Chapter 201: A Bad Dream

Bang!

Bang!

As the gunshot sounds roared into the air, Zach felt a weight fall behind him. He turned around and his face was frozen in total terror as soon as he saw what it was.

"Torin!" Snake shouted as he hurried towards Torin who had selflessly used his own body as a shield to block the bullets fired at Zach by Mr. Big.

"What the hell did you do, dumbass?!" Zach murmured erratically as he held Torin in his arms and checked on the wound on the side of the stomach where Torin was hit.

Torin laughed and murmured in between his breaths, "Playing hero, what else...? I’m such a great friend, right...? Nah, it’s just a scratch, not even close to any internal organs... I’m sure of it. So, don’t worry."

Torin had noticed that Mr. Big had pointed his gun at Zach when Zach was still busy fighting Draco. As he was just a few feet away from Zach, he quickly ran towards him to shield him without a second thought.

He smiled at Zach and was still trying to crack a joke, "Do you think I’ll be a smiling ghost in this ship, Bro?" Blood had started to drain from his face as he was starting to get paler and paler because of the bleeding. And it was getting harder for him to talk.

"Stop talking nonsense and press on that damn wound harder!" Zach instructed Torin as he shot him a disapproving look. Torin quickly followed and pressed harder on his wound. Then Zach looked at Snake. "Go first! Get Torin out of here! He needs immediate medical care!" Zach commanded.

Snake quickly followed. "Contact! Snake to Base! Snake to Base! We’ve got a man down. We are heading to the south deck on the Ghost Ship! I repeat, we’ve got a man down. Immediately bring a medical team! Clear, over, out!" Snake shouted as he hurriedly moved towards the south deck of the ship. He had given the command post his location on the ship. He knew that their communication device which was also integrated in the contact lenses had already been activated as soon as their coordinates were traced and therefore his message would be heard and acknowledged by the Military.

After about forty seconds their aid arrived and Snake let out a long deep sigh as he said, "Hang in there, buddy! You’ll make it!"

Torin laughed and with a stuttering voice he said, "Bro owes me his life now, right? I can request him anything from now on..." Snake narrowed his eyes as he muttered, "What a nutcase! You could die any moment now and you’re grinning like that? How I wish I had a nutcase like you as my best friend!"

"Well I’m not just his best friend... I’ll become his brother-in-law, soon!" Torin declared before he finally passed out.

"What?!" Snake burst out and shook his head... He was now sure that Torin would be asking a big favor from their General once everything was settled.

Back at the Ghost Ship....

Zach saw Mr. Big and Draco scurrying inside the ship towards the quarterdeck with Thea dragged alongside them, while Jeru was chasing after them. Zach then dashed to catch up with them.

There were episodes of gunshots coming from both Zach’s and Mr. Big’s men as Zach and Jeru ran after Mr. Big, Draco and Thea.

However, Mr. Big’s men who were posted inside the ship had been alarmed as soon as they heard a series of gunshots from the upper deck outside. They rushed up to the deck only to see that their boss was being chased by Zach and Jeru. They then darted forward to attack the two. Thea felt her eardrums would soon explode from the blaring gunshots.

"Go! Just leave me here!!!" she shouted at Zach and Jeru when she saw them fighting Leon’s men. Even though they both were extraordinary fighters, but they were clearly outnumbered. Thea didn’t want anything bad to happen to them. She didn’t mind being taken hostage by Leon as she believed that Leon still loved her, at least enough to spare her from death.

"What the fu*ck!?" Leon hissed as he watched almost all of his men who were protecting him fall onto the ground, one by one, as they were struck by Zach and Jeru.

Zach and Jeru were both men who had been caught in some kind of entanglement with Thea. One was from her past and the other one was from her present. It was as if both Thea’s past and present had joined forces to bring him down.

"You, dimwit! How come you only have knives with you!" Leon shouted at Draco who preferred slashing than shooting.

There were several shots but how come those two were still standing and his men were the ones bleeding? ’What are these two?!’ he brooded over the situation that was progressing right before his eyes. Nothing seemed to be going in his favor now.

Leon cursed as he immediately dragged Thea towards the escape route..."Call more men!" Leon instructed Draco.

