Jim : fuck.. fuck !!… I was about to help hold onto his wound when Tommy shook his head.
Tommy : I’m ok… I’m ok…. The bullet went through…. It sliced right through my shoulder blade….. it fucking burns like hell….arghhhhh…..
I ignored Tommy and I checked the rest of his body to make sure he’s fine.
A beam of light illuminated Tommy and me and shouts erupted from a distance away.
My eardrums almost exploded as Rizwan and Derrick let loose a hail of fire at the direction of the light, cutting down the man that was holding it.
The light was gone but only for a split second.
Before Rizwan could help me with Tommy, we were forced onto the floor as the new arrivals sprayed their weapons at our general direction.
We returned fire from the ground. Tree trunks splintered and we were buried with a blizzard of branches and leaves.
The root of a matured tree caught right beside my face caught a bullet, sending a fistful of sharpened stakes towards my face.
It felt like someone had given me a hard slap with needle like hands. My jaws immediately felt the moisture of blood as my tongue felt the sharp end of the wood inside my mouth. I pulled it out and continued to fire my weapon.
Mohan was the first to shout out that he’s out of ammunition.
40 rounds didn’t really last long in a fire fight.
This is not even close to the 1.5 contact load we were supposed to carry .
Jim : get Tommy back to where Nelson and Soh is ….
Rizwan threw his weapon aside them moment his ran out and drew his knife.
Rizwan : fuck !…
The firing stopped again briefly and Mohan immediately got up and started dragging Tommy along the forest floor.
Tommy grunted in pain and I passed his rifle to Rizwan.
Jim : Derrick go.. go… go…. Rizwan and I will provide the cover.
I kept my weapon levelled and aimed towards the general direction where the searching men were. I could still hear them talking.
Rizwan and I walked backwards, turning every now and then to see the ground behind us.
This has surely gone tits up.
I shook my head, trying not to think about the 4km trek back the way we came with Tommy in his condition and a group of armed terrorist in pursuit.
Rizwan : Jim.. they’re coming…they’re spreading out… I can hear them communicating in Melayu …
Jim : fuck… we’ll have to get back to Soh and Nelson … we will need their weapons….
Rizwan : fuck… they’re going to flank us…. They shouted for 3 men to head right….. while the rest continue pushing us in….
By the time we got back to the position where we left Soh and Nelson, I was panting and gasping for breathe. As if the situation was not bad enough, Nelson and Soh were gone.
Jim : WHAT !!
Mohan :They’re gone… they were not here when we arrive…
Derrick propped Tommy up against the root of a buttress tree.
Derrick : they probably went for cover when the shooting began…. They won’t leave us like this…
The voices got louder and closer.
Mohan : What do we do ??
Rizwan : They’re closing in… they’re closing in on us…. They’re all communicating in malayu…. Probably think we don’t understand them….
Derrick reloaded his weapon and spit a gob of saliva onto the ground beside him.
Derrick : I guess this is it brothers….
Mohan exhaled and readied his machete.
Mohan : If I’m going… I’m going to take a few with me at least….
I checked my magazine before slapping it back in.
This is not good.
I have 2 rounds left.
Rizwan checked Tommy’s rifle that I handed to him and he had 3.
My heart was beating really fast by then.
You know the feeling of being able to hear voices in the dark yet not knowing where they are coming from.
Derrick : let them come…..
Derrick left Tommy’s side and came over to Rizwan and me.
The 3 of us formed a line, each hiding behind the trunk of a matured tree spaced about 2 metres apart.
Derrick : Let them come….
Mohan retreated to Tommy’s side with his machete.
I pulled my knife out of my sheath and placed it beside me.
They were close, so close that I could hear the rustle of leaves beneath their feet.
The shrub barely 20 meters ahead of us moved and Derrick opened fire.
He still had a good 20 rounds of ammunition but that didn’t last long.
I saw movement on my end and I squeezed the trigger as well.
The crack of our rifles were met with more powerful replies as the bullets slammed into the trunks of the tree we were hiding.
I squeezed my last round, grabbed my knife and crawled backwards towards Mohan and Tommy.
Rizwan was done too and barely seconds later, Derrick was out as well.
There was nothing else we could do but try our best to seek cover from the relentless hail of lead flying our way.
There was another brief pause as the attackers reloaded.
Beams of torchlight lit up the jungle ground for a few seconds before disappearing.
Then it appeared again, longer this time.
Then it stayed on as more beams cut through the dense forest.
The men were talking, shouting across to each other.
Jim : What were they saying ?
Rizwan : they know…. They know we’re out of ammo…. If not we would have started shooting at them….
My eyes met the 1st man that came into my line of sight.
He had a large torchlight and a revolver in his hand.
The moment we saw me, he smirked, giving me a look of satisfaction as if he had just cornered a trapped animal.
I gripped my knife tighter as I got ready to charge at him.
Suddenly the man disappeared. He just fucking disappeared into a spray of blood and tissues right in front of me barely 20 meters away.
I had no time to register the confusion when the roar of a rifle reached my eardrum.
It was loud, like a clap of a thunder. The roar sent reverberations from my eardrums right down to my stomach.
Another man jumped into view with a rifle in his arms.
An unseen force sent him hurling against a tree as a mass of tissue and muscles painted the forest floor.
The roar hit my eardrums again and I pressed my palms against my ears.
It’s like experiencing a thunder clap right beside you.
“ JIM !……Get the fuck on the ground ! all of you !! “
I don’t know whose voice is that but the lot of us hit the floor the same time a volley of automatic fire lit up the jungle.
It was loud, it was so fucking loud that I pressed my palm against my ears tightly as I shouted.
Jim : AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!
The vibration of the air around us, the drumming of my heart, all my senses were on fire as muzzle flashes appeared out of nowhere .
I could see them firing towards the search party.
Someone is here.
Someone other than us.
Someone with better equipment, bigger gun definitely.
I don’t know who they are but at least they are not shooting at us.
Then I saw the first glimpse of our saviours.
One of them jumped down from behind, landing right beside Tommy.
Dressed in full tactical gear, he was armed to the teeth. There were no emblems, no flags, nothing to identify him.
Seeing what he was carrying, I finally could put a source to the thunderous roar of gunfire.
He was carrying a Artic warefare magnum rifle over his shoulder while he emptied the magazine of his automatic weapon.
Letting his automatic weapon drop to his side, he brought up his sniper rifle and took aim.
Fuck no. Not this close to us.
A curse came from the man.
A simple curse.
In a language I understand, in a accent I can identify.
“ you fucking…. Chee bye…..! ”
I gasped a breath of air and tightened my body as I felt the powerful weapon let loose it’s fury upon it’s target.
The sound knocked all semblance of noise from my head as I rolled over to my side, trying to get away from the trigger happy soldier.
He released his bolt, sending the spent round towards me as it hit my arm before chambering another into the rifle.
He dropped the rifle down his side, reloaded his automatic weapon and continued his advance, squeezing off a succession of speeding lead towards the enemy
Thud thud thud thud !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thud thud thud thud !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That sound never stopped.
The peace of the jungle was shattered by a continuous symphony of automatic weapons.
I could tell they were advancing on the house.
Less than 3 minutes later, there were several loud bangs followed by a few more shots being fired.
Then it was quiet.
It was all quiet.
The gunfire had stopped but the buzzing in my ears were still there.
It felt like I had just attended a rock concert or spent the entire night dancing right under the speakers in a club.
I could hardly hear myself speak as I checked on the guys.
Jim : you all ok ?? are you guys ok ??
Aside from Tommy’s injury, it appears we were all ok.
Before I could heave a sigh of relief, 2 men appeared, their weapons pointed at us.
