(A/N note).
This chapter is also R rated. Read on your own responsibility.
**The chapter **
(Issac POV).
Year. 2005. AC
In the rain forest DRC. (Democratic Republic of Congo).
In one of windowless ATV cars heading towards the forest keeper's HQ.
I went for democratic Republic of Congo to continue my training in the medicine department. After all mom promised me she would forgive me, only if I saved one million lives. And even if I worked myself to the bone until my death as a surgeon, I will reach 200k at maximum.
As an alternative I took the medicine research course and now I can build new formulas for medicines and vaccines.
As for what I am doing in DRC there are two answers for that.
The First one is, the forest guards informed us that 2 elephants have died out of old age and their fangs had already been detached from them and kept safe until a certificate doctor receives them.
(Fangs have many uses, from researching medicines to building accessories, etc. But the problem is many illegal hunters and smugglers are willing to do anything for those elephants fangs, because it can be used as undetectable knives and many other things that can be used in stabbing and killing. Sometimes they even sell them in the black market to people doing many things with them as trophies and black magic or so they call it in Cameroon. The real problem is most of the time, they don't wait until elephants die from natural causes; they kill them themselves this the most common case for both elephants and rhinos and any animal with big fangs).
Because of that the guards are somewhat in a hurry to give them to any certified doctor, to avoid bearing more responsibilities than the one they already have.
(They afraid the smugglers would ambush their HQ to steal them, because two of them belongs to very old elephant whom used to have huge fangs, that can be sold for high price trophy).
And since DRC already hired me in medicine research for the new virus. I was sent there.
Oh right! That's the second reason.
(Man, talking is very tiring why did Emma all of the sudden told me: "You had grown too dependent on me, you started to push me to do all of your conversations, you even stopped trying to talk back to Richard, because of that I won't help you for sometime, when I find you have become more social than before, I will return to helping you back, for now I will take care of your father. You know too well how he hates staying with your brothers.")
And because of that I'm all alone and now supposed to handle all the tiring conversations.
"Haaah." And here all I can do is sigh.
"Cheer up doc. The trip should be fun and we can maybe see... some of the wild animals there." Said my new assistant, Elizabeth who has too cheerful character even in the most grim situations. She nudged my face with a cold beer can.
(But don't let her cheerful attitude trick you, she had it the worst, but she decided if life wants to do shit on you, smile at her with a cheeky attitude before saying "thanks").
She either laughed or joked in whatever the situation she is in and that got her into many troubles. (But at least she is happy).
Emma thought she would make a perfect assistant, especially to a gloomy, stoic man who never smiles. Like me.
"No thanks, I usually prefer to stay sober during work." When I refused her and she frowned at me, before moving to our guard with a cheerful attitude she jumped to his arms and giving him the beer can that was meant to me.
She dropped the can on his hand and with a cheeky attitude stuck her tongue out to me before saying.
"Your lose." But to her surprise the guard pushed her away before throwing the beer can away from him.
"I was given strict orders to make sure you are safe Ms and I can't fight when someone is holding my arm. That's first, second thing, never ever offer me a drink again. It's against my beliefs. Third thing I would prefer if you don't touch me again Ms." He said with a harsh low pitched voice.
"Aye Aye captain." She is somehow still joking in this situation.
We both sighed while shaking our heads at the same time.
"Anyway it's an honour to meet you Sir Issac. I'm Ibrahim Farid the lieutenant, who is in charge of your safety." He said after turning his face to me.
(Wow he seems well-mannered and the name?)
"The honor is mine Mr Ibrahim. I already feel safe when a strong person like you in charge of our safety." I replied with my iconic forced smile.
"No need for the forced smile. If you don't like something just say it. And I'm not that great, I just do what I must." He replied with a grim face because of the forced smile. (Wow, an honest guy).
"You seem quite modest and honest Mr Ibrahim." I answered him in fluent Arabic.
"That quite racist Sir Issac. Doesn't mean because I'm Muslim that I'm Arabic." He replied with disdainful eyes.
(Oops I messed up).
"I'm Egyptian in name only. My father is Egyptian but my mother from Congo and I lived here more than there." He said with a melancholy smile.
