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Jeez!!

May Jah grant his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss...

Missmossy:
Welcome back Dioxidane!!!
Glad Damien and Mustapha are out of that place. Kudos.

Thanks...

jify:
Lovely, epic. Found dis thread yesterday as I was looking for something to read and I couldn't stop reading. You are really good. Keep it up.

Wow! Thanks...

oghenekome51:
Bros dioxidane, we see ur handwork o!
But shey uno say dah food no do us? Please come and update o!
Btwn, we dont know wots wrong wit d girl in d cell yet o!

Thanks dear... Working on it...

Hawlahscho:
I don't read sex stories AGAIN. I need them NO MORE.

Wetin happen na??

Chapter Sixteen

'Please sir, send me back in before the invasion of the camp', Damien said to Gen. Garbar as he realized Funmi wouldn't possibly survive it if the plan to attack the Taliban camp was carried out. His heart went out to her as he imagined the trauma she would have been passing through. And for her to die at the end? He couldn't take it.

Several hours earlier, Mustapha and Damien had been ushered into the tent where Col. Coker and the others were. They were all distraught after losing the chopper and about eight men. Moral was getting low. Their faces brightened a little when they saw Damien and Mustapha. It was a small win for them, but not the win Col. Coker wanted. His niece was still in the Taliban camp.

They were given food, water, a change of clothes and Damien stuffed himself with so much food after which he relaxed a little bit on a cot in one of the tents.

'Please don't kill her!! Take me instead!!', Damien screamed at the man wielding a sharp sword about to cut off Funmi's head. He watched as another man placed her head on a table and held her in place. 'Take me instead!! Please!!! Don't kill her!! Don't kill her!!!', he screamed again at the men. The men didn't pay attention to him. They didn't hear him, or they pretended not to. He watched as the man who held the sword recited some words in arabic and raised his sword. He saw her turn her sullen face toward him. 'Damien... Damien...', he heard her call out to him. He watched as the sword came bearing down on her neck. 'Noooo!!!', he screamed.

Damien suddenly jumped up from the cot, sweating profusely. He saw Mustapha lying down on a cot close to him. He was smiling at him. 'Afternoon-mares?', Mustapha asked him with a slight smile on his face. Damien nodded and sat up on his cot, covering his face with palms, pondering what the dream was all about. 'You were talking gibberish in your sleep. I've been calling your name', Mustapha said, expecting a response from Damien. He was silent.

'They are going to kill her', Damien spoke up some minutes later. 'They are going to kill her...', he said again.

'Who are they going to kill? What the hell are you talking about?', Mustapha asked him.

'Funmi... They are going to kill her. I saw it. I saw them do it', Damien said.

'You saw them do what?', Mustapha asked him.

'They killed her. The cowards! They killed her!', Damien muttered.

'Dude, you just had a nightmare. Sorry, afternoon-mare', Mustapha said and laughed. 'I'm sure she's still alive. You are just having a bad dream', he said again.

'Great!', Damien muttered. 'For how long was I out?', he asked Mustapha.

'Erhmm, that would be about two hours, forty four minutes and twenty five seconds', Mustapha replied, looking at the watch on his wrist.

'Were you able to sleep?', Damien asked.

He shook his head and said, 'I tried. I got just about forty minutes of sleep, then I woke up.'

'Hmm... Well, I guess I've not had the opportunity so say this properly. Thank you', Damien told Mustapha.

'For what?', Mustapha asked him. 'For saving my life... A couple of times...', Damien replied.

Mustapha smiled and said, 'then I guess I should say thank you for the one time you saved my life.'

They both laughed. 'But really, you held out on your own. I noticed what you did, and I'm impressed. With just a few months training and the right weapons, you'll be good to go. A killing machine in the making', Mustapha told him and they both laughed it off.

'So what's been happening out there?', Damien asked Mustapha after a while.

'I have no idea, I've been trying to rest', Mustapha replied, 'but I saw two trucks drive in not quite long with a couple of soldiers.'

