Brush With Death.

A week later, Cedric decided to head to the airport alone to acquire the flight tickets to Rome. He informed his wife.

"Wish me luck." He said to his wife while she helped him get ready. Little Adrian was still asleep. Sadly, his schooling was put on hold for fear of him getting kidnapped.

Florence giggled and gave him a deep kiss. "You'll make it back in one piece, right?" She asked him, her face mirroring the look of a worried wife.

"I sure will, sweetheart. But you should've let me use the serum on you, you know?" Cedric asked.

"About that. You know I'm not a fan of those kind of experimental testing. The results are 50-50. They're risky. Not guaranteed." Florence retorted.

"Okay, Hector. Just be safe out there, okay? I love you." She said and kissed him again as he went out the door.

Once outside, he made a phone call.

"Hey, Tommy." He said into the phone.

"Cedric, my man. What's up?" Tommy replied.

"I need a favor. I'm headed to the airport now. I gotta secure flight tickets for my family. We're gonna have to leave this country. Knowing Boris, he'll probably come after my family while I'm away." Cedric narrated.

"Say no more, brother. I anticipated the same thing. That's why I placed men at the estate entrance and I blocked the other gate with a bulldozer. And I put three snipers and three Gurkha friends of mine on watch at your house. So worry not. I've got you covered."

Cedric was shocked. He was going to just ask for men to look after his family but what Tommy was doing was just too much.

"Tommy are you okay with that? Won't that tell on your credit card? I should pay for this. It's too much." Cedric said.

"Leave it to my credit card, brother. And besides they're mostly my friends. So don't worry about a thing." Tommy casually replied.

"Thank you Tommy. I owe you." Cedric said.

Tommy chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He said then Cedric ended the call.

Tommy took one of his cars and drove straight to the airport. Before going, he instructed Florence to put the house on lockdown and stay inside.

While driving out of the estate, he saw some men on military camouflage in a car which had its windows down. On seeing him, they saluted while Cedric smiled and nodded. Then he floored the accelerator and got to the main highway then to the airport.

While driving, he had a strong urge to empty his bladder. So he hit the brake slowly on an attempt to park the car.

The brake was unresponsive.

He hit it again, harder this time. The result was the same. Even the handbrake was like an unresponsive joystick in his hands.

Frustrated, he stomped on the floor of the car. His feet felt something under the car mat. Using his toes, he was able to remove the mat and what he saw under it made his heart skip. It was an explosive device.

And what was left on it was thirty seconds!

Cedric understood it now. Whoever planted the bomb expertly cut the brakes so he won't be able to get out and his cause of death would be brake failure.

He tried opening the door and jumping out. But jumping out at such high speeds would cause immense bruises and cuts.

He came up with an idea. Using his strength, he used his shoulders to hit against the door, hoping to dismember the car door and use it to as a landing pad.

Ok the third hit, the car door fell off, together with him. The door slid on the concrete, with Cedric atop it, creating sparks as it went. Then it stopped. Cedric looked back at his car, which was still driving.

BOOM!

The car exploded, creating a small mushroom cloud. Cedric stood and dusted his clothes. Then he examined himself. There was a bruise on his left shoulder, which he used in hitting the car door off its hinges. Apart from that, there wasn't anything else. Just his dusty clothes.

"Ah, Boris. How far could you go just to get this serum, huh?" He silently asked himself and then proceeded to walk to find shelter from the scorching sun. He tapped his pockets and was relieved to find out that his phone was unscathed.

After walking for a while, he found a fueling station and went to the fastfood behind the place. A female attendant approached him and asked what he'll like to take. He opted for just orange juice.

After she left, Cedric called his wife and told her about their ordeal. She also told him she heard gunshots and saw two men lying dead in front of the garage. Then some men came and searched their corpses and found some disc-shaped IEDs, like the ones he found in his car before losing it. After her narration, he advised her to remain indoors and hung up after wishing each other well.

Next, he placed a call to Tommy and told him about the incident. Tommy was angry. His men reported to him about the incident at his house but he didn't know that the car Cedric took out was already rigged.

Then he requested a vehicle to get to the airport since he was just thirty minutes away after driving for about two hours. Tommy asked for his location, which he quickly relayed to him. Tommy told him to hold still and that he'll be there in less than an hour.

About forty minutes later, a military vehicle and an SUV rode into the fueling station. The driver of the military vehicle told the fuel attendant to fill up the tank of both vehicles and paid.

Tommy, in his buff form, came down and walked confidently into the fastfood joint. Standing at the door, he scanned the place for Cedric and found him solitary on a table, with an unfinished glass of orange juice.

On seeing him, Cedric stood up as they exchanged handshakes and hugs.

"This is crap. This Boris guy has guts. Planting an IED right under the military's noses. Let him wait till I get him. I'mma pulverize him." Tommy threatened while munching on the cake he ordered after listening to the story of how Cedric brushed with death.

Cedric chuckled. "I just need to get to the airport, that's all. I don't want to draw any attention. Can you help?"