The Transport

Chapter 7

Lia, Yoko and Zy walked together to their room since the 3 of them would be sleeping together because they needed to guard Zy at all times. After all three of them took a shower, they started getting ready to sleep. While preparing the bed, Zy asks,

"Is he okay?"

Yoko replies,

"Who? Rome? Yeah he's fine. He just needs to sleep."

Lia then interrupted by saying,

"You can't keep lying to her. She's with us now. We need to tell her everything."

Yoko then said,

"Don't."

Zy confusingly asks,

"Wait. Tell me what? Is something wrong?"

Lia was waiting for Yoko to answer Zy but Yoko was quiet and lowered her head. Lia decided to answer Zy by saying,

"Rome has PTSD."

Zy was stunned by what she heard. She asked,

"PTSD from the war?"

Lia replied,

"No, from what happened to his wife. War was nothing to him. It's like he's born to fight wars, but what happened to him and his wife? That's something even his heart and brain that's used to war can't take."

Zy was quiet, because of what she heard. She keeps on thinking that Rome is an asshole and he keeps on proving it to her because he is an asshole to her. But, she's also thinking that maybe he's like that because of what happened. He's so protective of his people because he's scared that the same thing might happen again. Yoko asked her,

"Are you okay?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was just thinking how I treated him all this time. I kind of feel guilty."

Lia interrupted by replying,

"Don't be. He doesn't like it when people are pitying him and he really was kind of an asshole and an i***t to you."

Lia and Yoko just smiled at Zy. Zy smiled back and said,

"With all the things that are happening, I cannot thank you all enough."

Yoko just smiled at her and said,

"I told you. You helped us a lot by lifting Rome's curse. It's the least that we can do. I also promised you that I would keep you safe and make sure to escort you back to your father."

Lia interrupted by jokingly saying,

"Well, as long as we have an understanding that Rome is mine. I will also make sure that you will get to China safely."

Zy, who was smiling, immediately frowned after she heard those words and said,

"I told you, I don't have the slightest interest in that guy."

Lia and Yoko slightly laughed and Lia said,

"Yeah. Yeah. I know. He's not your type. Let's just go to sleep."

The three of them went to sleep with Yoko and Zy in bed, while Lia slept on a couch. A few hours had past while they were sleeping, Zy had a dream. She was dreaming that Rome was lying in her arms, full of blood and was obviously dying. She looked around and she saw Yoko, Lia, Wade and everyone lying on the ground. Dead. A man's face who she couldn't see was standing in front of her, laughing maniacally. The man was not talking. He was just having a sinister laugh like he was enjoying seeing all these people dead in front of him. Zy was just looking at them, she couldn't scream, cry or even talk. She looked at Rome who was in her arms and Rome started talking while blood spouting in his mouth. He smiled and said,

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry I couldn't take you to your father."

After hearing those words, Zy was swallowed by darkness in her dreams. She couldn't see or hear anything besides herself. She started falling on her knees in that darkness and cried. She felt alone and scared. But she then sees a white light in front of her that's calling someone. She heard it was calling for her name. She went to the light and she started waking up and it was Yoko who was calling her to wake up. When Yoko saw her open her eyes, she said,

"We need to go."

Zy was disoriented and confused because she just woke up from a very bad dream and because of what was happening. Yoko was clearly in a rush and Lia was no longer in the room. She asks,

"What's going on? Where's Lia?"

Yoko replied while handing her clothes to her,

"She's outside. You have 20 seconds to get ready. We are leaving after that."

Zy was still confused but she immediately put on her jeans and shoes without wearing any socks. She was done and said,

"I'm done. Now will you tell me what's going on?"

Zy looked at Yoko who was also looking at her but, something was different about Yoko. She is clearly serious and mad about something. Yoko said,

"I will explain everything later. Just get ready to move out and don't ask any questions for now, because once we're out of that door, we will move non-stop."

Zy was a little scared by the way Yoko looked and answered her, so she followed what she said and quickly got out of the bedroom door. As soon as they walked out of the door, she could see the whole team in a rush and preparing everything to leave the house. She saw Rome who was standing by the door and was just delegating his men to move. Rome looks at them and she can clearly see that something is wrong and bothering him. Rome told Yoko without shedding any emotions on his face,

"Let's go."

Yoko then immediately moves out together with Zy and gets in the car. They had the same car arrangements as before, where Rome, Miggy, Yoko, Lia and Zy were in the same car. They drove for atleast 30 minutes without talking and, strangely enough, Miggy, who was driving the car, was actually driving faster than he was before. Zy to lighten up the mood, jokingly asks,

"Okay. I guess we're far enough now. Can someone please tell me what's happening?"

