Convergence

CHAPTER FOUR

Ring! Ring! Ring! The man stretched lazily in the balcony as he sat, drinking a glass of scotch.

The man: I told you not call me until you’ve got the package

John: Yeah I have it, your men are lying dead on my floor. Now I’m coming for you.

The line went down and pure rage crossed the man’s face. He stood up and stared at the armed guards below who moved from one point to another. What scared him the most was the fact that karma was actually promptly catching up with him. For one long moment, he stood there like a statue, with unregulated gasps of breath, he wrathfully smashed the glass of scotch he held in his hand onto the wall that is shattered into pieces. John’s call meant a declaration of a vendetta against the man. So he wandered aimlessly through the passage to his office where he summoned his other colleges. This man was known to the world as Lincoln.

Meanwhile, in the old abandoned hospital, fragments of wall paint lay damp on the untrodden floor, raining water seeped through the window frames and broken windows. It looked as if it had been many decades since a footstep had echoed within those spider web infested walls. BOOM! A loud noise came from the other room. It sounded like it came from the theatre room, Billy thought. He had jumped out of his bed and landed face-down on the floor. He could recall the events from last night, John had threatened to kill him, he didn’t take him seriously but now he began to think if he had took his word for it, he probably wouldn’t be laying injured in that old abandoned hospital bed. He called for Miles but no one responded, he freaked out when he didn’t hear the sound of Miles’ voice. He didn’t want to leave that place alone, and for all he knew, either Miles was dead, or John stood outside that hospital waiting for him, or maybe he was just overreacting. A minute later after being in deep thought, he knew something wasn’t right. The longer he waited, the less opportunity he had, to save them both. So he grabbed his jacket and paced around the floor he was in, contemplating whether he should walk out or keep looking. At last he decided to take a leap of faith and open the theatre room door. He took two steps through the door. Looking left and right, everything seemed to be in its rightful place although the furniture looked old, dusty, and worn out. He must have guessed right, no one was there. He raced downstairs to see if he could find him there, but nothing. Feeling quite nervous, he began to think that something went terribly wrong and that the explosion was no accident.

Billy: Miles..!!

Billy shouts as he searched for him. And suddenly, there lying on the reception floor behind the counter was Miles. He’d been dead for quite a while now, and blood poured out of his body. A scary voice walking from behind said…

Scary voice: We meet again.!

Billy: Please don’t kill me, please, I’ll do you whatever you want. I’ll tell you everything I know. Please!!

Scary voice: Too late, it’s your turn to die, hahahaha!!!

He pointed the gun at Billy with a grin and BANG!! The gun went off but luckily for Billy, he woke up to the sound of the hospital equipment.

Billy: s**t, what was that nightmare? Good thing it was only just a dream.

He wiped the sweat on his forehead and sat upright on his bed. He checked over the other bed where Miles lay, he was still unconscious. Billy looked around, the oldest residents of that abandoned hospital were spiders, sections of the ceiling hung limp in the stagnant air. He began to think…

Billy: What if that wasn’t dream, but a warning of some sort?

For some reason he didn’t take nightmares lightly. He grabbed his jacket and huddled straight to Miles’ bed to wake him up.

Miles: Is everything okay? Where are we?

Billy: I’m surprised we are still alive, we don’t have much time, after the nightmare I just had, I know they are coming for us.

Miles believed him, the look in his eyes showed pure determination.

Billy: I found these car keys and this note in my jacket. It says “LAY LOW FOR A WHILE,” and an address.

Miles: Okay, so what’s our exit strategy?

Billy: Our what?

Miles: Oh my god, we’re both going to die!

Billy: No man, focus, we not going to die, get yourself together, let’s go!

Billy and Miles both knew what the rest of the day’s schedule would be like. They were on the run, from a guy who would kill them when he finds out they had spilled the beans. And their source of refuge was that address on the note. Billy didn’t want to risk putting his life in danger, he was thankful of the universe for giving him the nightmare, it gave them a total of probably 45 minutes to evade the city, and save their asses. As they were driving in the highway, Miles thought to ask…

Miles: Man, are we ever going to return?

Billy shook his head then looked at the message on the note again.

Billy: We shouldn’t , if they think we’re dead then we’ll be fine.

Distance was all that mattered. Billy wasn’t stopping for anything and he sure as hell wasn’t taking his foot off of the gas for a little while. The safe house they were heading to was a long way from Harare. It was remote from the centres of power. Each mile carried them further into forgotten territories, seemingly out of reach of Lincoln.

Franklin received a call, it was Lincoln calling from his home office.

Lincoln: Do you still have the girl?

Franklin: Yeah, she’s right in front of me.