We were told to drop all our weapons.
“comply… or we will kill you…”
We dropped what we had and our bodies were searched.
After they were satisfied, we were made to walk in a straight line towards the clearing.
As I walked through the jungle, I could see it littered with the bodies of men that were sent after us. Men that until a few moments ago, were still breathing.
The stench I was smelling cannot be described.
There’s this taste of iron in my mouth, I’m not sure if it’s from my own blood or the vapourised blood of the people on the floor.
Coming out to the clearing, I saw more bodies.
“ get into the house”
That was all the man said before disappearing back into the jungle.
Mohan : Who the fuck are they ??
Jim : I don’t know… at least they didn’t shoot us on sight… that can’t be bad I guess….
We stepped into the house and saw Soh and Nelson inside sitting on the floor.
Jim : Soh … are you ok ?? … you guys ok ???
Soh nodded.
I looked around the interior, we were gathered around the living and dining area. It’s pretty spacious, about the size of your typical HDB living room with the wall of a guestroom knocked down.
Jamin was still alive. He looked shaken but otherwise still breathing.
He joined a row of men on their knees, hands behind their backs restraint by zip ties.
Standing beside them on each end were 2 thin and pretty petite guys. I would say they are about 1.6m tall max. They had camouflage creams on their faces as well but something they carried on their belts gave them away.
They were carrying Kukris, a Nepalese knife with an inwardly curved blade.
Gurkhas.
This 2 are Gurkhas.
I heard the voice of another man speaking in the room. Definitely a Singaporean.
He was asking for a status report, probably from the rest of his men still out in the jungle.
Another 2 men entered the house, one of them at least 2 metres tall. Fuck he’s huge, like a fucking mountain. The man beside him is obviously the man in charge of it all. Unlike the rest of the team that were heavy with gear, this man only had a side arm on his waist.
He had a phone in one hand, a walkie talkie on another and I could see the light from another phone vibrating in his pocket.
Jim : Soh… who are they… ??
Soh shook his head and shrugged his shoulder.
None of the men that saved us had any ranks displayed on their uniforms.
I don’t recognise it as our standard issue as well but the way they speak, they are definitely Singaporeans.
They must be the ones that took care of Edward’s men.
It all makes sense now.
The barking of the dogs in the middle of the night.
They were out there all along.
The man asking for a status report introduced himself as Captain Ricky.
Ricky : I’m Captain Ricky…. I don’t know what the fuck you guys were thinking….this has to be the dumbest idea ever in the history of our country…. What the fuck were you guys thinking ?!!!
None of us said a word .
Yeah, it was a dumb move on our part but it was the right move in our mind.
Ricky : We almost fucking killed all of you !….
Mohan : What ? … why ???
Ricky : why ? … are you fucking kidding me?? … after all that has happened….. you fucking try to buy shit from a known arms dealer…..what do you expect us to take you for ???
Before anyone of us could say a word, Jamin stared shouting.
Jamin : fuck you.. fuck all of you… I demand to know who you are….you cannot restraint me against my will like this….. what jurisdiction do you have in this country !!!
Ricky turned and looked at Jamin, unable to believe what he just said.
Jamin : I am a Singaporean just like you…..i hold a pink IC….. I have a red passport… !! … I demand my right as a citizen !!!…
Ricky : You are fucking kidding me aren’t you…. hahaha… I like your sense of humour….
Jamin : the Geneva convention defines the basic rights of a war time prisoner …. I know my rights….
Ricky : oh… your rights….
Jamin laughed as he mocked Ricky :
Jamin : Yeah… and there is nothing you can do about it…hhaha…
Jim : You little prick….!!.. I’ll fucking kill you with my bare hands !!!
I wanted to charge towards Jamin but was held back down by my friends.
Rizwan : Jim… Jim…. Calm down…. Calm down….
Jamin :hahaha… yes… I know my rights…. I can drag this out….. you can bring me back…. this will go to trial…. It will take years… hahaha… more will die before I am even charged with anything… hahaha…
Everyone looked on in disgust as Jamin went on a tirade.
Jamin : oh… and we are in Malaysia…. I pity your logistics planning …. All the paper work just to get me back… hahaha.. hahaha….
Since no one replied to Jamin, he got bolder.
Jamin : All of you will be hanged together with me…. ahhaha..hahaha… discharging your weapon in a foreign country… hahaha.. you’re fuck !!.. ahahah you hear me… you are all fucked !!! hahahahhahah….
Jamin spoke with suck intensity that saliva spit out of his mouth.
Jamin : I am a Mensa member since I am 6 years old!!!…. I am a scholar with multiple scholarships under my name…hahah…. Who the fuck do you people think you are…. ? you dumb fucks….get me the fuck out of this place…. I want to speak with my lawyer… hahaha….
Jamin started doing on about how rich his father is and that he would be able to buy his way out of anything.
I looked around the room , there has to be something I can use. Once I get the chance, I’m going to stab the motherfucker until he bleeds the fuck out on the floor.
Jamin : Who’s in charge here ??? hahaha.. I’ll only talk to the one in charge…. Hahaha… I’ll tell you something…. Hahaah.. you want to know a secret… ? hahahah….
Jamin spit out his so call secret with a defiant look on his face.
Jamin : I know you are here without authorisation… hahahahahah….
I could see Ricky’s expression changed as he turned towards the man in charge who was just done with his communications.
Jamin : hahaha..haha… see.. haha..i know people….. I know people high up….. no authorisation has been given….. for the arm forced to be involved… hahaha..haha.. everything is still going by the book…. Must check this… check that… collect evidence…. Ahahah.. interview witness… haha…documentations… haha….pathetic shit…hahaha
The man in charge finally spoke and he did so with a smile.
James : Hi…. Colonel James…. I’m head of public relations … how can I help you… ?
His friendly demeanour caught Jamin offguard as he paused for a moment .
Jamin : i….are you.. are you the person in charge ?? … I demand to be release….there is no reason for you to detain me and my friends…. You are here in this country illegally !!! … I know !!! I will know first hand if the stupid government of yours decides to send dogs like you to bring me back !!! hahahahah…I will know…
James : Oh… you know everything…do you… hahaha…
Then without warning, James took a knife from the giant standing by the door and went over to Jamin.
Jamin : what are you doing ?? what are you doing !!! I know my.. sergh..arghhh.. grurughhhh….!!!
Nelson : wooahh..woahhhh.. fuck..
RIzwan :what the fuck !! woahh.. woahh!!! Wait…
There was no waiting.
There was no hesitation.
James took a fistful of the Jamin’s hair and yank them back. I would have thought he wanted to slit his throat but he did not.
Using the pointed end of the dagger, he punctured the skin below Jamin’s chin.
Use your thumb and touch the soft fleshy part below your chin right now, imagine having a blade pushing through that spot slowly.
No one moved as James slowly pushed the blade into Jamin’s mouth from the bottom.
Blood oozed out as Jamin gurgled and choked.
James’s voice was cold as ice as he held onto a struggling Jamin.
James : The blade has pierced through your tongue…..but don’t worry… you won’t die yet… not so fast…
Gruggghghghghhghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Gcraccckkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!
That gurgling and choking sound raised all the hair behind my neck as I watch James held onto Jamin.
James : Do you know…. My niece…she was only 4 years old….
Gruggghghghghhghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
James : She died…. Because you what you did…… at the childcare in Hougang….
Gruggghghghghhghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
James : now I will never be able to see her grow up…… I won’t be able to see her go to school….. she will not be able to show me her PSLE results…. I won’t be able to tease her about her first boyfriend…..
Gruggghghghghhghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
Jamin’s eyes were starting to get bloodshot as he struggled and choked but was kept upright by James.
James : ….the parents… of all the children….. the will not be able to hold their child in their arms again………….
Gruggghghghghhghghghghghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
James : They won’t be able to see them walk down the aisle ….. they won’t be able wait outside the delivery ward for the arrival of their grandchildren…..
Gruggghghghghhghghhhh!!!!! Grrkk crrrukkkkkcccccccc!!!
James : all because of a selfish fuck like you… …
Gruggghghghghhghghhhh!!!!! Grrkk crrrukkkkkcccccccc!!!
It was painful to watch ,and the sound made it even worst.
James : Your lungs are filling up with blood… your own blood…….drowning….is one of the most painful way to die….
James shook a convulsing Jamin as he tried to make him stay awake.
He twisted the blade in Jamin’s mouth, the scraping sound of metal against teeth and bone sent a chill down my spine.
James : Just before you pass out….i just want to clarify something…..
Gruggghghghghhghghhhh!!!!! Grrkk crrrukkkkkcccccccc!!!
Jamin’s mouth started to bubble and blood started spilling down his chin, cascading down in a spectacular fashion to his neck and shirt.
James : They didn’t send us to bring you back…….they sent us to make sure people like you….. don’t go back….
James pulled out the dagger and a large squirt of blood escaped form the gaping wound. He let Jamin dropped to the floor as the pool of blood around his body started to spread. Jamin was still struggling and convulsing on the ground like a broken marionette doll.
The rest of the men who were beside him started to panic.
2 of them pissed their pants and almost all started crying.
James turned and shook the bloodied knife at us.
James : I’ll….. I’ll deal with you guys in later…. Fuck….the mess you got everyone into….
One of the man who pissed his pants started crying and begging for James to let his brother go.
“he’s only 15…. He’s only 15… sobzz… sobz.. please… sorry… I’m so sorry.. sobzzz. Let him go please….”
James gestured to Ricky and the giant by the entrance.
He dragged the teenager out from the row of men.
James : 15 ? ??….. the kids that died…. Could barely walk…15 is old enough….
He rest his bloodied knife on the teenager’s cheeks as his brother begged for his live.
I watched in horror as the Gurkhas each took a prisoner, so did Ricky and the giant.
They grabbed a fistful of their hair, exposing their necks up to the ceiling. The screams and cries of the men got louder and louder.
The cries of men about to meet their end.
I could see all of them pissing in their pants, the smell of pee was concentrated and strong.
James grabbed the teenager’s head and he kid cried for his brother, shouting for him to be strong.
Kid : be strong brother … be strong !!! … stay true to our beliefs !!!
The kid’s older brother cursed and shouted for him to shut up as he kept pleading for his brother’s life.
James bent down and spoke directly into the trembling teenage’s ear.
James : Tell your friends…..
Without warning, James’s men jabbed their knives into the throat from the sides of the kneeling men, severing their jugular. Their blades turned as the gurgling and choking sound of the 4 men filled the room.
The kid screamed and tried to turn away but James held his head firm, forcing him to watch his brother and friends die.
James : Tell them Singapore never forgets……. Tell them we came for you….
Gruggghghghghhghghhhh!!!!! Grrkk crrrukkkkkcccccccc!!! Gruggghghghghhghghhhh!!!!! Grrkk crrrukkkkkcccccccc!!!
After an agonising minute of so, the men stopped convulsing, they all laid still , face down in a pool of their own blood.
James cut the kid loose .
James : get the fuck out of my sight before I change my mind….
The kid screamed, wiped the snot from his nose and dashed out of the house.
James looked out the window as the cries of the kid who just watched his brother die faded into the distance.
Soh : What are you doing !!! how can you let him go !!!.. he will warn the rest… he will bring everything they have down on you here !!! …
I looked away from James towards the spot where the 2 Gurkhas were standing.
They were gone.
Like apparitions in the night.
Not a sound. It’s as if they just vanished.
James : don’t worry…. He’s not bringing them to us…………. He’s bringing us to them…
………………………………
James made another phone call while Ricky relayed some additional instructions to his men. I don’t know exactly how many of them are out there in the field right now.
I can hardly see anything beyond the house we are in. It’s a jungle of pitch darkness.
I looked at the bodies on the floor. Some of them were still twitching. Their fingers jumping and causing a small ripple on the pool of blood before a larger twitch splashed droplets of blood about.
One of the men’s throat was bubbling for just a split second before he went still.
Looking around the bodies, I tried to look for Edward but he’s not there. He’s not in the room. I don’t think he would be out there in the field fighting us either so he’s mostly likely not in the area at all.
That’s a fucking pity. I would gladly pay any price to see his throat being slit or him being pulled apart by Ricky and his men.
The room felt cold all of a sudden as we waited for instructions.
As I sat there quietly in the house, it finally dawned on me that if not for the fact that Ricky and his men came to our rescue, the ones lying on the floor might have been us instead.
That it might me be lying down in a pool of blood, perhaps with images of my daughter smiling back at me just before everything turns dark. Maybe not even on a proper concrete floor, perhaps somewhere in the jungle, covered in dead leaves.
I looked at my right hand, it was shaking.
The adrenaline rush was gone and we were left digesting the stark reality of what just happened. I felt this sudden drop in my energy level, it’s like as if I just had a round of really intensive sex and expended all my energy.
I tried to stretch, my joints hurt. I gather I have used quite a bit of muscles I forgot I had that evening alone.
Another dark clad soldier entered the room, he too was armed to the teeth. Dropping his weapon aside, he immediately went over to Tommy to access his injury.
He must be the medic.
Yogi : Hi…. I’m Yogi…….Come… let me take a look …. Lift him up….. here… over here…
He cut open Tommy’s bloodied top and that’s when we saw the extent of the damage.
The bullet ripped through his shoulder, exposing a mess of torn muscles and fats. Yes, fats.
It’s not all blood and a sea of red. I could see the flap of his skin hanging on, whitish layers of his fats intertwined with his ripped flesh all torn to shit by the round. I could see the bits of white which I assume was the bone.
Yogi : Well…. You’ll live…… it chipped your shoulder blade a little….
Looking back at Ricky, Yogi said Tommy needs to get to a hospital.
Yogi : Nothing much I can do for him here… he needs to get patched up before it gets infected…
Yogi went to Soh next and asked him a few questions. Soh’s face was still pale and although he was not panting as hard as before, he looked weak.
Yogi : I think you had a heart attack…. Small one… still…. You’re lucky to be alive….
Wham !
A lone shot rang out from the jungle and everyone froze.
Yogi immediately had his weapon up, so did Ricky and the giant by the door.
James : What the fuck was that ?? ….
2 seconds later Ricky answered him after checking with his team on his comms.
Ricky : someone was playing dead…..
James : Is he still playing now ??
Ricky : Not anymore….
Yogi fixed Tommy up as best as he could and told Ricky we’re good to go.
Ricky : We need to move…. We’re heading back to the house you guys are at this past couple of days.
I could hear the engine of a few vehicles pull up close to the house.
Ricky : grab your guys… move….
Soh’s face was still pretty pale, Rizwan and I supported him as we half hopped and dragged him to the waiting car.
Mohan and Nelson carried Tommy.
Everyone moved with a sense of urgency and we loaded up onto a convoy of vehicle and trucks.
Peng was there as well.
He was shaking non stop behind the truck. His pants were wet and I could smell pee from his clothes.
Peng : We’re fucked….we’re fucked…. They’re going to hang us… they’re going to hang us…. We’re fucked…
As the first vehicle in the convoy started to move. I looked at the side mirror and saw shadows of men appearing out of nowhere and loaded up into the cars. It all happened really fast and before we realised it, we were speeding towards Peng’s place.
