead right to him, she had seen it, and it would only be a matter of time before they do too.
They didn't hesitate to bring the fuel, and poured it round the house, the situation went from bad to worse in a heartbeat, as the harsh liquid flowed in the same direction of Mike's blood, and just as he was about to drop the lighter and set the house ablaze, he saw it, red, fresh, jackpot. He raised an eyebrow, the grin shot across his face again, and in less than a minute, he was by the door, Alice could only feel her chest pounding furiously as they got even closer to Mike, they would definitely kill him, no doubt was in her mind, with a cocky smile and a gentle pull, he pushed the door open, but the look on his face didn't suggest what she would have expected him to feel upon realising his target, instead, disappointment and anger enveloped his face, he had seen the blood, but Mike wasn't there, and regardless of the very much present threat, that one thing brought her some ease, then she noticed they were three men in the room, one must've left while she had her eyes fixed on the boss with big boots, but where could he had gone ? she thought to herself, a thought she was yet to respond to when a sudden pull sent her rolling on the floor, that explained the missing hound, she had been brought out of safe haven, and into the mine field, there was no escape and no negotiation, she was still in a daze from the sudden push, her hands stiffened from the one on one collision with glass and splinters, and the next thing that resonated in her ears was the sound of the men laughing at her, they found her pain and fear amusing, it gave them a kind of excitement only their kind could explain, she felt the sharp pain of the splinters even more when they grabbed her by the hair and dropped her on her knees in front of their boss, he maintained the grin he had when he saw Mike's blood, and all her life she had seen nothing more disturbing.
With her hair still wrapped around his fingers, he jecked her head backwards, leaving her in a helpless situation, as she knelt facing their supposed boss, his demeanor remained the same, stoic, and he didn't even blink as he squated down in front of her, maintaining eye contact, he looked at her like an irrelevant character in a movie scene, and for some reason she imagined him slitting her throat, that had been layed bare before him, whether the stench of his breath, or the unnatural redness of his eyes, she wasn't sure, but she felt immerced in gallons of cold water, as he trickled his fingers down her right cheek, still maintaining eye contact, then he signaled that they let go of her hair, and raised her chin to meet his.
" Where is he ? we know you were together, tell us where he is , and we will let you go "
His voiced echoed everything but truth, they would kill her the moment they found Mike, and they would kill her regardless of what she would say.
" Where is he ? " he questioned again.
This time raising an eyebrow to show just how serious he was, but she wouldn't answer, whether the fear or shock of the past three minutes and her present situation, or the fact that she had no idea where he was, something held back her words, and before she could regain herself, a solid hand landed on her face, these were criminals, not gentlemen, they would torture her to get the answer, it would just be another casualty in their game of murder and excitement, with the same hand that hit her face, he lifted her head again, there were tears in her eyes, but that didn't matter, and after a 10 second long stare he stretched his hand past her shoulder, and what came with it was a 10 inch long dagger.
" Tell me where he is, or I will kill you, I'll count to three, one, two, ... "
A third count without an answer would mean a dead actress, she would die anyways, Alice closed her eyes to prepare herself for the impending stab that would most likely end her life, but instead of a sting, or the feel of her flesh being ripped by the dagger, she heard a loud roar, like that of a crazed man, and what followed was the sound of wood colliding against her attacker's tempo, it was in the nick of time, he dropped down, groaning in pain, her shock seemed to match that of the others because for a minute they hesitated to attack, that was all he needed, without a second to waste he grabbed a gun and fixed it in between their boss's ears.
" Put your guns down, or I will kill him, " he said, as serious as he could ever be, and even though still dazed as she was, Alice saw a glimpse of hope, but that was all it was, a glimpse, that faded almost as fast as it appeared, then the unexpected happened, Mike's assault bought them time, yes, but it made his attackers even more mad, his attempt to battle them backfired as they took advantage of his weakness, one press on his open wound and he lost his balance, with what followed being a punch that sent him reeling back, Alice was by his side as he fell, his wounds bleeding, he was in pain, and anything but a likely contender for the four men that had him at gun point.
What would happen next ? find out in the next chapter, you do not want to miss it.👍
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. Itwould only take a pull of the trigger, two pulls to finish them off, Mike's assault had bought them time, but it looked like their time had run out as fast as it came, he had succeeded in wounding his attacker, the force he used when he hit the plank against his head had left a pretty deep cut, still shaken from the impact, he saw him reach for the back of his head with his left hand, as if checking to see just how hurt he was, but instead of going into a mad rage, as would've been expected, the sight of his own blood seemed to cause some sort of excitement . Mike could neither control the fear nor the guilt of the tragedy he had brought to Alice's doorstep, if not for him she would still be safe , but his wishful thoughts didn't change anything, the reality stood in front of them, and it wa
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. In combat, the possession of a weapon had often served as an advantage to the side fortunate enough to have one, that was the universal assumption, and it was evident in common fightings, from a wrestling ring, to little kids playing sword fight, to the cult boys, as well as the troublesome bus conductors, regardless of the size of their opponent the possession of a weapon more often than not awakened a degree of confidence in them.For Alice however, it was a different case scenario, she had the gun, but lacked the courage to fire, her eyes trailed round the men to the gas cylinder she had recently filled, that stood outside the kitchen a few metres away from where they stood, then she saw his arm tense as he prepared for his next kill, time wasn't on her side, nothing was.
