HE’S GONE

Another gunshot resounded and this time it was more strong. Ava knew it was from their end. She shivered uncontrollably, whimpering softly with her hand holding her mouth.



Unexpectedly, Zac’s face appeared in her face and he held her arm, “Don’t come out of this car no matter what, Ava. Don't come out, got it?” his eyes were begging her.




Ava nodded her head sharply and held his hand back when he was about to get out of the car. “Be careful, please,” she muttered gently, her eyes swimming in tears.




He smiled, leaned closer and kissed the top of her head, “I love you, don't you ever forget that, okay?”




And without waiting for her response, he pushed the door open and got out of the car.




There were black three SUV's coming toward him slowly and in them were men dressed in all black with their faces covered like Ninjas.




“Son of a bitch, Walker,” he cursed in a low voice and just then, a grunt left his lips when he felt a sharp pain struck his left arm.





More than ten men came out of nowhere other than the men in the car.




“Damn,” Zac snorted and shot most of them dead at once before they could raise their own weapons.




He then noticed two of them men running toward where his car was parked but he had blew out their skulls before they could reach there. “Bastards,”




All this while, he paid no attention to the excruciating pain in his arm when another pain shot through his body from his ankle.




“Ah,” he snorted in annoyance but didn’t lose his guard. He targeted their tyres and worn them out, making the slow riding cars halted at once.





Finally, all the men in the cars alighted one after the other plus the ones that emerged from the dark night. In numbers, the men were over fifty.




A few of them showered his car with unstoppable bullets but then Zac wasted no time in blasting their brains out. However, his gun suddenly stopped working, meaning that the ammo is finished.




The men giggled triumphantly and shared a few words among themselves in Russia language.





Zac understood the language a bit so he knew what the men means with their words.





“Don’t even think of going near that car. I'll kill each and every one of you if you do that,” he said gravely, his chest heaving up and down in turmoil.





The men ignored him and the one who seemed to be their leader with a red berret over his head commanded a few of his allies to attack the car and bring whoever was in it out in their language.





Immediately, three men started running toward the car to carry out the order when Zac sent a simultanious kick to their jaws which sent them flying to the ground.





An uproar reaveberated from them and more then five of them attacked Zac at once while some were heading toward the car again.





“DON’T!!” he cried out, fleeing from his attackers and charged at the ones going to harm his woman.






He destroyed their faces with his uninjured hand and leg. “I told you y’all to fucking stay clear away from THAT CAR!” he bellowed, raining more punches to their faces.






The men again started towards the car and when Zac wanted to draw them back, his wounded leg was smacked and a low cry in anguish escaped his lips.





He was sent on his knees while the men held him tight at the both sides.





Soul-crushing sadness tore his heart up when the men flooded the car with guns. The glasses came breaking down, followed by Ava's cries echoing in the air.



“Don’t touch her,” he whispered in a sad, defeated voice. His eyes filled with helpless tears.



“Let me go!” Ava shrieked when one of the men finally grab hold of her and hauled her out of the car.



“Zac!” with tears spewing out of her eyes, she looked ahead and scanned the men and saw her man being captured by them.



“Let him go, you bastard!” She put on a brave look and ordered the man dragging her.



The man paid no heed to her and continued pulling her but stopped momentarily and screamed when Ava bit his hand very hard.



“Ava, no,” Zac was scared for her.



The man instantly let her go but another man pulled her back with her hair, causing her to yelp.



“How dare you!” the man she'd bitten just now growled and slapped her across her face.



“Ah,” Ava yelped in pain, landing helplessly on the floor.


The man even pounced on her, gripping her hair and clutching her face forcefully.


“LET HER GO!” Zac growled, his voice dripping with anger, and his tears slipping out of his eyes.



He'd never been helpless like this in his whole life before.



Just to add more to Zac’s discomfort, the man holding Ava gave her another slap in the face.



“Now do your worse,” the man snickered, directing his words to Zac.


Right then, numerous gunshots resounded and Zac knew in that instant that his rescue was here.



By the time he was done teaching the men holding him captive some lesson, some of the men were already lying dead on the floor.



He rushed to the one holding Ava and beat him mercilessly before brutally plucking out his two eyes and shoving them into his mouth.



At this sight, Ava passed out and Zac instantly carried her to the car Reid and his men had arrived with.



“Boss, you're bleeding,” Nick called onto his attention, “We’ll take care of it. You wait for us in the car,”



Zac stared at the men fighting, his friend especially, he was giving the Ninjas the beating of their lives while he gunned them down ruthlessly.


“Nick,” he called when Nick was about to return to the scene.


