The Colonel's Daughter

Chapter 6 : The Escape

In the middle of a road surrounded by vast rice fields, hardly anyone passed by at this time. It was around noon, but dark clouds hinted at abundant rain, obscuring the sun. Their black car was the only one around, with Iriana standing by the open door, allowing a gentle cold wind to enter the car. Iriana seemed indecisive, knowing this was an opportunity that wouldn't come again – her chance to escape for good. Her long, tousled brown hair swayed gently in the wind that continued to ventilate the car's interior.

"Do you really want to leave me and abandon me?" she suddenly heard. She turned around, and Bary was already awake, perhaps due to the dropping temperature. Iriana didn't dare look him in the eye. Then he spoke again, "You can leave if you want. It's the perfect opportunity, I won't hold you back."

Surprised by Bary's words, was it a trap or was he sincere? Nevertheless, she was determined to seize the opportunity.

"I promise I won't speak of you," she assured him.

Then she calmly stepped out of the car and began to run quickly under Bary's watchful eyes through the windshield. He watched her proudly and let out a smile.

The cold wind chilled Iriana's face as she ran at full speed, hoping to find help nearby, but the road remained deserted.

She began to tire, turning around and no longer seeing the car where Bary was. She stopped to catch her breath. Then she began to walk, continuing her journey. Hours passed, feeling like an eternity; her throat was dry, her stomach empty, and her body couldn't hold up against the fatigue.

She spotted some sort of garage not far away, a glimmer of hope reignited within her, and she began to hurry to approach it. She saw an old garage made of planks, an old body shop, and a truck; she could also see three men in blue uniforms.

In a tired voice, she called out to them for help. But they didn't seem to hear her; the closer she got, the more she realized the three men were fighting. She approached silently, both worried and curious.

Behind the truck, there was indeed a small red car. And someone was inside. Iriana remained hidden behind the truck, observing the scene and analyzing it before being noticed. The two men began to beat the other, demanding information he claimed not to have.

Suddenly, a woman emerged from the car, elegant in a mini red dress barely covering half her thighs. She said nothing, just walked arrogantly forward and pulled out a firearm, shooting directly at the beaten man.

In shock, Iriana let out a scream. The three assassins turned towards her and saw her silhouette.

"Get her!" the woman ordered the two men as a deafening thunder was heard.

Iriana had to run again to escape them. The woman who commanded them got back into her car, the men chased Iriana on foot, and the rain began to fall. In this deserted street, Iriana knew she had no chance of getting out. She then took a path towards the rice field.

From then on, the two men stopped chasing her, just observing her from afar.

Iriana had no direction; she just ran through the rice field until she found herself in the middle of a kind of small village. The rain fell heavily, accompanied by lightning and thunder rumbling from the sky. The ground was muddy, she trembled with cold, completely lost, having no idea where she was. Even the main road from which she had escaped was still unknown to her. She regretted leaving Bary a little; he would surely have guided her, she thought. She tried to observe her surroundings despite the rain.

There were just about ten small houses made of red clay and straw roofs; banana trees decorated the landscape everywhere. The cottages were all closed, no one was outside, the wind blew hard, she had no refuge. She continued to advance, hoping to find a place to rest; she quickly left the small village and found herself again in the middle of the rice field. She could see another main road and hurried to join it despite the wind and rain that hindered her.

She finally made it, standing in the middle of nowhere; she looked left and right to try to orient herself, but everything was new to her. She saw a car advancing towards her; at first glance, she thought it was the red car she had seen earlier, but as the car approached, her fear dissipated. It turned out that this car was black, and again, it was familiar to her. Bary's car. Her hope was revived; she was always grateful that whenever she needed, Bary always came to her rescue.

She was in the middle of the road, and the car stopped right in front of her; Bary got out and approached her while she stood still, her tears flowing but mingled with the rain. The two stood facing each other in front of the blinding light of the car's headlights. Without a word, eyes locked, yet they seemed to communicate well. They no longer cared about the rain or the cold; a few seconds passed, then they drew closer and embraced each other.

"I should never have let you go," said Bary.

"Please, take me away from here!"

"Come on, let's shelter in the car first."

Bary led her into the car, and they sat down, a long silence settling in as they both looked ahead.

"We'll stay in the car until the storm passes," Barry said.

Iriana didn't reply, her gaze fixed, the scene of the murder repeating in her mind.

"Miss Iriana, here on earth!" Bary joked to get her attention.

She turned around.

"Oh... I'm sorry."

"No... It's nothing... And forgive me!"

"For what?"

"The comfort has really been lacking lately; it's been like three days since you slept in a real bed, since you showered, since you relaxed, since you ate properly, and to top it off, you see fights everywhere. Forgive me because it's all my fault, and I should never have massacred our attackers in front of you."

"Don't blame yourself; I know you don't want these things to happen either. And I'm starting to get used to it."

"Get used to it... What do you mean?"

"When I left you earlier, I witnessed a murder!"

"How, where? Did they see you?" Bary asked, worried.

Iriana weakened and lost consciousness.