128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Six: The Bomb | Part 2

"Guys! Did you hear that gunshot?" Jake screamed as he ran down the stairs. "I tried to contact Jamie to check on her, but she didn't respond to my texts or calls. Where could she be now?" he bawled.

"Here," a woman snickered from behind before knocking out Jake with a bat, who fell to the ground immediately.

The detectives were so shell-shocked that they weren't even able to gasp. They finally had the opportunity to have a look at the mastermind Jamie. An opportunity that none of them had asked for.

"Matthew, you will remain here with Jake. I'll need you two later. As for the rest of you, come with me. Let's go for a walk, shall we?" the woman, revealed to be Jamie, asked, although her "request" was more of a command.

Matthew was worried, worried about the safety of his friend. However, he smiled for a moment after a pleasant realisation hit him: Jamie had no idea that he knew the passcode, which was the last thing he needed for their escape. All he had left to do was to rescue his friends from the clutches of Jamie to get out of the wretched place.

Determined to flee from the museum, Matthew quickly removed the keypad cover panel and slipped it into his pocket before pressing the numbers' 5-6-9-2'. All was well. Until another realisation struck him.

A highly unpleasant one.

He thought, If Jamie were the killer, at the very least, she would have heard Edward telling me the passcode over the phone. So, why did she let me stay here if she knew I knew the passcode and could escape? Unless someone else killed him. Unless... it was a two-man job.

Suddenly, Jake stood behind Matthew, holding the bat Jamie left behind, conscious.

"I'm sorry, Matt." Jake cried out as he whacked Matthew out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jamie dragged the rest of the group to the observatory. "Oh, what a wonderful day to finally kill you all!" Jamie squealed viciously. "Ah, the money I would earn for this! After your two stupid successful attempts to escape and one last failed one because I stopped you, Yael is gonna pay me millions!"

"Yael? Isn't that the company that makes the—" Megan asked before getting cut off by Jamie.

"Shut up, or I'll start with you first. Wait, no, since I can kill you now, why not?" Jamie cackled before taking a knife and preparing to plunge it into Megan's chest.

"Wait! Don't do it!" Daniel cried as he turned to Jamie.

"Uh-uh, don't try to save her. You're next, and if you try anything funny, I'll make your death more painful," the killer retorted.

"Don't get caught up too much with money, you dense shrew!" Emma said as she shot Jamie in the head with the last bullet that was in the gun. Jamie instantly fell dead to the ground as a result, giving the other detectives a shock.

"Jeez... you didn't have to kill her, Emma," Daniel flinched, trying not to look at the woman's dead body.

"She deserved that. She tried to kill Megan! If I hadn't done that, we'd all be dead meat. Plus, it was the last bullet. I had to use it wisely, and the only wise way to do it was to put the bullet right in her head," Emma protested.

Just then, several groaning and panting sounds followed the conversation as Jake dragged the unconscious Matthew up the stairs. "Wow." Jake stared blankly at the group. "And now... J-Jamie's dead too!" he added, chuckling nervously.

"Jake... what are you doing with Matthew?" Megan asked, seeing that he was dragging Matthew up while holding a bat in another hand.

"I... I really need the money. I'm sorry I'm doing this, but I have to..." Jake explained.

"And you're also not remorseful about your own girlfriend dying?" Daniel questioned, disgusted by Jake's immoral actions.

"Y-you won't understand! She... she isn't my girlfriend at all! She's just an accomplice. This whole thing, it's... it's a competition for the "prize money". I made up this story just to gain sympathy," he replied.

"From whatever that Yael company is?" Emma questioned, shaking her head in dismay.

"H-how would you know about that? Oh, Jamie told you? Well, I can't say anything about it," he replied.

Emma took out her gun with the intention of threatening Jake rather than shooting instantly, which did scare Jake out of his wits for a moment. Unfortunately, she quickly recalled that she didn't have any bullets left and had no choice but to lower the gun back down.

"Please... just... give in to me. I... I really need the money. At this rate, the museum will shut down. My life will end!" Jake cried.

Matthew inhaled sharply, gathering his thoughts for a moment as he tried to find a way to convince his friend to do the right thing. "Jake, there are many other ways to get money! I... I will even pledge myself to help you with that! Please don't do this," he pleaded.

Jake shook his head. He was adamant about getting the money he needed. And he was going to do it in spite of the fact that he had to kill his friends for it. "Then I'm sorry, but I'm going to stop you guys here anyway," Jake said as he lifted the bat and charged at them, wiping his tears away.

"That's... not... happening!" Daniel screamed back as he threw Jamie's knife into Jake, causing him to tumble back down the stairs. As he somersaulted down, the blade was pushed further in and out of his torso, creating a gaping wound in his chest, which in turn left a blood trail leading down the stairs.

"T-they're dead now," Daniel quivered as he stared at the bodies of the two traitors.

Unfortunately, there was a rectangular object with a note beside the stairs—a bomb left behind by Jake as a last resort to kill them. Ultimately, Jake seemed just as loyal to his task as he was to the money he was supposed to gain.

On the bomb, the note read: This is the last straw for me. Even if I'm done now, my task isn't.

And there was a minute left for the detectives to flee.

"Everyone! We need to leave now! There's a bomb! You have to get out of here right now!" Matthew screamed. His voice echoed through the building without a single reply coming from any of the museum visitors or staff.

"Matthew, I think... I think none of them are left. You saw how the captain trampled over a lot of people earlier on.... There's no telling whether there's any of them still alive—and there's no time to confirm that either," Daniel sighed.

"Well, then we'll get out of here first!" Emma shrieked as she pulled the rest of them with her and dashed towards the back door. Pushing the door open with all their might, the group panicked out of the building. The timer wasn't going to wait for them, and they had ten seconds left to get away from the building.

"Ten... nine... eight..." Matthew started to count out loud as soon as he entered the alley with the rest of the group. He had kept track of the timer, forcing himself and the others to quicken the pace of their sprinting in fear that they wouldn't escape in time.

"Matthew, can you not do that? I don't want to be thinking of—never mind..." Emma complained before giving up. She quickly realised that despite her protest, Matthew was insistent on continuing.

"Five... four... three..." he counted. The group continued to run through the alley in an attempt to get as far away as possible.

"Two... one," Matthew ended the count.

And just as he finished the count, a monstrosity of a blast engulfed the entire building with fire. Smoke gushed towards them, pouring out of the broken windows. Glass bits rained out of the building, and tiny blocks of brick and concrete fell from the building, causing the detectives to receive minor abrasions and cuts, which caused anxiety to fill the air.

But the most worrying thing Matthew saw was when he turned around to see an injured...

"Megan!"