Damien got up from the cot, put on the olive fatigue shirt he was given and was walking out of the tent. 'And where do you think you are going to?', Mustapha asked him.

Damien stopped and looked back at him. 'I can't just sit here doing nothing', he replied.

'We are supposed to be resting', Mustapha told him.

'I have rested enough. You have not, so you rest', Damien replied.

'Wait up', Mustapha said as he got up from his cot and put on his shirt. 'I've not been able to rest, so I just might use the time to walk around', he said.

Damien smiled and walked out of the tent, with Mustapha trailing behind him.

'Where is everyone?', Damien asked Mustapha as they got out of the tent and realized that the whole place was scanty.
'Dude, we've been together since. How do you expect me to know?', Mustapha asked him.

'I sure you've heard of the word 'Rhetorical question'', Damien said.

'Say what?', Mustapha asked him.

'Don't worry about it', Damien replied as he saw a soldier.

'Please excuse me', Damien said as he approached the soldier. 'Where is everyone?', he asked him. The soldier pointed at the large tent used as a make-shift situation room without saying anything. Damien nodded and thanked him. He walked towards the tent, with Mustapha trailing behind him.

As they got closer to the tent, they noticed that almost all the soldiers were present there and they heard a voice giving a speech. They both entered the tent and stood close to the entrance beside other soldiers, listening to the man who stood on an elevated platform speaking to them.

'Like I said earlier, the President is not happy about this. The military cannot continue to be embarrassed by this barbarians. We must crush and put an end to this menace once and for all...', the voice was saying.

Damien was confused. He wondered what was happening. He looked around to see if he would find Col. Coker. He didn't see anyone. He saw very few of the faces he saw some hours earlier.

'What's happening?', he asked the soldier standing beside him. 'New General. New command', the soldier told him curtly. 'What about Col. Coker and his men?', he asked the soldier again. 'Left', the soldier replied. He was about asking the soldier why they left, but the soldier's facial expression suggested otherwise. He continued listening to what the General on the elevated platform was saying.

"... You fight for your country! You fight for your families! You fight for your numerous colleagues who have lost their lives in this war! You fight for your right to live peacefully in your country! Your country! My country! Our country! Let's not allow these barbarians take that right from us! They are taking it already! They are taking it already! But we must take back what is ours! We must take back what is ours! Who is with me on this?!"

"Aye! Aye! Aye!", the soldiers cheered, raising their rifles up in the air. Damien marveled at the sheer power of motivation. The man raised his hands, signaling them to be quiet and he continued speaking.

"The President is proud of you! Your country is proud of you! And I've been assured that you all would be compensated handsomely..."

That resulted in another round of cheers from the soldiers. The man signaled them to be calm again and he continued speaking.

"We are going in and we shall bombard them in full force, completely exterminating them! No exceptions! No mercy! We just have to..."

The General was still speaking when the IP Telephone on his desk beeped. He stopped talking. The tent went quiet. He came down from the podium and went straight to the desk and picked up the phone.

'Go for Redblade', the General said into the mouthpiece.

"This is Janus. Requesting for confirmation regarding two journeywalkers posted from HQ..."

'What's the password they gave?', the General asked.

"T-R-A-I-L-B-L-A-Z-E-R-S"

"Repeat password"

"T-R-A-I-L-B-L-A-Z-E-R-S"

'Negative! Negative!! Wrong password! Apprehend journeywalkers!', the General commanded the soldier on the other end of the line.

There was a brief silence on the line. The General was still waiting for response from the soldier at the other end of the line. Suddenly he heard some sounds in the background. 'Enemy intrusion! Enemy intrusion!!', the General heard a voice say on the phone. Some seconds later, he heard a sound... BOOM!! Then silence...

T.B.C...

Wishing y'all a lovely weekend... Don't forget to click 'like', 'share' or drop your comments...

1000

Hawlahscho:
Caught in the act
Baba what levels na, this single update no reach anywhere naw

Boss... I know jor I'm trying to see if I'll be able to drop updates daily to make up for the time I didn't update... Make una no vex abeg.

