Subdued (18+)✔️ [A Nigerian Romance]

71~Saving Her

He didn't know whether to feel better. Kachi had his woman beside him at last, but he was bound and unable to do something about their situation. The plan had been shut from the onset and it was pure stubbornness that had been fueling him. Zorro had warned him to wait for more guys, Azu had done the same. Even Chike who was solidly behind him had had some reservations about this hasty plan.

He wasn't wearing a watch, but if he could guess, twenty minutes or more had gone by since they'd been left alone. His friends should be here by now. What was this delay?

He turned to Aria who'd been trying to hide her quiet sobs; each muffled sound drove a knife through his heart. He would kill the men who'd hurt her.

"Babe," he called. She wiped her nose on her shoulder then looked at him. "Your hands are tied to the chair right? Not together?"

"Yes."

"Can you move your wrist?"

He watched her try and then she nodded. "I'll stand and you should try to untie me. Once I'm free I'll untie you and we make a run for it, okay?"

"No!" Her voice was frantic and she shook her head for good measure. "If they get us, we're done! Let's just stay put and weather this out."

"We can't sit here waiting for the worst to happen, love. I know that I can get you out. Just untie me."

"What if—"

"Do you trust me?" Kachi got on his knees and crawled towards her, coming to a stop when their faces were closer. She let out a breath and focused her gaze on his. He could see how red and puffy her eyes looked with the dim lighting in the place. It was almost enough to get him ok the offensive. That wasn't smart though. He needed to quietly remove his girlfriend from here before considering retribution.

"Of course I do. I trust you." She began sobbing as he got to his feet and positioned his bound hands in front of her.

She struggled with the rope, given she had only one hand to work with. After what felt like hours, the tie was loosened. Kachi chanted prayers in his mind as he got to freeing her. He wasn't a strong believer in any higher powers, but at that moment he would even pray to the moon and offer as many sacrifices as possible to get them out of here quietly. It's not like he wasn't looking for a fight or that he wasn't prepared for one, but with Zariah in the mix, he'd rather avoid it.

"Can you walk?" he whispered when her arms and legs were free.

"Yes."

"Good. Stay behind me."

The next few seconds sent pins and needles down his spine as they slowly shuffled towards the walls. He pressed against it, looking back a few times to see if she was fine and protected. Getting out of the door would be the tricky part, but if he could make it out, there was a higher chance that they'd get out succesfully. It was already past the time he'd given the guys and judging from how no one had come to look for him, it meant two things. One, things had gone horribly wrong, or two, one part of this risky plan had gone well.

"Babe, when I say go, run to those bushes there." He pointed at a gathering of shrubs and plants tall enough and thick enough for people to hide. In the distance, he could still hear the exchange of gunshots but he refused to let that deter him. "No matter what happens or what you hear, don't stop running and don't look back."

"What if something happens?" Her eyes were wide with fear. Kachi would ruin the men who did this to her, every last one of them.

"Nothing would happen. Just go. Chike and Azu should be waiting for you there. If they're not, just stay there and wait. If I'm longer than ten minutes, follow the path that goes right and you should be able to get to the main road."

"I can't leave you behind!"

"You can. Just do as I say and I promise you that everything will be fine. I'll be with you soon."

Kachi took one final look around before nodding to her. She began running immediately and so far, she ran forward without a glance back at him. As expected, two men ran out from the back of the building but they didn't stand a chance. He shot one in the leg, the other in the arm. The two men laid there yelling for back up but he was ready. He spared a glance to where he'd last seen Aria. The woman had stopped running and was staring at him. If he yelled at her to go, he would be drawing attention to her location so he turned away, just as a shot rang out. It missed his ear by a few centimeters. Even with the ringing in his ears, he still heard her scream.

The lone man that had attacked him immediately turned towards her. His gun lifted, aiming at her. Kachi didn't think twice before firing. The man's gun still went off as his body dropped to the ground, dead. He had killed the man. He would deal with the implications of this later, right now only one thing mattered.

Aria was no longer standing there. She was on the floor. He was running before he knew it, hoping and praying that his worst fear wouldn't come through.

"Zariah! Are you okay?" She wasn't moving and it was too dark to see if she was hurt or anything. He crouched, his fingers running over her, searching for hit wounds or anything.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice low.  "I thought he got you." She began sobbing again.

Kachi immediately threw his arms around her, tears already clouding his vision. "Did he get you? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I don't know how I got on the floor. Are you okay? Did that bastard shoot you?" Aria's body shook. He didn't know if it was from the tears or because she was in shock.

"I'm good. We're good." He squeezed her to himself. "Can you walk? We need to keep going."

"I don't know."

He helped her sit up before crouching in front of her. "Get on my back. We'll be faster if I carry you." When he had her secured on his back, he continued running. The rendezvous point was just a few meters ahead. If he got there safely, then they were saved.

A shot rang out, followed by a loud cry. Kachi turned to see another man prone on the floor behind him.

"Keep him alive so we can question him," someone said. That was Azu's voice. They were not going to die after all.

He made it through the bushes and was now in the clearing they'd planned to meet in. Chike was grinning at him, the bleeding from his head seemed to have stopped. Azu was saying something to Zorro who was cradling an injured arm.

"You made it," Chike said. "Not like I doubted it for a second."

"Bastard," Kachi cursed as his friend walked towards him. He slowly dropped Aria on her feet but she immediately stumbled so he wrapped his arms around her. She pressed her face against his chest, refusing to look at anyone. Kachi's hands tightened around her.

"Get her out of here. We'll wrap this up." Chike nodded.

"I offed someone back there," Kachi said to Azu and Zorro. "How do we clean that up?"

"Don't worry about it. I called General Deh and he's sending his boys. It would be like we were never here." Azu patted him on the shoulder.

"You called Ada's brother?" Chike turned to Azu, his mouth hanging open.

"I was running out of options. Please don't start lecturing me now."

"We're fucked," Chike said. "He's going to have our asses!"

***

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