But Zach and Jeru were fast. Zach caught up with Leon in no time. He then gave Leon an upswing hook to the jaw, while Jeru was going the knuckle with Draco. Zach quickly pulled Thea away from Leon and pushed her to the corner as he shouted, "Go! To the deck, now!!!"

Then he hit Leon once more and Leon’s body flopped with a fleshy thud onto the ground.

"Ahhhh!" Thea screamed when two of Leon’s men who had just emerged from the upper deck cornered her. Jeru immediately moved to her rescue. Draco was about to grab Jeru but Zach attacked him.

"Go now! Make sure Thea is safe!" Zach shouted at Jeru as he threw a punch at Draco.

"But how can I leave you here?!" Jeru shouted back after giving the last man a back kick. He turned around to see Zach was still exchanging blows with Draco.

"Backups are on their way! Just make sure you don’t fail this time! Go now and protect her!!!"

Jeru was still hesitating, he wanted to go to Zach’s aid, but Zach bellowed at him impatiently, "Dammit, Jeru! Move now and don’t waste anymore time!!!"

Jeru quickly brought Thea to the upper deck... He could see the reinforcement troops not far from the ship. There was still an ongoing fight between their men and Mr. Big’s men on the upper deck.

After a few more minutes, Jeru was able to secure Thea with Chin, then he looked at one of the soldiers and instructed, "General Zach is still inside! Follow me!!!"

....

The sun had risen. Keira was wide awake, still waiting for Zach.

She couldn’t wait any longer so she quickly prepared herself to go out and called John and Jim to bring her to the Military Base.

Inside the Military Base.... She was brought to the command center by one of the soldiers. She found her dad inside the room, giving orders to his subordinates. Everyone there seemed hard-pressed...

"What’s going on?" Keira hurried towards her dad and asked. "The team had taken control of the Ghost Ship. They are heading back to the dock now, with the Ghost Ship." explained the Field Marshal.

"How about Zach? Can I talk to him? I’ll go with you now to the dock... Which dock is it?" Keira asked in a row. She wanted to make sure that Zach was safe.

So she went with her dad to the dock....

While waiting at the dock, it came to her knowledge that Torin was injured from a gunshot wound and had been rushed to the hospital. Her heart was pumping fast as they informed her that they could not trace Zach’s location with the tracking device.

"What do you mean you don’t know where he is?!" Keira burst out at the soldier.

With trembling hands, she dialed John’s number and instructed him to track Zach using the bracelet she had given him. "Madam, we can’t trace him. It’s off and not working."

"Check again!" Keira shouted in a frenzy. Field Marshal Chan couldn’t bear to see the emotional state that his daughter was in. He tried to comfort her by holding her in his arms as he said, "Calm down Keira... Let’s wait... I’m sure he’s just fine..."

Keira was trying to suppress the tears that had sprung into her eyes as she waited for the reinforcement troops to go back ashore...’Don’t cry, Keira! He will return...’ She kept mumbling to herself silently.

She held her breath when she saw the reinforcement troops arrive, only with Thea and Jeru, while Zach was nowhere in sight....

"Where is Zach?" she asked as she looked around among the soldiers.

Jeru met her eyes as he murmured, "We lost him..."

Keira’s staggered backwards as her knees instantly weakened. She almost fell in a heap to the ground if not for her dad who quickly caught her.

Did she hear Jeru correctly? Was her husband really declared missing in action? She listened to Jeru as he explained everything to her dad; how they had combed the Ghost Ship in search of Zach. But their efforts were to no avail. Mr. Big and Draco, his right-hand man, were nowhere to be found either.

Tears started to run down her pale cheeks as she whispered, "No way... He’s alive right, Dad? I know Zach is alive... He promised that he will return home... to me..." She felt her heart sank to her stomach as her breaths shallowed. Tears kept falling from her eyes as she stared at the sea. She could see Zach’s face. It’s the only thing she could see...

She wished everything was just a dream... Yeah, this must have been just a dream... It was a bad dream and she needed to wake up soon.

The noise surrounding her became less and less distinct, and what looked like a black cloud pressed its way into her eyes...

’Keira pull yourself together and wake up!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read