@Kaykaybaba, thanks bro...
@YoungestMuller, I don put am...

I wished there was a way to know those that 'like' your comments on NL, like the 'share' feature. I click 'like' on some comments I read, but I know the posters wouldn't know who clicked on it, so sometimes I click 'share' too. Make you for know say I appreciate your comment... Erhmm, what else sef Okay, sleep don dey catch me...

Goodnight guys, ladies...

Contd.

Immediately, the engine of the chopper disintegrated and it's rear rotor housing component blew off. The chopper stalled in the air for some seconds, after which it slowly spun into the forest. Several minutes later, an explosion was heard.

'Jeez!!!', Damien screamed when they heard the explosion. They both stopped in their tracks and looked behind. They only saw smoke rising into the atmosphere from a distance. 'We have to keep going', Mustapha said as he grasped Damien by the arm. He shook his head as they continued on their way, walking swiftly.

Dawn was ascending as Damien and Mustapha were descending to the lower part of the road. Damien was exhausted. 'How come we've not met any military patrol vehicles on this road?', he asked Mustapha. 'We are still in Taliban territory. Military personnel are scared of patrolling these areas. They are often slaughtered', Mustapha replied. 'Then how come we've not seen any of the terrorists?', Damien asked again. 'Dude, I have no idea!', Mustapha shot back at him. Damien shrugged and concentrated his gaze on the road ahead.

'Hold it!! Drop your weapons!! Drop it!! Drop it!!!', the soldiers screamed at Damien and Mustapha, pointing menacing weapons at them.

They had walked for several hours without sighting any patrol vehicle, not even a sound of human movement, except those of birds and creatures in the forest.

They suddenly heard voices coming from the side of the road. They looked around, but they didn't see anyone. The voices were still screaming at them, 'On your knees!!! Go down!! Down!! Drop your weapons!!! Drop it!! Drop it!!'

Both of them were visibly confused. They didn't know what was happening due to the fact that they didn't see the persons issuing the commands. Mustapha took solace in the fact the persons were obviously not terrorists, they were most likely military. Educated. Not uncultured and barbaric like the terrorists. At least they would be given an opportunity express themselves. Mustapha quickly went down on his knees and dropped his rifle. Damien followed suit.

Four beastly looking fully camouflaged soldiers suddenly walked out of the bush beside the road with the rifles pointed at them. One of the soldiers, with eyes fixated on them, walked to were they knelt down and kicked their rifles away from them.

'Who the hell are you?', he asked.

'Please help us. We were kidnapped by the Talibans', Damien pleaded.

'Shut up!', the soldier barked at him.

'Please, you have to believe us', Damien continued, 'we escaped last night. We are trying to locate Col. Coker of the State Security Services, he knows who we are.'

'Col. Coker, you say?', the soldier asked looking into Damien's eyes.

'Yes', Damien replied.

The soldier concentrated his gaze at Damien for a while and looked at Mustapha. Mustapha looked unwavering, like he knew nothing bad was going to happen. 'What is your name?', the soldier asked looking at Damien. 'I'm Damien Abbah', he replied. 'And you?', he asked, looking at Mustapha. 'Mustapha Danladi', he replied, composed and self-poised.

Damien watched as the soldier looked at them menacingly. 'Watch them', he said to the other soldiers as he walked back into the bush.

After what seemed to Damien like ages, but in reality just some minutes, Damien heard a sound coming from behind him. He turned and saw a Jackal Armored Wheeled Vehicle coming down the road. The soldier who went into the bush walked out briskly with a more relaxed composure.

'You may get up', he said as he got to them. Both of them got up slowly and Damien tried stretching his body. 'Can we take our rifles?', Damien asked, pointing at the rifles on the floor. The soldier nodded. 'Then I guess our identity has been confirmed', he said to the soldier with a smirk on his face. 'You would have been dead by now if it wasn't', the Soldier told him.