I have so many questions but Ricky did not seem like he was going to answer any of them.
Mohan asked Tommy if it hurts.
Mohan : Tommy… painful or not…??
Tommy : Fuck you la… you try and get shot …
Mohan : I mean …. I mean… how…. What kind of pain is it like….. ??
Tommy’s lips were dry as he tried to compose himself. He winced when I saw him try move his arm.
Tommy : It’s…. it felt like a punch at first…. Like someone hitting me really hard on the shoulder….. then the burning sensation came…. From the top… it spreads all the way down to my torso…..
A brief moment of numbness followed before the sharp spikes of pain started to engulf him.
Tommy : It sucks… I can’t really feel my arm as well… I know it’s still there but… some parts just feels numb and the pain… it comes and goes…
Rizwan : Ok… ok… relax… just rest bro….
Jim : Soh… you ok ??
Soh nodded and gave me a weak thumbs up.
We got to Peng’s place and the abled bodied guys were told to get out of the vehicle.
Ricky pointed to Nelson who was with Soh all this while.
Ricky : you stay with them… both of them…
Tommy, Soh and Nelson remained on the vehicle and there was a brief moment of confusion as we were trying to find out what was going on.
Ricky : get in….. into the house… we’re getting them medical help…
The vehicles disappeared in less than a minute and Peng’s compound was quiet once more.
We got in and Peng just collapsed onto a couch.
Peng : They’re going to hang us…. They’re going to hang us….
Mohan handed out the bottles of water and I quickly took one and finished it. My throat was parched. I passed one to Peng who took it but did not touch his drink.
James was just about done with his call and he hung up his phone and turned to look at us.
There was only him, Ricky and the Giant in the house.
James : Gentlemen… we have a problem…. You see….
He told us that because of Tommy and Soh, he needs to give up men he cannot afford to give up.
James : …. See…. We didn’t exactly come across via the causeway on a tour bus…I can’t bring all the men I wanted as well….…and to get your friends back…. I had to lose 4 men….
Mohan : Why are you telling us this…. just leave us here… we’re fine… go and fucking kill those sons of bitches….
James : Oh… hahah…. I’m telling you this for a reason…. Because I’m shorthanded….. you guys are going have to stand in…
Jim : What ?? you’re kidding…
James : no I’m not kidding…. I lost 4 sending the 2 guys we caught trying to spy on you idoits back to Singapore……. Now I’m losing another 4 sending your friends back….
James came with 20 and he’s now down to 12. With 2 tracking the running boy, there’s not much left.
Jim : what do you want us to do ??
James : simple…. I have enough weapons… not enough hands to pull the trigger……. In the meantime… we wait…. Sun’s going to rise in a couple of hours…. We can’t move then…. You’ll be our eyes and ears…
Jim : What… what about the bodies…. All the men….we… I mean you killed…. Back there…
James : Don’t worry about them…. Our friends here will take care of it….
Rizwan asked the question I’ve been wanting to ask for the longest time.
Rizwan : How did you find us ?? …
James laughed and sat down.
James : Big brother…. Is always watching… don’t you know ??
Mohan : What the fuck ?? ……
Jim : If you are always watching… you should have fucking stopped this shit from happening…… fucking shoot those fuckers… slit their throats before they got to the kids..
Ricky : What do you know !! … we tried !! …. We did what we could…
The outburst from Ricky caught everyone by surprise and James waved for him to calm down.
James : We received information about the attack…about a week before it happened…. But there were no details…. No exact day… no exact time……we managed to extract information ……. 2 hours before it happened….
Mohan : WHAT !!! WHAT the fUCK!!!!… why didn’t you stop it !!!! WHY!!!
James was unfazed as he helped himself to a bun from a plastic wrapping.
James : A total of 7 location was to be hit…… we managed to stop 3…
Ricky : we have men ……going to all 7 location…… but there was a leak…..
Jim : leak ?? what leak ??
Ricky : Someone was providing the extremists information….. before all the teams were in place… they brought forward the attack ….
Jim : Who…. who leaked the information ??
James shrugged his shoulder.
James : I’ll let you know after I kill him…..
Ricky told us that officially, Singapore is still investigating the incident. All resources are directed to the recovery effort. The armed forces are not involved in anything beyond maintaining the peace in the country at the moment.
Jim : Then what about you guys?? .. is what Jamin said true… that you came here without anyone knowing ?? ….
James : Of course not…. We report directly to Welly…. Only him…
Jim : Wow… you call the prime minister by his name… you must know him well….
James : Of course… he’s my facebook friend….
James’ ill-timed joke attracted nothing but blank stares from everyone.
James : As far as the government is concerned….. we are not here….
Rizwan : How did you all come to follow us ??
Ricky : we were monitoring all modes of communications…..after the attack and we picked up your attempt to get in touch with a known arms dealer….
Ricky looked at me.
Jim : Oh…
Ricky : At first… we thought you were involved…. That you were responsible… in some way…
Jim : What …. … fuck you….
Ricky : What would you have us think ….?? …. Communicating with a arms dealer…. Trying to buy stuff from him….
I was at a loss for words and James interrupted.
James : I had my men follow you……since we can’t be sure…. Then as we dug deeper…. We found something interesting…. You see… with all the rage about big data and data analytics …. It was not hard to link everyone together….
He explained that the system flagged the company.
James : Something interesting….. that a retired warrant officer…. Had his former trainees on payroll….haha… that’s not all….. and an alert came up……. That one of your friends just passed away…. At one of the spot where the bomb went off…
Everyone kept quiet and listened as James laid down the steps that he and his men took to find us.
It was methodical , no guess work. It’s all base on cold facts.
James : those data alone put you guys high on the alert list……. and when you leave the country…. Hahaha.. you jumped right up to the top….. A group of people…. Employed by the same company… leaving the country on the same day….. after…………..attending their good friend’s wake….. wow….
He reasoned that while it might not be uncommon since it could always be a company trip, the fact that we chose to leave via different checkpoints sealed the deal.
James : I don’t know of any company that makes their staff take different checkpoints at different time….to leave for a company trip…. If this…. is a company trip….that is…
An advance team picked up our tail and a observation post was set up right under our nose.
Ricky : We had everything….. you picking up the delivery….. everything you guys said in the house…. The phone call with Eric’s daughter…. Everything….
Jim : what the fuck… you were eavesdropping on us….
Ricky : yes… of course we were… we wanted to know what the fuck you guys were up to…. And all the pieces just keeps falling together…..
James : That was all we needed to give Welly….. and he gave us the nod….sent us on our way….
James got up and put a photo of Edward on the table.
James : Edward…. Fernando … Chan……
Ricky : He’s not at the house earlier… we checked all the bodies… those that still have their faces on them at least…..
James : we believe he is the head of a few regional cells…. We didn’t expect him to turn up at this place….
Mohan : wow….. you mean you were right outside our door… you see Edward and you fucking let him walk ??
Ricky : We put a tail on him…. It led us first to that house we were at earlier….. to the coffee shop by the main road…. And to a pub….. a few clicks away….
Jim : Then what are you waiting for ??? !!!
Ricky : Edward entered the pub…. And he never came out…. my man has been waiting there ever since….
James : Yes… and we can’t go in…..we tried… but they said that place is closed….. private event… I guess.. they won’t let anyone in just like that….
Mohan : fucking blow that whole place down or something….
James : I would love to…. But Welly wanted to be sure everyone inside there deserved to die…so….
Then the room became quiet as James looked at Peng at me.
Before he even opened his mouth, I knew what he wanted me to do.