"I'm not the only liar here Mr. And I wasn't meaning it in a bad way, I meant it as respect to your home language." I said this time in French.
"I would prefer if you both speak in a Language I can talk." Said Elizabeth pouting while she was playing with her legs back and forth while sitting in her chair. She already had gulped her 3rd can of beer.
(Yes, she is very short for a 17 year old girl. She is about 140 or I'm probably too tall to see her as anything more than a kid, as for how she drinks while she is under age. The answer is she never respected that law in the first place and she uses me as her way to drink and before me it was Emma who helps her).
"If you learned at least the most used 7 around the world, then you won't be pouting now." I replied dryly.
"If I knew 7 languages I was going to work as an expensive private translator and not as an assistant to the grim reaper doctor." She said before sticking her tongue out to me.
I just smiled a small melancholy smile, because the nickname Emma named me as a joke stuck on me.
(I got this name for 2 reasons: I never refused working 'on code delta' and if I received the code "DNR" I refuse it and I won't stop until I saved the patient or he dies. I have 4 saved lives even after receiving the DNR code).
But the reason for the name is simple. I never smiled even after saving people who were counted dead.
So people usually saw my face frowning when I got out of the operating room. People start crying and their relatives are alive inside.
That created many awkward situations especially with that gold digger that she thought was going to inherit her rich husband.
"What's this about?" Farid asked confused.
"That's his nickname because he never smiles." Said Elizabeth while pointing at me while poking my head with her fingers.
"That's not a good nickname." He replied while shaking his head with a frown.
"I'm not the one who chose it." I replied.
"And you don't seem to mind it." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"My wife is the one who gave it to me, so I kind of like it, because of that and the other reason for getting the nickname 'I never surrender in trying to save someone' that's my motto in live." I said, giving him a half smile.
"What is that half smile, I won't surrender until one day I will make you laugh, Grim Reaper." Said Elizabeth while poking my cheek.
I rolled my eyes before saying.
"Sometimes I wonder. What did Emma see in you?" I said hardly holding my irritation.
"I'm the only one who can keep up with the infamous mood killer, the man who went to the army as a doctor just to be the first place on fitness training and killing the mood." Said Elizabeth while opening her 5th can. (This girl is going to die young because of her reckless way of life).
"You went to the army?" Said Ibrahim impressed.
"I served three years for my own satisfaction. Not that important." I replied with very grim face as gesture to close the conversation.
But Elizabeth didn't even realise that.
"And you call him modest. He is lying he was the first of his generation in a hand to hand fights, there is a rumour saying he killed a man wi..."
"Can't you just shut up, he wasn't just a man, he was my friend and he wasn't somebody who no one will care for his death. He had a wife and she was pregnant. He had a mother who he was taking care of. Both lost someone important not in war, not in something great. He died because I got angry with him mid-training and he died in the mock battle. His neck got broken with my own hands Larry Robinson. My childhood friend died by my own hand. And I used to tell him: 'I'm joining the army to save your ass.' Now tell medoes it count as great to join the army to save your friend just for you to kill him instead and with your own hands." I snapped at her and midway through I was crying out of grief.
"Sorry Lady Emma never told me about this." Said Elizabeth for the first time talking apologetically.
"She will never tell you. That's one of two events in my life. I'm ready to pay everything I own, even my life, to make sure they never happen." I said it in a way killing the mood more than it was.
"Take it." Suddenly Ibrahim threw a 9mm at me.
(It was the one being held with police in normal circumstances, almost impossible to find with a criminal).
"Whoa there! What's the big idea?" I asked confused.
"Since you used to be a soldier this will be useful, especially in the incoming area." He replied firmly.
"I'm a doctor and doctors have a code not to .."
"I'm not hearing this, in this area you will have five kinds of people. The guards of the forest who mission to kill illegal hunters here and make sure animals are safe." He said raising his first finger. (The thumb).
