On the third deck of the ship, inside a big cage fighting ring, two fighters were already battling.
Wearing only fight shorts and mixed martial arts gloves, they punched, grappled and kicked each other until one of them was beaten into submission and fell to the floor unconscious.
That was the first cage fighting scene that Zach had ever seen live. They did the pre-fight protocol, warm up, and then they just went in there and fought.
The fight ended after a quarter of an hour, when one of the fighters went down hard, his head thudding into the ground. His face was swollen and bloody.
Underground fights were brutal and gritty. It’s as foul as it could get when you put a bunch of testosterone-loaded alpha men together in one enclosed space with nowhere else to go.
The winner was Sting, the man who had approached him in an offensive manner a few days earlier. The man who he believed was always high on illegal use of drugs.
Riley was right, Sting was a dirty fighter who would use all kinds of below-the-belt tricks to win. But no one seemed to care as long as it was entertaining for the guests.
The guests... They couldn’t see them from behind the tinted mirrors. Zach wondered how those rich people looked like. Those rich people whom he considered to be worse than beasts for enjoying to watch something as odious as this.
Sting was shouting and grinning. He was obviously high on both drugs and adrenaline combined. He had already been declared the winner but he walked towards his collapsed and motionless opponent, and with one last move, he broke the man’s neck, making sure that he would no longer breathe.
"Yeah!!!" Sting shouted as he raised both of his arms up and ran circling the cage. He was shouting his victory like a mad man.
He then scratched his nose and grinned evilly at Zach.
He pointed his finger at Zach and shouted, "I will get your head next, General Dickbag! And you can rest assured that I will not just break your neck. I will crush your annoying and arrogant face!"
"Wow, looks like we will have a nice show later on... That was just a warm-up show for all of our special guests today," Draco announced through the microphone laughing.
"Are we a bunch of animals?" Riley commented with gritted teeth. The fighter who had just died from Sting’s hand was a good man. He was a great martial artist and Leon had forced him to board the ship to fight for his own gains by holding the man’s family captive.
"Good job, Sting. You will be allowed to enter the Wishing Room tonight..." said Draco laughing as he patted Sting’s back.
Then he looked at the other fighters and added, "You see that? There are no rules inside that cage except to fight for your life! The weak will die and the strong will survive! That’s the only rule of the game!"
"Those lost souls are already burning while they are still alive!" Prophet muttered angrily. He was one of the fighters who was also a religious man. Zach could feel the rising tensions among the fighters, especially those who were there against their own will.
"Wishing Room?" Zach murmured. Riley heard it and he explained, "For every win, the Boss will usually grant the fighter a wish, in the so-called Wishing Room. I have never been there though..."
Riley sighed and murmured, "I only wish for my freedom but I guess it’s the forbidden wish."
"Are you willing to kill for your freedom?" Keira’s sweet voice suddenly rang in Zach’s ear as her crumpled face popped up before his eyes. She complained, "But that bastard Leon will still not let you go even though you win the fight and kill your opponent. We both know he will never let you live."
Leon’s men pulled out the lifeless body from inside the cage like an animal and Zach couldn’t help but clench his fists. He tried hard to control his anger.
"Nutjob, don’t get all riled up. Just focus on how you can get out of here." Cobra mumbled. Cobra, Zach and Riley had managed to team up for an escape. They had discreetly discussed every possibility to make their way out of the ship.
"How dare you call my General a nutjob, you poisonous snake," Keira’s irritated face popped up again, and it made Zach chuckle silently.
Riley noticed it and said, "I think you will go crazy soon if you keep imagining that woman, General."
Maybe Riley was right. Maybe he would soon go crazy. Zach let out a long conflicted sigh.
He was imagining Keira’s presence often lately and his visions of her had become more vivid with time. Riley had taken notice of it and because the man was persistent in asking, he had ended up telling Riley everything about Keira and his visions of her.
He knew they were not real and her presence there with him was only a product of his own mind. But it was the only way he would gain strength and endure this trial.
He would envision Keira sitting beside or standing before him. He would fantasize about hugging and kissing her as she lay next to him.
He would recall all of her expressions and think of the things that she would say in each and every one of his actions. She was his only source of strength and without those imaginations, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to survive.
"Yes, I am your pillar of strength, my General. But so are you to me. So make sure you will live and come back to me in one piece," Keira said with a wink.
.................
Field Marshal Chan and his wife would often visit Zach’s family to personally relay the status of Zach’s search and rescue operation.
"Oh my God. Thank God!" Sheila cried out. She let out tears of joy at the news of Zach being alive and would be rescued soon.
Then Sheila paused and looked at Mrs. Chan and said, "Lyra told me Keira will join the operation as well. Is that necessary?"
Mrs. Chan wiped her own tears and smiled at Sheila as she said, "Your daughter-in-law is one stubborn woman, Sheila. No one can stop her once she makes up her mind. Especially now that her husband is the objective of that operation."
Sheila hugged Mrs. Chan and whispered, "Our prayers will always be with the both of them. To keep them safe and for the success of this operation."
Grandma Terri wiped her tears. Life at the moment was tough for both families but they were enduring it together. They were lucky to have Keira’s family by their side. She knew that the Chans would always be there for the Lims in every way possible.