The Armored Vehicle then drove beside them and a soldier came down and saluted the soldier talking with Damien. 'Take them to the Colonel', he said to him. 'Yes sir!', he replied.

'Mount on, guys', the soldier said to Damien and Mustapha, 'and good luck.' 'Good luck to you too', Damien replied.

Both of them climbed onto the Armored truck and the truck drove away, with Damien bidding goodbye to the evil forest of doom...

T.B.C

Chapter Fifteen

Immediately after the men were dismissed, Mr Daniel was still in the tent having a word with Col. Coker when his phone began ringing. 'Excuse me sir', he said to Col. Coker as he went out to receive the call.

"Hello..."

"Hello sir..."

"Oh Staci, how you doing?"

"I'm fine sir..."

"What's happening?"

"Erhhmm, sir... We've been synchronizing the data collected from your end and on analysis, we've noticed that there a chasm formed in the road leading to the northern entry of the camp. Hope you guys took cognizance of that?"

"Of course we did, and we would be doing a work-around through another path, though it's not on the map..."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah..."

"Sir, please can I ask a question?"

"Staci, go ahead. What is it?"

"Sir please, would you be going on that mission?"

**Laughs** "I would not. Why are you asking?"

"Nothing sir. I just want you to be safe..."

"Of course I would be. And thank you for your concern. I really appreciate."

"Goodbye sir... And stay safe..."

'Thanks', Mr Daniel said as he ended the call and went back in to continue his discussion with Col. Coker.

About and hour later, the six men were ready. They stood before Col. Coker and Mr Daniel receiving final mission instructions.

'Alright guys, let's move!', TL1 said after Col. Coker waved them off. They all ran towards the idling chopper. 'Safe hunting, guys!', Mr Daniel called out after them.


The time was 0600hours. Damien and Mustapha were exhausted. They had walked throughout the night, evading sentry posts, trying to find their way out of the forest. They finally did. They were now on the road directly at the outskirts of the forest. Both of them stood on the road, with both palms on their knees, tired, and contemplating which way to go.

'North or South? Which way do we go?', Damien asked Mustapha. 'South', Mustapha replied. 'Are you sure?', Damien asked him again. 'No', he replied. 'Great!', Damien muttered.

It was still dark as they continued walking south of the road. Damien hoped they were walking in the right direction. He thought about Funmi and how he had left her behind. He felt bad, but he had no choice. It was either he escaped alone or they both faced certain death as he was sure Funmi couldn't handle herself.

He was jolted back to reality as he heard a sound from the distance. Mustapha grabbed his arm and they both stopped at the same time. 'You hear that?', he asked him. Damien nodded. 'It sounds like a chopper', he said. 'This is wrong... This is wrong...', Mustapha muttered. 'What is it?', Damien asked. 'They shouldn't have sent a chopper in', Mustapha replied. 'Why?', Damien asked again. 'This guys recently acquired surface-to-air missiles. They can easily shoot it down', Mustapha shot back at him. 'Shiit!', Damien cursed, 'this is not good.'

Few minutes later, they both watched as the chopper flew over them. 'At least now we know we are headed in the right direction', Damien opined. Mustapha nodded. 'We have to move faster. These guys have no idea what they are in for. We have to warn them', he said while walking faster with Damien walking behind him.

'Gear up guys, ETA T-minus 3minutes', the pilot of the chopper called out to the men. Then he noticed something on his radar. A missile had been fired at them. He was frozen! 'Shiit! We are under attack! Hang on tight!', he screamed.

Immediately, his instinct and training took over. He knew he had to evade the missile and avoid crashing into the forest below. He also knew it was going to be difficult, because a surface-to-air missile had a simple purpose - to detect the exact heat signature of the fumes of an aircraft exhaust, follow it until it either hit the exhaust or it ran out of fuel. But ninety nine percent of the time, it always hit it's target.

The pilot immediately twirled the chopper and spit out a wide fan of gaseous emissions from the exhaust into the atmosphere. Then the tail of the chopper flipped the other way, with the engines screaming, and the fumes forming another random arc.