Yoko, who was still serious about the situation, answered her by saying,

"Miggy found something."

Miggy took over the conversation and said,

"Earlier today I decided to do a little maintenance of the vehicles since I woke up early. I finished earlier than I thought, so I did a little research about the mission and everyone who's involved. I came across Banks and I saw some information about him."

Zy asks,

"Agen Banks? He's the one supposedly helping us, right?"

Miggy answered,

"Yeah. But the problem is, he's not really helping us. Agent Banks was supposed to be dead for 7 years. He was in the secret service and he died in action. I did some digging and I saw that he was connected with Dr. Sebastian Cromwell."

Zy shook her head because it got more confusing for her. She said,

"Wait. wait. wait. Dr. Cromwell the medical scientist? How is he relevant to this mission? And isn't he supposed to be dead?"

Miggy replied,

"He's not dead or even missing. And all people who think of him as an angel sent on earth are wrong. It's true that he found cures to a lot of diseases known to man, but for him to find those cures he had to do a lot of unspeakable experiments on live people. 5 years ago, we got a mission of finding and rescuing fifteen abducted 14-year-old girls. We found out that they were held captive in a warehouse in Minnesota. When we got there, no one was there besides a few guards and doctors, but the girls were dead. They were cut open and were just thrown to the side drenched in blood like they were skinned alive like animals. We asked the doctors what they were doing with the girls and they said that it's a study led by Cromwell to find a cure for ovarian cancer. We reported it but officials already found out what he was doing 10 years ago, but instead of reprimanding him, they gave him their full support and now he can do whatever he wants, since he can cure anyone from the government or any high powered people around the world who becomes ill."

Zy got more confused after she heard those things because, at some point in her career as a doctor, she actually looked up to Dr. Cromwell. He was one of her inspirations why she pursued a career being a doctor at the World Health Organization despite her father's objections. She was still doubtful of what she heard and still refused to believe what Miggy had said. She told him,

"Do you have any proof that Doctor Cromwell was really involved in those experiments? How is it that you're sure that this Agent Banks is involved with Dr. Cromwell."

Rome interrupted by saying,

"Do you realize that we're trying to keep you from harms way?"

Zy replied,

"Yeah I know that. But I'm just trying to understand why you're accusing him of many allegations. He saved millions of children around the world when he found the right treatment for early stages of leukemia."

Rome replied,

"You think it justifies the number of children he killed to find that treatment?"

Zy agrresively said,

"I did not say that! How dare you say that to me?!!"

They were about to start arguing about Doctor Cromwell because Zy refused to believe that this Doctor Cromwell is capable of these appalling accusations that Rome and the others are making. Yoko immediately stopped and scolded them by saying,

"Okay. That's enough. Zy is a doctor, of course she will defend him. Boss, we need to make her understand the situation instead of forcing our plan on her. Zy, you have to listen to what we are about to say. When have we ever lied to you, ever since we accepted the mission of escorting you to your father?"

Zy was quiet and couldn't answer because what Yoko said was right. She never lied to her ever since the mission started. Even the time when Zy is questioning Yoko's motives towards her, she's always proven wrong because Yoko always makes sure that Zy is in the loop of all the events and information regarding the mission. And of course, Yoko always makes Zy safe. That's why she trusts her completely. Yoko continued,

"Miggy, give it to me so that I can show it to her."

Miggy replied,

"It's under my seat. Be careful not to dent it. It will show once you open it."

Yoko then grabs the small laptop that's under Miggy's seat. After opening the laptop, pictures of disfigured and bloody people were shown on the laptop along with a few doctors who seemed to be facilitating the whole hospital-like location and also pictures of Doctor Cromwell together with the other doctors who were in the facility. Yoko said while showing Zy the pictures on the laptop.

"These pictures came from one of our scouts from the inside. After sending it to us, the scout went missing. When we raided the facility, the only thing waiting for us was only the head of our scout. You see these doctors? They were the most loyal subordinates of Cromwell."

Then Yoko showed Zy a picture of a person who was unrecognizable because his face was disfigured like it had been mauled by a bear. His limbs were torn and his stomach had a hole in it. Yoko then showed pictures of a body full of sutures and then said,

"Do you recognize this way of suturing? This bone fracture repair surgery? You're a surgeon yourself. You know who's the only doctor in the world capable of doing that advanced surgery procedure."