Edward knows Peng, and he has seen me before.
If it was Peng and me trying to enter the pub, we might stand a chance.
I looked at James and he smiled at me, as if knowing that I had read his thoughts.
Jim : You want me….. and Peng… to go in ? …
James : Yes… Edward was here… he worked with Peng… and he thinks you are the smuggler…that’s bringing the stuff….
Jim : I don’t think it will work…. Word would have reach him by now…. That his men are dead… I’m sure someone made a call… sent a message… or something…
James nodded with a sly smile.
James : perhaps….perhaps…. but….. what happened there…. Has nothing to do with you guys… you are smugglers remember ? …. Hahha.. businessman….
Ricky told us that his men will be bringing the shipment Peng got from Edward back to the country. Once it has been verified that they are in Singapore, Edward would have no reason to suspect Peng.
Jim : What do you want us to do ??…. go in and start shooting ?/
Peng : No… no … I cannot.. I cannot… I don’t know how to use a gun….
James : Don’t need….. just go in and have a drink… we will do the rest…
Jim : What ??
We were interrupted by a call and Ricky answered his phone.
A couple of curt replies later, he nodded at James
Ricky : yes…… the boy ran to the same pub….
James : Did Edward come out ?? ….
Ricky shook his head.
Jim : That boy…. He knows us… he seen our faces…..
James : Hello brother… you look in the mirror….
I turned and looked at a small table mirror by Ah Peng’s side table where the house phone was.
My face was a dark shade of black and dirty green, caked with dried blood on my cheeks. My hair was a mess and even I don’t recognise myself in the mirror.
Perhaps this might work after all.
Rizwan : how did you all come into the country …..?? I mean.. with all your stuff… not across the customs right ??
James ; Pengarang is just a puddle jump from Pulau Tekong….. we came by boat…. Join up with the advance team… and the rest is history….
Just as I was digesting what was just told to us, I quickly looked up and told the guys about the impending attack .
Jim : Wait.. wait.. there’s more… they’re going hit Malaysia as well…. You need to warn them… you have to warn them….
Ricky ; relax…. We know… we have already passed along the relevant information to the authorities….
Jim : We… we don’t know where…. And how many…
James : Don’t worry… my friend there, Boon, is very good with persuading….
I turned to look at the giant who looked like he was ready to break someone’s neck any moment.
Ricky : We got critical information from the 2 men we got…… plenty of videos too…. Including what they did back home….
Rizwan : What’s going to happen to them ?? …
James : Nothing…. They don’t exist….
The message was clear enough and we left it at that.
Ricky put a small 7 inch tablet on the table and said that he got that from the 2 guys they caught.
Ricky : this has…. Videos… of the guys involved…. And if you can stomach the rest…. Feel free ….
Mohan grabbed the tablet and opened up the 1st video.
A group of men laughing in the same house inside the plantation we sieged. They were laughing, showing victory signs and middle finger. There were a few familiar faces, I saw Jamin inside there as well.
Another video is of them gathering for a group photo. I looked at the date, it was the day before the attack.
One more came up, they were eating, having breakfast in Singapore at 6am in the morning. They winked at the camera.
That look on their faces, of sheer impunity , it was as if they are invincible.
I felt my heart experience the sharp stab of pain once more when the childcare centre that Eric and I was at that day appeared in the background.
Then it changed to a scene of carnage and chaos. The site of the attack after it has happened. The crying parents, the screaming kids. These fuckers were documenting everything and sending them back to their friends in Malaysia.
The level of gore went up with each video we played.
Rizwan cursed and slammed his fist on the table when one video showed the terrorist taped the box of explosives to a screaming kid’s hands with duct tape while they laughed. Another scene showed the childcare teacher being raped by a few men while they pointed their phone cameras at her.
One was of the scene at Geylang. The men hit a little boy so hard on the face that a couple of teeth fell out. The boy was in shock as blood dripped down his chin. He cried and tried to pick up his fallen tooth but the men kicked it around, causing more distress to the kid.
Mohan : FUCK!!!! FUCK!!! FUCKING BASTARD !!!
Mohan cursed as he watched another man knock the teeth off another little girl before trying to fix that one back into the boy’s mouth.
Ricky : You can stop watching if you…..
James cut in and stopped Ricky from going on.
James: No…. you go on….. you go on and watch….. remember every one of those faces…. Some of them are right inside that pub right now…. Drinking and enjoying themselves….
I turned away when I saw a boy had his ear sliced off by the terrorist. Derrick looked away as well.
Mohan : let’s go now… let’s fucking go to that pub right now… !
I looked at the list of videos that we have yet to go through, there’s at least a few dozens of them.
Ricky : A few of them…. Made it back into Malaysia amid the chaos…. We’ll get them… all of them…
Boon the giant walked towards Ricky and when he spoke, his voice boomed low like that of a growling animal.
Boon : The boy…. He was escorted out of the pub…..by 2 men….. we have a team following them…..lights are on at the units above the pub…… an increase in activity level has been reported….
James : hahah.. good… good…. We just stirred up the hornet’s nest…. Hahaha
The next couple of minutes were spent on the phones and various communication devices.
Based on what I could pick up. It seems that Edward has yet to leave the pub as well.
As a plan was being put in place, we were asked to go wash up.
They needed a distraction as the team get into position and it seems we are the distraction.
Ah Peng refused to shower and just made do with a change of clothes. I washed myself the best I could and when I looked into the mirror after I was done, I still don’t recognise myself.
I find myself wondering at the man we first shot. Whose bullet was it that killed him ?
Was it mine ?
All the rounds I’ve fired that evening, how many found their target ?
It was so dark I can’t really be sure.
I fired where I thought I saw muzzle flashes and hoped for the best.
I must have doze off for a moment because when I was shook awake by Mohan, we were ready to move again.
My body was exhausted, and I wondered how Ricky and his team managed to stay alert. It must have been doubly taxing for them since they were keeping an eye out for us.
It was coming to 6am in the morning.
6am
We loaded up into the vehicles and I just went along for the ride, unsure of what to expect. No one gave me a gun or anything.
I dozed off again despite it being just a short ride.
I saw the timer in the car read 6.30am when we stopped.
Daylight was breaking.
For the first time, I saw all the men that had saved our asses. Just a glimpse.
They are not cape wearing super heroes
They don’t have super power or anything.
They are normal men like us, perhaps with testicles of steel.
Ricky told us the pub faces an open field. There were not many trees but the tall lalang grass would give us some cover.
Ricky : My men need to move into position….. you need to buy us some time….
Everything started to happen really fast.
It was as if someone hit the fast forward button.
Men came and within seconds, Mohan, Rizwan and Derrick were armed. They were given a modified version of the assault rifle we were used to but the functions are the same.
You point, you shoot.
Ah Peng was shaking so bad that he had difficulty lighting his cigarette.
James came over to me and said it would take his men at least 15 minutes to get into position. They had to trek through the vegetation. Mohan , Rizwan and Derrick would join them.
James gave me a small device like a USB drive.
James : Ok look Jim….. your name is Jim right….
Jim : Yes….
James : We are pretty sure…. Every mother fucker inside that place deserves to die….
I nodded and I could feel my heart beating faster and faster.
The fatigue was gone.
James : you go in….. you see Edward….. you press this button…
Jim : ok… ok… then what ?? ..
James : Then you hug the fucking floor as if it was your lover from you past life…. You understand….?
I nodded.
James : good…
I got into the car and Peng was shaking like the doll doing your bubble tea back in the 90s.
Peng : Jim… Jim… cannot… I very scare…. I very scare…..
Jim : Fuck I’m also scare….!
