The Transport

Chapter 6

When Zy and Yoko reached where the whole group was, they could hear Wade saying,

"Since both of you are ready, I will tell you the rules. We have 14 targets. Each target needs 3 bullets to take down. We will give 45 rounds. It's up to you how you divide it into your rifle and your sidearm, but there should be 4 magazines during each turn. You can't take down the target at a long range. The farthest you can take them down is 3 feet. The fastest one who can take them all out wins."

Miggy went to the front as a sign that he was going first. He went with using the Glock 26 first instead of his rifle. When he heard the signal to start, he immediately reloaded the hand gun and started shooting the target. When he was done, it took 38 seconds for him to take out all the targets and use 43 bullets. Everyone was impressed by Miggy's time. Wade says,

"This is a new record. What was the time of the last duel?"

Wade asked anyone who could answer his question. Nick replied and said,

"Well, the last time was in Afghanistan with the M4 and the Colt and I think it was 43 seconds."

Wade sarcastically says,

"Well, I guess that doesn't matter now. Because we have a new record!"

Everyone cheered and was having fun. Wade playfully says while looking at Rome,

"Will the student beat the master? Or will the master show his indomitable dominance? We will see."

Rome just replied, who was obviously annoyed,

"Shut up!"

Rome walked to the front of the range to start. He used the Glock 36, which gives him a disadvantage because it's much heavier than the 26. As he walked, Zy noticed something. She notices the way Rome walks, the way he holds and prepares his guns. To her, he looks really hunky and attractive. She realizes that she was thinking of something stupid. She shakes her head but Yoko notices her. Yoko asked,

"You okay?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah. There was just a bug in my head."

They both watched Rome as he prepared for the range. When he heard the signal, everything was fast. Even the whole team was surprised at how fast Rome was. He first used his rifle and it only took him 12 seconds to empty all the bullets in the rifle and 8 seconds with the hand gun. Everyone was shocked as to what had happened. Wade checked the timer and looked at Rome and said,

"You proud of yourself?"

Nick said,

"What's time and how many bullets?"

Wade disappointedly checked Rome's gun and replied,

"It's 20 seconds and 41 bullets wait. You're supposed to use 42 bullets to hit all targets. That means you missed one."

Everyone was surprised because they thought this would be the first time that Miggy would beat Rome in a duel. Everyone was rooting for Miggy to win, since Rome always wins, it's boring for them. Everyone cheered but Nick and Lia, who are both snipers, were just shaking their heads. Everyone noticed, then Nick sighed and said,

"One of the bullets went through the target, hitting the one in the back, so it counted and Rome only used 41 bullets to win the game."

Everyone was disappointed because they wanted Rome to lose badly. Wade immaturely shouts,

"Oh come on!"

Rome smiles with a smug face at Miggy, who's obviously pissed, and says,

"The Whole Trip."

Everyone consoled Miggy since he was disappointed in the result of that duel. They were so disappointed and some of them confronted Rome and told him that he should've held back a little. Wade told him,

"You could've held back a little and finished it a few seconds late."

Rome just smiled and replied,

"Hey. You're the one who wanted this to happen. I just played along."

Wade said,

"Yeah. But you could at least go easy on the boy. What's wrong with you?"

Rome said,

"You think this will be the last time he will challenge me? There will be more and he will keep on improving. Now, get all of them inside so that we can plan our next move."

Wade walks back outside to tell them to go inside since they will have their final meeting and leave the next day. All of them were inside the house and surrounding a big table that had a map of the United States on it. They are planning their routes and stops as they travel by land from New Mexico to Montana. Rome said to them,

"Usually, it takes only 17 to 24 hours max to get to Montana from here. But since we're taking a different road and we're going to avoid a lot of national roads to keep anyone from seeing us. So we will be there in 3 or 4 days. Anyone have any thoughts about this?"

Everyone was silent because they knew that what Rome had said was right. It is much safer if they take their time, since not only the government will be looking for them, but also The HAND and the REAPER who wants to capture her. Yoko was about to say some but Miggy interrupted and was obviously shocked about something. He said,

"Uh Boss, I think you need to see this."

Everyone who heard what Miggy said just looked at him and wanted to know what he was about to show Rome. He plugged his small laptop into the screen and a news update came out. The news anchor who was on T.V said,

"We have breaking and shocking news. Senator Erik Barnes was found dead in his home in Miami, Florida. Reports were made after one of his housemaids called the police when they found him in his bedroom nailed to the wall in a crucified position. As of this moment, the police are still looking for leads as to who and why the gruesome murder was made."