Zy was quiet and couldn't answer Yoko because she knew that the only one who could do those precise procedures was only Doctor Cromwell. She is familiar with his technique because she idolizes the doctor and she has been following his work during the time when the world thought he was still alive. Yoko continued,

"This person was Banks. He was one of the guards of the politician who was assassinated 7 years ago. He was on the brink of death when they found him. Everyone thought that he would only have a few hours left at that time, but Cromwell took his body and after a few months he came back healthy. After that, Banks became Cromwell's close aide."

Zy was quiet and she asked,

"Why do you think he wants to get me?"

Yoko just looked at her and replied,

"You know the answer. You're just refusing to admit it yourself."

Zy, who was obviously disappointed because she really thought the Doctor she used to looked up to was a good person and had good intentions when it comes to saving people medically, but it turns out that the doctor wants to do experiments on her body to find out anything about her blessing. That's why they wanted her to go to Washington. Yoko said,

"Don't worry. I will not let them take you."

Yoko just smiled, looking at Zy. Lia and Rome were looking outside of the car to see if there were other vehicles that could ambush them. They were driving fast for a few minutes when suddenly the laptop that was put back under Miggy's seat started making sounds. They immediately knew it was coming from the laptop under the seat, so Yoko picked it up and said,

"It's the laptop. Miggy, what's wrong?"

Miggy, who was obviously pissed, answered.

"Someone is calling. How the hell are they doing this? I made sure no one could track us with that laptop."

Rome took the laptop so that he could answer it himself because they all knew who was calling. Rome pushed a button on the laptop and it was Agents Banks who answered and it seemed that he was not aware that the team already knew who he was and what he was after. He said,

"Talk to me man. Where are you?"

Rome answered,

"You got a lot of nerve calling us Banks. You were gonna kill us after we escorted her to you, right?"

Banks replied, who was obviously laughing on the other line. He said,

"I guess you already know what I want. So why don't we stop this chicken run and hand her over to me? I will let you and your team leave the country safely."

Rome replied,

"Next time I see you. I will put a bullet in your face."

Rome then pushes a button that stops the call. They continued driving for a few hours and they were about to arrive in Quartzsite, Arizona. A small town near the Arizona-California border. Miggy, who was driving the car, asks.

"Boss? Can we stop for a few minutes? I need to do something about this laptop and how they can keep on calling us. They might locate us because of it."

Rome replied,

"Can you do it in five minutes?"

Miggy answered,

"If I can't do it in five minutes, I will destroy the laptop and leave it here, but I need to at least try it first because we need the laptop to contact the others."

Rome answered,

"You got five minutes. Lia, tell them we have five minutes to stop over. Yoko you're with her. Make sure you watch each other's backs. Once we stop the car, the five minutes start. Understand?"

Everyone in the car replied,

"Yes boss."

Lia then contacts everyone from the other car using the radio that looked like a cellphone because it's too high-tech to be just an ordinary radio. Rome then points at a location where they can stop. Yoko asked Zy if she wanted to go to the bathroom but Zy said she was fine. They stopped the car and Miggy immediately grabbed his laptop and pressed the buttons really fast. The other team members got out of the car and looked around the location where they stopped to make sure no one was around and so that they could prepare for any ambush or surprise attack. Zy and Yoko stayed in the car while the others were outside looking around. Zy looks at Rome and she can see that something is still bothering him. He looked tired and seemed to be bothered about something. Zy asked Yoko,

"Are you sure he's okay?"

Yoko replied,

"Who?"

Zy said,

"Your boss. He's pale and seems to be bothered by something. Are you sure he's okay?"

When Yoko heard those words, it was obvious to Zy that Yoko was worried about something. Yoko immediately got out of the car and yelled Rome's name. While Zy decided to stay in the car and just rolled down the window to listen to what Yoko had to say. Yoko said,

"Rome!? Where's the gun!? Are you okay?"

Everyone who heard Yoko yelling looked at Rome and Rome was just looking at Yoko without talking or even answering her question. When Yoko saw Rome just looking at her, she immediately yelled because she realized something. She said,

"Everyone in the car! Miggy, leave that laptop here! Wade, you and Tanya drive in front of us! Nick, Wardo and Tony, you three make sure no one is tail-"

Yoko was not able to finish her instructions to the whole team because an explosion happened and it was the third car they had at the back of which Nick, Wardo and Tony were riding in. The explosion was so massive that it turned the car over. After the explosion, gunshots were heard all over the place. It was an ambush by unknown gunmen whose number is much larger than Rome's and all of them could do was to hide behind their car because they couldn't move because of all the gunshots. Everyone pulled out their guns from their car and started shooting back. Even when the nine of them were shooting back, they were still outnumbered by those unknown men who were shooting at them. During all those gunshots, Nick, who was with Wade, Tony and Wardo. Nick said,

"We have to get out of here. We need to distract them so that we can drive away."

