Chapter 15 — End of Line Bus 08

The sirens of the mobile police force screeched from afar, cutting through the chaotic sounds at the groundbreaking ceremony area. Dozens of police cars flashing red and blue lights began to rush into the scene.

Lam Huy wiped away the blood flowing from his temple to his chin and pushed his way through the crowd of journalists and guests who were jostling and running around. He knew he couldn't get caught now. The local police system still has people like the Deputy Chief who are trying to gain the right to investigate Mr. Ba's case. If Huy fell into their hands with the USB containing the original data, it would all be over before it really began.

Huy slipped through a gap in the corrugated iron fence, crossed a deserted lawn, then waved to a tech motorbike taxi that was bewilderedly watching the commotion from afar.

"Run, go anywhere, get out of this area as quickly as possible," Huy stuffed a five hundred thousand bill into the driver's hand.

The motorbike sped away, leaving behind the scene of a disastrous "ceremony". Sitting in the car, Huy pulled out his secondary phone and dialed Lieutenant Phong's number.

"Huy! Where are you?" Phong's voice boomed through the phone, drowning out the sirens echoing from his walkie-talkie. "That damn data package you posted online is creating a national earthquake! All internal network systems of the city police are jammed with urgent reports. The Deputy Minister of Public Security has just directly directed the establishment of a special task force flown in from the central government."

"Phong, listen to me," Huy interrupted, his voice cold and tense. "They took back the backpack containing the original contract. And they took Tue away."

The other end of the line was silent for a second. The siren sound on the phone also seemed to subside.

"They promised me at twelve o'clock this afternoon to bring the original, unencrypted USB to the old bus scrap yard at Mien Dong Bus Station to exchange her life. Otherwise, they will kill Tue and pour concrete into it," Huy said quickly.

"Damn it! It's an obvious trap! You can't go alone," Phong cursed. "Give me the exact coordinates. I will ask for orders to mobilize special forces (Special Mobile Police) to surround that area."

"There's no time, Phong," Huy denied. "Twelve noon. Less than three hours left. How long will it take for you to make a proposal, wait for your boss to sign, then deploy troops? Not to mention you still have Bui Thanh Long's insider inside. As long as they hear the news of a special task force departing, Tue will die immediately."

"So what are you planning to do? Carry your body there to give your life to Vu and his assassins?"

"I have to go," Huy looked down at his hands that were shaking from adrenaline and fear. "Tue was arrested because I dragged her into this matter. Furthermore, I need to get back the backpack containing the original documents. Without Mr. Long's signature, his lawyers will find a way to completely deny the data."

Huy took a deep breath. "I'm going alone. But Phong... I need your support. No uniforms. No sirens. Just you alone, with your gun. Do you dare to play this illegal game with me?"

Phong did not answer immediately. Huy understands that silence. For a police officer, an act of violence outside the law, without orders from a superior, can cost an entire career, or even several years of life if things go badly.

"I'll be at the perimeter of the scrapyard at eleven forty-five. Go to the railway side gate old train," Phong said, his voice deep but decisive, then hung up.

Eleven fifty minutes.

The old bus scrap yard is located separately in the area behind Mien Dong bus station, where the sun burns rusted tires and industrial waste. The air was thick with the smell of burning oil and burning rubber. Rusted, abandoned bus frames lie piled on top of each other like giant dinosaur skeletons in a desolate cemetery. Not a single person passed by.

Huy walked in from the main gate, which was off its hinges. The sound of gravel crunching under shoe soles echoed between the rusted metal walls. One hand was in his coat pocket, clutching a folding knife. The other hand loosely holds the USB.

"Lam Huy! Get out into the open space!" Vu's voice rang out from a handheld speaker, echoing from the row of scrap containers in the center of the yard.

Huy walked slowly into the large yard, which was surrounded by four broken old bus bodies.

Vu stood there, wearing a black shirt with the chest open revealing a large centipede tattoo. Around him were eight gangsters holding sawed-off shotguns and machetes.

Tied to an iron pole supporting the canopy of the nearest bus was Tran Tue. Blood oozed from the corner of her lips, one eye was swollen and bruised, proving that she had resisted fiercely before being arrested. But her eyes were still wide open, staring at Huy angrily.

"What are you doing here, you idiot! They will kill you both!" Tue shouted, her voice hoarse.

A gangster slapped Tue hard in the face, causing her to fall silent. Huy gritted his teeth and took a half step forward.

"I brought the USB," Huy held up the silver USB. "Let her go. And give me my backpack."