The entire team who heard the news was quiet and Zy, who was confused, noticed that it seemed the whole team knew something. Zy asks Yoko,

"Who's that man?"

Yoko tells her,

"That's the father of Cletus Barnes. THE REAPER. and it seems he's the one who killed his own father."

Zy asks,

"What do you mean?"

Yoko explained to her,

"When Senator Barnes received the news that his son killed Rome's wife, he covered it up. But, he exiled his son out of the country. He told him that if Cletus ever returned to the United States, he would be shot dead and that the Senator would not help him in any way. He even set the Red Notice against his son."

Zy is still in doubt that this person would actually kill his own father. After watching the news, Rome decided for them to move out that night instead of the next morning. He said,

"If he killed the senator, that means he's here. We need to move tonight. Make sure everything is ready and we will move out in eleven hundred hours."

Everyone replied,

"Yes boss."

Every single one of the group then prepared for their trip. A few hours had passed and they were having dinner.

Later that night, the whole team starts to prepare to head out and start their mission to get Zy to Montana as quietly and unnoticed as possible. All of them are putting all their equipment in the vehicle, including Zy, who is helping them out. While preparing, Miggy starts to yell something. He said,

"Guys, I have something here."

Miggy started walking towards the table with the small laptop in his hands. He puts the laptop on the table and says,

"Someone is trying to reach us the same way Zy's father did. I have got to do something about this. How can they easily find this channel?"

Everyone who heard it immediately gathered to the table because they were worried. Rome said,

"Do we know who it is?" Miggy, who was typing on the laptop, replied. "It doesn't say anything. It's probably banks. I'm really sorry boss. It will not happen again."

Rome got in front of the laptop and said,

"Next time, make sure no one can reach us after this point. We can't risk being seen from here on out."

Miggy replied,

"Yes boss."

Rome then pushed the button on the laptop but he didn't speak. There was no video that appeared like when Zy's father called the first time. Instead, a person from the other line started speaking. It really was Agent Banks from the Homeland Security Department. He said,

"The balls that you have on you, Romero."

Rome replied,

"Problem? Agent Banks?"

Agent Banks, who was obviously pissed at the way he spoke, said,

"You were supposed to tell me if you had a change of plans or change of routes. Where are you right now?"

Rome just smiled and said,

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember having that stipulation in our contract. All I remember is that I brought the package to Washington. I don't remember kissing your ass along the way."

Agent Banks replied,

"Don't push your luck, freak. I can make all the personnel in this country look for your weird ass and drag you out. Don't test me."

Rome slightly laughed and said,

"HAHA! You can't even locate where I am right now. Relax. Tell your boss that he will be happy by the end of this week. Just tell him to pack my money."

Rome then pushed a button to end the call. Rome said,

"We have 30 minutes to head out."

Everyone replied,

"Yes boss."

After those orders from Rome, everyone started to prepare much faster than before receiving that call. Miggy destroys the laptop Rome used after taking out something from it and then replaces it with a new one. And in exactly 24 minutes, everyone was ready and already inside the car. The only ones who were outside were Rome and Lucy. Lucy said,

"Em will contact you as soon as she is done scouting. If you have problems or you need anything, just make Miggy contact me and I can make the arrangements for you. Be careful out there and don't be reckless. Do you hear me?"

Rome replied,

"Yeah, we got this. You sure you're not coming with us?"

Lucy just smiled and said,

"I'm a scout. If I go with you, my cover will be blown and I can't lose all my contacts."

Rome also smiled and said,

"Fine. Make sure you're out of the country by tomorrow and no one sees you. We will contact you as soon as we're in China. Are we clear?"

Lucy then turned serious and replied,

"Yes boss."

Lucy hugged Rome and he hugged her back. Lucy then kissed Rome on the lips and he was shocked, along with Yoko and Lia who were in the car. Lucy said,

"For good luck."

Rome just shook his head and smiled. Lucy then started to walk towards the car where Zy, Yoko and Lia were and said,

"You better look after him and bring him back to me."

Yoko shook her head and smiled, and she replied,

"That was underhanded. But don't worry, we got him. You be careful out here."

Lucy looked at Zy and said,

"Thanks again. And always remember, he's mine."

Zy was embarrassed by what Lucy told her and she replied,

"Oh don't you worry, I don't have the slightest interest in that man."

Lucy replied.

"Really? You immediately knew who I was talking about."

