THE WATCHMAN

On the run

As they scrambled for safety, they could see images of men with guns surrounding the house and different lights all around.

More and more tear gases were thrown into the room choking them more.

Gwen quickly reached for two towels, soaked them in water, and places them over Antonio's nose and her own.

Then she moved the table at the center of the sitting room shifted the Persian rug to reveal an opening in the middle of the sitting room floor.

She opened the covering and motioned for Antonio to go in first. Antonio obeyed and climbed down. She followed him down but first carefully pulled the rug over the opening to conceal their route of escape.

The opening led them down to a secret underground tunnel that led to an unknown location.

Antonio wondered in his heart why such an innocent young lady would have a secret tunnel under her house then he remembered that it was her fathers' house.

"Who then, could her father be?" He thought to himself.

"Did anyone trail or see you while you were returning home?" Antonio asked as they moved quickly inside the tunnel.

"No, no one did, I made sure of that, and there is no building for miles and miles away from this place! So I'm shocked by this attack". She said fearfully.

"These people must really be desperate for whatever is in my head!" Antonio unknowingly said out loud.

Gwen suddenly pulled him back, bringing them to a halt.

"I think this is also a good time for you to start explaining yourself to me, I don't care if we are on the run! I would love to know the reason why I'm going to die!" She said looking at him square in the face.

"We can't stop now! It's not yet safe!" Antonio said, trying to convince her to continue running till they were safe.

But his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"We are not moving an inch until you explain, why strange me are chasing us!" Gwen screamed at him.

"Okay, Okay! I will explain. But let's get moving!" Antonio pleaded.

Gwen stood there staring at him, still waiting for an explanation.

Antonio sighed in frustration. Then he said

"All I remember is that I woke up in a room with strange doctors and I had no recollect whatsoever of my past".

Antonio went on to narrate his ordeal in the hands of Sergio Angel and his men to Gwen.

"After several days of being held and treated like a lab rat. I decided to launch an escape it was during that escape I got this injury when I landed on a branch after jumping from the fifth story of a building".

"I keep running, not knowing where I was or where I was going. It was during my escape that a trap, which I suppose was set by you, caught my leg".

"I was about to pass out when you found me and rescued me".

"Can we move now?" Antonio asked impatiently.

"Yes, we can". Gwen said and they started running again.

Antonio could not run so fast because of the wound on his stomach.

Suddenly they heard a loud bang and voices of men behind them.

They had discovered the secret tunnel!

They ran as fast as their legs could take them and as fast as Antonios pain could allow him, but Sergio Angels men's were hot on their tails and gaining on them. They could hear the sounds of the dogs barking getting closer.

" Arrrgh!" Antonio screamed as he fell to the ground in pain he could not bear the pain in his stomach anymore.

" Antonio please try to get up!" Gwen urged him. "We are not far from the exit, you can do it!" She encouraged him.

Antonio mustered all the strength he could and got back to his feet and continued to run as fast as he could.

Suddenly they started hearing gunshots and bullets started flying everywhere! Sergio Angels men had caught up with them!

" There it is!" Gwen exclaimed in relief while pointing at the exit door.

They ran even harder to get to the door. By the time they reached the door, they found out that the door was locked, and Gwen had no idea where the key was.

"Stand back!" Antonio suddenly instructed.

He went back a few steps and rammed into the door, which caused it to give way.

The stitch on his stomach had given way a d he was bleeding profusely from the wound.

The door led to another hole that led upwards.

When they open the hole from the inside, they found themselves by the roadside with trees all around.

They had managed to climb out before the agents got to the hole, they could hear the agents close behind.

"Let's get out of here!" Antonio urged Gwen.

"No, she replied defiantly. I have to do something first, if not they will not stop chasing us".

"What do you want to do?" Antonio asked inquisitively.

Gwen waited for most of the agents to gather below then and start climbing up the hole.

She then walked towards a heap of dead leaves, she rummaged through it.

"What are you doing?" Antonio asked. Clearly confused as to why she was rummaging in the dirt.

