THE NEXT TWO DAYS

Part Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  Things were falling apart not because his predictions were not coming through but because it was. Nick and Faceless had Cindy. The thought alone was making him loose control again. Every training he had gone through to learn how to control an outburst was failing. He could not think straight. The problem was not Cindy being held captive but who was holding her captive.
If he had any hope of saving her, he had to move. He was in the car he had earlier parked a little distance from where the six men saw him sitting down on the grass and resting his back on one of the plantain plants.
He quickly opened the passenger seat, took out his big bag and was on the run. He ran as fast as he could. After about eight minutes nonstop running, he was deep inside the plantain plantation. He paused to take a deep breathe, then he continued running. The big bag was very heavy, heavier than it was because of the newly added weapons.  He could not feel the pain of running with such weight because there was another pain he was feeling. After another five minutes run, he saw a small but very deep pit, which made him stop. He quickly brought out his climbing tools. After a few steps down, his whole body was already inside the pit but his hand could get to the top. He brought out their camouflage grass. It was George’s creation. It looked like a folded mat but there was a battery attached at the middle, under the mat. The front had artificial grasses which could deceive even a farmer. He placed it up, and with few taps on his wrist watch, the mat started unfolding. It covered the pit completely making it dark. He continued his decent and sighed when his foot touched the ground. He brought out his spectacle from his pocket and after wearing it, he could see clearly. George made sure he made the mat to still allow airflow, so there was no issue of oxygen. He switched over to Flight 10 mode. It was still circulating the area. He saw more of Biafran Soldiers, but no sign of Faceless. It was just a normal bungalow and there was no serious activity, but he was sure Faceless was within that area, but not in that bungalow, except it was an underground house. He should have known, but it was too late. His plan was to send a non-targeted missile which would wipe any living soul there but he could not anymore. Cindy was there. The only way he could send a targeted missile or controlled bullet was to have control of the cameras inside the underground house and that would not be possible.  All was still connected to Nick. Nick knew exactly what he was planning to do and Cindy was the preventive measure. Nick was not someone to have as an enemy. He had been the brain behind everything. No wonder they were one step ahead of him. If Faceless had any idea of who he was dealing with, he would run for his life, but he wouldn’t because he still believed he was in control.
He knew something was very wrong the moment he did not immediately receive the text on their location. Nick must have told him to wait. He would never get that text message because Nick would never allow him to enter that compound. Nick was going to use any weapon available to bring him down, then he would just tell Faceless not to bother sending the text because he was dead, then Cindy would be next. And if there was a way of convincing Faceless that he was no longer in control, it was all blown with the death of his six men. He hadn’t plan on losing control, but he could not take being interrupted from knowing how Cindy was faring. The six men were too relaxed and only two could fire at him after he had shot three with George’s Black and with three bullets, not missing his target. The gunshots from two of them killed their partner who he had pulled to himself knowing he would be fired at. Even as their bullets touched their partner, he was already firing at them. Two more bullets was all he needed. He regretted his action as soon as Cindy calmed down his nerves.  Faceless would never listen to him. 
  He had to find out what was happening in Lagos. He brought out his real tool box, switched it on and using a cord, he connected his secured line to his tool box. He had at least ten minutes if the line was no longer secured. His tool box would prevent it from being tracked for at least ten minutes but the person being contacted would not be protected. He thought of who to contact and still ended up with Ghost. He needed to find out if he was still alive.
‘Hey Ghost, hope you’ve not turned ghost.’
He waited, the message was sent, it later gave a double good symbol but he was not yet relieved.
‘How can a Ghost turn ghost?’
His relief was instantaneous. He was still alive.
‘Guess the line was still secured.’
‘Nah, could only send four to the underworld.’
‘Then your phone should be off. They can track where you are.’
‘Then how will you contact me, I’ve been waiting for another party but guessed they feel it’s not worth it.’
‘What is the good news?’
‘We’ve been able to locate the bombs with the map Tamed came with.’
‘Bad news?’
‘None have been deactivated. It’s beyond our comprehension. I think only you and George can defuse these bombs. Although Mark is trying his best.’
Everything suddenly became clearer, the attacks, Nick was not trying to stop him from delivering the documents, he was trying to stop him from getting to Lagos.
‘You know Nick is our guy.’
‘He was recently suspected after his team leader confirmed him missing in action with some others. That was after the two helicopters with Forces members on their way to Onitsha was shut down from the sky. This is bad, too bad man.’
‘Seen Wild to know his next move? Time’s ticking.’