Lincoln: Kill her..!

Franklin: What? Why? That wasn’t the plan..!

Lincoln: Don’t question my orders, just do what I tell you to. If you can’t I’ll find someone to do so.

Franklin stared blankly at his victim, Vanessa’s face smeared with dirt and blood. She looked up at him, begging and pleading so much that he could not handle it anymore.

Franklin: Shut up! Just shut up!

He knew that if he didn’t execute his command, someone would be sent to exterminate him. He wasn’t yet ready to take on the role of a murderer, though he looked scary and could incite fear in people, he had never killed anyone before. Foolishly he took the gun to kill Vanessa tied to a chair but then his hands quivered. He stood in front of Vanessa and crinkled his eyes as he was about to pull the trigger, then suddenly, BANG! The shot thundered across the room. The bullet broke his right incisor, and broke through the skin in front of his left ear. He staggered forward, then dropped down into a kneeling position. Pain shot through his head. Blood dripped slowly down his cheek. His left eye couldn’t focus although he was still alive. On the other hand, Vanessa could barely see in the darkness, the light was so dim and her heart was pounding, for a moment, it felt like it would burst out of her chest. The shooter came from behind Franklin’s back and shot him then proceeded to untie Vanessa.

The shooter: We don’t have much time, come this way!

Vanessa: Who are you?

The shooter: I’ll tell you later, for now let’s get you to safety. Let’s go!

The shooter had been in neutral gear for about two years now, falling deep into undercover that he started to act like a thug, and everyone else around him actually believed him. He could no longer remember what it was like to be himself. When the guys in the hallway heard the noise, they came rushing into the room, only to find an empty chair and Franklin lying half dead on the floor. And Vanessa, when her mind had ceased its unproductive buzz, she began thinking her way out of this drama.

Vanessa: If I follow this guy, he might kill me in the woods, like he did that other guy back there. If I stay, I’m as good as dead. So I guess I only have one option, go along with this guy’s plan, then later ditch him in the woods and avoid being killed.

Apart from Vanessa’s noisy breath, there was nothing to be heard and the woods were just too dark to see much at all. After a short while, a sound of running water permeated the inky blanket. With a smile on the face, the shooter remarked.

The shooter: Finally, we’re here. Take of your clothes.

Vanessa: What?! No! Hell No! you crazy! I ain’t doing s**t with you!

The shooter: The brook will hide our scent, and cover our tracks. We had a five minute head start, I’m sure by now they have figured out that you’re missing. So you can either come with me, or stay back and be recaptured, but I assure you, when they capture you this time, you are dead.

Vanessa: First tell me who you are, and why you are helping me.

The shooter: I’m Peter. Peter Gunda. The rest I’ll tell you once we’re safe.

Peter jumped into the river holing his clothes high up, and crossed to the other side. Vanessa with one heavy leap landed in chest-deep water with wavering steps and raised hands, she moved on. She tried silencing her feet, but all she did was step on twigs and kicked stones.

Meanwhile, back at the warehouse, the wolf-pack was in pursuit, searching for Vanessa and whoever had shot Franklin and set her free. Just as she thought they had finally made it peacefully, she heard dogs bucking on the other side of the river. Obviously this meant, those guys were coming for her. And when Lincoln heard that Vanessa had escaped, and that Peter was the mastermind behind the escape, he put a hundred thousand dollar reward to anyone who would bring them dead or alive to him. When they came to the river, there were no tracks, or scent to follow through, so they split up, so they could cover more ground and eventually box them in.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something long and sharp coming towards her. She tried to jump but it was too late, she screamed, giving away their location and the pain was unbearable. She lost momentum and fell to the ground. Peter immediately stopped, then came back and picked her up and put her on his back. And with her on his back, he could not run anymore faster. Hence, the wolf-pack caught up with them, suddenly he saw two sets of glowing eyes coming towards them, so he laid Vanessa besides a tree, then drew out his gun. He screwed the silencer on to then gun. PHEW! One set of glowing eyes was out of the picture, and again, PHEW! The other was no more. He picked Vanessa up with extra caution and resumed their pursuit.

After 30 minutes of running, they finally got to the tarred road. Luckily for them, they saw a set of headlamps coming. They couldn’t let anything stop them from getting into that car, so they stood in the middle of the road and began waving up and down until the car stopped right in front of them. Peter was too tired to explain to the driver, where they were coming from, and whom they were running from, so he just pointed his gun to incite fear in the driver and he commanded him to take them as far as he could. They got to Lupane, a small town situated about 20 miles away. They got into a bar, and on her way to the bathroom, she stole another man’s phone and called John.