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. It was dark, lonely, silent, a cold silence that was occasionally broken by the sound of speeding cars, sounds which were often washed away as fast as they came, then the chill of the quiet reigned again, even the cresent moon had the company of stars, the nocturnal creatures had each other to bother, the spark of lighting had the cackle of thunder, but Alice had no one as she trailed the ever lonely road, it was her sole companion, she had no idea what would happen next, no where to go, she didn't make any attempt to return the numerous calls that continued flooding her phone, her life had drastically changed after Mike walked back into it, her future now appeared like a foggy field, nothing was clear anymore, the other day Mike had come to her house bathered and bloody, and now he was dead, the uncertainties made her sob even louder, but alas, she alone could hear them.
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From where he stood on the rail on his balcony, he could see the torrent of the waves, the harsh reclaim of the water, and the frail withdrawal of the beach sands, a frailty similar to the life he had before now, the defeat of the sands, and steady lash of the water somehow unearthed the traumatic replays of how his drunken step father had used his mother as a punching bag, everyday, since the very first day he moved in with them, it normally started with a punch, then another, and another, his fists making a mess of her face. Then he would rip her clothes off, revealing her scarred body, and turn to the eight year old, who couldn't possibly do anything to fight him off, he would grab him by the shirt, and despite her cries that he leave her son alone, drag him down the stairs, jet him across the room, and smash his body against the wall and empty bottles of cheap beer that scattered on the floor, more often than not leaving him to battle with his wounds alone, while he returned to tor
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If memories served her right, Alice knew this wasn't the first time she was meeting this particular police officer, he had seen the fight between Sunday and the other agents, and tried to intervene. Which would have cost him his life had he not been a good fighter on his own. He managed to fight off some of the agents, taking his fair share of significant blows of course, but luckily he hadn't been shot, however he wasn't so lucky to dodge the gun that hammered against the back of his head suddenly, and made him lose conciousness. Alice knew she had to have seen him somewhere, the only question now was where exactly.
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Thud ! thud! thud! thud ! Sunday could hear them coming, hard footsteps pounding against the floor as the men approached the room where he hid with Alice. Sunday wasn't sure exactly how many they were, but by the sound of their footsteps, he could say roughly ten to fifteen. Well armed, well trained. He had been hiding out with Alice in the house ever since he almost died of the wounds he got when Fasting shot him. It has been three days already, and ever since then they had stayed low. Sunday knew he wouldn't be able to hide for too long, sooner or later the agency would track him down, Thomas and Shola were traitors who worked with Fasting, with their help Fasting would get to him in no time.
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Alice had felt like someone dropped the weight of the world on her shoulders the moment she saw the video of her mother, father and brother being gagged and beaten by Fasting's thugs. Fasting had threatened to kill them before, but they had been able to escape before he could do anything, at least with that Alice's heart could rest easy, even though she had no idea where they had escaped to, she was content and hopeful, praying they would all be fine. Anywhere is a better option than being held hostage with little or no chances of survival. Last she heard about them, they had been lucky enough to run into one of her uncles who was a military personnel, at least with him and his squad protecting her family, they were safe for now. &
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" What are you even saying ? " Alice asked, staring at Sunday as if he had said something outrageous, he seemed fully aware of just how ridiculous he had sounded just now, because he didn't say a word in his defense. " You are still hurt, " Alice said, rising to her feet she glared at Sunday, " the agency is still after you, Fasting is after you, we don't even know where Reuben and Susan could be, we don't even know if they're still alive, you can't just run off knowing about all of this . " Alice said again, trying her best to reason with Sunday. Sunday fell speechless hearing Alice's words, he knew her words proved true all too well. Judging from their present situation, as well as the threat that lied in wait, going outside was suicide. They
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Alice rested her head on the bed where Sunday slept, she had fallen asleep a while ago, but it was already morning, she hadn't been able to get much sleep, truly, she had barely gotten any sleep at all. Taking the bullet out of Sunday's chest was an ordeal, the biggest and most dangerous thing Alice had ever done in her entire life. There was so much blood, so much pain, so many things that could go wrong, Alice was no doctor, the only thing she knew about bullets wounds if she knew at all, was that they bled a lot, they put you in a world of excruciating pain, and yes, they are impossible to look at. But somehow she had overcome that fear of blood and managed to pull out the bullet from Sunday, he would live . Sunday clearly was no stranger to bullet wounds, he had the scars to show for them, forget scars, he
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Blood trailed behind them as they dragged along the dark, silent road. Sunday had been badly hurt, and the longer his wounds stayed untreated the more chances were of him bleeding to death. If it had been during the day or even in the brighter hours of the evening, they might've seen someone willing to help them. But it wasn't early, it was late, dark and as quiet as a grave yard. Alice tried her best to help Sunday get help, and hopefully get away from the goons that were after them, she looked behind her several times, nothing was in sight, the darkness like a blanket had covered it all. Even if anyone had been there, she wouldn't have been able to see them.
