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 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 gla.s.ses. She flipped the switches and 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.
"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.
----
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.
"s.h.i.t even with an AKM, which had the longest range out of all their 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 in 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.