The Transport

Chapter 8

Everyone was shocked when they saw Rome grabbed by his back and got slammed into the boxes. It was Nick who grabbed and slammed Rome. After slamming Rome, he approaches him and then grabs his collar, and punches Rome in the face. He continued to punch Rome and said,

"You motherfucker!"

After saying those words, he once again continued to punch Rome in the face and the stomach. Rome was shocked and couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything or even stop Nick from punching him because he noticed that Nick was crying. Nick said,

"That's how you're gonna thank Tony and Wardo? By blaming Zy?"

Nick was stopped from punching Rome by Wade and Miggy. They held them down and tried and calm him down. Both of them are telling Nick to stop while holding him down. Nick continues,

"They sacrificed themselves FOR YOU! They chose death so that they can thank Zy after what she did FOR YOU! Is that how you want to thank those two idiots who gave up their lives for you?"

Wade, who was holding back his tears earlier, lets go of Nick and starts to cry. Miggy, the youngest one on the team, also started to cry with the rest of the team because they had lost two of their friends. Zy, who was already crying, had fallen on her knees and covered her face with her hands, and cried loudly because she thought what Rome said earlier was right. She started questioning her decisions from the very beginning. If only she had not been held captive by the insurgents, Rome and his team would not have saved her and all of them would still be alive. If only she had not insisted on volunteering for the war in Afghanistan, she would not have been held captive and Wardo and Tony would still be alive. She kept on crying because of regret along with the others who lost their friends. Rome stood up without talking and no one approached him. He walked out quietly while others were crying and Yoko comforting Zy even though she was also crying. Rome walked away and just quietly stood in the dark corner of the warehouse. He was quiet but it was obvious that he was crying. In his mind, Rome once again failed to protect his friends as he failed in protecting his wife. All of them stayed there for another 30 minutes without talking to anyone. All of them were grieving the loss of their friends. Rome, who walked away, just stood in the corner of the warehouse. He was awfully quiet and had no desire of moving forward with the mission. Yoko approached to check how he was doing and when she touched Rome's shoulder, he did not react. He was just staring at the ground while standing still. Yoko asked,

"We need to go. What's the plan?"

Rome replied,

"I'm gonna kill him. All of them."

When Yoko saw Rome's face, she was startled because he had a sinister look on his face and he was really serious about murdering someone. But instead of being scared, Yoko responded,

"Rome, you know every decision you make, I'm with you. If you wanna go back there and kill every single one of them, give me 15 minutes to prepare and I'll come with you. But the question is, do you think Tony and Wardo want that?"

When Rome heard those words, he sat down and started crying quietly. Rome is enraged by what happened. Yoko continued,

"Both of them chose this path because they wanted to thank Zy by bringing her back to her father. That's why we need to move forward and we need you to do that."

Rome realized that they needed to get going because if they stayed much longer in that warehouse, there was a chance that they would be followed and something much worse might happen to them. Rome stood up and started to walk toward the whole team. When he was in the middle of everyone, he said,

"We need to go. All of you have 10 minutes to prepare and after that, we will leave everything here. The next stop would be in Oregon."

Nick interrupted Rome by saying,

"We can't. The cars are full of bullet holes and all of us are shocked and traumatized by what happened. If we want to move forward, we need to take a breath first. If we force on going, we will be restless, and if someone ambush' us again something worse might happen."

Rome replied,

"What's your plan? We don't have a safe house in California."

Nick looked at Rome with a serious face and said,

"We don't have a choice. We can stay in Palm Springs."

When Rome heard those words he immediately dismissed what Nick had said by saying,

"No. We are not going there."

Nick aggressively said,

"We need to wait for the new car. We can't travel in cars like that."

Rome got mad and yelled,

"I said we're not going there! We will look for cars on the way."

Everyone was startled when they heard Rome yelling. Nick said,

"You think I would want to go there if we had the choice? Look around you. Look at the very person we're supposed to protect and transport. She's scared and can't even stand straight on her own. I know this is too much to ask, but Rome we got to do this. 1 day. Or even just for 15 hours of rest and sleep. We don't even need to talk about it. Let's just go there, wait for the new cars, and sleep, then we'll start moving again."

Rome looked around and he saw his team, who were disturbed and still grieving about the loss of Wardo and Tony. He looked at Zy and she was scared and still crying about something. Rome said,

"We will go there but no one will talk, no one will touch anything. 10 hours. We wait for the new cars and if the cars get there much faster we will leave even 10 hours before. Understand?"