Zy blushed because of the embarrassment and Yoko immediately interrupted and said,

"Stop teasing her and we need to go."

All of them started moving out. One of the 3 cars has Miggy as the driver with Rome at the front and at the back they have Lia and Yoko with Zy in the middle of them. The rest of the team were in 2 different cars, who is in front and at he back of Rome and Zy's car.

They drove for 5 hours without stopping. That's why they were able to get to Arizona fast. When they got to Globe, AZ, they encountered their first problem on their trip. It was not the HAND Organization or the US Government. The first problem they encountered was the racist deputies from the sheriff's department of a small town in that city. They were pulled over and as soon as they saw Miggy driving the car and Rome in the front, one of the deputies asked,

"What are you doing here, boy?"

Miggy got pissed because of what the deputy asked and how he asked his question. Miggy replied,

"Who the f*ck are you calling 'boy'?"

Rome immediately held Miggy's hand that was on the steering wheel as a gesture to stop him from having a conflict with the sheriff's deputy and said,

"I'm sorry, officer. We were just passing through to get to Scottsdale to stay for the night."

The officer then turned his small flashlight on Rome's face and also the girl's faces who was at the back. Upon seeing that there was only one Caucasian in the car, he said,

"This is a sundown town. You can't be here after dark. The other Bronco's behind? Are they with you?"

Rome replied,

"Yes, officer. And as I said, we're only passing through to get to Scottsdale to stay the night."

The officer then looked at his small notepad and said,

"How the hell did you get to afford this vehicle?"

The partner of the sheriff's deputy also stopped the other members of the team and the three vehicles are now stopped at night by the side of the road. Rome calmly replied,

"How is that question relevant to why you're pulling us over?"

The officer then turned hostile and said,

"Listen, you little spic. I ask the questions. Not you. Just bow your head and answer my questions."

Rome then replied,

"Okay. What are your questions then?"

The officer replied,

"Why don't all of you get out of the car so that I can ask my questions?"

Rome is now a little pissed because of this racist officer and said,

"Okay fine."

All of them got out of the vehicle together with the others who were in the other car. All of them were rounded up while the 2 officers were checking the car. While they were checking, 3 additional sheriff's vehicles arrived. After they got out of their vehicles, one of the officers approached Yoko and Zy and immediately grabbed them by the arm and slammed them on the hood of their sheriff's vehicles. The rest of the team were about to react and s*******r these racist cops but Yoko immediately stopped them by raising her right hand at them and said,

"Don't. It's fine."

Yoko then looks at Zy and says,

"I'm really sorry but you have to endure this for a few minutes. I promise it will be over."

Zy, who was about to cry because of what happened, just tried to endure it like what Yoko had said. When the officer heard what Yoko had said, he smiled and said,

"This little c***k can talk white and has a fight with her. I like that."

After saying those words, the officer then smelled Yoko's hair and grabbed her backside and whispered to her,

"I'm gonna enjoy both of you later."

Zy started crying because of fear that she could be r***d later if they couldn't do anything about it. She looked at Rome but he was silent and not doing anything. Yoko held her hand and told her,

"It's okay. Don't worry."

The officer who grabbed Yoko saw Zy crying and immediately grabbed her by the hair and said,

"Shut the f*ck up c***k!"

One of the officers who was checking the vehicle said,

"Hey!"

All of them looked and it was the officer who stopped them in the first place. He approached the officer who grabbed Yoko and Zy. The whole team was glad because someone stopped this abuse, but they were appalled when the officer who stopped it said,

"That one is mine. I saw her first."

He was referring to Zy and immediately grabbed Zy and also touched her backside. The officer said,

"I've been waiting a long time to taste this kind."

The rest of the team was just watching and couldn't do anything. Miggy then whispered to Rome and he said,

"Thirty seconds."

Rome, who was obviously really pissed, looked at them with a sinister blank face and told the officers in front of him. He said,

"Officers. We don't want any trouble. If we are not welcome here, we can go back and find a different way to Scottsdale. Let us go and we will forget that this ever happened."

The two officers and also the other ones who were checking their car laughed at him but the rest of the team, including Zy, were quiet because they were scared of Rome. The one who grabbed Zy said,

"HAHA! You trying to scare me boy? You're in my town and a spic like you ain't scaring anybody. There's no going back now."

Rome just looked at the officer still with a sinister look in his face and said,

"In the next 10 seconds, you will be on your knees while your head bleeds. You will beg me for your life and you beg me to let you go home."

