15 Friendship in the making!
"How lucky I am today!" said the man grinning as he picked up the AK-47 rifle. He walked with slow and confident steps towards Ato.
Ato was still shocked from witnessing what just happened to their neighbor, Yorme. And his ear was still ringing due to the air craft's explosion.
People around him were dying and he's not sure if he can still bear them. And now, he will die too!
The man paused and raised his rifle. Ato closed his eyes. He had no choice but to accept death. But before the man can press the trigger, a black Hummer hit him suddenly! He was thrown meters away! There's no way he'll survive the impact.
The car abruptly stopped and the door opened. It was a Hummer H2 Sport Utility Truck to be specific, hence, its body is really tough. Its V8 GM engine could churn out 393 horsepower and was one of the fastest hummer vehicles.
"ATO, ATO, hop in!" Janoy shouted at Ato from inside the vehicle.
Ato was surprised to hear his name. But he was more surprised to see that it was Janoy calling at him!
Though his encounter with Janoy always led him to anger, the moment he saw Janoy's concerned face this time, calling at him in order to rescue him, his feelings towards Janoy suddenly changed. He became elated and excited with the welcoming and protective gesture of Janoy. He saw it immediately as friendship in the making!
Ato moved his legs and did all his best to run towards the car.
As soon as Ato was in, Janoy closed the door and the humvee accelerated immediately. Driving the car was Janoy's mother. Her name was Elena. They were heading towards the main road with insane speed.
Both Ato and Janoy were extremely frightened. It's Ato's first time to ride a car running at this speed. It was also Janoy's first time to see his mother drive so fast.
Also, the road was quite difficult because of scattered debris and so driving fast was really risky. Ato didn't know who the driver was but he guessed correctly that she's Janoy's mother. She hasn't talked to Ato yet. She's just silent and concentrating on the road. She appeared really anxious.
The two boys were not in the mood to talk too. Perhaps, Janoy felt awkward talking friendly to Ato after all that he'd done.
Out of Ato's excitement and sense of gratitude, part of him wanted to talk to Janoy but he realized that, like her mother, he's extremely anxious too.
Though, Elena was quite disturbed, she drove like a pro. Not known to both Ato and Janoy, Elena was a drag racer. She often participate in underground drag racing. Elena developed this hobby because it became her outlet of all her frustrations over her husband.
Her husband was a head Engineer working abroad. His infidelity led her to drag racing. Their complicated relationship and his always being away resulted to Janoy behaving rudely.
The four towns were connected by a single main road. Going to the north was Quiet Woods. Quiet Lake town was the last town in the south. Across the main road were the other two towns. Janoy's mother intended to go to the north once they reach the main road.
The next town going further to the south was over thirty kilometers away. It was separated by forest and a river that flow from Quiet Lake.
They were speeding past corn and grass fields and some creeks at their right and few abandoned houses and establishments at their left.
When they're around two hundred meters from the crossing going to the main road, Elena noticed the blockade ahead. It was blocking one lane of the road. And a wooden beam is blocking the other lane.
She saw two human figures crossed the road. So she's certain there were people there. But she can't recognize from her distance whether the crossing checkpoint was of the military or the enemy's.
Nonetheless, she knew that the probability that the checkpoint is by the rebels was higher. She slowed down.
Elena knew that they're in a very precarious situation. She needed to know as early as possible that the checkpoint was not of the enemy, otherwise, it might be too late for them and they all will be caught and killed!
She slowed down more. She glanced from side to side to get some clue on what to do. Their situation was getting dangerous.
The things is, Elena's decision to slow down was a lucky one for the people ahead were really enemies!
There were five people in the checkpoint and they were heavily armed! What was more alarming was that they have vehicles too!
But from Elena's position, she can't see any person anymore since they were now in the guard house. But things quickly got freaky. Elena had now decided to really pushed through! She decided to gamble.
Elena had only one thought in mind, to go away as far as possible from the four towns.
Certainly, there were places in the town where they can hide. And many people were in hiding. Hiding may not be totally safe, but she also knew that the military were already in the move and they will soon drive away the enemies.
But in spite of how attractive remaining in Quiet Lake town and hide, she's firm to leave the town as soon as possible regardless of the risk. Something was seriously bothering Elena that compelled her to flee and that, for her and her son, this was not an option.
Elena instructed the boys to hide themselves by lowering to the car's floor as much as they can. She's aware that the probability that those were enemies was high.
Since she have decided to push through, she increased a bit the car's speed.
She'll going to pass at normal speed and if the checkpoint guys were enemies, she had readied herself to accelerate and escape fast. She relied the rest to prayer.
But the thing is, once Elena gets near enough they really don't have even the least chance of escaping. There's a heavy machine gun that was set up facing the roads! Not to mention the RPG on standby.
The north road was going to the right from the crossing. And three hundred meters ahead was another checkpoint by the enemy. And Elena was completely oblivious of this!
Even if they survive the crossing checkpoint, they won't be able to pass the second check point ahead since it was manned by ten heavily armed men.
They're now a little less than a hundred meters away from the crossing. Any moment from now, Elena will reach the point of no return. Elena cleared her throat and decided to increase her speed.