"The villagers who worship almost everything their and one wrong move and you will be under their assault. So you will need this as an assurance they won't attack, somehow one of the guards convinced them these guns are blessings from their Gods and the ones carrying them as long as they won't use them they are apostles from them. But if he used it and harmed someone especially animals or the guards then he is the devil's apostle." He said, raising his second finger. And he was passing a sound gun similar to mine to Elizabeth.
(I also picked one of the sound guns).
"Third, illegal hunters, you will want to kill them with your hands even if you are a pacifist after you see their crimes. They have one rule as long as they are not dead then we are human devils killing rare animals, humans, nearly extinct plants, stealing, ravishing women and kidnapping children all of that and you tell me they don't deserve death you are a dreamer Issac." He said as he shut his hand.
"And the last two stopped coming here, after the last gang of hunters appeared, so you don't need to worry about them and even if you shot a bullet I will take responsibility for it by saying I'm the one who did it." He smiled at me.
(So to shut him up I hid the gun inside my robe).
"Don't worry this will never happen." I said with a grimace.
(He is right I'm not caring the least about the doctors moral code it's more of a personal hatred towards taking lives, I'm not like those pacifist idiots).
"You say this and I say: it won't be long before you go back in your words. Hear my words, about your friend, you aren't his killer, the one who killed him is fate and these people I kill them because..."
He stopped talking when he heard the sound of a firearm from the car's front.
He ordered both of us immediately to take cover.
"Don't move!" Shouted the man who suddenly appeared in front of us from behind the car we were riding.
He was talking in the Kinuba language of the afrikaans.
And without a word Ibrahim gave him a head shot. With his MP5.
"That's brutal." I commented coldly
"That is not the time for that tal.."
He was stopped by a bullet to his head and when I was going to move I found another gun pointed at my back.
(A man armed with Ak-47 appeared from the car's front part and he seems to be killed the driver and the soldier that was in the car's front).
And after taking the two sound guns from us, when he realised they are both sound guns he broke them.
"Listen well, we need a doctor to help us save the leader and as long as he is well, yar safe ya and the blonde next to ya." He said while trying to pull her out of the ATV from the front to take her away as a hostage.
The only reason, she isn't screaming right now is that she is very drunk. Her reactions are very dulled at the moment.
(Time to save her life, or at least to make sure they wouldn't ravish her).
I got out of the car and held his arm tightly.
"She is the nurse who takes care of my patients. I need her to help." I said while holding his arm very hard (I wouldn't even mind breaking his arm because of how hard I hold his arm) to make him leave her and focus on me.
"That's not yar choice to make." He said while caressing his arm in the place where I have held his arm.
"You seem to hold your leader in really low esteem, because the doctor you find instead of helping him to save your leader, you are making it harder for him to help you." I said with a mocking smile. While standing up in front Elizabeth and patting her shoulder and telling her to calm down.
"Grrr. Don't push yer luck." He said while pulling the safety of his rifle and putting it in front of my head.
I moved the gun from in front of my face very easily. And aimed his gun to the sky. (Not leaving him any chance to move it again by holding it with very strong grip).
"Well why not? If I don't save him I will probably die then at least if I'm going to die either way then at least I need to search for a way to increase my chances of survival." I said while standing between him and her again.
He looked dejected and decided to change to his hand gun for harder way for me to do the same trick.
"Grrrr. Fine but try anything like this again or think of anything funny and ya will be dead before ya know it." He said while raising a hand gun and pushing me to threaten me.
"I dare you to pull the trigger." I said with a challenging smile.
"What do ya want, do ya want to die? If so, I'm very happy to comply." He said very irritated. I already saw the safety trigger is still on.
"No not yet, but I'm saying if you dared and pulled the trigger all you will do is kill your leader." I replied with a mocking smile.
(I'm pushing him to the limit, this way he will only focus on me and leave Elizabeth alone, this girl is my responsibility and I must return her home).
"Simple, I will kill ya and make her do yer job." He said with an evil smile as he pulled the safety.
"Nice try, but she can't understand anything and I will repeat myself. She is a nurse and her job is to help me, but that doesn't mean she can work alone. I can work alone if it is an easy job. And if it was easy you wouldn't be that impatient." I replied while repeating all the visible facts in front of me.