Ricky: Jim… drive straight…. 2km give and take…. you will see the pub….there’s only one… you cannot miss it…
I nodded.
Ricky : get in there….
Peng ; But … but… what if… what if they don’t open the door… ?? what if they don’t let us in ??
Ricky : Peng….. you showing up at a place…. You are not supposed to know… trust me… I think they will let you in….
Peng ; fuck… fuck… fuck !!! fuck!!…
I gritted my teeth and put the car into drive.
Looking into the rear view mirror, I watched the road behind me cleared up as the guys disappeared into the vegetation.
I fingered the USB device in my pocket. My heart was thumping so fast it felt like I was sprinting for my IPPT.
Peng started to pray just when the row of shop houses came into view.
This is it. Those fuckers are in there, probably getting ready to hit other schools in Malaysia.
I pulled the car to a stop across the road and I almost had to drag Peng out of the car.
I could feel eyes on me as we walked right up to the shuttered doors of the pub.
I knocked on the door of the pub several times and I waited.
There was no response.
I knocked on the door again and 2 minutes later it opened just a small slit.
The man asked us what we want.
Jim : We’re here to see Edward….
Man : Who the fuck are you ??
Peng : I… I know Edward…. I helped him move things into Singapore……..
There was a moment of hesitation before the door opened slightly wider. The man peered out into the empty road before gesturing us to get into the pub.
The moment I was in, I felt a sharp stab of pain in the side of my left kidney, immediately after that I felt a numbing blow to my head and I collapsed onto the floor.
Someone kicked me when I was down, knocking the air out of my stomach.
Jim : a rghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…ahg…
I turned to look at Peng who too was on the ground, clutching his stomach.
I looked around the pub, there has to be at least a dozen men in there. They were armed too, rifles and revolvers of various kinds. Before I could push myself off the floor, someone kneed me in my sides, sending me tumbling over the floor, knocking onto the leg of a chair.
Peng : No… no stop.. stop!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… we know Edward… we’re here to look for Edward.. !!
A man pulled Peng up by his hair and slammed his face onto the table. He cried out, looking dazed and disorientated with his bloodied mouth. Peng tried to stand but fell back onto his backside and he started crying.
Another man walked out from the back. This man. This fucker. I remember his face. He was the one that knocked out the little girl’s teeth and tried to put it into the boy.
He walked up to us with a cock sure look on his face. Grabbing me by my hair, he dragged me up to the platform stage. Instead of a live band, there was just a chair. On the wall behind the chair was a large print out of a Singapore postcard.
The merlion.
One of those typical images you see on the postcard.
I wanted to laugh at the irony of the pub’s name.
Merlion pub. I wonder if it’s name after the merlion, or perhaps it’s patrons would become a merlion after drinking there.
The man put a knife against my cheek and demanded to know how Peng and I knew where to find them.
I don’t have an answer, not as if I could give him one because as soon as he asked me the question, he delivered a numbing blow to the side of my head, causing me to topple over on stage.
My entire world was spinning.
Peng : stop ..!!! FUCK!!!stop!!! I am doing business with EDWARD !!! what the fuck is this!!!
I looked around the pub and there was no sign of Edward anywhere.
Peng : Where is he !!! ASK HIM OUT!!!!
Footsteps.
There were some footsteps.
They came from the back of the pub , advancing rapidly towards Peng. It was Edward.
He was hiding from view all along.
He raised the revolver in his hand and pointed it at Peng’s head.
Peng : No.. no…Edward … no!!…
Edward : how the fuck do you know where to find me ?? HOW!!!
Peng : No… no wait… wait.. listen to me… listen to me…
WHAM!!!!
The gunshot rang out without warning. I felt a wet mist of blood hit my arm as Peng fell backwards onto the stage beside me.
He’s gone. Just like that.
He was still moving, twitching for a brief moment before going completely still.
Edward walked towards me and I pushed the man holding onto my hair aside.
Looking back up at Edward, I don’t know why but I started to laugh.
Jim : Hhahah…whahahahaha.. … hahaha…
It came out low, like a sinister laugh from a villain as I looked at him.
Edward narrowed his eyes as he looked at me.
I tried to get up on my feet but was knocked back down by the man behind me. He kicked me in my face when I was down, sending me rolling to my sides as I groaned in pain.
I spit out a mouthful of blood and tried to stand up again,
Edward : How did you know where to find me…. HOW!!!
I looked back up at Edward, his revolver hovering by the side of his body.
Jim : ha… hahaha.. hahaha… hahahaha….
I laughed again.
Turning to face Edward I spit a gob of saliva at his face.
Edward : FUCK!!!…
WHAM!
I did not register the pain in my foot until I fell onto the floor.
Jim : aRHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!
I clutched my left foot as I felt the bloodied mess in my boot. He fucking shot me in my foot.
He wiped my spit off his cheeks and raised his gun to my head.
Edward : any last words ….
I nodded my head.
Jim : ahahaha.. hahaah.. yes…. Hahahaha yes…. Hahaha… yes….
Edward : What the fuck is so funny ?!!
I staggered onto my feet , clutching onto the tables and chairs for support.
I could hardly balance myself as I swayed side to side before leaning my back against the backdrop of the stage for support, my hands smearing the postcard picture of the merlion with my blood.
I laughed and laughed as I looked at the faces of the men in the room.
I met everyone in their eyes as they stared silently at me, no doubt enjoying the rants of a soon to be dead man.
Jim : I…. I have a message for you….all of you……
I revealed the USB like device in my hand and raised it up above my head.
I had pressed it earlier while staggering to get onto my feet.
Edward looked at me for a brief moment before turning to dive for cover the same time I addressed the group in the pub.
Jim : Gentlemen……
Jim : Singapore ……………….. sends her regards ………..
Facing the group on the floor, I fell to the ground involuntarily because of my injured foot.
I watched in awe as the entire left façade of the pub was decimated by a rain of steel.
The sound wasn’t that loud since the weapons that fire them were a distance away but the view.
That fucking view was spectacular nonetheless.
I laughed a throaty laugh as I watch the fuckers had their limbs tore from their bodies by the high calibre rounds ripping through the walls. It was impossible to describe, the euphoria I was getting and the images that will be etched forever into my head.
Splinters of wood and chucks of bricks and concrete were shot up like a house of cards, as the bullet continued their journey through the bodies of them men that were still standing up.
The gunfire from across the road tore holes the size of your ipads in the walls of the pub.
The interior of the pub was repainted in blood as I choked back in pain, enjoying the screams of pain. Those unfortunate enough to survive the first shots were left grovelling in pain, clutching onto the broken limbs.
It was true , what we saw in saving private ryan. A man can clutch onto his intestines that was spilling out of his guts and still cry for help.
One of them picked up his own hand before taking another 3 in his face, ripping it apart.
A bloodied ear floated a short 5cm on a pool of blood the same way a dried leave goes down the stream.
It didn’t stop even when most of the men were on the ground. It kept coming.
The guns kept firing.
The bullets bringing with it the anguish and pain of parents who would no longer hear the laugher of their children, yet at the same time, tearing through the flesh of men who probably are parents themselves.
The shredding of the pub seemed to go on forever when in fact it was all over in 30 seconds.
30 full seconds.
By the time the guns stopped firing, the door was left barely hanging from the hinges.
What remained of the door was kicked down and I watch James enter the pub with Boon behind him.
James looked around the pub before going straight to Edward. Boon went straight to the bodies that were on the floor, regardless whether they were dead or not, he put a bullet into their head , walking through the bodies like a farmer pulling out weeds from his garden.
Edward was shot in his stomach and he was clutching onto his wound.
