The whole truck was thrown to the side, along with the armored vehicle. It was good that they had yet to load the people, or else they could be looking at more casualties than allowed. However, it meant that their escape route was now blocked by stray dogs, which came with their own guns.
There was an explosion, and the mercenaries readied for an encounter. A few things were then thrown from the corner, bouncing off the sides of the armored vehicle just to hit them. At the matter, the people's eyes grew wide in slight horror.
Trigger shot the five grenades, but the blast still hit the first few people at the front. He hurried to the front as another mercenary threw grenades in response. "We'll cover you! Get away from here!"
"Take these!" Arrow took a few vials out of her bag and threw them toward the enemy's side of the corner. Trigger shot the vials in midair, causing the concoction to detonate and produce a thick reddish smoke to impair their vision.
Kaboom! Explosions rocked the ears of the captives, and some of them couldn't even scream anymore. They just felt like it was easier to die than live through this.
Another armored vehicle drove off from the corner, and it served as the cover for the armed thugs. They couldn't stop the outpost's destruction, but they could still kill the escaping captives. It was a fierce exchange, more so when the mercenaries with Arrow and Trigger had to shield the civilians.
Boom! A loud shot came from the sky, and one of the armed thugs just dropped in the midst of firing. After another second, there was another shot. Another thug fell to the ground, killed by a huge bullet that pierced through the head.
"Locket is covering for us! Let's go!" Arrow shot down another thug and led the people to the other side of the burning outpost. The third extraction point was the safest one, but it was the one that was compromised. She had to direct everyone to the most dangerous spot.
"Go on ahead!" Trigger kept on shooting the grenades that were thrown at the group. However, since it was closer to the armed thugs, the blast was not reaching them. He even shot a grenade whose pin was yet to be pulled by the hand holding it.
Huge cargo trailers shaped the maze around the outpost—as it was called. The captives could only cry and cower as they moved in their fastest. They were already outside. It was too awful if they failed to escape now. They just needed to trust these people to get them out.
The group ran back to the door from where they came out. However, they just ran past it. It was already unpassable because of the smoke. Arrow couldn't afford to go slow now, so she just needed to shoot faster than the enemy.
"We're here! Quick! To the boat!" Arrow said that, but there was no boat in the harbor just yet. She didn't slow down as well as if she was seeing something they couldn't.
"What boat?" Scott yelled as they were steps away from the metal deck of the harbor. They couldn't even see anything, yet everyone was adamant about heading to the edge.
It was just that Arrow jumped down. When the first captive reached the end, she saw that the dock was high enough to cater to big ships. At the bottom was a yacht that could transport them away from the place. They just needed to hop off from the height.
Before she could cower in fear, a mercenary grabbed her and pulled her down to the water with him. Some mercenaries actually went to jump down with the captives to keep them from stalling the others. The mercenaries were ready to break into the water one way or another, so they only had to deal with swimming with their 'diving partners.'
They could jump simultaneously or one after another. Rowan was at the back, so he had to wait. Scott waited with him, but some armed thugs were approaching. Before Rowan could jump down with the mercenary partner, the partner was shot dead by a sniper rifle.
The body fell from the deck, but Rowan only ducked to keep himself stabilized. If he hit the water wrongly, he might break his arms.
"Rowan, we have to jump!" Scott collected Rowan, but Rowan pushed Scott away in an instant. A bullet barely missed Scott's face, but he fell off just the same. The mercenaries returned fire but were easily suppressed by the group that came.
Strangely, however, the enemy stopped firing when Rowan was the only person left on the metal deck. At this, Rowan already knew what was going to happen. Moreover, he was facing the man who shot him the first time. It was that man who recognized him as Duke's pet—whatever that meant.
Blood blotted on Rowan's clothes, but he still slowly stood up to face the leader walking toward him. "You really think you can harm Duke by doing this?"
"Of course, I can harm him." The leader chuckled as he got close enough to grab Rowan's fringe, his gloved hand scratching Rowan's scalp. "I can chop you up part by part. Who said he can get away from me after destroying my outpost?"
"I did," Rowan smirked, only for gunshots to echo behind the leader's group.
Before Rowan could do anything else, the leader kicked Rowan where his wound was. Blood shot up Rowan's throat as he felt his entire body rattled with pain. His feet also left the deck at the force of the kick. Time began to stretch as Rowan fell into the water with no control. At most, he would hit his back, and he might lose consciousness and drown.
Shots blared on the metal deck as the leader's group got into a shoot-out with another group from the siblings' side. However, the rushing air blocked out the noises that Rowan could hear. His body also went so numb that he didn't feel when his back hit the water.
He just knew that he was diving way deeper than preferred if he wanted to swim up fast enough. Then again, there was no swimming up when he couldn't even command his arms and legs to move. Just like that time when Scott strangled him three years ago, he lost all his chances to fight back.
'Am I… dying again?'
Rowan thought as the dark water enveloped his vision. The intense light of the burning outpost was covered by the depths, and the air around him felt like it turned solid. Pressure hugged Rowan, and the cold made him succumb to helplessness.
The water took over his ears and nose, his mouth not even containing the last of his breath. Rowan only kept on staring at the darkness.
'Duke…'