Chang was blindfolded in the darkness with her hands bound behind her. She lay on the ground with her cheek pressed against the cold stone floor. Every now and then she ran and reran affirmations in her mind trying to retain her sanity.
In the darkness it was hard to tell whether it was seconds or hours or even days that were slipping past her.
'My name is Chang Xie Dumont.
I am 23 years old.
I was born in San Francisco, California
The sole daughter of Li Hua Dumont and Hénri Dumont.
Hénri Dumont, my father,who has been deceased since April 25, 2016. Eight days after my 21st birthday.
I am married to JianAmal Liang, who is 26 years old.
I married him last year when I met him on a business trip in Shanghai.
I left him and filed for a divorce and hid myself in shame and regret in the city of Angels, after his father shamed me and tried to drive a wedge between us.
He found me, and saved me, and took me and my mother to his mother's home country.
I spent a beautiful month with Jian in the Republic of Lahat.
I was kidnapped by the same men who Jian's father sent to try to drive me away again.
They drove me many hours away, I think to the south and east, based on the way the sun and moon was positioned.
Thank you dad for all the survival skills you taught me.
They put me in a hidden bunker in a desert area.
They left, after hearing a call came over the radio about fleas chasing a dog.
They told me they left me water near my face before leaving.
I am bound and blindfolded.
I am alone.
.. I am alone..
----
Hao Jin Ying finally managed to bring life back into the machine, after tinkering around with the engine a bit, and topping up the fluids. The machine had been sitting there unused for years, only in emergencies was it going to be used. As there was usually none, it had sat neglected.
Hao wiped her forehead and quickly put on her headset and protective sun glasses. After flipping the switches, she was rewarded with the whirr of the helicopter blades coming into action. The guard seated beside her, looked nervous as he strapped himself in beside her.
She pointed at the protective headset, motioning for him to put it on. Once on and he would be able to hear her question over the blades she questioned the man again.
"Where did you last see him again?"
"We were in a village a few hours to the south and slightly west, but we traveled another hour east, to find the house. Effendi Jian Amal is following the tracks that led to the south and slightly east."
"Hmm, alright. Well you better hold on tight. We have a lot of ground to cover quickly, the sun's already been up for about an hour." Hao Jin Ying flicked a couple more switches and pulled on the control stick quickly bringing them to the air.
As soon as they were at a suitable height she slammed the controls forward tipping them at a forward angle as the rocketed forward headed south. As they shot forward the man beside her had a slight green hue to his face as he clutched onto the straps that held him in a white-knuckle grip.
----
Liang Jian Amal crouched with the men waiting for the dust to disperse, so that they could clearly see the threat that they were dealing with. The other two vehicles that were still running made a wide sweep back and around in opposite directions, trying to pinpoint where the attack came from.
As the dust settled Liang Jian Amal and the other men peeked around the truck. More shots rang out from what liked like a hillside aimed at the truck that was sweeping around to their right. The shots one after another chased after the truck as it manueved and weaved avoiding being hit.
"Look, there!" The man beside Liang Jian Amal pointed out to the hillside about a thousand meters to the front and left. There was a squat building that almost blended into the background, a muzzle of a machine gun poked out the window, the end erupting; illuminating their position.
'Shit even with an AKM, which had the longest range out of all our weapons, it could only reach about a third of the distance of what their weapon was capable of. We need to get closer.'
Liang Jian Amal looked at the hilly distance between them and the building and quickly came up with a plan. He pulled the men around him closer in a shared his idea with them.
One of the men after hearing the plan immediately put it into action. He repeat fired several shots in an S formation in between them and the building, creating a dust screen again.
A few shots fired over in their direction before training back on the truck that was still trying to swerve and work its way in closer. Liang Jian Amal reached into the truck quickly and pulled out the AKM that had been brought for him, he would need the distance.
The other truck had already swooped in and around to the other side of the building; and the men had dismounted, slowly closing in the noose.
Once the attention was away from them, Liang Jian Amal and the men scattered and ran forward through the dust cloud. They focused on decreasing the distance as much as they could while there was cover, before hiding behind whatever small copse or shrub that was available.
By the time the dust cloud had drifted away, the men had hidden themselves from the shooter's eyes. They had only managed to clear a hundred meters at most though, they would need to repeat the procedure at least a few more times to get within firing range.