"Why are ya so persistent to make me shoot ya?" Said the bandit after shooting a bullet to the air.
Making Elizabeth shrieks and only causing me to flinch.
"I'm saying, I'm willing to help willingly, but I would prefer doing it my way if possible. The first thing I need is a med kit, some masks and if there is a possible operation I need a sharp small knife, some ..."
"I get it. We will give ya the last doctor's kit, but dont push yer luck with me again." He got very irritated with me and put his gun in his belt again. (He more of stomping than walking from irritation).
And we started moving toward the forest. Following him in silence.
(Their leader is probably a lost cause, because of the word 'last doctor's kit.' Seems he is hardly alive and I'm not there first try to check on him).
"Elizabeth, when we get near, stay as close to me as possible and never stray away from my sight. And whatever I say, listen, that's if you want to liv.."
I was stopped by a gun aimed at my head.
"What the hell are ya blabbing? If ya plan to do anything stupid both of ya will die." He said releasing the safety again.
"I was explaining the situation to her. And telling her what to prepare when we get the med kit. After all, I want to save a person." I replied unwavered by the gun reloaded in front of my face.
"Save a person?" He echoed.
"My mission in life is saving people, whoever they are. I don't know how many people I saved, better to be dead than alive. So your leader won't make much of a difference." I replied calmly.
He pulled his gun and muttered swears under his breath before leaving.
"See we will survive, if you listen to me." I said a smiling confident smile to Elizabeth.
(I'm trying to calm her; she probably won't be in a good mental state for the next year at best, we are good now because she is still drunk the moment she become sober again she will cry hard, probably).
The fact that the man she was just joking with, got his head exploded in front of her isn't helping at all.
And I sighed.
"What do ya think yar doing?" Said the irritated bandit. (Wow even sighing isn't allowed)
"I was wondering, why you are taking us to a prison cell? If your boss could die while we are there?" I replied in a very cold tone that made him pull his blade and plant it on the side of my neck threatening to make it go all the way through.
"I will say this once. Yar alive only because the boss is fine the second he dies ya die." He replied with hatred.
"Then save time and take me straight to him. Or are you dropping your boss in a prison cell because he is ill." When I said that he pulled the knife in a harsh fast way to make a wide cut in my neck.
"Try this again and yar throat will be cut instead." He said he sheathed the blade.
After whining in pain from the blade's cut.
We continued moving, but instead the cell to the biggest tent in the place.
When I saw his leader I understood Immediately, he got the new virus and just by touching anything the patient touches you can be infected.
(The new virus has a very special symptoms of tight breath, strong fever, changing skin colour to make him almost without blood and the last symptom is he got tumors in his skin).
"Don't." I said while shaking my head to the bandit to stop him from touching him to wake him up.
"He infected with strong virus that can be infected through monkeys, thankfully I know the vaccine and the cure. But I gonna need first some medical gloves and I want everyone touched anything your boss touch to wash up in a closed water and try to make their interactions with the ones didn't decreased." I said hurriedly.
(I lied but pushed another fact to make him not focus on the lie).
"What do ya mean can ya save him?" He asked with hopeful eyes.
"Yes, I can save you all." (Another lie).
"Bring what I asked for now and tell everyone to wash up now or you are waiting to be all to be like your boss. And I can't save him without the cure and you all with the vaccine but I have my moral code to bring me a receipt of your purchase when I write them both in .."
"I get it, I won't steal it even if you didn't tell me I won't take risks if the price is the boss's life. And I will do whatever you want." He said while bringing me paper and pen.
"Also bring me something to close the wound in my neck." I said while putting my hand on my neck holding the blood.
"And here." I said giving him a paper with a secret code means. (Give him any rare medicine that has GPS on and call the police. This is the code for the vaccine as for the cure. They are all armed with heavy arms and they have a minor in the hostages).
(This will make them do a better job at least at saving Elizabeth).
"Here I advise you to search in big pharmacies and leave him a copy so when another doctor reads it, check on the people you meet in the way and probably warn everyone on possible viruses." I said fast to try and hide the lie.
"I will go now."