Nick sarcastically replied,

"Yes, boss."

Everyone got into the same car they were in when they arrived at the warehouse, but Rome went to the other car instead of the one he arrived in. He got into the other car where Nick, Wade, and the others were riding in. Nick decided that he would ride the car where Rome was earlier. When they started driving, everyone was quiet and no one was talking. It was awkward because no one was willing to initiate a conversation because of what happened a while ago in the warehouse. Yoko then hits Nick, who was in front of the car, in the head and says,

"You didn't have to say it to him like that. And Palm Springs? Seriously?"

Nick did not react or even look at Yoko, who hit him in the head and he just replied,

"You think I had a choice? If I didn't say anything, that i***t would go back there and he would be killed along with all of us who would go with him. That was the only way to stop him from doing something moronic. And you know I'm right that Palm Springs is the only place we could go right now."

Everyone in the car suddenly got quiet and it made Zy confused because she had no idea what was going on or what Palm Springs meant to the group. Yoko replied and said,

"Do you have any plans if he breaks down?"

Nick replied,

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there. We need a place to stay to regroup and to wait for the new cars. We can't coddle him all the time. He needs to figure this one out on his own."

Yoko did not respond, along with the rest of the team who were in the same car. Zy quietly asks Yoko. She asks,

"What's in Palm Springs?"

Yoko was hesitant to answer and just looked at Zy. Nick heard Zy and immediately answered,

"It's Rome's and his wife's house. It's where his wife was r***d and killed by Barnes."

Yoko immediately stopped Nick from talking by saying,

"Nick! That's enough!"

Nick replied,

"Hey, we are going there so it should be fine to tell her everything about that place since we are still on our way there."

Yoko, who was pissed by that time, interrupted Nick by yelling,

"I said enough!"

Everyone was quiet when they heard Yoko yelling. Zy saw Yoko with a pissed off face for the first time and she immediately told Yoko,

"I'm sorry. If you're not comfortable talking about it, it's okay. I'm sorry I asked."

Yoko looked at Zy and tried to force a smile on her face and said,

"It's okay. I'm sorry I yelled. What Nick said was true and I would appreciate it if you would not ask anything about the house when we get there."

Zy responded by nodding and they just continued driving to Palm Springs. Rome, who was in the other car together with Wade Tanya, was also not talking. Rome was quiet with the back of his hand on his face while he lay down at the back of the car. Tanya and Wade were not talking because they understood what Rome was feeling. After all, he would once again set foot in the place where the most gruesome and traumatic tragedy had happened in his life. They continued to drive for a couple of hours and they arrived at a house in Palm Springs, California. The house was empty but it was obvious that it was cleaned from time to time. Everyone got inside the house without talking and Rome quietly went to the back of the house. Everyone looked at Rome while he was walking. They were worried about Rome since it is the house of Rome and his late wife, plus it's where the most horrifying experience of his life happened. Yoko sat down at the dinner table and pulled out a piece of canned food to eat. She offered food to Zy by saying,

"You need to eat. Sit with me and have some of these."

Zy then approached the table to eat because she was hungry after all that happened earlier. Lia and Miggy joined them at the table and while eating, Zy sees Nick and Wade walking towards the back where Rome went. Zy could hear Nick saying,

"I can't contact Lucy. But the car will arrive in 6 hours. Em will send it to us."

Wade added,

"I already took care of the car outside. No one will notice where I put it. We can just wait for the new car and be on our way."

Wade sat next to Rome and asked,

"Are you okay? You need some sleep, man."

Rome did not respond and Wade was looking at Rome and then looking at Nick, who was still standing. When Nick noticed that Wade was looking at him, he also sat down and said,

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I know it was a f****d up thing to say, but there was no way for us to stop you from doing what you wanted. But you know what I said was true and I mean it. But then again, I am sorry if I had to say it to you."

Rome then responded but never looked at Nick or Wade. He just kept on looking down at the ground. He said,

"I know. I'm sorry too. If you did not stop me, who knows what might've happened to us? But if you don't mind, I prefer to be alone right now."

Wade touched Rome's shoulder and said,

"It was not your fault. What happened to Tony and Wardo? They made their decision so that we could keep on moving forward. Same with Tricia. It was not your fault what happened here. To her."