Vu curled his lips and smiled contemptuously. He stepped forward, holding a K54 pistol pointed straight at Huy. "You really are a journalist with many words but little brain. Do you think Chairman Long will let a guy who knows too much like you get out of here alive?"

"Data has spread online. Killing me won't change the fact that Bui Thanh Long is being investigated," Huy said, trying to keep his voice calm.

"The internet is a pile of electronic trash. There are thousands of ways to handle the media crisis," Vu moved closer to Huy. "I just need to bring this original USB to destroy, combined with getting rid of this paper contract backpack... and getting rid of your two corpses. It will all be settled as an elaborate slander concocted by competitors."

Vu raised his hand. "Throw the USB over here. I promise to give you a quick, painless death like those five mice."

Huy took a step back. "You want USB? Come and get it."

As he spoke, Huy waved his hand. But he did not throw the USB at Vu. He swung his hand and threw the USB hard into a tiny gap in the ceiling of the nearby bus wreck. The small USB stick fell into the dark pile of scrap metal, falling deep below the rotten floors.

“Damn! Find him!" Vu roared angrily, pointing the gun at Huy. "And this guy, smash his knees for me!"

Four gangsters with machetes in hand rushed towards Huy.

Huy did not step back. He quickly pulled out the folding knife, leaned forward to avoid the first slash of the leader, and used his elbow to strongly nudge him in the throat, causing him to collapse and choke.

But he is not a master martial arts. The second man swung his machete and grazed Huy's arm, making a long bloody cut. The third guy kicked Huy hard in the side, knocking his back against the side of the rusted bus.

"Finish it!" Vu ordered, his eyes still wandering around looking for the location of the USB.

The two gangsters raised their machetes high, preparing to slash down.

*BANG! DANG!*

Two loud explosions rang out in succession. Not a mustard gun. That is the sharp sound of the K59 military pistol.

The two gangsters who were about to slash Huy screamed miserably, hugged their arms and thighs as blood poured out, and collapsed to the ground.

From the roof of a row of scrap containers twenty meters away, Lieutenant Phong jumped down, holding the K59 with both hands, gun smoke still rising from the barrel. He wore bulletproof armor over a plain T-shirt, his eyes were as cold as knives.

"Criminal police here! Put down all your weapons!" Phong shouted loudly, hiding behind a large steel column.

Vu paused for a second in surprise, but the cold-blooded nature of a professional assassin immediately emerged. He did not surrender.

"Shoot that cop to death for me!" Vu roared, hid behind the bus, pointed his K54 gun and shot back at Phong.

Vu's juniors also immediately opened fire. The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the scrapyard, lead bullet fragments pierced the steel shells of old buses, creating harsh "bang" sounds.

The scrapyard suddenly turned into a bloody battlefield. In the chaos of stray bullets and blinding gun smoke, Huy suppressed the pain and dragged himself towards the iron pillar where Tue was tied. The battle for life and justice has reached its most fierce point.

A lead bullet penetrated the window of the car near Huy, causing the already cracked glass to fall like hail. He placed his hands on the back of his head and rolled into the space between two rows of rotten chairs. The smell of musty mattress and rat feces, mixed with the smell of blood from his slashed arm, made him nauseous. Outside, Vu's shouting echoed through the hollow iron frames, sometimes near and sometimes far away, making it difficult to locate.

Huy looked through the hole under the car's body. From where he was to Tue's binding was only more than ten meters, but between the two was an empty strip of land with no cover. On the left, there is the overturned frame of the Route 24 vehicle; On the right is a pile of tires taller than a person's head. Every time Phong pressed a shot, the gangsters crouched down, but the silence only lasted a few seconds. If he rushes straight, Huy will almost certainly be defeated before reaching Tue.

Tue is also observing. She couldn't speak because the man standing next to her still held the machete blade close to her neck, but her left foot continuously tapped the base of the pillar: two short sounds, one long sound, then repeat. Huy realized that it was not a move out of fear. On night trips, Tue used to use this tapping rhythm to notify the driver that the back door had an error. Two short, one long means waiting for the signal to open the emergency door.

Huy looked up and looked at the bus that Tue was tied to next to. Its middle door is still slightly compressed. A piece of yellow pipe protrudes from the technical compartment, leading to an old gas tank placed on the floor. If there is still pressure in the tank, the emergency lever on the outside can cause the two doors to open hard enough to knock down a person standing nearby.