After Rome said those words, a swarm of military vehicles surrounded all the sheriffs' vehicles along with all the deputies with them. A number of military personnel got out of their vehicles and immediately pointed their guns at all the officers who were harassing Rome's group while shouting.

"Get your f*cking head on the ground or I will blow it to pieces!" The officer who was talking to Rome said, "Who the f*ck are you?"

Then a soldier smashed the head of the officer with a rifle, causing him to fall down. The soldier then looked at Rome and Rome said to him,

"You're late."

The soldier replied,

"Sorry boss."

The officer who was on the ground struggling because the soldier's knee was on his head, said,

"What are you doing? We are from the sheriff's department you i***t!"

The soldier who was talking to Rome and got his knee on the officer's head replied,

"You are operating on land owned by the United States Military you i***t! And we have got evidence that you and your racist friends are k********g illegals to sell and r**e them."

When the officer heard those words, he got quiet and is now obviously scared. Turns out that what the soldier had said was right and earlier, when Miggy whispered to Rome, it was actually the remaining time until the soldiers arrived, because Rome is actually friends with the soldier who called him boss because he wants to join Rome's team. The officer who grabbed Yoko earlier was crying like a little girl and yelling,

"Sanders! You told me this would never happen! You promised me!"

The officer who was crying was referring to the officer who grabbed Zy, who was also on the ground. But the officer was just quiet. The soldier who had his knee on the officer's head said,

"Which one are you killing first?"

Rome looked at the officer who was on the ground and the officer also looked at Rome. Rome said,

"Get him on his feet."

The officer was stunned by what Rome had said and he was now scared because he thought that he would be killed, while the other officer who grabbed Yoko, who was still on the ground, kept on crying. The officer pleaded,

"Let's talk this out. I'm sorry for what we did. We promise not to lay hands on you, just please let us go."

Rome then grabbed the officer by his collar and said,

"There's no going back now."

After saying those words, Rome then smashed his head on the window of his own sheriff's vehicle, causing the window to break. Everyone who saw it was shocked but quiet. Some of the soldiers tried to approach Rome to stop him, but the soldier who talked to Rome stopped them, by waiving his hand at them. After Rome smashed the head of the officer into the car window, the officer, who had his face bloodied, tried to speak and beg Rome to stop. He struggled to put words in his mouth because of the blood and glass mixed in his mouth, and said, "Please!" Rome ignored what he said and just let him go, causing him to fall on the ground again. Rome then moves on to the next officer who grabbed Yoko earlier and who was crying like a little girl. The officer kept on crying and pleaded to Rome. He said,

"Please don't kill me. I was just doing my jo-"

Rome did not let him finish with what he was about to say because Rome punched him in his stomach as hard as Rome could, causing him not to be able to breathe. He then fell onto the ground and tried to catch his breath while holding onto his stomach. Rome then continued to punch him in the face non-stop. Zy was looking at Rome and she was scared of him. She thought a devil with a sinister and ominous look on his face was in front of her beating a defenseless, unrecognizable man on the ground. Rome only stopped when Yoko gently grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up and he saw Yoko and she gently said,

"That's enough. The next punch you make will kill him. Me and Zy are fine."

Rome looked at Zy and he saw that she was crying and obviously scared. He looked at his hands and then looked at the person he beat up, who was unrecognizable due to the punches he put to his face. He realized that he had been on a rampage and was out of control. Rome stands up and removes his jacket. As he walked away, he dropped his jacket on Zy's shoulder, who was scared of what had happened. He went straight to the car without talking to anyone and rolled down the front passenger seat and lied down while putting his bloody hand on his forehead. Zy, who was holding the jacket that was given to her by Rome, realized something. She realized that the very man she finds really irritating went on a rampage not because he is violent or not because of his curse, but because someone touched and physically abused one of his subordinates who he considers his family. The fear that she felt earlier when she saw Rome beat the officer like he was about to kill the officer was gone. She instead realized that Rome was actually the kind of gentleman who would protect you if you were in danger. After a few minutes, Wade was the one who talked to the soldier who arrested those sheriff's deputies. Wade said,

"Are you sure none of your men will talk?"

The soldier replied,

"Don't worry, I will make sure that no one will bother you from the military. Just make sure you stay under the radar. I'm gonna report this as an operational arrest since these idiots already have a warrant." Wade said, "Good. Lucy will contact you if there's anything you need help with."

The soldier then looked at the car where Rome was in and said,

"Is he okay? Do you need us to convoy you to Scottsdale?"