Edward : wait … wait !!! WAIT!!!.. I have information…. I have information… I will talk… I will talk !!!!!!!!!!! there are more… there are more of us !!!… please… no !!! I will talk !!!
James pulled Edward aside and he looked like he was about to gut Edward when his phone rang.
He checked the caller ID and asked Boon to finish up.
Boon fired his last 3 round into a body and gave him the thumbs up.
James answered the phone as Boon came over to me.
James : Here… you talk to him…..
When James turned the phone around, I gasped when I saw the face of our prime minister on the video call.
Edward : Please… please…. I’ll talk… I’ll talk… I’ll tell you everything…..please… mercy… please…. I’m also a Singaporean…. Sir… please…Mercy please….. There’s more of us….I’m Edward…. There’s still Fernando… there’s still Chan…. We’re 3… there are 3 of us… please… Sir… I will talk… MERCY.. please….
I watched at our Prime minister replied Edward with hardly a change in his expression.
PM : God has mercy……………. I don’t….
The screen went dark and James kept his phone.
Edward : No.. no… NO!!! NO!!!.. ARNGHHAaeNGHGHHGHG..
James handed his revolver to me and whispered by my ears.
James : It feels good… when you do it up close…
Edward : no… no… NO!!! NO!!!
I mustered my remaining strength, lifted my arm and squeezed the trigger.
And I squeezed it again.
And again.
And again.
………………………………………………………..
Sorry for the wait.
Please don’t mind the grammar and spelling mistakes. I know there are tons of them but i don’t have time to get them in order.
Cheers
James
The recoil and vibration from the gun shook my entire body. Each time the strong recoil hit me, I could feel the excruciating pain in my foot. It’s like someone grabbing my bloodied foot and giving it a good shake, sending the burning pain all over my leg.
In that split second decision, I struggled with myself where to point the gun .
I wanted to go for the head, that’s where everyone would do it in the movies and in Hollywood but I’ve seen the effects of what a bullet would do first hand to a human being.
It does not exactly go in the front with a small bean like hole that is red.
Skulls get ripped apart, jaws would come off with bits of facial skin and organs hanging by a thin thread of muscle.
Despite all that I have been through, part of me was still afraid.
The human part at least, I thought about whether I should do it before it did.
I thought about Eric in my arms as he clutched his bleeding wound.
I thought about the way he looked at his daughter, the same way I would if it was me lying there.
It was his last desperate attempt to remember ever detail. It’s like a part of him knew that was it. That his time was up. Perhaps there is this sort of a trigger, or a signal in each of us. Right at the moment when our time is up, perhaps we will know.
Taking a life would not bring any of the dead back, anyone with half a brain could tell you that but by then the human side in me was gone.
Long gone.
I could hear the rattle of the monster inside me when I squeezed the trigger pointing at his chest.
The dark red of Edward’s blood splattered out from behind his body, smearing the stage floor. Only the first shot had a bigger impact as I observed the change in colour of the floor. The subsequent shots added more splatter.
I thought I would hear him shout out in pain, groaning and begging before he die but he did not even have time to shout. The projectile ripped though his chest, rupturing his lungs, filling them with blood as bits of it came out the back.
I don’t know how many times I squeezed the trigger but I stopped when I ran out of bullets. The smell of gunpowder filled my nose as I dropped the gun to my side.
There was a moment of silence after that happened.
It’s like someone threw a blanket over everything, or perhaps it was just the sound of the weapon I just fired ringing in my ears.
James : ….. not many people can fire point blank into another human being…
Jim : What he did… to those children…. He’s not a human.
James chuckled, almost in an amusing way.
He picked up his revolver and reloaded it.
Then he took aim at Edward’s lifeless head and squeezed off another shot, smashing half his skull to oblivion and splattering blood all over me.
I think bits of his tissue went into my mouth as I spit onto the floor beside me.
Jim : Fuck!!.. he’s already dead…. Fuck… why did you do that for….fuck.. arghh…. Fucking trigger happy hippy….
James ignored my rants and holstered his weapon
Boon : If you have seen the things we’ve seen…..killed the things we’ve killed…. You would….
Before Boon could go on, he was stopped by James with a stern look and warning.
James : Boon…..
Boon stopped immediately, almost embarrassed about his sudden lost of professionalism.
I would have been curious to probe more since there was a deliberate attempt by James to shut Boon up but I was in pain and agony.
All I wanted was to get out of that place and go home.
Boon helped me out onto the street.
The sun was already up and locals we gathering at the peripheral of the street, curious to know what just happened. The local police were already there, setting up a barricade.
Our men were still hidden with exception of Ricky.
As Boon helped me out of the pub, I could see Ricky communicating and liaising with the local authorities.
I could hear the birds chirping nearby, there was this breeze in the air and the crown of the trees swayed lazily. I turned to look at the wall of the pub and it was a scary sight.
We chew off chunks of concrete, exposing the reinforcement bars behind the columns and beams. The brick walls looked like a sponge that has been fucked to shreds by a delirious octopus.
The patio of the pub were littered with debris.
Curious residents were trying to take photos and videos of the pub and the local police tried to stop them.
A total of 3 police cars were present as they formed a barricade.
I overheard Ricky talking to a man telling him that all of us will be out of the country within the hour.
I could hear the sirens from more approaching police cars as our own vehicles arrived, parking a short distance away from the entrance of the pub.
Ricky : Sorry to leave you this mess , Hairul….
Hairul : we’ll pick it up from here…. Don’t worry…..
Ricky : The schools… did you manage to clear them out in time ??
Hairul shook his head.
Hairul : we clear all 5 except one…. Word got out somehow…. The fuckers loaded the explosives from the school into a car, they changed target and went to another school….
Ricky : Fuck no… how many ?
Hairul shook his head before replying that almost 27 school kids were dead and the death toll is expected to rise.
Hairul : Most of them were just alighting from the school bus when it happened…. The sultan is hopping mad that it happened….. and he…
I was leaning against Boon and listening to Hairul and I could see Rizwan running towards me, suddenly all hell broke loose again.
Hairul just fell onto Boon and me without warning, like a dead weight, he dropped onto us, causing all of us to fall onto our knees.
By the time I could wrap my head around what was happening, I saw Hairul on the floor missing half his face.
Boon has his weapon out and he was firing right beside me.
Red hot bullet casings hit me squaring on my face as I rolled onto the ground and tried to find cover.
Looking up, I saw the newly arrived police officers shooting at everyone including their colleagues that were here earlier. Immediately after cutting the men in uniforms down, they turned on the civilians who did not stand a chance against the armed men.
The attacked happened too suddenly and I saw Ricky on the floor as well.
James dragged Ricky to the side of the road as another rain of bullets flew our way.
There was a 3 second delay before our side returned fire from the trees, laying down a blanket of covering fire as the lot of us scrambled to find cover.
James : Ricky !… Ricky !! Fuck…. Look at me !…
Ricky was conscious but he looked dazed.
James : Your armour caught it…. Bro… your armour caught it….
Ricky nodded weakly as Yogi appeared and took over.
The firing stopped and I saw one of the Gurkhas appearing out from the forest beside us. He was totally drenched in sweat as he told James that we needed to move out immediately. There is at least 6 more vehicles of men heading up our way according to the drone.
James : Everyone load up….. load up…. We’re heading to the extraction point….. Boon !!… call our ride in !….
Sporadic gun fire continued behind us . I could hear the odd whistle of a stray round as I half hopped and leaned onto Rizwan for support.
I only remembered a round of excruciating pain as I was transferred onto the back of a pick up.
The rest of James’ men in the forest appeared and jumped into the vehicle before the tyres screeched and we were off.