He picked up a rusty bolt and threw it toward the pile of tires. The sound made the two men with guns turn around. At the same time, Huy crawled out from under the car and rushed low to the frame line 24. A series of bullets plowed into the ground behind his heels, hot gravel shot into the back of his head. He slammed his shoulder against the side of the car, the sharp pain darkened his eyes, but he still tried to reach out to the faded red lever.

"Do not!" Tue shouted, but her eyes were glued to Huy's hand.

The guard turned to her reflexively. Huy pulled the lever.

A dry hissing sound rang out. The two middle doors swung open. The edge of the metal door hit the gangster's shoulder, knocking him down. The machete fell to the ground. Tue immediately bent her legs, kicked him hard in the chest, then leaned over to hide behind the pillar. The ropes kept her from running, but at least the blade was no longer at her throat.

Vu turned the muzzle toward Huy. "You really like being a hero, don't you?"

Huy pressed his back against the wheel, clearly hearing the metallic sound of the magazine being adjusted. He reached into his pocket and was stunned when he encountered the remaining small object. The USB he just threw onto the car wreck was just a shell containing a piece of decoy data. The important copy remains in the jacket lining. He has prepared a way to deceive Vu, but now the price of the deception may be Tue's life.

"If you want the original, stop shooting," Huy shouted. "The next bullet hits her, I'll crush the memory chip right here."

The gunfire gradually subsided. Phong also stopped shooting to save bullets. In the sudden silence, a half-burnt iron bar fell from the roof, making a long clanking sound. Thin smoke drifted close to the ground, making all human figures just blurry shadows.

"Step out into the middle of the field," Vu ordered. "Put your hands on your head."

"Release Tue first."

"You have no right to bargain."

"I have something that Bui Thanh Long fears more than prison." Huy said each word, trying to keep his breathing steady. "If I die, another copy will automatically be sent to four foreign newsrooms. You can bring my body back, but your boss still loses everything."

That's half a lie. K has installed the data sending mechanism, but the appointment has not been activated because Huy does not have a network connection in the yard. Vu couldn't know that. He was silent for so long that Huy heard the sound of water dripping from the broken pipe onto the ground.

"Let that woman stand up," Vu said.

The man who was knocked down by the car door scrambled up and pulled Tue off the pole. He only cut the rope tying her legs, still leaving her hands tied behind her back. Vu forced her to step out into the middle of the open space, then pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of her head.

"Now it's your turn."

Huy slowly stood up. Through the edge of the broken glass window, he saw a streak of light flashing on the roof of the western container. Phong is changing position. Huy needed to pull everyone's eyes away from that side for a few more seconds.

He walked out, his hands behind his head. Blood flowed from his arm down to his fingertips, dripping into drops on the gravel. Vu smiled, but the smile was stiff. He no longer had the leisurely look of someone controlling the game; Distributed documents and distant police sirens were suffocating his time.

"Kneel down."

Huy did not kneel. "Do you know what Mr. Long will do when this story breaks out? He will say he never knew you. The eight people here will become a spontaneous bandit group. And you will be the first to be eliminated so that no one can get to the boss."

Several juniors looked at each other. Just that moment of fluctuation was enough to loosen their formation. Vu noticed, turned the gun and shouted: "Whoever listens to his nonsense, I will shoot first!"

Tue suddenly missed a step and collapsed. The guy holding the rope bent down and pulled her up. She turned shoulder, wrapped the rope around his wrist and then pulled hard, causing him to lose his balance and fall. At the same time, Huy rushed to the right.

Two sharp gunshots exploded from the roof of the container. One man holding a machete dropped his weapon and hugged his arm; The other guy collapsed because the bullet pierced his thigh. Phong chose the right moment when no one was standing next to Tue.

Vu shot back frantically. The bullet hit the car's tire, sending orange flames in front of Huy's face. He crawled across the gravel, using his elbow to pull his body towards Tue. She also rolled behind the wheel pillar, her wrists were still tied but her legs kicked away the shotgun that had just fallen from the hand of a wounded man.

"West exit!" Phong shouted from above. "If we get there, the sewer leads outside the perimeter!"

Huy memorized the direction but did not take his eyes off Tue. There was three meters of open space between them and a rain of bullets was falling. He waited for Vu's gunshot to stop at the right time to change the bandages, took a deep breath, and then rushed out of his hiding place. In front, Tue turned around and held her tied hands towards him. The folding knife blade was already in Huy's hand. Just a few more seconds would give them a chance to run; If you slow down a beat, you'll both stay in this bus cemetery.