The missile followed the first arc made by the fumes while tightening it's radius towards a second arc. The chopper continued spiraling violently, forming different arcs with the fumes.

The missile continued following the various arcs of fumes the chopper made, arriving where the exhaust had been a split second ago but not finding it.

The pilot continued his maneuver frantically for several seconds till the missile finally caught up with the chopper and followed the trail of heat all the way into the starboard
engine itself, and then... BOOM!!! It exploded directly against the exhaust.

Immediately, the engine of the chopper disintegrated and it's rear rotor housing component blew off. The chopper stalled in the air for some seconds, after which it slowly spun into the forest. Several minutes later, an explosion was heard...

T.B.C

Thanks a lot guys, ladies for the prayers, messages, calls... I really appreciate the love. I'm fine now, by His grace...

@Saxwizard, thanks bro... I'm fine now.
@mekky05...
@Hawlahscho... Boss, I salute.

real86:
Thanks for the update + thank God you are back. What ever happened? It took a while.

Thanks bro... Was trying to resolve some personal wahala jor... Hopefully I'll drop updates more often now...

Dedicated to Yetundegold. Thanks dear, I really Appreciate...

Contd.

'Gentlemen, may I have your attention?', Col. Coker asked while facing the men standing in a makeshift tent. They all shuffled and the tent went quiet.

There were about sixteen men in the tent. Some of them were personnel from the SSS office, some of them soldiers attached to the unit, while about three of them were computer analysts siting on chairs clacking on their keyboards.

There was a satellite generated map of the area projected on a screen and Col. Coker was standing beside it.

'Funmilola Coker and Damien Abbah', Col. Coker began while maintaining eye contact with each of the men, 'were kidnapped some days ago on the streets of Lagos. We believe them to be held here by the Taliban group.'

'Based on the information we have and given the satellite thermal imagery of the area, this building', he said pointing at a particular spot on the map, 'is where we believe Miss Funmilola to be held.'

'You guys would be dropped off here, using the trees of the forest as cover and taking this path through the trees to get to the building.'

'What about the male hostage?', one of the men asked.

'He was able to make a run for it', Mr Daniel, who was standing beside Col. Coker replied. 'The last time we were in communication with him, he was asked to remain in position, but the last thermal scan of the area indicated that he was not. He's definitely on the move and right now we do not have his exact location.'

'So how do we get to identify him, sir', a Soldier asked.

'He would most likely not be in your area of operation, so you wouldn't have to worry about him. As I'm sure you are aware, you are to treat any contact as hostile and very dangerous', Mr Daniel replied.

'What if he is in the vicinity of the operation, sir?', another soldier asked. 'If he's really within the vicinity, I believe he should be able to identify himself with you guys', Col. Coker replied.

'Andrew?', Col. Coker called as he looked towards the lead computer analyst.

'Erhm-m, yes', Andrew replied, slightly stuttering. 'The final thermal scan carried out some minutes ago revealed that most of the terrorists are concentrated at the southern part of the area, most likely the major point of entry when we are to invade. However, there are very few contacts around the building were we believe Miss Funmi is held, so there should be little resistance in getting her out.'

Col. Coker spoke up again. 'Gentlemen, the time frame of this operation is ten minutes, from the beginning to the end. There is no time for any lapse. Six of you have been selected for this covert mission...'

He mentioned the names of the men selected for the mission and asked if anyone had objections. No one did. He continued giving instructions and after several minutes, his dismissed them and asked them to make their final preparations....

T.B.C tomorrow guys, ladies. Sorry for the seemingly short update. I suffered some data loss earlier and had retype from scratch. Would continue tomorrow by His grace. Thank you all for your support. It's appreciated. Goodnight ladies, guys...

Chapter Fourteen

'What do we do now?', Damien whispered as he crouched behind Mustapha in the midst of some shrubs.

