Mission For Freedom

"We're on a mission Justin. We cannot take extra loads with us." Kenji spoke.

"Yes, you're right. But what about the kid?"

Silence reigned over them. They can't just keep the child here. If they were the only survivors, then they wouldn't have thought of tagging them along. But what about the poor innocent child? Will she be stuck in here forever?

"We should take them along." Kate spoke. "For the sake of the child."

Another moments of silence flew pass them. All of them were having a second thought about the decision they were about making.

"Show us where the kid is." Justin demanded. They nodded their heads and led the way.

They took another route to get to the building they've been hiding for years now. It was an abandoned company with forty storeys. They took the stairs and it was really a tiring one. It was as if the journey on the staircase was endless. They paused for a while to grab some of their strengths and continued the long staircase journey. Finally! They heaved a sigh and their shoulder sagged in relief. It was the thirty-fifth flour and it felt like a stair to an endless place. They opened the door and stepped in. Just by right side of the room, they saw a child playing with her toy. She ran to Eli as soon as she spotted him and hugged him. He carried her up.

"How's my little baby doing?" He asked pinching her nose.

"I'm hungry." She spoke with such innocent and angelic voice.

Jennine's face was round and her short black hair was packed up into two ponytails. Even if they all looked dirty, they did their very best to take care of Jennine.

Eli who spotted her and took her had already seen her as his child from the very first day. Even if he had to starve himself, he will make sure she eats everyday. Besides, she is just a kid - a growing child and she must be fed daily. He ran his fingers through his scattered hair.

"Okay. But first, meet our new friends."

She looked at them with a smile on her face. "Hello..., I'm Jennine."

Binna walked and scooped her from him. It had been so long since she last held a child and this moment made her miss her son even more.

"Hello Jennine. I'm Binna."

"Nice to meet you Ma'am Binna." She said, smiling.

"I'm Kate." Kate spoke pinching her cheeks softly.

Everyone introduced themselves one after the other. Justin was the last. He slowly approached and took her in his arms. She reminded him a lot of his daughter. Even if it had only been two weeks, there was not a day passing by that he never thought of her.

"I'm Justin." Rubbing her face with the back of his finger.

"Nice to meet you too." Her stomach suddenly made a growling sound. "I'm hungry." She spoke in an almost crying voice.

Eli immediately took her away from Justin and quickly prepared something for her to eat. Shortly after, he handed everyone a plate of food and they began eating.

"So how did you guys ended up here?" Justin asked them.

"I lost my family too." Alain went first. "I mean, they were all infected and later changed to zombies. I had a brother then, so I ran to seek shelter in his house as it might be a safe place, also, for the both of us to think of how to leave the country together. But when I went over to his place, his life less body was dangling on a fan. He committed suicide."

Two years ago, when there was no way out of the country anymore, all boarders have been shut close, some attempted in killing themselves. To them, it was best to kill themselves than getting infected by those creatures.

"My wife and children were able to escape the country that day. And since then, I haven't set eyes on them nor heard from them. Nathaniel and Alain according to them, their wives and children were turned to zombies." Eli explained further.

Everyone's face suddenly flashed with sadness. A lot had happened in this country and they understood their pain.

"So how did you all meet?" Binna asked.

"We were all running and seeking for a hideout when we bumped into each other." Nathaniel who had round glasses and brown hair spoke. "In the process of everything, that was when he found Jennine, crying in the middle of the road close to a woman who was gradually turning."

"Is that her real name?" Kim asked.

"We have no idea who she is or what her name is." Nathaniel continued. "We just gave her that name and it seemed she liked it a lot."

They turned their heads to the child who was now playing with her toy after finishing her meal.

"You guys did a great job in keeping her." Kate spoke not tearing her gaze from Jennine.

The three of them gave a faint smile.

"What about you guys. What brought you here?" Eli asked.

"We're slaves." Justin spoke. "We're held captives by some men and sold out to different people around the world for different activities - including drug smuggling. We were given an opportunity to be set free. But just like they say, everything comes with a price." He heaved a sigh and threw his head from Jennine back to them. "The only way for us to be set free and start our lives over again is to bring the golds buried in the capital."

"Golds....?" They asked, wide eyes.

"Yes. It is our only chance to be set free if we get those golds."

"I see." Eli nodding his head. "So you're all on a mission for freedom."

They nodded their heads.

"But why the capital?" Nathaniel asked. "The capital is in the heart of the country and it's well loaded and stocked with zombies. And y'all know that this country is a place of no return and you still took such dangerous steps? What for? Just for freedom?"

They heaved a silent sigh. "That's why we need your help." Justin continued.

Eli, Nathaniel and Alain's gaze were now fixed sharply on them.

"We need to find a way to the capital as soon as possible. We need to get in there and come back out without getting infected."

"There's only one way in and one way out of the capital." Alain explained. "The capital is well loaded and bombarded with those zombies. So you shouldn't think of how you should get in, your main focus should be how do you pass them without them spotting any of you. Remember, it has the highest population of zombies in this country."

Their hearts shivered in fear. They're all aware of that but their hearts cannot help but palpitate anytime someone reminds them.

"To cut it short, you guys should just abort this mission." Alain continued. "This is an impossible mission and I don't see any chance of anyone making it out there without getting spotted."

They subconsciously swallowed. He just added more fuel to their scared body and now their hearts were drumming wild.

"It's late now. I think we should all just go to bed and think of a way tomorrow." Eli spoke after everywhere went quiet for a while.

•••••

Hey guys, do add this book to your library and I'd be happy if you leave some comments too.

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