Rome did not respond to what Wade said and just clenched his fist real tight and tried to stop himself from pouring out the rage he felt as soon as he entered his old house. Instead of reacting to what Wade had said, Rome stood up without talking or even looking at Wade and Nick. He immediately went to the tool shed at the back of his old house. Back at the house, Yoko and Zy heard everything Wade and Nick said to Rome. As soon as Nick and Wade got inside the house, Yoko asked,

"How is he?"

Wade responded,

"We can't talk through him. We need to leave as soon as we get the new cars."

Yoko replied,

"We still can't contact Lucy."

Wade replied,

"What did Miggy say?"

Yoko looked at the table and says,

"He said he couldn't find Lucy. She's not online or even in Montana."

Wade asks,

"What do you think happened?"

Yoko looked at Wade and said,

"It's Lucy, maybe she's trying to keep a low profile while scouting. That's why I don't Rome to know that we can't contact Lucy. I don't want to bother him with this."

Nick interrupted Yoko by saying sarcastically,

"You think pampering and keeping him in your safety blanket will help? He needs to process his s**t like a normal person so that he can move on. And you treating him like a baby won't help him."

Yoko got mad and replied,

"And you think acting like a complete asshole towards him is the best way to go?"

Nick replied and had no plan to back down. He said,

"Yes, if this is the only way for him to stop acting like a little b***h, I would be happy to do it."

Yoko stood up while looking at Nick and said,

"Who the f**k do you think you are!?"

Nick replied,

"I'm the guy who has had his back since day one! That's who I f*****g am!"

Everyone, including the rest of the team who were inside the house, heard Yoko and Nick arguing. Wade interrupted them by saying,

"That's enough! Both of you are not helping right now."

Everyone who heard Wade was quiet. Especially Yoko and Nick, who were arguing. Zy, who was only watching, couldn't say anything because, for her, what was happening to Rome was her fault and if she said something, things might get worse and the team would argue more. Wade continues,

"Both of you have a point. Rome can't move past that tragedy if you keep on pampering him, but we also push him to move on immediately. What he needs is for us to be there with him. And in case you forgot, this mission is not about him. All of us promised that we would take Zy back to her father. It seems all of you forgot about that."

Nick and Yoko looked at Zy and were quiet about what Wade said. Zy, who was worried, just said,

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. If your boss is comfortable being here, I guess we should take a rest now so that we can leave right away."

Yoko stood up without looking at Nick who she was arguing with earlier and just said to Zy,

"I'm gonna go upstairs. If you're done eating, you should take a shower before sleeping. Let's also check your heart rate. A lot has happened since yesterday."

Yoko immediately went upstairs like she said while Zy was still on the table. Zy replied while trying to force a smile,

"Seriously, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Wade replied,

"No, you're not. No one here is fine. I'm sorry if we are doing a shitty job of taking care of you."

Zy replied,

"You don't need to take care of me. The agreement was to bring me back to my father. Nothing else. I understand that all of you have a lot going on right now. So you don't need to worry about me."

Wade smiled at Zy and said,

"Yes, that was the agreement. But you also helped Rome. Even if he's a d**k to you or even to us, we will still do anything for him. That's why we are doing everything to thank you for what you did."

Zy replied,

"All of you keep saying that you want to thank me for what I did, but I am not really sure about what I did for you to go to these lengths just to thank me."

Wade looked at Zy and smiled. He said,

"Can I sit?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah. Of course."

Wade added,

"For us. What you did was an immeasurable debt. You saved the only person who gave us the chance to have a family again."

Zy looked at Wade and she could see him smiling. Wade continued,

"Yoko and the rest of them told you that Rome saved them from their shitty or dangerous lives. But that's not the only thing he did for us.You knew that Wardo and Tony were cartel hitmen?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah. Yoko told me that they had an encounter with Rome before?"

Wade added,

"Well, yeah. But that's not all of it. After that incident, those two were no longer welcome in their country. They betray their organization, either they will be killed by their own cartel or the other cartels will go after them. Yoko has never had a family since her mother died. Miggy was a payment for his parents' debts. Snail was an orphan living in the streets of New York. Me and Nick, well let's just say that we're both unwanted by our families."

Wade was looking at Zy and he saw that she was confused as to what Wade was talking about. Wade added,

"Well, my point is that we were all rejected by our own loved ones. No one wanted us and we didn't have a place we could call home. Rome took us in and considered us his own family when the rest of the world didn't want anything to do with us."