They were both watching a group of men walking around their duty post in the middle of the night, with a small bonfire close to them. They couldn't see clearly through the night goggles they wore, so they took it off. They could then see the men clearly, but the men couldn't see them.

There were about four men in the group, pacing as they pointed their rifles to no one in particular. It was obvious they've been informed of the escape and they were at high alert.

Mustapha knew their drills. He knew that under normal conditions, just one of the men would have been awake while the others would have taken turns in sleeping till it was morning. But right now, they were all awake. It was a stalemate.

They had walked through the forest, stealthily evading sentry posts and guards roaming around the forest, looking for them.

Mustapha didn't have details of the rescue operation. He wished he did, as it would have enabled him plan better. He didn't know the mode of entry of the rescue team neither, either by air or by land. But he suspected that entry through air would be too dangerous. His aim was to get out of the forest and hopefully meet those in charge so as to give them firsthand information before they invaded the camp.

Mustapha knew the terrorists must have noticed his absence by now, but he wasn't bothered. He knew there was no way he could have allowed Damien walk through the forest alone that night. He wouldn't have survived it. Besides, if he got caught, he didn't know how well he would be able to withhold information when tortured. Damien already knew about him. If Al-Zawari found that out, both of them would be as good as dead. He couldn't risk it, so he was stuck with protecting Damien.

Mustapha continued watching the men keenly, contemplating his next line of action. He studied the movements of the men and noticed that one of them talked briefly with one of the men and then went away from where the others stood.

'Wait here', Mustapha whispered to Damien as he got up and swiftly but quietly slid into the darkness. 'Where are you going to?', Damien whispered back at him, but he got no response. Mustapha was already gone.

Mustapha put back on his night goggles and stealthily walked in the darkness. He rounded behind the post of the men, crouching briefly occasionally to avoid detection. He finally found who he sort out for - the man who walked away from the others.

Mustapha found him squatted, with his back towards him. He didn't know if he was stooling or just urinating. He didn't care. The man's guards was lowered and he had to take advantage.

He brought out his pen knife and pushed the button at the side. It made a silent 'click' sound and the blade shot out at the front.

He held the knife and walked silently towards the man. The man was urinating and was about getting up since he was through when Mustapha came up behind him and threw his left hand around his throat. In the same swift motion, he brought up his knife and stabbed the man through his ear.

His death was instantaneous. Very quick and soundless. Mustapha laid him on the ground and drew out his knife. Blood gushed out. He cleaned the knife on the shirt of the man and dragged the man deeper into the bushes. Later on, he hid behind a tree and waited. 'One down, three to go', he muttered.

Several minutes later, Mustapha was still not back. Damien continued watching the men and noticed that the man who left was not back either. Suddenly he saw three of the men conferring. Instructions were issued and one of them nodded. He went off, obviously to look for the other man who didn't come back.

Damien continued watching patiently and noticed that the men were getting agitated. Their colleagues were not back. One of them pointed to the other that he should go and check out what was wrong. He shook his head and insisted that the other went on his own. They began haggling for several seconds until they both agreed to go together. Damien watched as both men walked into the darkness. He knew Mustapha would have killed the other two men, but he didn't know if he would be able to handle these two men at the same time, so he left his place of hiding and crept after them.

Mustapha watched from a distance as the two men came towards him, pointing their rifles as they went. Some minutes earlier, one of the men had already come through that same route. He had waited patiently for the man to pass by him before he grabbed him from the back and snapped his neck. Silent and deadly. No questions asked.

But this time around, he knew he couldn't take two of them at a time. They were with their rifles and he knew they would shoot at any slightest sign of attack.

The men had walked closer to him now. He could see them clearly, but they couldn't see him. He pointed his rifle which was still affixed with the silencer and took an aim at one of them. He waited briefly. He knew he only had one shot at this. No room for mistakes. Then he fired. The bullet hissed through the air and a fifth of a second later, it found it's target - the forehead of one of the men. Perfect shot.