She stepped harder on the accelerator to reach the normal speed, when
"HEY, STOP!" she was startled by a man on the road! It's one of those killers and he's holding a rifle! Elena stepped on the brake abruptly!
The man was aggressively stopping the car. He pointed his gun at the driver seat and demanded they reveal themselves!
Elena trembled. Her eyes opened wide in shock. Large sweats fell from her head.
The man knocked hard on the window shield. Elena had no choice but to open it. She glanced at the rear-view mirror to check the kids before she rolled down the window shield.
She didn't saw the boys and she hoped they won't come out. Whatever will happen to her, she prayed the kids won't be discovered.
"Open the rear door!" the man ordered her with a loud voice.
The first words she heard from the man hit her like a high voltage electricity! He quickly demanded that she reveal everything inside the car!
She never thought that the first thing that the man will do was to check the back seat! These people were really vicious, she thought. It's either they don't want anyone to escape or they're madly looking for someone.
Elena hesitated.
"Open the rear door!!" he insisted and aimed his rifle at Elena.
Elena froze! She can't think clearly. She's panicking and she doesn't know what to do! The man was still aiming his rifle at Elena but, curiously, he didn't move even a bit his finger which was in the trigger.
Unlike the other men who showed no qualms in shooting civilians, this man was different. Instead of immediately shooting Elena, he entered his arm on the window of the first door and reached for the lock of the rear door and unlocked it.
Then he opened the door. Immediately he saw the two kids ducking to the floor!
"All of you, get out of the car!" the man ordered them.
Janoy raised his body and head and Ato followed. But the man's jaw dropped when he saw Ato. Ato was frightened but he recognized the man. It was Nolie! Nolie froze a bit. His eyes moistened upon realizing how evil he had been acting up to this time.
"Ato, please forgive me!" said Nolie. Elena and Janoy were confused. "You need to turn back... It's impossible for you to pass the checkpoint!" he added.
Once again, the simple generosity that Ato did towards the little kid in Quiet lake saved them!
Nolie glanced towards the checkpoint in the crossing. He's anxious and confused. He didn't know what to do exactly. He glanced at Elena. Only at this moment he realized that she's, in fact, pretty and attractive. He climbed the car, seated at the front passenger seat and told Elena to drive and turn back quickly!
Elena slowly turned the humvee back to avoid being noticed by the men in the checkpoint. But they were quickly noticed! Two men came out shouting, ordering them to stop.
Elena saw the men. She raised the gear, stepped on the accelerator and turned the wheel as fast as she could. "Broooommm!" the car transfered to the other lane.
Seeing that the vehicle was escaping, the two aimed their AK-47 rifles to fire. But Nolie was the one to fire first his M16 rifle. The two scrambled.
The other two men in the guard house ran to look. After seeing the fleeing car, they ran to their pick-up to chase. The vehicle was a Ford Raptor, which was faster than the Hummer H2!
Elena sped up. Ato and Janoy freaked out. Their speed was definitely faster than before! The thought of them dying from accidental collision seized them!
But the Raptor was also catching up. The 450 horsepower engine of the Ford vehicle was no doubt superior. Soon the enemy will get a distance enough for their guns to be fatal!
-
Meanwhile in the main headquarter of the Maharlikan Air Force.
The air force officials were watching a video clip of the Hornet jet that crashed in Quiet Lake town. The video showed the moment the top part of the fighter jet burst.
Something hit it from below. But they were greatly puzzled since if the plane was hit by a missile, it should have exploded upon impact.
The video barely captured the object that suddenly pierced through the plane from below.
The Commanding General of the air force was present. He told the computer operator to replay the video in twenty percent slow motion. He had now confirmed the existence of the object that hit the plane.
"So, there it is... Make it sixty percent," the General said.
What he saw in the screen intrigued him. Something is not right, he thought. "Can you make it slower?"
"Here. It's already ninety percent, sir."
"I-is that a man..?! Oh my... this can't be. That really looks like a man!" said the General.
"Affirmative, sir!" the soldier operating the computer said.
"But that's impossible! What is he? A human with super powers!? This is rediculous!"
"Perhaps, it is a machine," a woman in military uniform interrupted. Her name was Maj. Valery Tejada. "Think of... umm... a robot or an android!" she added smiling.
The General realized things were not as mysterious as he thought. He recalled that robots with advance artificial intelligence (AI) were already a common thing in his time.
"Yet their bodies are tougher than fighter planes?" the General asked skeptically. "Possibly... through nano-engineering," Maj. Valery replied.
When the General heard the word, "nano-engineering," he remembered that he's talking to an expert. He had almost forgotten that Maj. Valery was a Material Science engineer.
She graduated last year her Masters degree in Material Science Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania with Summa Cum Laude honors.
"I agree... it must be a robot, sir," the soldier in front of the computer said.
"And what made you say that?" asked the Commanding General.
"It's because the guy is bald." The General was confused with his answer. "Usually robots are bald because it's difficult to put hairs on the metal head of a robot," the soldier explained.
The General wanted to spank the soldier in the head but something more important bothered him. "If that is a robot, then who are we fighting against with!? If they have this kind of technology, what can we do?" the General muttered.
