Chapter 15
There's a knock on the door of the DiNozzo residence. Jamie walks to the door and opens it. On the other side is Abby who is holding up two bags.
"I brought Chinese." Abby said cheerfully. She barges passed Jamie; into the apartment.
"How can you be so cheerful at a time like this, Abs?" Jamie wondered.
"Cause if I don't have the faith in them still being alive, then…" Abby looks down as she can't even finish the sentence due to not wanting to allow the thought cross her mind.
"Thanks for coming, Abs." Jamie finally closes the door and locks it. "I really need a friend right now."
Abby wraps one of her arms around Jamie's shoulders and pulls her a bit closer. The two of them walk away from the door; toward the family room. Jamie is able to smell the food. A rumbling sound comes from her stomach.
"Sounds like someone is hungry." Abby said.
"I haven't eaten all day." Jamie stated. The two of them finally sit down on the couch. "I'm just so worried about the boys."
"I'm sure Ziva's sudden disappearance is because she went to rescue them."
"Ziva is just one person. What can she possibly do?"
"I've learned Ziva can be very surprising with her abilities. She'll rescue them."
Suddenly, there's a sound like a key is trying to unlock the door. Jamie's eyes widen in excitement. An overwhelming feeling of happiness takes over. She runs to the door as quickly as humanly possible. The door is opened. Jamie's excitement quickly dies as she sees a drunken man on the other side.
"Did you…" The drunken man paused as he feels groggy. "…Change the lock on me, babes?" He finished.
"Your apartment is down the hall Mr. Peterson." Jamie said.
"Oh dear..."
"Let me help you, Mr. Peterson."
"I don't need help." He turns and starts walking away. "I can…" He finally falls to the floor after taking a couple steps.
Jamie leaves the apartment and helps Mr. Peterson down the hall. Abby remains in the apartment and sets the coffee table for dinner by grabbing a few things from the kitchen. After having everything ready, Abby sits on the couch and looks to the side where a three hundred gallon fish tank is stationed. Inside the fish tank is Chioke's pet lobster; Simba.
Jamie re-enters into the apartment. She closes the door, locks it and walks into the family room. She sits on the couch; between Abby and the fish tank.
"Simba has gotten big since the last time you saw him." Jamie said.
"Only you two were strange enough to have a pet lobster." Abby laughed.
"Me and Tony wanted to eat it."
"And Chioke wanted to keep it."
"Of course we caved." Jamie said. "There's no resisting Chioke no matter how hard you try. He's got the sad puppy dog face perfected."
"And he doesn't even have to try." Abby added.
There's a brief pause of silence as Jamie looks to the right; into the fish tank. Upon looking at Simba, she sighs. Abby places her hand gently onto Jamie's leg.
"I'm sure they're doing just fine." Abby tries to assure her.
"You're probably right." Jamie tries to think positively. "The boys are fine."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in the dense forest of North Korea, a fierce gunfight is underway.
"Stay behind me." DiNozzo said as he guides Chioke behind him. Chioke, who is shivering due to being scared, moves behind Tony.
Tony, with Chioke behind him, is standing near an earthed tree. As Tony fires his assault rifle at the enemy he moves backward in little steps. Chioke does the same. Gibbs stands next to Tony to help shield Chioke from what's going on. The three of them move backward toward the unearthed tree for cover.
Ziva and Yair are going around killing as many Korean soldiers as they possibly can while Tony and Gibbs are protecting Chioke near the unearthed tree. Jael is hiding in a tree and armed with the sniper rifle that has the attached silencer. Jael's camouflage blends into the tree's texture with perfection. In order to not be seen, his movements are slow but his aim is quick. The precision of his shot is with such perfection. Jael snipes as many enemies as he possibly can.
Ziva and Yair use their stealthy assassin training to slip passed all of the Korean defenses undetected. They start to eliminate the enemy from behind.
As Ziva and the other two do their jobs, Tony, Gibbs and Chioke are trapped near the unearthed tree. There's no direction they can move. Chioke is sitting in the hole of where the tree used to be. His hands are covering his ears and his eyes are closed. Tony and Gibbs are also in the hole. The two of them are fighting positions; one knee and one foot on the ground. Both are holding assault rifles and shooting at whoever comes into view that poses a threat.
The enemy is finally finalized. Ziva runs to the unearthed tree.
"We have to get moving right now!" Ziva exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Tony wondered.
"They were army, but not regular army." Yair stated as he approaches.
"I didn't think any of you could actually speak English." Tony said. "Thanks for the rescue." He extends his hand in order to express his gratitude by shaking Yair's hand. Gibbs quickly smacks Tony's hand down as he doesn't want him touching the assassin. Gibbs and Yair stare each other down. Tony is left confused because he doesn't actually know who these people are.
"What part of get moving do you not understand?!" Ziva exclaimed. "The hill will be swarming with the Korean army soon." The six of them run to the west. They're running up a hill. "Stop…" Ziva motions for everyone to slow down. "On the other side of this hill is a heavily guarded mansion. It must the home of some political figure. It's not as heavily guarded anymore because we killed the majority…"
"Those were just mansion guards." Tony acknowledged he knows what Ziva is talking about.
"Yair, Jael… Scope it out. Our objective is the Hummer." Ziva ordered. The two of them leave. Ziva, Tony, Gibbs and Chioke remain where they are. Ziva, who has the sniper rifle, moves to the side and up the remainder of the hill. She lies on top of the hill. Ziva aims the sniper rifle with attached silencer and begins sniping the people around the mansion.
Tony, Gibbs and Chioke are left to talk among themselves as Ziva and her two crew members try to secure the mansion of any possible threats. Chioke is next to Tony.
'I want to go home.' Chioke signed with his hands and also with a sad facial expression.
