A momentary silence fell within the cabin, as everyone seemed to be awaiting Jack's response. Even Samir, the withered old man, who had already prepared for the interrogation, and one of the guards left inside by Juno, all turned their gazes to the young FBI agent.
"3," Jack's drawn-out utterance evoked both contempt and a strange sense of disappointment.
However, he clearly hadn't finished his words, as he dragged out another number.
"2," everyone was stunned, confused by his meaning.
"1!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Harry, beside Jack, suddenly stood up, grabbed the scalpel Samir had been cleaning on the table, and swung it with force, piercing the guard's eye socket and even piercing his brain.
Jack also leaped forward, and before Samir could even cry out in surprise, he struck him with lightning speed, grabbing his throat. The already skinny old man couldn't hold out for even a second. With a crisp crack, his neck died.
"What happened?" the guard's Arabic voice called from the doorway.
Harry grabbed a long iron hook hanging from the rafters and strode over to the door. As the guard peered in from the doorway, barely glancing back at the situation, the hook pierced the guard's chest with a whistling sound.
Meanwhile, Jack had already removed the pistol from the guard's body and fished for the handcuff key from his pocket.
"Let's get out of here." While Jack was removing the handcuffs from Helen and Jessie, Harry staggered over to a case of purified water against the wall. Not caring about the dust on it, he pulled out a bottle, wiped it clean, and gulped it down.
He didn't have Jack's cheat code; he'd relied solely on willpower and his years of anti-interrogation training to hold out. Fortunately, his physique was exceptional, and he coordinated effortlessly with Jack.
From the moment the two men suddenly attacked to the moment her handcuffs were removed, less than two minutes passed. Helen was still in shock, unable to recover.
Watching Harry silently reposition his dislocated left thumb with Jack's help, Helen gasped, "Oh my God, I feel like I married Rambo."
The four of them left the cabin and stayed put, finding a rock by the sea to hide. Harry hadn't fully recovered yet, limping as he walked, but consciousness had mostly returned.
He had no idea it was because Jack had secretly filmed him performing a healing spell. He assumed the old man named Samir had given him a low-quality drug. After all, a certain FBI agent seemed to be recovering faster than he was.
Taking off his shirt and draping it over Helen, who shivered in the sea breeze, Harry asked Jack, "How long do you think reinforcements will arrive? They've occupied the entire island, which means there's no one around. This is clearly just their staging area."
Jack looked up at the sky, first checking the Big Dipper for direction, then the position of the moon, his expression slightly grim.
The moon was still high in the east, indicating it was still early in the night. Although he had made some arrangements in advance, even SEAL Team Six was on standby, he still felt a little unsure.
The GPS sewn into Helen's bag was an older model, but even if it was off, it wouldn't be so far off that it couldn't find an island. Harry's partner, Gibson, was a veteran agent with over a decade of experience, so he shouldn't be a slouch.
But after all, the situation had happened so suddenly, and in this extremely urgent situation, Jack and Harry, the two people who could make the final decision, were both out of contact, which inevitably caused concern.
Therefore, the most urgent task was to find a way to contact Gibson, or at least explain the seriousness of the situation.
Aziz's "Dark Jihad" had come out in full force this time. Since they arrived on the island, they had encountered no fewer than forty or fifty terrorists. Including the guards patrolling the island, the actual number was likely over a hundred.
If it were just Jack and Harry, with the darkness and the terrain, they could at least disrupt the terrorists, if not completely wipe them out. After all, Arnold was a formidable opponent, even against a Predator, he could
easily match his strength. But with Helen and Jessie, things were inevitably a bit limited.
"Juno has a satellite phone on her. We need to find a way to contact the outside world first," Jack said, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
It was pitch black, making it difficult to see clearly, but Jack could roughly tell they were on a small island. The warehouse area was roughly at the center of the island, at a commanding height. Jack could sense the sound of waves coming from all directions.
Although the island had been ravaged by the terrorists, littered with broken crates, wrecked cars, and other debris, there weren't many places to hide.
After a moment's deliberation, Jack signaled the three to remain calm, crouched low, and vanished into the night. When he reappeared, he held a tarp and a torn fishing net in his hands.
He spread the tarp out, motioned Helen and Jessie to lie on it, and covered them with the torn fishing net. He also gathered some seaweed and other debris that had drifted by the waves and piled them around. As long as the two remained still, they shouldn't be noticed before dawn.
The beach wasn't always covered in soft sand, but rather muddy mudflats and reefs strewn with sharp rocks. The island's only small pier was now brightly lit, and a large group of terrorists were busy at work.
Although they could probably guess they were on a tropical island in the Caribbean, perhaps even not far from Florida, even if they were given a small boat, they wouldn't dare venture out to sea unless they could capture one of the two helicopters.
Harry shared Jack's thoughts: hiding and waiting was too passive; they had to find a way to seize the initiative.
Hugging Helen and giving her a deep, domineering kiss, Harry said in an unwavering tone, "You wait here. Jack and I will try to stop Aziz's plan, no matter what he wants to do."
Helen covered her mouth, at a loss for words. She had always imagined this scene, but when she saw her husband bravely risking his life, she began to think that their previous, simple life had been quite good.
Jessie, beside him, embraced Jack and kissed him, oblivious to the presence of her parents.
She knew Jack was no ordinary man, but the ogres they had faced were only terrifying in appearance, their weapons relatively crude.
Feeling the four hostile gazes, Jack could only pat the girl on the back and whisper a few words of comfort before turning and following Harry into the night.
(End of Chapter)