‘Nah, hidden with Major, but saw Tamed. *They are seriously trying to figure out how to destroy those bombs. Tamed surprisingly did not join them, he said there is no fun in trying to stop the bomb from exploding the normal way. Wild, Fast and I guess Doc is with Major cracking their heads to see how to stop this bomb. # Me, I’m just ghosting around with other Special Force to monitor the number of enemies we have. Stay safe. You and George. Looks like there is another party.’
This was meant to happen with Nick being in control. He studied the message again, Ghost indicated a * before writing that long sentence. It meant he had to read everything but giving it the opposite in meaning. They were no more trying to figure out how to destroy the bombs. Tamed was with them but they wouldn’t stop the bombs from exploding the normal way. Wild, Tamed, Fast and maybe Doc were together. And if they were no longer planning to defuse the bombs it could only mean one thing. They were coming to Onitsha to stop the call from being made and to Tamed it was going to be fun. He did not say they had already moved and if they were already on their way, it would take about six to seven hours to get to Onitsha that was if they were not discovered. It was already past 12:P.M meaning they would probably be around by 8:P.M. That was if Fast was driving. That was about three hours to the deadline. Even if Nick saw the conversation he just had with Ghost, after reading everything backward, he would still not understand because the * and # code was used only by the Circle Team. Ghost also used the # code. He read through the message again. Ghost had a way of making serious things look simply, # meant he should read it as he wrote it, but only a Circle member would know he meant they were taking down the enemies one by one. They had gone offensive.
      Now it was very clear the battle all along have been exactly where he was. Nick the strategist had completely fooled them. But he was a bit relieved they caught on with his game even though it was not early enough. They would not take helicopter because it meant everyone in Special Force would be aware of their movement. If many soldiers went AWOL with Nick, then there should be more who were sending him information from the inside. Wild and Major Ahmed were wise to limit their operation to only The Circle and some few trusted Special Force soldiers, might be from Stud’s python team. He would know when they arrive because Wild had his kind of android screen touch watch with up to thirty tiny buttons all having different functions. The distance would be close enough to communicate.
He went back to Flight 10 mode, and with his android watch, he changed the direction of Flight 10. He switched back to normal. He needed Flight 10 close to him. And he also needed a plan to counter Nick’s plan but at the moment there was absolutely no plan. He just knew how Nick would operate but there was no way of stopping him because Nick always had plan A to Z. It would not take long before he felt the impact of his plan 'B' because Faceless must have prevented his plan 'A' from being carried out.
He did not wait long as he heard the sound of a helicopter, next were sounds of simultaneous gun shots. He knew his car was gone. He quickly switched to Flight 10. He was right, the car was on fire. Nick wouldn’t end there, he would certainly send someone to confirm his bones and ashes. It was part of their training. And they would continue searching. He was running out of time and he had never been in a situation where he was this helpless. There was a blink on his wristwatch. Flight 10 was being fired at. It had been discovered. Only an expert could shoot down Flight 10 because it was created to dodge attacks and also the plantain plants were obstructing their visuals. He could not see Flight 10 but only what Flight 10 was showing him. He could see the guys on the helicopter targeting their gun on Flight10. Those were not just guys, two were members of Special Force but only one was in Nick’s team. It meant they were many of them that deviated. They were shooting at Flight 10 not just to destroy it but to find out if he was still alive. Nick. It was all Nick’s plan. Now it was obvious they already knew about Flight 10 before now. He could not risk being discovered but also he could not risk Cindy. If Nick could confirm he was dead, Cindy would be dead in less than five minutes. He allowed Flight 10 to continue dodging the bullets, while he quickly mounted his mini XM25 riffle. If USA and Russia knew what he and George had been doing with their weapons they would ban Major Ahmed from purchasing them. They bought, destroyed and recreated a better one. The original XM2 had laser sight and timing mechanism within the bullets but theirs also had camera and a battery. The only thing common with that of the US riffle was the bullets exploded after hitting target. With Flight 10, he was going to fire back. He opened the mat with his wristwatch. Raised his gun up.  With the camera of the riffle which was connected to that of the bullet, he could turn a bullet to a missile. With the buttons on his wrist watch, he created a link between the bullet camera and Flight 10’s camera. He zeroed in on one of them, the one called Trix, he was the one piloting the helicopter. He fired. He closed the mat again and watched the movement of the bullet with the camera of his riffle that was fully charged. It took just thirty seconds for the bullet to find its target. The bullet tore through the glasses protecting the Pilot. It hit him on his head. The helicopter crashed causing a quake on the ground. He felt it where he was. Immediately, he doubled the speed of Flight 10 away from the area. He started a ten seconds count down in his mind and at ten, there was an explosion. He felt sorry for the owners of the plantation. He was far away, but even if the fire got to where he was, he would only feel the heat. He had experienced worse.  One thing he was sure of was Nick would be back and he would smoke the whole area to get him. He gathered all his tools back to his big bag. Then with his climbing tool, he climbed out of the hole. He took his mat and without putting it back in the bag, he ran as fast as he could. He continued running. He had left the plantain plantation but he could not dare stop running. The area was like a village part of Onitsha but some believed it was not part of Onitsha. He could see some settlement. He turned the other direction. Nick was losing it and he would not mind killing civilians as long as he was part of the casualty. He had few more minutes before Nick changed to Plan C. He was not that far from where he had once camped with George. They had dug a pit and used it as their shelter. He increased his speed. He got there two seconds to his own deadline. He descended into the pit as fast as he could and covered it with the mat. He dropped the bag and sat down panting.