When Zy heard those words, she understood why these people are always worried about Rome. To them, Rome is their family and they should protect each other. Once again, she felt a little admiration towards Rome after she heard all those things from Wade. Zy was quiet and Wade was just looking at her while smiling. Wade ended their conversation by saying,

"I'm going to bed. You should get some rest too. As soon as the car arrives, we will go straight to your grandmother's."

Zy only nodded to Wade in agreement. Wade went ahead to his room to get some sleep while Zy was still sitting at the dinner table because she was still worried about Rome but couldn't do anything. While she was sitting down, the backdoor opened and she saw who it was and it was Rome who was grabbing something from the top shelf. She saw Rome take a bottle of whiskey and went straight outside using the backdoor without saying anything. Without thinking, Zy stood up from where she was sitting and went outside and called Rome. Zy said,

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Rome stopped walking and replied without even facing Zy,

"Go to sleep. You need to get some rest. We're still too far from Montana."

Zy replied,

"I know. It's just that, everyone is worried about you. If you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me."

Rome replied,

"Just go to sleep."

Rome immediately went to the tool shed with the bottle of whiskey in his hand. Zy just watched as ROme went to the tool shed in his hand. In her heart, she knew that Rome was hurting and there was nothing she could do about it. She just went inside the house and went straight to her room upstairs where Yoko and Lia were waiting for her. Once she entered the room, Yoko told her,

"You can take a shower if you want. You can wear these clothes."

Instead of responding to what Yoko told her, she said,

"Are you sure Rome is okay?"

Yoko replied,

"Yeah. He just needs time. You don't need to worry about him."

Zy grabbed the clothes that Yoko gave her and replied,

"I know. It's just that he is not his usual self and he's drinking. I'm worried"

Zy was not able to finish her sentence because Yoko interrupted her by saying,

"Wait. What do you mean he's drinking?"

Zy replied and said,

"He grabbed a bottle of whiskey on the top shelf and."

Once again, Zy did not finish her sentence and got interrupted, but this time, Yoko stood up and walked outside of the room. Zy was confused because she saw on Yoko's face that she was worried about something. She asked Lia,

"Is everything okay?"

Lia responded by saying,

"Don't worry, Yoko is with him now. Just take a shower and get some rest."

Zy aggressively replied,

"All of you keep on telling me to get some rest but no one is telling me a goddamn thing. Everything that's happening is because of me. I know you're all gonna say that it's not my fault, but it is my fault. There's nothing I can do about it, but I just need to know what's going on because there's something that's eating me from inside and I can't."

Lia was only looking at Zy, who was crying her eyes out after she said those words. She was covering her face as she cried and as soon as everyone heard Zy crying, Nick and Wade went straight to the room, but Lia was shaking her head towards Wade and Nick gesturing that they shouldn't enter the room. Wade slowly and silently closed the door and Lia approached Zy and said,

"I know that you're feeling guilty and responsible for what's happening right now. I am not gonna coddle you like what Yoko does. None of us thinks that this is your fault. What's happening with Rome is his own issue. You don't have to worry about him because this is not the first time that this kind of thing has happened. Something worse has happened before, but don't worry because Yoko is with him now. Get some rest because you will need it for the rest of this trip."

Zy was quiet and did not respond to what Lia said. She just laid down and tried to sleep but she couldn't, so she looked at Lia and said,

"Are you sure he's okay? When I saw him downstairs earlier, he was kind of on the verge of breaking down or something. I think all of you need to talk to him. I think he needs you."

Lia replied,

"As much as I hate to admit it. There's nothing that any of us can do for him. Only Yoko can calm him down."

Zy still continued to worry while Lia was lying down and was obviously asleep. Yoko, who went downstairs to check on Rome when she heard that Rome had taken a bottle of liquor. She knocked on the door of the tool shed where Rome settled but no one answered. She decided to open the door and when she entered, a small lamp was the only light in the room and she could see Rome, who was sitting on a small bed with the bottle in his hand. She tried to call him by calling his name. Yoko said,

"Rome?"

Rome did not reply and obviously did not hear Yoko or even notice that someone had entered the tool shed. Rome was just looking at the ground while sitting down without moving an inch. Yoko sat down beside him and tried to get the bottle that was almost empty from his hands. Rome, who was quiet the whole time when Yoko entered, spoke. He said,

"Why does it always happen to me?"

Yoko looked at Rome and she was about to cry. She replied,

"It's not your fault. None of it was."

