"Who the hell is this?"
"It doesn't matter who, but where. I'll be waiting for you at the old Ambar Rock warehouse."
"I've just remember who you are. I won't give the city to your filthy guerilla, Wilkou!"
"Think twice, officer. Your family wants to go on living. Don't you?"
"Dad!!!"
"Did you hear that, officer?" You're toast."
"Let my family alone, you bastards!"
This intense exchange left Mduduzi hopeless. A whole month of war against a guerrilla that seemed to escalate without limits, and that it was about to checkmate him. He did not want to surrender, even if he was the last policeman alive, and hand over his beloved city of Ndoni to terrorists after so many years protecting it. Much less could he bear the thought of never seeing his family again. The most difficult operation of his life had begun.
When Mduduzi, full of doubts and fears, wanted to leave that old house where he had been imprisoned and tortured, something quickly alarmed him: the phone rang one more time.
The policeman ran to pick it up even though his body was wasted.
"I told you I won't give up..."
"Shh!"
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Steven. We just intercepted the call, Mduduzi. The Mal guerrilla are trying to trick you."
"What do you mean, Steven?"
"None of them are at the Amber Rock warehouse."
"Then they would just annihilate me there."
"Sure. They know you're out of officers and desperate."
"Luckily, that's not entirely true and I have you."
"We're already going to find you, heal you and equip you to put an end to this plague that has struck Ndoni. Get ready!" shouted a shrill voice that overshadowed Steven's subtle voice.
"Mayra, have you returned to the lab?" asked Mduduzi pleasantly surprised.
"Yes, and I already have a plan to destroy all those Mal terrorists," she replied firmly.
Mduduzi ended the call laughing out loud not believing how Mayra had become so brave, after always being unsure, even on how to breathe.
Three hours later, the leader of the Ndoni police force had returned to his senses and seemed armed to the teeth. Mduduzi not only required bravery, he also had to be insane. On the battlefield, it would be him against 100 terrorists.
"... and that way you will turn the tables on them. Don't forget that arriving at the last moment will be better than on time. At least for today," Mayra recommended to Mduduzi before giving him a tearful hug.
"Relax, guys, I will be back," said the policeman finishing putting on a bulletproof vest and a big smile on his face.
"There's always a chance for a strategy to fail, no matter how good it is," Steven lamented.
"We are already here. Not a step back," said Mduduzi defiantly to the scientists.
"Remember your family's true whereabouts is the first floor of the old Hotel Goodstone," Steven echoed before watching Mduduzi leave the lab.
Ndoni's last policeman began by attacking the burrows near the center. Each casualty was alerted to his scientist friends via walkie-talkie.
"Long-range gun, executed."
"Reactive bombs, set."
"Underground pit, opened."
One after another, the positive comments that reached the ears of the scientists made them have a mini-celebration, to soon recover and continue watching the passage of the policeman.
Mduduzi made sure not to leave anyone alive. There had to be no spontaneous courier, or the whole mission would be over.
"Do you still have enough bullets?" asked Mayra who didn't blink for a second.
"Affirmative. I am now ten blocks from the Hotel Goodstone," replied Mduduzi.
"Don't slow down. Your family and Ndoni are going to be saved," said Steven encouraging the last policeman.
Within the chaos that reigned in the city, Mduduzi came upon an injured girl on a street corner. Her crying distressed the policeman, and he could do nothing but help her. But it was a trap.
The policeman neglected his back for the girl and out of nowhere he felt a heavy mechanical noise, which was approaching fast, and corresponded to a mini tank that shook even the ground.
The tank's cannon was pointed directly at Mduduzi's head, who also had his two handguns pointed at the war vehicle.
"Officer, put your weapons down now and surrender," shouted a guy coming out of the top of the tank.
Mduduzi and the scientists knew that something like this could happen on the way to the hotel. So the policeman was quick to respond and, disguising his defeat by lowering his weapons to the ground, pressed a button on his protective gear that caused a missile to explode the tank threatening him in a matter of seconds.
"OK, team!" exclaimed Mduduzi.
"You say there's a girl wounded?"
"That's right, Mayra."
"We'll send paramedics to get her out of there," the scientist commented in anguish.
"You have 12 minutes left before what I told you in the lab happens, Mduduzi," Steven warned with some concern.
Under such pressure the officer was strained to the utmost of his abilities in front of the door of the place where his family and Ndoni's salvation laid.
Three steps inside the first floor of the hotel and he could already see his maximum enemy, Wilkou, along with four other terrorists targeting his family.
"Wow, officer, I don't know whether to feel anger or respect for seeing you here," said Mal's leader with a wicked smile.
"You should feel fear," the policeman replied menacingly.
The group of terrorists laughed and then the leader revealed:
"Neither the city nor your family will be saved. You have fallen into the trap."
"You are wrong, Wilkou, there will be no more killing of innocents in my city."
Immediately, the policeman took off all the clothes covering his chest and revealed that he had a bomb with him that had only a minute left to explode.
"Now, you scum, let my wife and children go, or I won't defuse the bomb and you are toast!" shouted Mduduzi.
The speed of that ace up his sleeve and the short time to react, made Wilkou order the release of the policeman's family, who as soon as he could, ordered them to escape.
In the last 10 remaining seconds, Mduduzi should have defused the bomb, but instead, he stood his ground and walked backwards towards the hotel entrance.
Once he crossed it, the terrorists began firing mercilessly at him, but Mduduzi threw himself to the ground and shouted "now!" into the walkie-talkie.
Just as had happened before, the scientists sent another missile. This one took a few seconds longer to arrive, but was just as effective at its target as the first.
Mduduzi soon smiled with happiness as he saw the last of Mal disappear, and then cried as he embraced his family after many hours without having them near. Ndoni was once again a peaceful city after so long, thanks to the last policeman and his scientific team.