The men on the other side of the building had managed to get close enough, coming into the blindspot of the enemy as they were distracted by the other two groups. They were unable to hit the man from their position but , they started to fire near the window where the gun muzzle stook out, effectively blinding them.
A man kicked open the door from the inside, and started firing at the men that had snuck up on their left on the high ground. He only managed to make a few wild shots up at them before he was gunned down to the ground. He hit the ground hard his gun flying from his hand.
'One down.'
"Almaeiz al'um!"1 A voice shrieked out from the outside and the machine gun started to spray wildly around trying to catch anyone. One bullet skimmed off the ground near Liang Jian Amal's left shoulder, narrowly missing him.
'That was a bit too close for comfort, we need to take them out.' He looked at the area before turning his sight back on the enemy.
Liang Jian Amal waited until the gunfire turned away from him and started to run towards the building. He managed to eliminate more of the distance before throwing himself to the ground narrowly avoiding getting riddled with holes.
He lay there panting for a minute, before rolling over and preparing to go again. One of the other men tried to repeat what he had just done, but didn't make it for than a few steps before he was gunned down. Liang Jian Amal grimaced at the sight, and decided to wait a minute more as the enemy was taking a "spray and pray" action, making it harder to get any closer.
The men on the hillside left one man on the high ground to cover them, and to keep the man operating the machine gun blind. The rest started to work their way down to the doorway that faced them their AKMs held up and at the ready.
Liang Jian Amal lay on his belly holding his weapon in two hands watching the men make their way to the doorway, grouping up before rushing in. Strangled cries came out of the room; and the gun that had been going after the remaining truck, and the three men trying to advance by foot, went silent.
The men took advantage of the break and, started to rush all together to the small building.
The three that went inside dragged out a struggling man who shouted curses at them and their mother's. They shoved him to the ground as he was encircled him. One of the men that had been in the truck with Liang Jian Amal ran up and punched the kneeling man in the jaw, causing him to spit blood on the dirt.
"You killed Altan! You fucker!" The young man screamed as he lay another punch on him before being pulled back.
"Erol, calm yourself, we need information for now, you can beat him to death later. We need to find our countrywomen and what these dogs have done with them." One of the older men in the group held onto the younger man firmly and tried to talk some sense into him.
Fire burned in the younger man's eyes as he looked down at the man wiping his mouth on the ground, before walking to the dead man who had been driving the truck they were in. He layed him gently on the ground, closing his eyes, as he kneeled beside him, performing last rights over his corpse.
A chuckle started to come from the man surrounded on the ground, the chuckle started to grow to a laugh before it was cut off into coughing. The older man kicked the man on the ground in the chest, silencing him.
"Dog, you just killed several good men one of them being that man's older brother. You will tell us everything we want to know."
"Or else?" the man on the ground scoffed up at the man.
"Or else nothing, you will talk sooner or later, though I hope for later. You see we like to start small take it just one bit at a time. We'll start with one hand, one finger at a time until you feel like talking. We like to remove the nail first, then take it one knuckle at a time." The older man smiled maliciously down at the man who started to pale on the ground.
"Do your worst, I will not tell you shit."
Liang Jian Amal glared down at the man before going inside with a couple of the men. He was eager to find Chang, everything else, as far as he was concerned, could wait until later.
Strangled screams started to come from outside as the men tried to pry answers from locked lips. There was a small doorway, the machine gun planted at the window, unmanned, as well as a two-way radio sitting on a small table in the center of the room.
Liang Jian Amal turned the radio on, testing it, the sound of static answered him. Not hearing anything, he turned his attention to the doorway and away from the radio.
Liang Jian Amal walked to the doorway, turning the handle he found that it was locked. Bracing himself, he took a step back before landing a heavy kick on it, breaking it open. Several women shrieked and screamed from inside the room as the door swung inwards violently.
Inside the dark room over a dozen women were huddled together on the ground, as far from the door as possible. Some of the women carried obvious marks of abuse on their face and were in various states of dress and undress, a couple clutched rags to their bodies trying to cover themselves. Every one of the women were in a state of disarray and stared at him, terrified, like rabbits caught in a cage staring at the hunter.
To his relief and distress, the face he was looking for was not in there. There was another in there that he recognized though, and his eyes lit up slightly.
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