Yoko immediately grabbed Rome's head to hug him. As soon as Rome was hugged by Yoko, tears fell down from his face. Rome was crying without making any sound and Yoko just hugged him and also crying. Back in the room where Lia and Zy were sleeping, Zy was still worried and couldn't sleep. While lying down with her eyes open, she asked Lia,

"Do you think Yoko stopped him from drinking?"

Lia, with her eyes closed, replied,

"What do you think they are doing now?"

Zy replied,

"Well, I was just hoping that she was able to calm him down."

Lia responded with an aggressive tone,

"I told you to stop worrying. Get some sleep or do whatever you want. We just need to get you home. You don't need to worry about Rome or any of us."

Zy replied,

"Okay. I'm sorry."

Zy just closed her eyes and tried her best to fall asleep but she was still wondering how Rome was doing because she knew when she saw Rome's eyes that he was hurting and suffering. And she was right, Rome thinks that it's a part of his curse where everyone that surrounds him will always be harmed and die. Back in the tool shed, Yoko is still hugging Rome, who was crying because of what happened. Yoko tells him,

"Don't worry. I'm always here. I'll never leave you."

Rome looked up and saw Yoko's face, who was obviously worried about him and tried her best to comfort him. Rome stood up a little so that he could reach Yoko's face. Yoko was not moving and just looked at the blank, emotionless face of Rome. He then kisses Yoko on the lips without any hesitation and Yoko, without doing anything, receives Rome's lips to hers because she wanted this the whole time. Right from the start, she always wanted Rome to see her not as a subordinate or a friend. She always wanted Rome to see her as a woman who had affection towards him. She closes her eyes as Rome kisses her tenderly, but she immediately opens them and regains her senses and pulls away from Rome. She said,

"I don't think this is a good idea."

She realized that Rome was feeling bad about what had happened and he thought that having intimate moments with others would comfort him. She added,

"I know that you're feeling awful about what happened. Why don't we sleep for now and we can talk about it tomorrow?"

She looked at Rome but Rome did not respond. She saw Rome's face where tears were falling down and she could see that Rome was hurting and already tired. She knows that Rome is on the verge of breaking down and if she doesn't do anything about it, something worse will happen to him. She grabbed Rome's face and kissed him on the lips. Rome kissed her back and started to caress her on the neck while Yoko removed Rome's shirt from his back. Rome also removes Yoko's shirt while he continues to caress every inch of her body. Yoko knew that moment was not because of love or affection. It was because of what Rome was feeling and it was the only way to comfort him and make him forget what happened that day because of her feelings for Rome. She was willing to give her body to him even if it would give him a little comfort, because that's how important Rome was to her. They spend that night together in the same room and in the same bed, leaving everything and forgetting all the horrifying things that happened that day. As one.

The next morning, Yoko was the first one to wake up and she looked at Rome's face while sleeping. Even when asleep, she can see on Rome's face that he is still suffering and still feels awful for what happened. She can't do anything but feel bad for Rome. She slowly got up so that Rome wouldn't wake up because she wanted Rome to rest for as long as possible. She put on her shirt and her pants and went outside the tool shed. She went inside the house and inside was Wade, Nick and Zy, who were sitting at the dinner table while the others were sitting in the living room. Nick asks her,

"How is he?"

Yoko decided not to tell anyone about what happened in that shed last night. She replied,

"When I got there, the bottle was almost empty. He blames himself for what happened. We can't make things worse for him. I don't know what will happen if something comes up again."

Wade and Nick were quiet after they heard what Yoko said and Zy still feels bad and worried. Yoko asks them,

"Any word from Em and Lucy? When are we heading out?"

Nick replied,

"Em made contact an hour ago. The car's on the way. We still can't contact Lucy."

Yoko sighed and touched her forehead as if she was having a headache. She said,

"Miggy, make sure that Lucy can contact us anytime. Once the car arrives, Wade, you take the lead if Rome can't do it. And we can't let Rome know that we couldn't contact Lucy since yesterday."

Everyone agreed by nodding in silence. They started eating the food that was on the table and a few minutes later, someone knocked on the door. Miggy opened the door and there was a young and beautiful blonde girl. Miggy said,

"Em?"

The woman just looked at Miggy and immediately went inside the house. She said,

"Where's boss?"

Yoko replied,

"Still asleep. Wait, Em, what are you doing here?"

The woman replied with a worried look on his face by saying,

"Lucy's Dead."