Lorenzo’s POV
“No! No! You can do that! I’m innocent!”
I struggled with the guards but they grabbed me and pinned me down again. I tried to get up but
the head officer put his heavy boot on my head.
I snarled in anger and in pain while he looked at me furiously.
“You are going to behave and…”
“Sir!”
Another officer rushed in and was breathing erratically.
“The bomb squad is here.”
He took his foot off my head and asked his men to put me on my knees and asked the officer to
bring the squad in.
By now, the airport had been cleared of all people and officers were running around. I still tried
to struggle out of the guards grip but they held on tightly to me.
“… he is Officer.”
The airport officer came back and was leading the bomb team to me and my suitcase that lay on
the floor.
The airport officer attempted to open it but he was stopped.
“Wait! It could have a trigger mechanism. Who has the suitcase?”
All eyes fell on me and I growled.
“I have nothing to do with this!”
The airport officer didn’t hesitate and he slapped me across the cheek again. I felt the corner of
my mouth warm up with blood and it oozed slowly from my busted lip.
The taste of my blood enraged me and I was about to pounce on the officer and he took a stance,
ready to brawl with me.
“Stop!”
A booming voice filled the air and every one fell silent. The bomb squad leader was glaring at all
of us. His nostrils flared in anger and I felt the air stand still.
“We have an active bomb in the airport and you resort to fighting!”
The silence soon gsv way to panic as everyone realized that he was right.
“Pull yourselves together! Lieutenant, X-ray on the bomb. How many minutes do we have left?!”
A lady dashed forward with a small machine and placed it on the suitcase. She watched the
screen intently. I could see her hands shaking and beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
Her comrades retreated to a safe distance and left her alone with the suitcase.
“We have fifteen minutes, Sir!”
“Is there a trigger?”
“None that I can see, Sir.”
“Alright. Open the suitcase!”
A gasp rippled around the room. She looked at her captain with wide open eyes. She was pale
and stunned.
“Get on with it, Lieutenant!”
I watched her gulp and when she turned to look at me, her eyes were glistening with tears and
begging me to disarm the bomb.
“No! Don’t let her open it!”
The leader of the bomb squad walked up to me briskly and grabbed me by the shirt.
“Tell us how to disarm it, Buster!”
“I don’t know how to disarm it!”
I was between a rock and a hard place. I tried to explain that I didn’t plant the bomb but no one
believed me.
The female lieutenant was still on her knees close to my suitcase. She was trying so hard not to
cry. Her eyes were red and her skin was pale. She looked like she was going to faint.
“Open the suitcase, Lieutenant!”
“No, she can’t!” I protested. “You want to kill her!”
“And guess whose fault that it?! You can save us all precious time and her life by telling us the
disarming code!”
“I don’t know the disarming code! I didn’t plant the bomb there!”
I was exasperated. No one was listening.
“We have seven more minutes, Captain.”
The captain sighed and turned away from me.
“Open the suitcase, Lieutenant. That’s an order. Everyone retreat!”
The other officers fell back and left the lieutenant to her fate. Even the officers that were
guarding me retreated and dragged me along with them.
As I was being pulled away, I saw a tear run down the lieutenant’s face and her lips moved slightly
as she muttered a small prayer.
Her fingers touched the clips of my suitcase and there was a soft click. A tear dropped and wet
the leather. I felt my heart racing in my chest. If she opened the suitcase, she was going to set off
the bomb and she would die.
She opened the suitcase just a tiny creak and paused. We all watched in anxiety. She then threw
it open and closed her eyes. We all did the same, waiting for the explosion but there was none.
I opened my eyes just a little and saw the lieutenant still kneelingvery much alivein front of my
suitcase.
“Lieutenant, status report!” yelled the Captain from his hiding spot.
The lieutenant’s voice was croaky and coarse. Her held back tears choked her.
“We…we…have four minutes, Sir.”
“What wires do you see there?”
“Uhmmm…there…there is a…red one and a…blue…and yellow and green stripped one.”
Everyone was holding their breath. The lieutenant was terrified; the captain was thinking of what
to do next.
“Captain, we…we are down to two minutes.”
“Cut the red one!”
“Captain?”
He snarled angrily and poked his head out from his cover.
“Are you deaf all of a sudden? I said cut the red one!”
I watched the lieutenant gulp and she pulled out a pair of red scissors. Her hands were shaking
and I could see her try to dry her sweaty palms on her shirt.
The timer was counting down. We had barely a minute left until the timer ran down and the
bomb went off.
She stretched the scissors towards the red wire and stopped. The tears were streaming down her
face. I could tell that she was more upset about how willing her captain was to sacrifice her for
this operation.
All eyes were on her and everyone stopped breathing.
Snip!
The scissors cut through the wire and the timer was disabled.
Air returned to the room and one by one. Everyone began to poke their heads out from their
hiding places.
The Captain stood up but didn’t walk towards his lieutenant.
“Good job, Lieutenant. You…”
He stopped mid-sentence and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Lieutenant!”
She turned around and saw the time was active again. It was a false disarming.
The timer counted down and the lieutenant struggled to get to her feet. She was wobbling from
the fear.
Everyone had retreated but she was still struggling to move.
I looked at the timer. She wasn’t going to make it! Her eyes were filled with tears and she was
desperately begging for someone to come to her aid.
No one moved a muscle. I struggled to go to her but I was held down.
It was too late.
Five, four, three, two, one…