The Colonel's Daughter

Chapter 5 : Fugitive

Fredy's cry for help rang out, followed by three gunshots echoing from outside.

"What's happening?" Iriana asked, frightened.

"Don't move from here, I'll go check!" Bary said, tightening his grip on his weapon as he discreetly stepped outside.

In the other room, he found Fredy, gravely wounded by a bullet as he desperately entered the room, then collapsed to the ground. Bary caught him and asked:

"Fredy? What's going on?"

"The girl... Take her away... They want to kill her..." Fredy said, struggling to speak before drawing his last breath.

At that moment, about ten armed men barged in. Bary immediately took cover behind a chair and reloaded his weapon.

He must have been worried and afraid, but he knew it wasn't the time for that; he had to take control of the situation.

The men split into three groups of three, three, and four, searching for Iriana, while another, who seemed to be their leader, ordered them to bring the girl dead or alive.

Four men entered the room where Iriana was, and the other three went into an adjacent room, while the last three remained in the main hall.

Bary attached a silencer to his weapon and successively shot the three men in the main hall. He then emerged from his hiding spot to go outside, where two other men were guarding their car. Bary shot them too; one was hit in the stomach, the other in the back. They both fell to the ground immediately.

Bary blocked the exits of the house from the outside and poured gasoline inside. The men inside began pushing the door in vain and called out to their friends guarding the car. Bary set fire to the house.

He also heard Iriana's screams inside the house. Thanks to the fire, two of the men managed to get out through the door. Unfortunately, Bary's weapon ran out of bullets.

He then pulled out a knife and slit the throat of the first man to emerge and stabbed the second in the stomach, thrusting the blade deep and then twisting it inside his victim.

Meanwhile, one of the men inside shot at Bary and hit his right hand. Three other men emerged from the fire unscathed. As the last two were about to come out, a beam from the roof fell on one of them, burning him instantly; the last man and Iriana were trapped inside.

Outside, the two men tried to find a way to rescue their friend and Iriana, while one beat up Bary. With rage that had been buried for years, Bary crushed the man's groin, causing him immense pain and rendering him unable to move.

Bary rose, injured, covered in blood, his hair disheveled, and shouted loudly as he ran towards one of the men, pushing him into the blazing house, where he was burnt alive.

The other man, seeing this, fled on foot, while Bary broke a window and entered the burning house, searching for Iriana.

He found her being held by the last attacker, who pointed a gun at her temple and threatened Bary:

"Get us out of here, or I'll kill her!" he said.

With the fire almost consuming the entire house, Bary said:

"This way, quickly! Go ahead!"

The man rushed towards the window, dragging Iriana with him. Iriana struggled to walk because of her wound. The man exited first, then ordered Iriana to come out, but she couldn't climb and her wound was bleeding profusely.

"Hold my hand and climb!" the last of the kidnappers ordered, holding out his hand. But to his surprise, Bary stood in front of him, took his hand, and thrust a piece of metal into his throat. Then he pulled him violently inside.

The man fell back into the burning house, now wounded. Bary grabbed Iriana and helped her climb out of the window before climbing out himself. Unfortunately, another beam fell on his foot, burning him. Bary screamed in pain but managed to get out.

He and Iriana were now out of danger, outside the burning house, with no more kidnappers around, but the pain was present: the blows during the fight, the burns, the injuries, the bullet that hit his hand. Bary was in bad shape; his body was covered in blood and bruises.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" he said, taking Iriana's hand.

But she pushed his hand away and said, "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

It was at that moment that Bary realized Iriana was afraid of him. He looked into her eyes and all he saw was fear. It was as if the young girl he had spoken to before this assault was no longer there.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"You're a monster! Only a monster, a murderer, could do what you just did."

Angry, Bary scolded her, holding her hand tightly.

"But have you lost your mind? Those men weren't your father's men; they wanted to kill you. I did all that to save you, and it's really not the time to get mad, so you're going to follow me willingly or by force!"

Then he pulled her to follow him into a car, put Iriana in the back, and started driving.

The road was deserted, with no other houses nearby. It was the first time Iriana saw where she had been taken; she could finally see the sun; she was outside.

Bary drove off and stopped. Intrigued, Iriana watched him and noticed that he was really in bad shape. He took a first aid kit from the car and took painkillers. Then he clumsily began cleaning his facial wounds because his whole body was in pain.

Iriana tried to open the rear door of the car where she was, but the door wouldn't open.

"You won't succeed in escaping!" Bary told her.

"I'm not going to escape... I just want to help you clean your wounds, like you helped me before."

"Don't count on it!"

Bary continued to clean himself, but he grew weaker and weaker, and fifteen minutes later he lost consciousness. The bandage fell from his hand. Iriana then sneaked to the front seat, sat down, and continued what Bary had started.

Despite her fear, she felt compassion for Bary in his state. She bandaged his wounds and cleaned the rest of them. She removed Bary's blue shirt, which was already dirty, leaving only his undershirt. She couldn't resist admiring Bary's young and athletic body; his chest was well developed, his arms well-defined, his brown skin covered in sweat giving him the appearance of a professional athlete.

She tried to find a cloth to wipe the sweat off Bary's body, but she found nothing. Tired, she also rested and softly said, "You don't look like a monster at all! There were about ten men... And you killed them all in cold blood. You seem so gentle, but I've never seen so much animosity in one person."

She tried to unlock the child lock on the car and opened the door. She was surprised that the car door opened. Then she realized that her chance to leave and finally be free was within her reach because Bary was still fast asleep.