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AYR 76

[TAMARA]

"Malapit na tayo, maghanda na kayo."

Mas nangibabaw ang kaba sa dibdib ko nang sabihin ni John ang mga salitang iyon. Huminga ako nang malalim para mawala ang bigat na nararamdaman ko.

Hindi nakakatulong ang pagwasiwas ko ng mga kamay ko para maiwaksi ang kaba. Nandun pa rin iyon hanggang naiisip ko na papalapit na kami. Magagawa kaya namin?

Another hand held mine while I was shaking it.

It was from Hale.

"Huwag kang kabahan, Tamara. We can do this." He reassurely said that with a smile plastered.

That calmed me down. Nakakarelax din ang ginagawa ng thumb finger niya sa likod ng palad ko. His fingers are making circles on my hands. It's feeling so good.

Nararamdaman kong papalapit na nang papalapit na ang sasakyan kung saan kami nakasakay ngayon. But something's weird.

There's something odd from the surroundings. Paunti nang paunti ang mga taong nakikita ko sa labas ng bintana. The closer we get to the warehouse, the more silent the surroundings is. Halos wala na akong makitang tao sa paligid ngayon.

Is this an ambush?

Is this planned?

Shit. Tanaw na tanaw ko na ang malaking warehouse mula sa kinaroroonan namin pero wala pa ring mga tao. Where are they?

I noticed John and Pauline in front exchanging glances at each other, mukhang napansin na rin yata nila.

"Guys," Pauline nervously said. "I think this is a tra—"

Before Pauline could end her sentence John immediately shouted. "DAPA!!!!"

Hindi kaagad ako nakakilos kaya itinulak ako ni John pababa.

Gunshots echoed the place. The clanking sound of our car being hit by the bullets were like a poison to our ears. It's deafening!

Mas lalo pa akong tinutulak ni Hale pababa. He covered me using his own body. The heck, pano siya?!

"Oh my gosh!" we heard Krissha's loud shout from a distance. "Natamaan ka!"

I turned my gaze at them to see what's happening and I saw Seb's right shoulder bleeding.

"I'm o-okay. It's far from the—aCK!" Seb squealed when Krissha tried to stop the wound from bleeding.

Krissha looked so scared. "I'm sorry, sorry, I'll be g-gentle."

Pumunit siya ng kapirasong tela sa damit niya ang she used it to cover Seb's wound.

As soon as she's done covering the wound, the guns from unknown people stopped from firing.

"W-what happened?" I asked them but they seemed innocent and just shrugged their shoulders.

I tried to lift my head to peek at the window but Hale already pulled me back.

"Wag. Delikado!" aniya.

"But we need to get out! Sooner or later, this car would be wrecked completely at wala na tayong mapagtataguan!" I yelled at him because of too much frustration but he seems unbothered. He's too serious.

"Fine!" I sighed in defeat.

Paano kami makaklabas ngayon dito?

John crawled to get his bag and search for something he could use in there. His smile flashed when his hands caught something.

"Aha!" He exclaimed that drew our attention.

"Ano 'yan?" tanong sa kanya ni Pauline.

"Smoke bomb!"

He smiled creepily. Nilapit niya ang bomba sa bibig niya saka may kinagat doon. Kaagad na naglabas iyon ng usok at bago pa noon mapuno ang kotse ay agad niya itong itinapon sa labas.

That gave us the chance to escape. We used that opportunity to get out from the van. Mabilis ang kilos namin ngunit maingat para hindi kami makalikha ng malakas na tunog na makapagsasabi sa kanila kung saan kami naroroon sa gitna ng makapal na usok na ito.

Pauline and John were leading the way now, because they already went to this place. Krissha, Felize and the wounded Seb were at the middle. While Hale and I were at the back.

Palinga-linga ako sa paligid para maging handa sa posibleng atake na gawin sa amin ng kalaban sa gitna ng makapal na usok na ito. Halos wala akong makita kaya sinusundan nalang namin kung sino ang nasa harapan.

A man wearing black suddenly appeared out of nowhere but he was immediately hit by Pauline making him dozed off to sleep.

Patuloy lang kami sa paglalakad hanggang sa nawawala na ang usok sa paligid. I can see the surroundings more clearly right now.

Papasok na kami ngayon sa gate and it's still odd to see no one waiting for us. Kinakabahan ako dahil mas mahirap kalabanin ang kalaban kung hindi mo ito nakikita.

Pagkapasok ng gate, tumambad sa amin ang matataas na damo kaya ginamit namin iyon bilang pantago sa kanila. The grass is giving us shield to cover ourselves from them. Dumeretso muna kami sa may gilid kung saan may isang malaking punong maaaring pagtaguan upang makapag-usap.

"Are you alright, Seb?" I asked him and he nodded although I could clearly see from his face that he's in pain.

"Too much blood is already lost. Kaya mo pa ba?" It's Hale's turn right now to ask. Tumango muli siya.

Dinagdagan na lang muna namin ang tapal sa sugat niya para kahit papaano ay mapigilan ang pagdurugo nito.

Tiningnan ko ang braso ko. May maliliit na sugat dito galing sa mga nagliparang mga bubog galing sa bintana ng sasakyan. May ilang nakadikit pa sa balat ko but the pain is still toleratable.

I noticed that all of them has small wounds from the shards of glass from the car's window but they didn't seem to notice it. Must be because of adrenaline rush.

We continued walking after we treated Seb's wound when we heard someone shout.