Immediately, the man slumped on the ground and his partner noticing it, began firing wildly into the air. Mustapha quickly crouched behind the tree, and bullets spurted at the bark of the tree and flew all around him. Then it stopped as quickly as it started. No more gunshots.

Mustapha felt the man was trying to reload and he knew that was his turn to take advantage. He took a peep and saw someone walking towards him without caution. He quickly took an aim, then he stopped. He was stunned.

Walking towards him was Damien, grinning wildly with his rifle slung above his shoulder. 'You can come out now, dunce', he called out with a grin. 'I guess now we are even', he said to Mustapha as he came out from behind the tree. 'I told you to wait there!', Mustapha shot back at him, 'I had this under control.' 'Don't worry, you are always welcome', Damien said, patting Mustapha on the shoulder while still smiling.

'So how long till we are out of this god forsaken forest', Damien asked Mustapha. 'Not too long', Mustapha replied, 'just about seven clicks north of here and we should hit the road.' 'Still that far?', Damien nearly screamed back at him. 'Hurdle up! We have to get going', Mustapha shot back at him. 'Great!', Damien muttered in disgust...

T.B.C

Hawlahscho:
Dioxidane
Yoruba Version

Abeg no make me laugh this early morning jor...

Olofintoto:
Dear Dioxidane,
How are you? How is everything?
We really appreciate your efforts on the previous updates but do not stop the updates 'cos everybody is enjoying this story.
It would be of great pleasure if u can give us an update today.
Thanks.
Yours faithfully,
Reader.

Dear Olofintoto,

I'm fine. Hope you are too. Thanks for your 'vote of confidence'. The delay in updates is actually due to some personal issues which I've been trying to resolve. I'm terribly sorry about this, and I wish it were otherwise.

Updates today? I'm sorry, but I don't like making promises I'm not 100% sure of fulfilling. But by God's grace, I'll make up for all the time lost before the end of the week.

Once again, I'm sorry.

Yours __________

Dioxidane

Good morning ladies, guys...

Una wan kill me laughter this early morning o ... Three weeks?! Like seriously?? Calculating from the first day they were kidnapped (sometime around noon), till that night in the forest with Mustapha, they've spent about 3days. Yeah, just three days.

@theyomight got the answer correctly... Erhmm, oya post your account details make we send your prize.

Wishing y'all a lovely day ahead of you...

Dioxidane

Contd.

Cliccck, clicccck, cliccck, were the sounds he heard. 'Fuuuck', he nearly screamed. His rifle jammed. It wouldn't fire. He quickly crouched and tried readjusting the magazine. But some moments later, he looked up and saw five beams of torches flashing on him. 'Drop it!', the leader screamed down at him.

Damien was angry at himself. He had been too clumsy of late, and now he was going to pay for it with his life. He was wondering what he was going to do, and many ridiculous ideas ran through his head.

'Do I attack them?', he contemplated within himself. On a second thought, he knew he didn't stand a chance against the five men. Besides, he didn't know what their orders were, whether to bring him alive or not. One bullet from any of the men in the forehead could easily end his life. Judging from his proximity with that of the men, he concluded that there was nothing else he could do. He just had to surrender.

Damien knelt down and gently dropped his gun at his side, then he raised up his hand, looking around at the flashes of light around him.

The leader gave a command and two of his men marched forward. One of them was pointing his gun at Damien while the other went behind him to drag him up.

Damien watched the man pointing the gun at him and wondered if the man would really shoot if he made any move.

He was still watching when he heard a slight hiss directly above him and the man who was pointing a gun at him slumped to the ground. A split second later, he heard another hiss and the man who was behind him was already on the ground too.

Everything happened so fast. Within seconds, Damien swiftly picked up his gun and ran towards the nearest tree, ducking behind it.

Rapid exchange of gun fire had already begun and the men didn't notice when he ran because they were concentrated on shooting at the invisible target.

Damien cocked his gun and took a shot. This time around, it fired. He began taking carefully aimed shots at the men. The men had already taken defensive positions and one of them had already targeted Damien, firing shots at his position, then it stopped. He wondered who had come to his rescue, but he had a fair idea.

