Mission System: Rescuing Beauties in Distress

Chapter 5 – Explosion

Andrew didn't act without thinking. The Bruce Lee card didn't include bomb-diffusing skills, and to top it off, it had already expired. He started to panic inside as he felt at a loss as to what to do.

Unexpectedly, the robotic voice sound in Andrew's head once more. 

Task: rescue the kidnapped girl. Reward: a box of mineral water, a box of digestive biscuits, and a chloroform rag.

Andrew frowned and felt that there were too few rewards for such a task. To rescue someone who had been kidnapped was dangerous, and it should have earned more rewards, such as another card that improved his skills. 

Though he felt daunted by the whole ordeal, Andrew found that all the system's rewards were beneficial. Otherwise, he and Cassie wouldn't have made it this far. He had no choice but to bite the bullet.

Andrew noticed that there was a cave in a mountain nearby and pointed it out to Cassie. “Go inside that cave and don't move,” he told her.

Cassie realized that he was going to defuse the bomb, and her face turned pale. She wanted to persuade him not to take risks, but when she remembered that he did the same thing for her when she was drowning, she changed her mind. “No...” she began. “You said you would be with me, whether you lived or died.”

“I'm not saying I'm going to die, Cassie. I promise,” Andrew said seriously. “Now, please, go in the cave.”

She stared at him for a moment before she reluctantly nodded. 

Andrew saw that there were only eight minutes and ten seconds left on the bomb, and the girl looked up at him gratefully. “You're an i***t. You shouldn't risk your life for a stranger. Didn't you hear what that man said? Even he can't defuse the bomb himself."

“But I can't just watch you explode. I have to try,” Andrew responded. 

“You don't get it, do you?” the murderer chimed in again. “That bomb was crafted to make sure that Victoria stayed as calm as possible; otherwise, she would kill herself.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Andrew snapped.

The man grinned in delight at having agitated his opponent. “That bomb has a sensor attached to the main artery in the girl's neck so it can monitor her heartbeat, and if her heart beats too fast, she will explode. If she stays calm, then she wouldn't bring about her imminent demise. But since there are only a few minutes left until it detonates, I'm sure the spoiled brat won't panic before then,” he said sarcastically. 

“You mean...”

“She's going to die either way. The only difference is whether it will be a minute from now or five.”

Andrew turned back to Victoria and decided to whisper to her so that the murderer couldn't hear. “Are you able to stay calm? If you can, I might be able to cut this bomb off of you.”

“No, I can't! I've been freaking out this whole time wondering if I will set this bomb off, and then I freak out because I'm freaking out!” Victoria whimpered. “Believe me, I've tried to slow my heart-rate down, but it's no use. And with every second that ticks by, I...”

“Okay, I got it. I got it,” Andrew sighed. He racked his brain for a solution, and he got an idea out of nowhere. After he materialized the chloroform rag, he quickly pressed it against Victoria's mouth before she could react. Her head then hung down as she was temporarily knocked out by the chemical.

Though it wasn't medically ethical to render people unconscious through chloroform anymore, Andrew felt like he was out of options if he wanted to save Victoria's life. If it turned out that she had difficulty waking up, he comforted himself with the knowledge that he knew how to revive her.

Andrew didn't know if his plan would work, but then her heartbeat would slow down if Victoria was passed out. He wasted no time in using his pair of scissors to cut at the strap that held the bomb to her waist, and as soon as it was cut free with twenty seconds left on the clock, he tossed Victoria over his shoulder. 

He ran as fast as he could with double the average weight towards the cave and just made it inside when the blast was felt from the bomb going off. A loud, deafening boom made their ears ring while a blast of intense heat licked at their skin. Andrew sheltered Victoria from the explosion with his body as Cassie laid flat on her stomach with her hands over her head.

Andrew was the first to look at the aftermath and saw that the truck and both men were nowhere to be seen. He safely assumed that the two murderers had been killed, and he felt no remorse. After all, they were evil people who deserved nothing less. 

He then turned his attention to Victoria, who was still lifeless beneath him. It was the first time he got a chance to study her features closely and saw how flawless her skin was. Her golden hair shone in the desert sun, and it was as bright as her light blue eyes, which Andrew had already noticed. 

His mind drifted to how different Victoria looked compared to Cassie. Cassie had dark hair and tanned skin, and his favorite feature was her full lips. But now that he had encountered two gorgeous women in less than twenty-four hours, Andrew found it increasingly difficult to concentrate. 

The adrenaline left his body in a flash, and Andrew felt utterly drained. He shoved himself off of Victoria and flopped onto his back, and briefly let the exhaustion overtake him.

“Andrew!” Cassie shouted. “Andrew, don't die! If you die, I don't know what I would do. You saved me, and you...” she trailed off.

Andrew forced himself to sit up and look back at her. “Cassie, it's okay. I'm okay,” he reassured.

Cassie was overjoyed when she heard his voice. She rushed to Andrew and gave him a once-over before she stared at Victoria. “Is that girl going to be okay, too?” 

“I think so. I might have to give her a full-body exam to find out, though.”

Andrew let out a yelp of pain after Cassie punched him in the arm for his suggestion. 

“I can't believe how cocky you are, even after everything,” Cassie remarked. “And I also can't believe your luck. You rescued me, and now this girl. Are you sure you aren't some kind of superhero?” 

Andrew smiled.