LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT - SEASON 2 CHAPTER 46
“Hold!!!” Zach suddenly shouted that made Draco pause as he looked at Mr. Big, asking for his Boss’ signal.
“How about my right-hand man? Let my right-hand man exercise his fists on that loser. Let’s see how good of a fighter the CEO of the Liu Group can be.” Zach suggested mockingly, with a one-sided smile on his face.
“I actually know this guy, Mr. Big. And to be honest, he just rubs me up the wrong way… Just because he’s from a powerful and wealthy family, he thinks he can always have things his way. I want his head!” he said appearing calm and relaxed, even looking slightly amused at the thought of having Jeru’s head, but had actually been cursing inwardly, because the signal that they had been waiting for still had not arrived.
Mr. Big arched a brow as he asked, “You know this man personally? So you are probably also a part of high society?”
Mr. Big’s curiosity on Wolf’s identity was once again piqued… But Wolf only chuckled as he replied, “Probably… You can keep on guessing, Mr. Big, but one thing is for sure… this guy annoys the hell outta me. He’s an arrogant fellow who needs to be taught a lesson!!!”
Thea gasped, hearing the familiar voice from the man with a mask. ‘Zach…’ she mused as her heart almost jumped out of her chest with joy. They still had hope! Zach was here and it could only mean that the Military back-up would arrive soon.
“Arrogant?! Me?!” Jeru sn_gg@ed inside because he could feel that Zach had meant every word he said, putting emphasis on the word ‘arrogant’. He spit out the blood in his mouth and wiped it off his chin as soon as Draco released him.
He looked around and assessed the situation on how he could move fast to protect Thea. That was his task at hand while Zach was in charge of Leon.
Zach then looked at Torin after Mr. Big agreed to his request. Torin widened his eyes at Zach saying, “Me? Why me?” But Zach ignored him as he gestured him to go and hit Jeru.
Torin attacked Jeru in haste but Jeru quickly dodged it. Jeru understood that Zach was just stalling for time when he suggested that Torin fought with him instead of Draco.
‘Dammit, it looks like the signal isn’t here yet!’ Jeru mused as he exchanged meaningful glances with Torin.
Jeru noticed that Zach had vaguely been moving himself closer and closer to Mr. Big. If Zach could get ahold of Mr. Big, all of his men would have to hold fire. He stretched his neck before he smirked at Torin.
Torin had a weary face when he saw Jeru’s smirk. ‘Darn it!’ He cursed silently. Jeru would definitely give them a good show… ‘Oh my poor body!’ He added silently as he prepared himself for Jeru’s attacks.
Jeru ran towards Torin but instead of fiercely fighting each other and giving each other a good blow, they were just scuffling, using the mixed martial arts techniques of striking and grappling as if they were just sparring with each other.
“Fu*cking hell, Boss!!! Are they kids playing around on the playground? What is this $h|t, Boss?” Complained Draco as he watched the two who were still wrestling with each other without actually making an effort to hurt each other.
Meanwhile, Leon’s face was blank as he observed the ongoing fight. He then shifted his look to Chin, and then at Thea.
‘Something is off!’ he mused…
He suddenly noticed a loophole in Chin’s story. Chin had told him that she was abducted by Jeru, but then somehow had managed to outwit him. But then again, how…?
He had observed Jeru’s movements. Even with his injuries Jeru was still able to dodge his opponent’s attacks with his swift and nimble movements as though he could read his opponent’s mind and predict the next move. That was not only a trait of a good fighter, but also that of a clever man. There was no way Chin was able to outwit him.
Moreover, he recalled that Jeru had been tied up when he boarded the ship. And judging from Jeru’s fighting ski||s, it could not have been possible for Chin to tie him up like that without Jeru’s cooperation.
So, there could only be one conclusion… Just as she said before, she was indeed trying to outwit someone. But instead of Jeru, the person whom she was trying to outwit was… him.
He looked at Chin once more and scoffed upon his own realization about the whole situation… This was a good show. A good show indeed. But instead of being the puppeteer, he ended up being the puppet instead.
He looked at Draco, giving him a silent signal with his gaze… Draco then signaled the men…
“Stop!” Leon shouted to Torin and Jeru…. Followed by his men who all aimed their guns at Jeru.
Thea’s eyes rounded as she gasped, “No!!!” Leon pulled his own gun, ready to point it directly at Jeru, but before he could fire a shot, Zach moved fast and locked his arm.
That time the red signal appeared in their contact lenses. “NOW!!!” Zach roared…
Torin and Snake quickly moved to Zach’s aid because Draco and his men were headed towards Leon who was engaged in a one-on-one fight with Zach, still holding his gun in his hand. The rest of Zach’s men expeditiously assumed a stand-off position against the rest of Leon’s men with their guns pointing at each other.
Jeru and Chin, on the other hand, ran towards Thea to protect her.
“Go get Thea!!!” shouted Leon to his men as he was struggling to fight Zach. “d@mn you! Who the hell are you!?” He burst out with gritted teeth as he tried his best to exchange blows with Zach.
But he was no match for Zach, the gun fell from his grip when Zach squeezed his wrist hard. Leon’s left hand tried to hold Zach’s neck but grabbed his mask and ripped it off his face instead.
“You!!!” Leon yelped in surprise upon realizing who Zach was. Drop of sweat started to form on his forehead. Wolf was Thea’s previous man!
“I should have ki||ed you before!” He bellowed in great anger and fury. Zach quickly grabbed Mr. Big’s collar as he swung his right fist on his face.
“Men like you should be the one to die!” Zach hissed as he threw another hard punch on Leon’s face and it landed on the bridge of his nose which made his blood splatter on the ground.
On the other side, Torin and Snake were having a hard time bringing Draco down as he was a big man. They had failed to dodge Draco’s steel-like fists that had slammed them to the ground, splattering guts and blood, as both of them ended up rolling on the ground.
After taking care of Torin and Snake, Draco looked at Mr. Big’s situation…
“Zach!!!” Thea shouted when she saw Draco who was closing in on Zach and was just about to attack him.
Zach failed to dodge Draco’s lunging blow from behind. Draco then promptly struck a blazing roundhouse kick at Zach which sent him staggering sideways.
But Zach managed to stable himself straight away and immediately turned around to face Draco. He then swiftly closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Draco’s head and held him up as he th-ru_sted some wicked knee shots into Draco’s ribs. Draco wobbled and Zach, who didn’t want to lose this golden chance, quickly gave him an uppercut that sent Draco crashing into the ground.
“Boss! We have a problem! We detect movements towards our ship!” shouted one of Mr. Big’s men.
Then suddenly gunshot sounds roared in the area!
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 d@mn 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 with 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 $h00ting.
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!’