Under Attack – Episode 9

Under Attack – Episode 9
© Brian Ngoma
K.B and The Filmed Suicide Attempt
After the burial of Astridah, K.B withdrew from society. He sold his only house and everything that reminded him of her and moved to the outskirts of the city. He bought a small piece of land. There was a two bedroom house, a boreh0le, running water and a descent land to have a go at farming. K.B didn’t want anything to do with that. He went deep into his emotional pith0le. He was past saving because he embraced the darkness. All he could think of was being with Astridah again. If they couldn’t have enough time here on earth together, they would have eternity together where she was.
Just some kilometres away from K.Bs farm, lived a widow together with her workers. Time and time again they had tried to know their new neighbour but K.B didn’t even try to make an effort to let them in. Months had passed and they never knew who lived there. The widow had tried three times to reach out but all her efforts were in vain.
“Maybe this is how white men are,” the widows maid had said.
“I gathered some information on him. He’s a widower I’m sure he’s only grieving,” the widow had said. “I will try again sometime later.”
One night, K.B had had it up to here. Behind his house was a h0le full of water. He had everything planned out. He strapped himself with stones that would sink him deep into the h0le. Getting done, he thought about Astridah and his two children, wherever they were if at all they were thinking about him. He missed them. He only needed them in his life to have purpose but Bella didn’t give him a chance.
He took a deep breath in, looked around and jumped into the well. The strapped stones took him down. He wasn’t even fighting it. He was calm and peaceful. At last, he would be with Astridah. When he started choking and finally giving up, he felt huge arms dragging him up. He fought them but before he knew it, he was out of the well and thrown on the ground.
He coughed and coughed not understanding what had just happened. A woman knelt before him checking him. He looked behind her, there was a huge man who had just pulled him out of the well.
“Who are you?” He asked breathing heavily.
“I’m your neighbour, ” the woman answered. “That is my foreman. Were you trying to kill yourself?”
He didn’t answer. He only looked at the strapped stones on his body which were heavy. The woman instructed her foreman to remove them.
“I’m Ellen by the way,” the woman introduced herself. “Have been trying to get hold of you for months now.
K.B looked up to the foreman. How did he pull him up? Only a few seconds and he would have reunited with his beloved.
“Come stay with us for a few days,” Ellen said.
K.B refused but she insisted. She told him she would report him to the cops that he wanted to kill himself. He agreed. He later found out she was widow like him. Her husband had died some few years ago.
One fateful night, loneliness lingered in Ellens house. K.B had been up all night thinking about how good she had been to him. He couldn’t sleep, he wanted her. What he didn’t know was that she had been thinking of him too. He gathered his courage and went to knock on her bedroom door. Within seconds, she opened. They stared at each other for seconds and she let him in.
9 months later, Lena was born. K.B and Ellens union was not out of love. They agreed to stay together for the sake of Lena. K.B failed to love Ellen as much as he did Astridah and she knew. She was glad he was a good father but she was tired of living a fake life. When Lena was four, she decided to end their union and left the country. To K.B, this wasn’t as devastating as it was with Bella because it was his fault. If he only he had loved her the way she wanted him to, they would have been a happy family.
Slowly pitying himself, he didn’t want to have suicidal thoughts again, he left the farm and went back to the city. Four months in the city, K.B enlisted for the police force. The farm had made him a strong middle aged man unlike the young ones. He was selected and started working as an officer.
***
Dominick tied his wound with his shirt. He looked around, there was nothing he could use. He heard footsteps approaching and knew they were coming to him. He looked at the window, walked over and widely opened it. He opened it and saw the place surrounded by police cars and the media. When they saw him, cameras went to him. He knew eventually they would be rescued. The bombs at all possible entrances were what was stopping them. He then went underneath the table and clung to it by folding himself into a ball.
The door opened. He heard footsteps.
“Did he leave through the window?” A voice asked astound.
“Don’t go near the windows, there are cameras out there,” another voice said.
“Let’s get out of here. We need to get Izukanji on the 3rd floor.”
“This one will die look at this blood.”
Dominick heard the footsteps leave the room. He fall from what he was holding. He stayed in the room for a moment and went to the door. He checked and saw one man in uniform by the firearm department door. He knew the two were heading up. There was no way he would fight that man without a gun. Then again, he wouldn’t go up because those two had guns too. His mind was stuck on where to go.
***
Izukanji and his man were left with no other means. They were completely powerless and unarmed. They decided to leave and go upstairs. That was their only chance at survival. They left the office and tiptoed their way through the corridor. They stopped and checked Dominicks office to see if his suspect was still there. They didn’t find him. They reached the elevator and pressed. It was coming from the ground floor. They didn’t even notice.
***
K.B and the rest were rushing downstairs to get to the 3rd floor. K.B was in front. They reached the floor and saw Izukanji and his man waiting by the elevator.
“Stay away from there!” Christina shouted.
Izukanji looked their way and the elevator doors opened. Izukanji’s man was shot in the head. K.B saw Izukanji being beaten to the floor and dragged to the elevator. He ran towards the elevator and one of the men pointed the gun at him but couldn’t shoot because he was wearing the bombs too. The man got into the elevator and it closed.
The others joined K.B. He just stood there powerless. He looked down at the shot detective. He knelt and closed his eyes. His fear was confirmed. Izukanji had been gotten to before him.
“Why can’t you just give them the serial killer?” Christina asked K.B. “We will all survive this.”
“The elevator has stopped moving,” The fluffy one said looking at the indicators.
“They have stopped it. They know we are here,” Christina said.
“Nana is sleeping,” Emma said looking at K.B.
“Her mother is devastated,” Christina said. “She’s been crying.”
K.Bs phone rang again.
“How the hell does your phone still work?” Emma asked.
“It’s a burner phone,” he responded getting it out of his pocket.
It was Bella. This time, he wanted to answer but the network cut again.
“Is that your wife?” The fluffy one asked.
K.B ignored the fluffy one and put the phone back in his pocket. “I think i know where the serial killer is.”
They all stared at him and they knew he was serious.
***
Izukanji was pulled from the elevator and dragged into the reception. He was unconscious. All the hostages upon learning he was the head detective on the 3rd floor lost hope. Their lives were at stake.
“I saw the white man boss,” one of the men told the man in charge. “He’s strapped himself with our bombs.”
“So he got Nick and the others,” the man in charge said thoughtfully.
“Yes boss and he was with Christina and the others. Even the little girl.”
When Nanas mother heard this, she jumped to her feet. “People K.B is coming to save us.”
They all exclaimed in happiness.
“Boss look at this,” one of the man in charges men brought him a phone.
There was a video on it. The man in charge watched it and laughed hysterically. All the hostages got quite trying to figure out why he was laughing.
“You say K.B will save you,” he laughed even more. “How can a man trying to kill himself save all of you?”
The man in charge turned the phone to the hostages and showed them a clip of K.B on the roof when he tried to jump off and struggling to get up. They all watched in sorrow and all their last hope was drained. Some even started crying.
“Wake him up!” The man in charge pointed at Izukanji. “I.G, come here. You, me and him need to have a serious talk.”
The video was even kept on repeat showing K.B. Apparently, his suicide attempt at the roof had been filmed by a teenager on the opposite building and had been uploaded on social media. The video was even trending on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. K.B was the laughing stock of society and he didn’t even know.
To be continued