Saved by my nightmare (A Nigerian Story)

CHAPTER 37

This chapter is dedicated to:
kkhadiey
Picasso45

Kaduna, Nigeria
2019.

"Any updates?" The Commander barked at no particular person, his expression almost as dreadful as his tone.

Dark circles bordered red, sleep-deprived eyes, an exact replica of every officer in the room.

Sleep was very near them and yet none could fall under its influence, it hung over them ever-existing but the threat to their lives had them jolting out of its tempting grip and into reality.

A reality that had been set on fire.

The rapid rappings of fingers against keyboard filled the room, the urgency in the tones of the men present as they ended each call more frustrated than the last.

The Commanders irritated query received no answers.

There was no progress, in fact it seemed the matters were regressing by the minute.

Calls had been placed to naval headquarters nationwide only a few days ago in a bid of subduing the threat to the NDA, but it seemed their enemies had been one smarter in that regard.

It wasn't until the first vehicle had approached the gates of the NDA that a gunshot had rung out.

If it'd come from the outside of the NDA, the officers present would've probably been reclining in a chair, a cold cup of juice in hand....or beer, celebrating their victory over the militants.

But there were no reclining chairs, no cold cups with any form of liquid in them and most definitely no victory over the brutes that had successfully given them sleepless nights.

By then, every individual, personnel and trainee alike had an idea of what was happening, they didn't know the details, but they all knew they had cause to fear.

If the haggard look of the Commander of the NDA wasn't enough, the death of a trainee the previous day was enough to leave every person petrified to the bone.

While the navy had been admitting trainees into the NDA, the militants had snuck some of their own in.

They blended in well, gave no cause for suspicion, and the worst of their problems would be the hellish experience of crusty, stale bread and the hot, watered down version of what was meant to be tea.

Or so Rayyan thought.

When the first of their reinforcements that arrived, the special task force team of six had been quite pleased.

Their hearts put to rest by the rumblings of the incoming ammunition tanks, the whirring of the blades of helicopters, the sound of the rickety engines of vehicles that had seen more pleasant days.

One of the sublieutenants, who was in charge of interacting with the opposing team had alerted the Commander of a message which he'd been instructed to read out loud.

'Retreat'. It was one word, barely a sentence.

And the Commander had seen it for what it'd been.

A cowardly plea for mercy.

......Except it wasn't.

The Commander made no move to halt the attack, and none of them questioned his decision.

If anything, they all were pleased with the turn of events.

Until a shot had rung out loud.

Immediately, they'd known something was wrong.