(Now time to review the situation all of them are armed with rifles and their numbers are above 40. That's the men I saw not mentioning the ones in the watchtowers. My only advantage is that almost everything is flammable. I need to burn the place anyway to stop the infection).
The only thing I could leave it is the boss alive body I will need him as a lab rat to find a way to make the cure.
(None will mind using him as a lab rat even if I treated him in inhumane way. I'm talking ethically of course, they would be glad to use someone like in a good way).
.
Elizabeth started to get sober and started to cry loudly.
"Calm down, here, here calm down." I said as I was patting her head.
"Don't worry I will make sure that you reach home safely I promise." I said while hugging her to calm her down and make sure she is behind me and glaring at the man who was about to shoot her.
"If you shoot her I will kill your boss." I shouted.
"The hell yar saying" "we will kill ya" " yar dead."
Said some bandits while releasing the safety of their weapons
"Stand down all of ya bastards." Shouted weakened ill voice. (He shouted in French).
"He is the doctor that's saving my life and ya want to kill him and his daughter. Do ya want to kill me?" Said the bandits boss. (Again in French).
(Hey mister she isn't my daughter she is younger by some years that's all. The age difference isn't that big. At least say a sister or something like that).
"Yes sir." Said all the bandits while pointing their rifles away but all of them are glaring daggers at me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" I asked worried because she is back to crying. That made her look at me before saying.
"I'm fine, father, thanks." She answered in English. (I know she doesn't mean it in a way of teasing because she doesn't understand French and she was smiling a little. That means she tries to be back to her old self).
"If you are fine, wear gloves and a mask and also prepare some stingers for the injections and do it fast." I said firmly. (I don't need anything now, but I realised the boss understands English so I can't say anything with him conscious).
"Thanks doc, when I heard I can be saved I was glad. And unlike any other person in yer place, yar helping me willingly." He said with a calm voice. This time in Kinuba.
"Thank me when you are saved by making sure she makes it home safely." I replied in the same language.
"I'm Daniel the leader of this bunch, anything you want will be there as long as you save me doc." Said the leader at first in Spanish then he moved to Portuguese.
"Wow multilingual, you have some skills there. Issac Harold from South Africa. Doctor and medicine researchers. And what I want as the price of saving you is to make us return home safe and sound. " I replied in both Portuguese then repeated it in Spanish.
"Don't worry no one will dare to touch you or your daughter now." He replied in Mandarin this time. (Two things I'm not an old man yet, this is the last time I will do the stupid full bald haircut that makes me look older. Second thing, when will he stop testing me).
"I'm getting tired of the multilingual conversation we are making." I replied in the same language.
"But the driver's radio phone didn't say the same Mr Issac." My eyes widened at this.
(Shit it seems the whole conversation was leaked to him. That also explains why the driver left willingly and didn't protest or try to do anything).
"Is this how your man knew I had a gun?" I said calmly
"Aren't you the one who said it is against my moral code to kill?" He replied smiling. (Good to make sure, he believes I'm unarmed, this will help).
"Just you know, I told that bastard who brought ya not to worry, but from the wound on your neck it seems he wasn't very trusting." He said as pointed at the bandage and medical plaster on my neck. I just gave him a forced smile.
After Elizabeth finally prepared the injections and brought my kit. And as I was preparing a sedative in an injection I replied with.
"Well I'm going to need you to lay down and don't worry these sedatives will help me inspect and remove the parasite that appeared in your leg. I'm sure you feel it, that's why you didn't stand up until now." I replied after wearing the gloves.
"Aye aye doc." He said as he removed his arm sleeves.
"Unfortunately though I will wait until the cure reaches before giving it to you the last thing I want is your mean shooting me for thinking I killed you." I said while I checked on his pulse and his breathing, etc to make him feel I will really try to heal him.
"Don't worry about that, I will make sure no one attacks you."
He said before shouting in all four languages of DRC one after another. that I will start an operation on his leg when the cure arrives and no one does anything to me and if anyone feels I'm untrustworthy that means he challenges his right in the leadership.
"Don't you think you are trusting me way too much?" I asked surprised.