About a minute later, it was all over as quickly as it started. The men had stopped firing. It was either they were dead or injured or they had run out of bullets. Damien hoped it was the earlier.

Damien was still crouched behind the tree when Mustapha crept towards the men he was shooting at. Two of the men were dead while the leader lay on the ground mortally wounded. Mustapha stood above him and the leader raised his eyes and looked up at him.

'Yo-oo-u', he tried to voice out. He tried raising his gun, but Mustapha kicked it off. 'Go fu*ck your seventy virgins', Mustapha said as he pointed his gun at him and burst his brains. He kicked the others and confirmed they were dead. No stories.

'You can come out now dunce', Mustapha called out as he turned towards the tree where Damien hid. Damien was already out and was watching him.

'Don't call me that', Damien retorted as he walked towards him. 'That's exactly what you are you fool!', Mustapha screamed back at him. 'You plan on getting yourself killed? 'Cos I can freaking do that for you, right here, right now!', he screamed at him again, pushing the silencer of his rifle against his chest.

'I had the situation under control', Damien said, 'I had a plan.' 'You wished you did!', Mustapha quipped. 'And what exactly was your plan', he asked him. 'That's not important now', Damien replied. 'Thanks for helping me out', he added.

'Don't just get me killed', Mustapha said. 'Where you able to make the call?', he asked Damien. Damien nodded. 'And?', he asked him again. 'They said they have our present location, they would be moving in tomorrow and we should maintain our present position, and... I guess that's all', Damien replied.

'Ok... But we obviously can't stay here. The others must have heard the sound of the gun shots and would be on their way here as we speak', Mustapha said, looking around.

'Are you not going back to the camp?', Damien asked him. 'And leave you out here alone?', Mustapha asked him. 'I told you earlier that you wouldn't last up to six hours, but I was wrong. You wouldn't even last up to an hour', Mustapha said.

Damien smiled slyly. 'You are right', he thought, 'I guess I've lost my touch.'

'Gather the mags of the guns', Mustapha said to Damien as he moved the bodies of the men beneath the scrubs around.

'What about Funmi? The lady...', Damien asked as he clicked off the third magazine from the gun. 'She's safe there for now. They wouldn't harm her... yet', Mustapha replied. 'You still have the map, right?', Mustapha asked him. 'Yeah', Damien replied.

Mustapha was moving the last body when he sensed something around, and he dropped the body. 'Let's move', he called out to Damien and they slid deeper into the forest.

T.B.C

P.S: Thanks guys for your feedback. As usual your 'likes', 'shares' and 'comments' are very much appreciated...

**Modified**

Quick question: How long have they (Damien and Funmi) spent in captivity, counting from when they were initially kidnapped??

First correct answer gets something...

dearpreye:
Bro, it's a deplorable and depressing trend. I've not watched the TV for more than 15 minutes at one seating for the past 6 months. I can't keep watching people who are making millions every day. Madness!

All I can do is surround my home with books and encourage my family to read. That's the best I can do.

I thought I was the only one. I get easily bored now when I watch movies.

In your previous comment, you blamed the government. I wouldn't really agree with that. The bulk of the blame should go to the parents. When I was younger, I always saw my dad reading like he was preparing for an exam, when he wasn't. Watching him do that instilled in me the love of reading. I still it that if I had read as much as my dad read when he was younger, perhaps I might have been more intelligent.

Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.”⁠ Children easily absorb things when they are younger. I watched a program yesterday where a young boy of seven had already mastered the art of playing the piano. Who taught him? His father! That goes to show that the example parents set for their children is very important for their well being. They shouldn't shy away from it.

dearpreye:
OP, that this thread won't attract many comments and views is a huge testament to your assertion.

I'm sure if it was a thread about celebrities or any other ludicrous content of no present or future benefit(s) to them, you'll see them rushing to 'book space'... I shake my for youths of today...

Igwe Lalasticlala, please come and see this.