The convoy of 5 vehicles sped down the dirt road as we head off to our pick up.
I was in the last vehicle with Rizwan and Boon at the back of the pickup.
Behind the cloud of dust that the convoy kicked up, I could clearly see the bonnet of the cars in pursuit.
There was the loud rumble of a modified engine and the full body of the red vehicle came into view.
Just like what happened in those Hollywood movies, hands reached out of the windows and they started shooting at us.
I heard a loud crack of the air above me as the bullet broke the sound barrier.
It was so close I thought someone had sledge hammer a door by my ear.
My eardrums were subjected to another round of torture as Boon and Rizwan started shooting back.
Everytime the weapons went off, my heart would jump and skip a beat. I guess when you are not the person firing the weapon, it is hard to gauge when the impact of the weapon would hit you.
I don’t know how close they were to hitting us but I did not see the cracked windscreen and the splatter of blood I prayed I would see.
The pickup we were in were swerving left and right and so was the red car pursuing us.
It was near impossible to get a aim. Rizwan emptied his rifle in no time and he was out. Boon fired in short 3 round burst as he tore up the bonnet and the engine of the car.
There was a loud bang before the red car swerved to the left of the road and crashed directly into a tree.
There was no time for a breather as another car immediately took up the spot and the shooting began again.
The pickup screeched to a halt and the moment it did, from the corner of my eye, I saw men with their automatic weapons up. Their muzzles flashed as they join Boon on the road firing and walking towards the advancing car.
The hail of metal and led ripped apart the windscreen and the bonnet of the vehicle, the side mirrors flew off and the car got so close I saw through the shattered windscreen the driver and his passenger dance like a broken marionette doll as they were hit countless times.
James : Our boats are on their way !!…. get off the road… get off the road…. !
I gritted my teeth as I struggled to limp my way into cover with RIzwan supporting me .
The rattle of a high calibre automatic weapon tore through the air as I turned and saw a few of our guys get ripped apart. Boon shouted and fired back but Yogi grabbed and forced him into the jungle.
Boon : ARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ARHHHHHHHH!!!
Yogi continued firing as he used his body as a battering ram, hitting Boon back .
Boon : FUCK!!!! FUCK!!!!!
My entire body left the ground as Boon picked me up like a kid’s soft toy before throwing me over his shoulder.
Shots rang out behind us as we zigzagged our way deeper into the jungle.
James appeared and he started shooting in short burst.
James : go !!.. it’s a half click to the coast….. our boats are coming….
We ran , or rather Boon ran with me on him as much as we could but we could not get far.
We managed another 100 meters or so before we were forced onto the ground by a relentless hail of weapons firing wildly into the forest. Barks of trees splintered and flew, saplings sliced neatly in half as centuries old trees had chunks of their flesh tore from their body.
James : down !!! down !!!… get down !!!
I felt that ache in my heart as I heard the grunt of our guys as they took a hit before collapsing onto the floor.
Boon : Where the fUCK did they get guns like that !!! … that’s military grade !
A loud speaker was used and there was an angry voice coming from it.
“ who the fuck killed my brother !!!! “
“ who !!!!! aGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
“ AHHHHHHHHHH….Edward….!!! AHHHH….who the fuck took you away from me !!!! “
There was no time for us to wallow in our situation and even on the ground, everyone of us know what to do.
We crawled.
We kept our heads down, crawling from tree to tree.
It was a slow and painful process.
I dragged my bloodied foot as I headed for the fat truck of a tree, I dragged my body across angry ants the size of my thumbs, and my fingers pulled off chucks of termite nests in my attempt to move.
Boon crawled on beside me, stopping every now and then to return a few sporadic shots of his weapon.
The monstrous sound of the heavy machine gun started again.
Hearing it is like sitting by those heavy equipment doing road works, you could feel your bones shaking.
I watched as a single sweep of the weapon sliced off several smaller trees, raining down branches and entire crowns of trees onto the ground near us.
WHAM!!!!!!
That familiar sound of the sniper rifle rang out and the heavy machine gun stopped, granting us a few precious moment of relieve.
We continued moving, I don’t know how much ground we covered but every feet we progressed felt painfully slow.
We got to a small clearing and I saw Ricky trying to reload his rifle with one hand.
A few of our guys were hit too, some were no longer breathing.
WHAM!
The sniper rifle shook the clearing as it’s bullet found another target.
Boon : James !….. we’re low on ammo….
Ricky : Last one for me….
Yogi threw a magazine to Ricky
Yogi : Last one… make it count…
James : Vince !!!… how many…
The spotter beside the sniper checked a small screen he had on his forearm.
Vince : 40 at least…. Stretched out along a line……300metres wide…. They’re sweeping in fast….
WHAM!
The bolt of the sniper rifle slid back angrily as it pushes another round into the chamber.
James shouted into his walkie.
James : Where are my boats !!!
A clear reply came almost immediately.
“Blackbeard one to five en route to pickup. 300 metres from coast “
WHAM!
Another round went off as Ricky squeezed off a few shots of his own.
Mohan and Derrick crawled over from a nearby boulder. They are out as well.
Everyone hugged the ground for cover as a long volley of bullets cut into the jungle.
Vince : We’re 300m from the coast James….
James : fuck !…
James’ walkie sounded out again.
“ blackbeard one to Badboy ….. we are seeing multiple unknown watercrafts on approach to….”
Before the message could be sent, a series of stray round found James, ripping that walkie to bits and hitting him on his stomach.
We all heard the shouts of a couple of guys, I could even see them.
They were so fucking close as Boon pumped them full of lead, cutting them down before they could get closer.
Yogi dragged James aside and checked him for injury.
Yogi : You lucky son of a bitch…. You’re fine….
I looked at James with his face scrunched up as he struggled to breath.
Jame: fuck !…..
Vince : James !…. they’re flanking us from the right….
Vince pulled out a spare talkie and threw it over to James.
James took a couple of deep breaths before speaking with much difficultly.
James : bad….Badboy to Coldbeer………. where’s my air support…
James’s left hand put down his talkie and his right fired his weapon twice, dropping a youngman who looked like he was just past his 18th birthday 25m away from us.
Boon had crawled to get the weapons of the men that had died near us and he distributed it.
WHAM!….
A reply came and to my surprise, it was a woman’s voice.
“ Coldbeer to Badboy…. Negative…. We do not have clearance to enter Malaysia’s airpace. “
James : fuck….
James : Badboy to blackbeard…. ..Come in… are you on the ground…..
There was no reply
Vince : James…. 5 of them…. Left flank… approaching fast…..
WHAM!…
The sniper rifle led the volley as they remaining lot of us that still had a weapon fired towards the direction for a good 4 seconds.
Boon : I’m out…
Ricky : me too….
I felt small stone like device fall onto my lap and realised it was a grenade.
Yogi had several out and he gave me one.
Yogi : remember how to use one ?
Rizwan : hahaha…. Of course..
I gripped the safety pin and twisted it hard, snapping it out of place. I only get to throw this once back when I was 18.
Come to think of it, it’s been almost 2 decades since I held a grenade in my hand.
Thinking of how Rambo would pull the pin out from the grenade always amused me.
It’s not impossible, but you better have strong teeth.
I looked at James as he fitted his last clip into his revolver.
James : leave the dead…. We’ll come back for them….. get to the coast….all of you….
Yogi : we can’t make it…. Not unless someone stays behind….
James : Go… I’ll do it….
Boon : Fuck you James….
James : That’s an order…..
Ricky laughed.
Ricky : hahaha…. After so many years…. You should know that we don’t give a fuck when you pull rank on us James… hahaha…hahaha…
James ; Fuck you…. I’m not kidding…. Go !