Gwen didn't bother to give him a reply, instead, she continued her frantic search in the dirt.

To Antonios' amazement, she brought out a large black bag.

Out of it, she brought out explosives. She armed them with a count-down time of fifteen seconds.

Then she walked up to the hole and dropped four explosives into the hole and closed it.

The agents began to scramble for safety and scream for help, but it was too late. They were trapped.

Boom! Boom!! Boom!!! Boom!!!!

Four loud explosions rocked the earth below them and the trees around them.

Next, she went to an even bigger heap of dead leaves, this time she pulled it and Antonio realized that it was camouflage cloth covered with dead leaves, and under it was a power bike.

Gwen put on her helmet and mounted the bike. She look in Antonio's direction, who was shocked and what he was seeing. She stretched the second helmet in Antonios' direction and said...

"What are you waiting for? Come on hop on man!" Antonio hurriedly collected the helmet a d put it on before climbing on behind her.

She switched on the ignition and zoomed off down the road.

" Who is this lady?" Antonio thought to himself. "And where did she get all these weapons".

The whole scenario was too convenient for Antonios' liking.

****************************************************

"You mean you are Antonio's father and you did not tell him all these years? For god sake, I spent five years waiting for Antonio with you! We were not sure if he would return, yet you said nothing to me! Reno Jorge died, not knowing that you were Antonio's father!" Susan raged at the Oraha.

"Antonio Jr. played in your arms and yet he did not know he was in the arms of his grandfather! h?How can I trust you again?" Susan continued her rant at him.

"You seem to have so many secrets! And you enjoy keeping them! How hard could it be to tell Anton that you were his father?"

"Can you imagine the strength that would have given him? Can you imagine the drive it would have been injected into him? I can't believe you did this!"

" I promise you, I did it for your own good, I did it for your safety! The Oraha said lovingly to Susan.

"What safety exactly?" Susan retorted at him.

"Is it the case of you disappearing, everything we were in danger? Knowing that you were Antonios' father and you would do this, makes me even more disgusted!"

"We have been living our lives in danger for almost a decade now, so what safety are you talking about?"

"Susie, please listen to me..." The Oraha tried to explain, but Susan was in no mood to listen to anything.

Susan got up and angrily stormed out of the hospital room.

Just as she was leaving Jose Reyna and Camilla were returning. Susan just brushed past them without saying a word.

"Hey! Susan, What's up?" Jose Reyna asked in surprise but Susan did not reply to him, she just walked off.

"Don't worry about that, I will go and find out what is wrong this time". Camilla said as she turned to pursue Susan.

"Hey, Bernardo!" Jose Reyna said as he entered the room. He could already tell that his friend, The Oraha was in a very bad mood, so he tried to be careful with his words.

" How are you doing? Jose a.

"As you can see, not too good!" The Oraha retorted.

"Yes, I can see that, if I may ask, what is going on with Susan I just saw her storm out of your room in a hot rage, what happened between you guys?" Jose asked.

"I told her my true identity, I told her I am Antonio De Castillos' father and she just let rip! She didn't take it well at all! She didn't give me the chance to explain". The Oraha lamented.

"You did what?" Jose asked in shock.

"But you know, this is not the time for such news! You couldn't have picked a worse time to do this!" Jose Reyna said.

"She was already suspecting something and being overly inquisitive. Especially because of the encounter with Ricardo Pereira".

"She says she met Gloria when she died. That's where it all started unraveling to her".

"I'm sure she's not talking about all that happened in the land of the dead!" The Oraha said

"You cannot start worrying about all these things right now Amigos, everything will be alright. What you need right now is rest". Jose said

"Ok Amigos, I will try, but every time I close my eyes to sleep, I have nightmares!"

I see our world changing. and I fear what is coming is far worse than what was before!"

"Just rest my friend". Jose Reyna implored.

Suddenly Camilla rushed into the room looking worried and said...

"I cannot find Susan Anywhere! I searched She just disappeared!"