The place felt weird without George. The pain in his chest was back again. George died because of Nick. He had always wondered why George could only take down few men before he was killed. Now he knew. Those men waiting were not the ones that killed George, it must have been a shot from a helicopter while he was battling with those on the ground. And not just anyone one but a Special Force member. He felt anger not at Nick but at himself. He thought he was good at strategizing. He remembered what Nick had once told him.
“You are good with combat because you can predict someone’s movement but George is natural, you are good with strategizing because of your silly defect, I’m way better than you because I’m natural. One day we are going to play this game and I’m going to beat you to it because that is what I’m good at. I don’t need to face you to kill you” Nick had said.
It was during training to become a Circle member. He had defeated Nick in less than thirty seconds in a face to face combat. Nick never liked him. Nick saw him as a cheater and he hated him more when he prevented him from joining The Circle. Now the game was on and he was losing in every way. Cindy was in Nick’s hand, and Nick would never allow him see her again. She was still alive, he could feel it, but how long would Nick hold out? He could not just continue flaunting Nick’s plan without having a plan of his own. Being on the defensive was not good and he could not go on the offensive because of Cindy.
Nick would use Cindy to the end, and if at the end, all his plans failed, he would make sure he took Cindy with him. He could think of all the possible methods Nick could use, a bomb connecting the both of them so that if he died Cindy died would be Nick's best method.
           He kicked his foot on the wall of the pit in frustration. This was the problem with what Major Ahmed was doing. There was the possibility of someone going AWOL. Although that was one reason The Circle was created to remove defaulters, it would be difficult killing someone as skilled as a Circle Member. The only reason Nick could not join was not because he lacked the skills but because he failed in the trustworthy test. He had once wished his prediction would not be true but it happened exactly as he knew it would happen.
      Now the thought of what Nick would do was fearful. He felt lost. He wished he were normal, that he wouldn’t have an idea of what would happen to Cindy. He closed his eyes feeling hopeless. The world would know of him when Cindy dies. He tried to change his thought to if Cindy died but could not. He could picture Nick’s layout. Suddenly, a memory came into his mind. He had just finished an argument about luck and miracle with Mum.
“Jason, I understand you, I’m a doctor. I understand how your brain works. I’ve once wondered why God would create children like you who are so logical and sensitive but I no longer wonder because with you I experienced a miracle. I prayed to God to send someone that will make your life normal and he sent Cindy. Believe it or not, she is your miracle. Many autistic patient I’ve studied can’t have this feelings you have for her. The next prayer God will answer is you.”
“What about me?” he had asked.
“Jason one day you will be faced with a challenge which logic or math can’t solve, everybody must come to that point in life.”
“Mum, humans are the architect of their own misfortune. The right thing in the right place always work out. We always turn to a deity after an improper planning.”
“One day, proper planning, logic and math will fail you and I pray that you will drop science and turn to the One who can help you. That you will experience a miracle. You would know because you will not be able to explain it. And you will believe” she had concluded.
Mum and Dad died three days later in a ghastly motor accident and he had wondered where God was when it happened.
But why was he remembering that event. He knew there was no plan that would save Cindy. He might stop the bomb from exploding, but as long as Cindy was with Nick, there was no hope.
  There was only one way in, a way to gain access to Cindy’s location but only Cindy could activate it. Cindy would not know to activate it because she must not have taken his words literally. Somehow he found his mouth moving.
“God I’ve never prayed to you before but I’m doing it now because Mum had a strong believe in you. None of my plans can save Cindy, but can you save her? I need her to activate her hand band” he said breathing fast.
That was a lot of talking, not just that, his mind and body was against the prayer. For the first time he wanted one plus one to be three. It was ridiculous, but he was desperate for his prediction of Nick’s plan to fail. His prediction had never failed even when he had wished it earlier but now it was more critical than the other time. Cindy was running out of time.