"We'll be home soon." Tony tries to assure him.
'I miss mommy.'
"I know you do. I miss Jamie too."
Suddenly, from Ziva's position on the hill, she sees a couple vehicles driving down the long road to get to the mansion. She moves her position and aim the sniper rifle in their direction. The vehicles are directly in line with her position. Due to the distance and speed of the vehicles, Ziva isn't aiming directly at the driver of the first vehicle. She's aiming somewhat in front. Her finger brushes against the trigger. Ziva's plan is to snipe the driver of the first vehicle in such a way that he'll swerve to the right, hit the tree she wants him to hit and the back of the vehicle slides into the road; blocking the other vehicles and giving them more time. She only has one chance to do this. The trigger is pulled. The bullet goes racing through the air in the direction of the first vehicle as it continues moving forward.
Finally, there's a crack through the windshield. The driver's chest starts bleeding. His body falls slightly toward the right; forcing his hands to also move in that direction. The vehicle swerves the right and hits a tree. The back end of the vehicle slides into the road. The second vehicle slams into the right side of the first. Ziva has bought them more time. She stands and looks to her coworkers.
"Get moving! We have to leave now!" Ziva exclaimed as she runs toward them and grabs a bag. Tony, Gibbs and Chioke stand up and grab what they can. The four of them run up the remainder of the hill. They move over the hill and are now running down the hill, in clear view of the mansion. Ziva catches a glimpse of two armed guards aiming their weapons. She stops, kneels, aims the sniper rifle and fires the first shot. She aims to the left and fires a second shot. Both guards hit the ground. Ziva stands and continues running down the hill.
Once down the hill, the four of them run across the barren field. Ziva keeps an eye on the small building to their right as they're approaching the mansion. The door to the small building opens as Ziva is passing it. She's quickly grabbed by the large, quite muscular man who came out. The sniper rifle falls to the ground after dropping from Ziva's hand. Tony, Gibbs and Chioke don't see this as Ziva is behind them. Ziva is left alone to fend for herself against a man who is almost three times her size.
The man slams Ziva against the building. He punches her in the stomach. Ziva falls to the ground and is gasping for breath. The man drags Ziva inside the building and closes the door.
Inside the building, Ziva flies in the air and lands on the wooden table. Upon impact, the table breaks. Ziva lays on top of the broken table as the large man approaches her. She rolls onto her stomach. Ziva grabs a piece of wood from under her and waits. The man finally takes hold of Ziva's left foot. Ziva's right foot immediately cracks against the man's face as she turns her body to the left. After receiving the blow from the foot, the piece of wood Ziva grabbed from under herself smacks against the man's head and breaks. Ziva somersaults away from the man, over the broken table pieces. When she finally stands and turns to face the man, she's now holding two table legs. The man takes out a knife and grabs a table leg from the floor. Ziva and the man stare each other down. The taller, more muscular man smiles with confidence.
The man charges toward Ziva and swings the knife at her. Ziva blocks the swing with the table leg. She crouches down to dodge the swing of the table leg. Ziva smacks her table legs against the man's legs and stomach area a couple times. With quickness and before the man swings one of the weapon at her, Ziva jolts up with a spin and cracks a table leg against the man's face. Ziva spins to the face the man and holds the table legs in fighting position. The man quickly shakes it off and glares at her. Ziva just smiles.
A second attack commences. The table legs and knife clash as both of them try to hit each other. After thirty seconds, the man's table leg smacks against Ziva's leg. Due to the blow, Ziva stumbles slightly. The knife is now swung. The blade cuts Ziva's chest directly above her left breast. The table leg slams into Ziva's right side. She falls to the floor. Blood drips from her slash wound. She has an expression of pain upon her face.
"I don't have time for this bullshit." Ziva said as she kicks the approaching man in the shin. She jolts upward; smacking the man in the face with both table legs. The man's knife drops from his hand due to the force of the blow received. After administering the blow, the man stumbles slightly and Ziva reaches for a concealed knife at her waist. With the knife in hand, the man grabs Ziva's wrist. With his other hand, he grabs Ziva by the neck and pulls her closer. "You probably can't understand me, but sometimes it's not about the visible weapon you need to be concerned about." A small blade extends from Ziva's boot. The blade of the boot is plunged into the man's crotch. He lets go of her. The knife in Ziva's left hand slashes the man's throat. "It's not smart to underestimate your opponent." She stated as the man falls to the floor. The man bleeds to death. She hears the honking of a horn. Ziva exits the building. Upon running toward the Hummer, she grabs her sniper rifle. With approaching the Hummer, the driver's side door opens. Yair moves over; letting Ziva drive.
The back tires kick up dirt as Ziva floors the accelerator pedal. The Hummer speeds toward the back road. The army vehicles, which Ziva was able to prolong by creating a road block before, are now approaching the mansion.
"We're screwed." Tony stated as he look back toward the mansion.
"Not quite." Yair said as he holds up a transmitter device. From the passenger seat, he watches the army vehicles drive around the mansion. He finally presses a button. The mansion explodes. Due to the force of the explosion, all of the army vehicles are thrown away as debris disperses. The vehicles themselves have either exploded or caught on fire.
No vehicle is left undamaged. The mansion and all of the army vehicles are left burning as the Hummer continues speeding down the back road. The vehicles are completely destroyed and all soldiers are dead.
"You guys are good." Tony said.
"He doesn't deserve praise, DiNozzo." Gibbs said in somewhat of a snippy tone of voice.
Gibbs and Yair stare each down again. Tony notices the expression on both of their faces and decides to not say a word, as if there's major tension between the two. Tony just looks away and pays full attention to Chioke who is sitting next to him.
The Hummer continues down the long dirt road.