"You doctors have a moral code of not killing anyone, especially the ones like you, who lost someone dear to him whether they died by mistake or not and this happened to you twice. By your own hand too. Second thing, you are scared about your daughter's safety. Your eyes are fixed on her. Even though you aren't looking at her side your heart and eyes are moving with her, you won't endanger her live. Right?"
(Now that's explain from where he got the daughter thing from, he gathered information about me and he thought because I'm married from age of 16 and on hard circumstances and because of that she is my daughter, but his men both the one gathered information about me and the one who brought me did a very lousy job. And the answer is simple also how even though not a single resemblance between me and Elizabeth and he calls her my daughter because she is the perfect resemblance to the young Emma).
Wait a second does this mean they think I'm left a preteen to drink beer. Yes I left a teen but not a preteen that will harm her growth.
"No I won't, but why did your man take so long to bring medicine? Did the idiot not listen to me and show a firearm in front of the pharmacy? Doesn't he know that most of them are armed to protect themselves from drug addicts." I replied changing the subject.
"I'm not an idiot to do this, when the boss's life is the possible price for that. And here the receipt also you can give him the injection they informed me about everything." He replied while huffing and puffing.
"Okay." I said as I sedated the boss.
After he went in deep sleep.
I knelt to take from the med kit the medicine at this moment, I pulled the bandit' legs to make him fall and before he can talk I slit his throat by the sharp operations knife.
"Shhh." I hushed Elizabeth because her eyes went wide and she was about to scream.
"Shout for help using this word." I told her how to scream for help using French. And made her stand behind me before that.
After she screamed and they started to enter the room.
And when they started to enter the room they were surprised by AK bullets being shot at them.
"4 down 40 to go." I said as I shot down the three men who entered the tent to see what's this about.
"Listen Elizabeth stay here and use this if anyone appears in front of you. And don't worry about being infected by him, we are already vaccinated against it. It helps to decrease the chance of being infected."
I said as I gave her the gun Ibrahim gave it to me and I made her sit down and I started to hunt them one by one.
But unfortunately after killing a big chunk of them and when the help arrived and they were here to save us. I found out unlike me, she wasn't ready to pull the trigger. And she didn't make it.
(Rudeus POV).
"If you weren't talking to me I would have focused on the road and fought back." That was what Ibrahim was shouting at me.
"Are you happy now? I never saw my daughter because you killed me when my wife was 7 months of pregnancy. She had a miscarriage because she couldn't stop crying. You killed two people that day, don't you dare to forget." Shouted Larry at my face.
"I told you to save a million lives and what do I see here all of that killing and you want to see me the only place you deserve to be in is the depth of hell." Said mom with a disappointed face then with a disdainful one.
"You left me to my death, even worse you were hoping for glory for what you did, that's why you did the killing alone, right?" Elizabeth shouted crying while she was looking at me.
When I tried to look to the other side she hold my head by her hands and started shouting again.
"Look at me when I'm talking, I'm not finished with you yet. Why did you leave me to die? You know I had younger siblings I'm taking care of and ill mother who I work to pay for her medicine. You know I worked hard for them to be happy, I was crying from inside while joking and laughing around, to avoid looking too gloomy and lose my job and yet her I'm. So why didn't you save me, answer me?" She said while taking my shoulder and crying.
"Why didn't you help me? You could have saved me. Not for me, for Samantha, my daughter she could had at least one of her parents alive to take care of her, why?" Said Reeve Ferland to me with very disdainful eyes while crying.
(And like every one of them everyone showed up with their last state before death he has cuts over his body and missing his right arm, his head on his left arm and his left arm missing his two fingers. Elizabeth there's a group of bullets in her torso. Larry his neck is broken. Mom's face is half charcoal and most of her body is black because of burns. Finally Ibrahim doesn't have anything above his eyes).
"See all of these people you killed and all of them are good people wasn't that your defense you never kills anyone who is good." I saw my mother talking to me with disgust.
(But strangely enough she is different one from the one who appeared in middle of all my regrets with dead people).
"You are right Issac, this isn't real you have to wake-up." Said my father.
"Former father Rudeus, now wake-up kid." Suddenly Henry shouted at my face while slapping me to wake-up.