When Zy heard the soldier she also looked at the car where Rome was in and she started to walk there to check on him because it was obvious to her that everyone was worried about Rome. When she arrived at the car, she saw Yoko tending to Rome and she was wiping his bloody hands using a white towel. She heard Yoko saying,

"It's not your fault. Don't worry, they're both alive."

Rome was not talking. He looked like he was asleep. Yoko saw Zy approaching and immediately went to her and consoled her. Yoko said,

"I'm really sorry about what happened. I know you're mad because we couldn't do anything earlier, but if we tried to fight them we might get a lot of attention to ourselves. I'm really sorry."

Zy just smiled at her and said,

"It's fine. I understand. Is he okay?"

Yoko smiled and replied,

"Yeah. He's just tired. He's sleeping now. You ready to go?"

Zy smiled and said,

"Yeah."

Yoko then said,

"Okay, you can wait in the car and I will tell them that we can start moving. It will only take a few minutes so just rest your head in the car while waiting."

Zy then entered the car and sat down. She drank a little water and started to close her eyes to get a nap, since she was tired of what had happened. Her eyes were closed and she was about to fall asleep when she heard something. It was Rome who she thought was asleep. He said,

"Next time, don't look at me like you're begging for help."

When Zy heard those words, she got pissed because once again Rome was being an asshole to her. She replied,

"WHAT?!"

Rome said,

"I said don't look at me like you did earlier because I will come to save you no matter what. If your in trouble or if someone tries to kill you, I will come for you so you don't need to ask or worry. All you need to do is toughen up and wait for me because I won't let anything happen to you until I bring you to your father."

When Zy heard those words she was quiet and just opened her eyes wide open because she couldn't believe that Rome was actually capable of saying those words to anyone. She always thought that Rome was a condescending jerk who couldn't speak his true feelings and always rely on violence, but at that moment, he actually took into consideration what Zy felt at that moment and assured her that while she was with him, he would not let anything happen to her. Zy was quiet but touched by what Rome said. She couldn't react properly and just said,

"Thanks."

After that conversation, the two of them never spoke while in the car. When Yoko got back to the car, she saw Zy who was quiet and blushing over something. She asked,

"Did something happen?"

Zy was startled by what Yoko asked and said,

"What?"

Zy then shook her head and said,

"Nothing. Is everyone ready?"

Yoko replied,

"Yeah. They were preparing to leave and just making sure that no one noticed what had happened."

Everyone got in the car and when Lia got into the car she asked Zy,

"Are you okay?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm sorry I cried."

Lia replied,

"It's fine. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about those idiots earlier. I wanted to put holes in their heads but I was not able to do it since the army was coming."

Zy then asked,

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask that. How did the military know where we were and how did you know they were coming?"

Yoko explained to Zy,

"Before we left the estate in New Mexico, Lucy informed all her contacts of the government that if we needed anything they would be on stand by to give us a hand. The soldier who helped us was one of them. The moment we were pulled over, Miggy immediately sent out the signal. That's why I told you to endure it for a few minutes."

Zy was impressed by how calculated and by how this mission was planned out.They continued to drive for more than an hour and then, at almost morning, they arrived at Scottsdale, Arizona. They went to a big house, but not as big as their base in New Mexico. Zy asks,

"Who's house is this?"

Yoko replies,

"Rome's. I told you he spends all his money on buying houses for our base. This is one of them." Zy, who was shocked, said, "You mean to tell me he has a house in every state in this country?"

Yoko replied,

"Not every state. But I guess he has 24 houses all around the country."

Miggy interrupted them by saying,

"It's 26 now. He bought 2 more after our job in Budapest and, after this job, who knows how many he will buy."

Lia and Yoko were shocked when they heard Miggy say those words, but the one who was most shocked was actually Zy, because she thought that this man was actually rich for having 26 houses in this country. But at the same time, she was impressed with what he thought of the safety of his subordinates, since Yoko told her that the only reason he was using his money to buy houses was to use it as their site of operation. As soon as the car stopped, Rome immediately got out of the car and went inside the house without talking to anyone. As soon as they entered, all of them could see Rome going inside a room and Wade immediately took over giving orders. Wade says,

"Anyone who wants to eat, we have food in the fridge or the MRE that we brought. After eating, make sure you rest because tonight we will resume our trip. Take every bit of rest that you can get. Yoko make sure you're always with her." Yoko asked Zy, "You want to eat?"

Zy replied,

"Nah. I'm fine. I think I wanna rest."

Yoko replied,

"Okay."