GG

These must be the remains of the soldiers who had brought the gold into the cave.

I stood up and wanted to continue deeper into the path ahead, but suddenly someone kicked me from behind.

"Damn!" I rolled forward, making use of the force, and shined my flashlight at what it was.

Nothing.

There was no one there.

Just as I was thinking it was the ghost of the dead soldier, someone kicked hard at my hands.

My flashlight flew out of my hand, and as it turned and shined all over the dark cave, I saw him.

Another ghost out for my life.

Kurnawan!

He had blood all over him, with his smile staring at me.

Then the flashlight rolled into a corner, and I couldn't see him anymore.

"Where is Henry? Come out, you coward!"

"Hmph."

Kurnawan ignored my question and didn't bother to answer.

Out of nowhere, I felt a sharp pain in my left arm.

Then my thigh.

This sicko wanted to slowly gut me and let me bleed to death.

I took out the pistol and fired into the darkness.

The flash of flame lit up my surroundings.

His face appeared by my side with all the blood, and then disappeared again.

Just like a ghost.

"Click. Click."

Soon, I had emptied all the bullets in the pistol.

"He..he..ha..ha.." he started laughing at me, at how I'd exhausted all my options.

Waiting to be slaughtered like a sheep.

Everyone else would have given up by now.

But I was different.

I was still young, and there were so many things I hadn't experienced before.

No one would have thought that the biggest motivation for being alive was that I didn't want to die a virgin.

What's it like to do it?

How does it feel?

How could I die before experiencing it and knowing the answer!

It was now do or die; I had to take a gamble.

I reached into my khaki pants' side pocket.

Grabbed the syringe from the Lawrence brothers.

Took off the cover for the needle, then plunged the long syringe into my spine.

"Argh!" The pain was so intense that I dropped to my knee and cried out loud.

This injection thing better work; the pain is worse than being dead, I thought to myself.

Then I felt power coming from my belly.

I could feel my muscles expanding rapidly.

My vision and hearing became better.

I could now see Kurnawan's outline in the darkness.

He came at me again, with his karambit from the side.

I turned and punched out straight.

"Whoosh!" It was so fast it sounded like a whip.

My fist landed firmly on his face, sending him tumbling across the cave.

While he tried to get up, I walked over and kicked his stomach.

Sending him tumbling again.

I wanted to go over and tie him up, but then I started to feel pain all over my body.

The effect of the steroid or whatever was in the syringe was over.

I was not well-built like the Lawrence brothers; it might have affected the duration.

All the energy immediately sucked out of my body, and I couldn't even keep myself standing.

I slowly had to crouch down, then eventually sat down.

Kurnawan, sensing that I had stopped, brought himself up again, with his shaking hand and body.

"Plat…" he then spat out a mouthful of blood.

He then hobbled slowly towards me, bringing up his karambit in his remaining hand.

I opened my mouth and tried to call for help.

All the muscles were so tense that I couldn't move, including my vocal cords.

This was it.

The end for me.

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to slit my throat and send me to my death.

The pain of my throat being slit didn't happen; I felt warm fluid on my face instead.

I opened my eyes and looked up.

Kurnawan's head was now gone from his body.

His blood, like a small fountain, oozed out of his severed neck, splattering all over.

"Sorry I'm late," Henry said while holding Kurnawan's head in his hand.

He had decapitated Kurnawan with his knife.

"Thanks." I passed out after that.

…

"Sam, wake up. Wake up." I felt someone shaking me and opened my eyes.

Bobby was looking at me with a concerned expression.

"Stop shaking me; you're hurting me," I said, still reeling from all the pain in my body.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Not long, just half an hour. We came in to search for you when you weren't at the rendezvous area," Amy Lee replied.

I looked around and saw Henry; he was now all bandaged up, on his neck, arms, and legs.

He must have fought Kurnawan at the entrance of the cave but failed to stop him.

Then I saw Kurnawan's body lying on the ground, with his head not far away.

Good riddance, I thought to myself.

Amy Lee poured water into my mouth, letting me hydrate myself.

She also lit up a cigarette and put it into my mouth.

I could feel her breast when she got close.

How I wished this could be eternity.

…

After I regained my energy, we continued deeper into the cave.

This time all six of us together.

Then we came upon it.

A brick wall right in the middle of a cave.

This was, of course, not an issue for Firecracker Tan.

He wasted no time and took out his dynamite.

Using a hammer, he knocked on the wall.

Trying to locate the section of the wall where the opening was by listening to the sound it produced.

After locating the section, he selected from his different lengths of dynamite the one that had the appropriate amount of explosives.

We stayed far behind him.

"3…2…1…"

Firecracker Tan lit the fuse and ran towards us.

We put our fingers in our ears, closed our eyes, and then, "Boom!"

It shook the cave, and there were rocks falling onto us.

"Cover your head!" I shouted.

Always try to protect your head as the priority.

We were lucky; none of the rocks squashed us to death.

After everything stopped and the dust had settled, we stood up.

I looked ahead and saw it.