While talking and taking cover in their cars, the gunshots suddenly stopped. Nick carefully looked at the shooters and he saw the shooters putting down their guns. After the shooting, they could hear someone yelling,

"Rome!"

All of them looked and they saw Agent Banks along with the 2 other agents who were with him at the airport in Texas when they arrived from Afghanistan. Agents Banks continued,

"You told me I couldn't find you yet, here I am. Let's make this easy. Since you no longer plan on bringing her to Washington, why don't you just hand her over to me and you can leave the country safely. I also have here the bag full of money you asked for."

Everyone stood up to look at Banks, who was talking to them. Rome replied by saying,

"You can take that money and you can shove it where the sun doesn't shine."

Agent Banks just laughed and said,

"Oh, you're making jokes now? How about this? You and Miss Tan can come with me and the rest can leave the country. Alive."

Everyone was stunned by the sinister look on Banks' face. Rome whispered but everyone on the team could hear it. Rome said,

"Prepare to take cover."

Rome continued to talk to Agent Banks and he said,

"Hey Banks! You remember what I said the last time we spoke?"

Agent Banks smiled and said,

"You said you'd put bullets-"

Agent Banks was not able to finish his sentence because Rome had already pulled out his 0.500 Magnum Revolver and shot Agent Banks with it, but one of the Agents who was with Banks saw through it and immediately got in front of Banks, causing that Agent to get hit directly to the face. When the Agent was hit, blood splashed all over Banks' face, but Agent Banks was not affected or even startled a little by the blood of one of his men on his face. He just had a sinister smile on his face and said,

"I'm gonna kill every single one of you.''

After Banks said those words, the men who ambushed Rome and his team started firing their guns again, causing Rome and his team to take cover. While taking cover to keep bullets from hitting them, Wardo said something to Nick that shocked and appalled him. Wardo said,

"Take everyone and leave me here. I can keep them for a few seconds."

Nick immediately dismissed what Wardo said. He told him,

"No. You think Rome would let that happen? You think any of us would let that happen? Just give me a minute and I will think of something."

Wardo smiled at Nick then pulled up his shirt, showing that he had been shot. His abdomen was bloody and two bullet holes were visible. Wardo said to Nick,

"Two bullets hit me and damaged my liver and kidney. I only have a few minutes left. Adrenaline is the only thing that keeps me moving. If I don't stay, all of us will die. With this, I'm the only one who dies and you can thank Zy for what he did to Rome by taking her to China to her father."

Wade and Tony, who were there with them, were quiet and had never spoken a single word because, even though they couldn't admit it, what Wardo said was right. Nick looked at them and said,

"Why the f**k are you not talking? You're letting him do this? We have to leave this place! All of us! No one gets left behind!"

Nick keeps convincing them that they should bring Wardo with them, but Wade and Tony were talking and Nick even held Tony by his collar but they still wouldn't answer him. Zy noticed that the Group of Nick was arguing. She could't move a muscle because she was terrified by all the gunshots and bullets that were raining on them. Nick was still aggressively convincing them that they would not leave Wardo behind, but this time, Tony started crying and finally spoke. He said,

"You know what he said was right. We can't leave this place alive if we can't keep them here. Say all of us leave, they will just follow us and all of us will die."

When Nick saw Tony crying, he also started to cry but still holding Tony by his collar. Tony continued,

"I know you don't want to do it, but we don't have a choice. And you're the only one who can convince Rome to leave without us."

Nick was shocked by what he heard. He replied,

"Us? What do you mean us?"

Tony answered,

"I'm staying here with him."

Nick immediately dismissed what Tony said. He said,

"No. No f*****g way! I am not leaving you two here."

Tony slammed Nick's back on that car and replied,

"Listen to me! He can't do this alone. He needs me here. You take everyone and leave. Don't tell Rome anything until all of you are far and safe. So stop whining and man up! Besides"

Nick was shocked and couldn't say anything after what Tony said and did. Tony smiled at him and told him,

"Besides, I can't leave my brother here on his own. Go. Tell Rome thank you for everything he did for us. We can't thank him enough. Tell Zy thank you for saving our saviour and brother."

Wade, who was quiet and obviously keeping himself from crying, hugged both Tony and Wardo, then he left to tell Rome and the rest of the team that they were leaving, then going to the other car with Tanya while waiting for Nick. Nick, who was crying, hugged both of them. And said,

"Let's have a drink once all of this is over."