“Yes, boss,”


“I need to take care of something,” he swallowed, “I don't know how long it's gonna take me and I’m not certain if I'll be back or not,”


Nick became highly strung up and his gun slipped out of his hand. “W-Where a-are you going, boss? Let me come with you, please. If I had come with you tonight, this wouldn't have happened, right?” he said firmly.


Zac moved closed to him and patted his shoulder, “Please take care of Ava for me. You can't tell her anything about what I just told you, got it?”


Tears sprang to Nick’s eyes as he started shaking his head vigorously, “No, boss. You can’t do this to me, please,” he pleaded earnestly.


“This might be my last order to you, Nick. Take care of Ava. Please,” his voice was low and gentle, his eyes imploring.


Nick couldn't control his cries any longer but he nodded anyway and with that, he watched Zac retreat, not limping or swaying. Every one of his footsteps showed nothing but determination.


By the time Ava woke up, it was late in the night. She lay there for a long time and shut her eyes at the nightmare.


“Thank God it's only a nightmare,” she muttered on an exhale before turning to the side to seek solace from his man’s arms but only to find it empty.


Confusion settled between her brows as she slowly sat up on the bed and faced the bathroom direction, “Zac? Are you in there?”


Nothing came back to her as a response. Not the baritone voice of her man. And not the running water in the bathroom.


Her heart took a dive and she jumped out of bed and went straight to the veranda, calling out his name.


“Zac, I just had a terrible dream. So I'm not in for any prank, please,” she pressed her lips together as the memories assaulted her.


Now, she could feel that it was not a dream. The horrible event really took place.


“ZAC!” she cried out, running out of the room as if her ass was on fire.


Meanwhile, in the living room downstairs. Nick hadn't stopped whimpering while Reid's hands kept clenching into balls and unclenching.


“Will you stop whining like a baby already? Do you plan to wake her up with your cries?” Reid scolded Nick. His expression tightened while talking.


“You don't get it, Reid. The boss said he's not confident if he'll be back or not. Tell me, what does that mean?” Nick even cried harder at his last words, burying his face into his palms.


“Who’s not coming back?” Ava’s voice unexpectedly rang out and the men both looked up at the same time to see her climbing down the stairs.


From the look on her face, they could guess that she'd eavesdropped on their conversation just now.


Quickly, Nick turned his head and wiped every liquid on his face clean before rising to his feet.


Reid also stood up, forcing a grin on his face, “It's nothing important, Ava. Nick was just telling me something about something we've talked about a long time ago,” he said smoothly and then pinched Nick for backup lines.


“That's right, Princess. I was just telling Reid about my Grandaunt who told me she’d be back soon but the last time we talked, she was still in Jerusalem. She lied to me, right?” Nick joked, smiling sheepishly.


It could be because Ava had spent a period of time with Nick and they got along so well. So she could effortlessly see that Nick was just forcing the smile and not like his regular sunny smile.


“Where’s Zac, Nick?” Ava asked bluntly, descending the last staircase and coming forward to them.


The two men exchanged a glance and then replied simultaneously…


“He’s in the other house,”


“The boss is in a meeting with his bosses,”



Reid shut his eyes and rubbed the space between his brows.



Ava started shaking and it became intense when she recalled the blood stains she’d caught on his body during the squabble.



“Where’s Zac? Where’s my man?!” she yelled at them while two large tears flew out of her eyes uncontrollably.


The two men had no words. It seemed they didn't want to lie to her or tell her the truth either.


Reid slowly settled down, rubbing his temple while he recalled a conversation between him and his friend not too long ago.


“One day I would resign from this position completely and then start a fresh life with her,” Zac ascertained.


“Really, Zac? Oh my! Now is it safe to say that you're hopelessly in love with her?” Reid wasn't smiling but Zac could read the mockery in his voice as clear as day.



“I am not asking for too much, am I? I just want to have a peaceful life with her,” Zac retorted, glaring at him.


“That doesn't answer my question, man. Are you in love with Ava?” his smile transformed into a broad grin, his eyebrows rising and falling.



A playful spark lit up Zac’s eyes, “I’ll surely kill you one of these days, Reid. Get out of my office!” he grabbed a pen and hurled it at him.



Reid burst out laughing, unable to help himself. “Finally, our boss has admitted that he's in love,”


Zac didn’t answer him as he only continued flipping over the papers in his hands.


Reid looked at him adoringly and thought in his heart that his deep eyes and his occasional gentle smile could easily drown people. But when he showed his stern and cold face, it was totally another story.


“Where’s my Zac!?”


Reid came out of his reverie and saw that Ava had collapsed to the floor with her face full of tears, sobbing, and yelling.


“Oh, no, Princess. Stop doing this,” Nick comforted her, trying his best to hold his own tears back.


Reid breathed heavily, “Please be safe, Zac,” he whispered.