Wardo tells Nick,

"Tell Rome that he needs to bring Zy back to her father. For us. And tell Zy thank you."

Nick agrees by nodding and then went to the car and Wardo and Tony immediately pulled out the grenade launcher that was on the car, which had turned over earlier and started firing grenades at Banks and his men. While the two of them were firing it, the rest of their team left with Rome not noticing that two of his men were left behind. Miggy and Wade, who were driving the two remaining cars, did not look back and were driving really fast to get away as far as they could. Tony and Wardo, who were left behind, kept on shooting at Banks and his men using their grenade launchers. Banks and his men couldn't do anything but to take cover. Wardo and Tony used all their ammunition. Banks and his men started firing back. It only took 15 seconds before they could shoot down Tony and Wardo, causing them to kill both of them. But that was more than enough time for Rome and the rest of the team to get away from there. Banks could see any car lights in front of them, meaning either Rome and his team got really far away from that short period of time or they turned off their car lights, which made them even harder to find that night. Rome and his team continued to drive for almost thirty minutes and then he started calling the other car using the radio that Lia used earlier. He said,

"I think we lost them. Everyone okay back there?"

Nick replied,

"Everything's fine here. Just continue to drive."

Rome answered,

"We will look for a safe location to regroup. Just hang tight."

Rome asks Miggy,

"How did they find us? We were supposed to be under the radar."

Miggy answered,

"I checked it earlier. They found us by using military satellites. I disabled any footprints that can point to our location earlier. From now on, we cannot contact anyone from the government even if they're with us, because they track everyone's sudden movement from the inside."

They continued on for another 30 minutes and they found an old abandoned warehouse in Blythe, California. Rome said,

"Let's stop there for a few minutes."

Yoko noticed that Rome was uncomfortable in his seat. She grabbed Rome's left shoulder and she saw blood. Rome was wounded in that encounter. She immediately said,

"Stop the car now. Rome was shot. We need to check on others if they were shot too."

Yoko realized that Rome was insisting on stopping over because if he was shot, there was a possibility that the others were shot too. She wanted to stop over so that they could treat anyone who was injured. Lia informed the other car that they would be stopping and told them that Rome was wounded. They stopped at the warehouse that Rome pointed out earlier and immediately went inside to start treating Rome. Rome was refusing treatment from Yoko because he was saying that the bullet only grazed him and she should check on others that might be wounded. He was checking everyone who was in that warehouse and he noticed that Wardo and Tony were missing. He said,

"Where's Wardo and Tony?"

Yoko was the only one who heard him and she answered,

"What?"

Rome stood up and asked with a much louder voice.

"Where the f**k are they?"

No one answered him. Everyone was quiet because they already knew what had happened. Rome asked Nick,

"Nick. You were with them. Where's Tony and Wardo?"

Nick did not respond and just lowered his head. Rome was shocked because he realized what had happened. He then rushed to Nick and held him by his collar and said,

"You left them there? That's why we were able to get away!?"

Zy was just watching them argue and then she realized why Nick and Tony were arguing earlier. Due to her shock, all she could do was cover her mouth with her hand and cry. Nick was still quiet and refused to look Rome in the eyes. Rome then grabs his rifle and some magazines. Yoko noticed and she asked,

"Rome, what are you doing?"

Rome replied while preparing his guns,

"I'm going back there. We shouldn't have left them."

Yoko stops him by holding the gun in his hands and says,

"You know you can't do that!"

Rome looked at Yoko and he was obviously trying to stop himself from crying and said,

"All of you don't give a s**t whether those two are still alive or not. That's why I'm going back, even by myself."

Wade, who was always jolly and sarcastic about everything, was now serious. Replied to Rome,

"It's not about that Rome. We know what already happened after we left. You know that too. You're just refusing to admit it yourself. They chose this decision for us. For Zy."

Rome was shocked by what he heard and his mind went blank. He couldn't hear anything because he was scared to admit that two of his men were now dead because of this mission which he refused to take in the first place. He looked at Zy and Zy, who was obviously in shock, was now scared. Rome rushed to Zy and said,

"This is all your fault. You and your father. If we left you in Afghanistan, all of us would still be alive!"

Zy, who was crying, was just looking at Rome rushing at her. In her mind, Rome was right. No one would've died if she had stayed in Afghanistan. Before Rome could reach Zy, who was just waiting. Rome was grabbed by the back and slammed him into the boxes that were in the warehouse.