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It was a very quiet Road for afternoon time, it’s normal however it was a one way road beside a cliff that basically one of the hidden road that connect 2 cities, for some “reason” Ridwan decide to use this road instead the main one, despite the fact the main road will get them faster to their destination, I mean it was not the first time they use this road for this kind of trip together so both kinda enjoyed it.
Bussiness trip? Well yes, but no. Date? Maybe. It just that Pengkor really want to ask his “partner” for 3 days vacation to somewhere he can think of within and reach with his car within 3 days, they are still wearing their usual suit for make it less suspicious, they are not dating, not yet I should say.
Hands on the wheels, eyes focus on the road, no air conditioner for now, just two old man minding their own bussiness while the winds gently stroke their hair, no smoke for now just enjoying the fresh afternoon air of quiet road.
“Masih berapa lama lagi sampai, Ridwan?” Hand on his chin enjoying the wind blows, he asked his friend about the journey.
“Paling cepat dua jam lagi” He sighed, in good way of course, he actually kinda enjoy this trip despite the fact he already driving for at least 2 hours.
“Saya tinggal kedip sebentar juga dua jam berlalu, mobil kamu nyaman juga”
Ridwan didn’t answer with words, his words however made Ridwan glance towards that men for a sec, still need to focus on the road don’t forget about it, he can’t hide his smile however, well not just he, but them.
Both of them are just your typical workaholic man in their almost retirement age, sometimes they forgot how important vacation is for them, good thing that Pengkor actually realized it sooner.
……….
“Ridwan!”
“Holy fuck! Apa apan- Sial!”
There was no way he could control this, their tires was shot by some people they don’t even know who, but there is no way that this happen by accident, someone tried to kill them, or at least one of them.
Black car, two people, one drive and one shoot. Ridwan can’t even think of any, and the only thing he can heard is tire screeching. They shot more than once, but fortunatelly all of them hit the car body, none of them hit Pengkor or Ridwan.
“Sial Sial Sial!”
They kept shooting, it just takes second for their car to crash, fortunatelly the safety airbag manage to safe them from fatal injury, none of them injured, they are just simply lucky that their car crash front first, but the bad thing is the car is useless now, no way they can escape from this.
“Ridwan, ayo keluar dari pintu kanan!”
That unknown car was also stopped only several meters near them, damn they really mean bussiness. No way out, both of them had guns, Ridwan didn’t have any. Hold up, where is he?
“Ridwan, kita harus perg- bagaimana caranya, apaan tuh masih sempet sempetnya bawa koper?!” He panicked, so is Ridwan.
Pengkor’s breath was uneven, his eyes keeps glancing on every side possible, looking for way out, there is no safe way to get out of here. Both of those people, they were aiming pistols at both of them, face covered, they doesn’t seems like a very trained assassin, they are maybe just mercenaries.
“Oke, Pak, pelan-pelan mundur”
Step by step slowly they walks backward, Pengkor was kinda worried but he believes in Ridwan, he was smarter than he looks, by his tone Ridwan probably already have plan for their escape.
“Ridwan ya, sudah deh pak, mending nyerah aja”
Hah? Ridwan? Apa apaan ini?!
“Ghazul..sialan ya” Ridwan smiles, a forced concerned smile, it looks like he already expecting this would happen but in other side didn’t expect it would come now.
“Serahkan koper itu ata-Woi!”
Ridwan can’t remember what happened clearly because his eyes were closed, except a loud gunshot, his eyes were forced closed by Pengkor who suddenly jumped into him, the only thing he can feel is their fall, it was not as rough as he expect it would be, he knew that Pengkor was tightly hugging him like a human shield.
They were gliding toward the bottom of the cliff, well a very rough and fast glide but definitelly much better than falling then hit the ground, Pengkor manage to control their fall to make sure they stay on the edge in order to reduce the fall impact, but still Ridwan’s vision suddenly goes dark and he can’t hear anything.
……………
“Oh syukurlah…cepat juga kau siuman..”
First thing he heard was Pengkor’s voice, he still unable to open his eyes however, head hurts so bad and he can feel something tightly wrapped on his head.
“Jujur kau siuman jauh lebih cepat dari yang saya perkirakan…”
Ridwan can see the concerned yet relieved looks on Pengkor’s face, it was the first thing he saw when he open his eyes, how long he was out? Ridwan somehow still remember what happened, some of them at least, he can remember the gunshot, the feel of gliding down the cliff, only that actually, but judging by how his head hurt so bad and a…tie wrapped around his head, he assume that his head hit something.
“Ranting..untungnya bukan batu atau semacamnya karena jika iya mungkin kau sudah…ya begitulah”
Ah, branch, it make sense now maybe, if it was a stone he probably already dead right now. Oh wait…
“Bapak! Bapak terluka di-sialan!”
When he looks at his body, holy shit it was much worse than Ridwan’s wounds, the fact he manage to pull through was a miracle, is it? They gunshot, it manage to hit Pengkor’s left elbow, it made his Right arm useless now, not to mention his Right arm also broken by the fall, he must have realized that his Right arm already useless before the fall, he probably used it for reduce the impact of the fall.
Ah sial
There was a branch, a long branch impaled to Pengkor’s right hip, must be impaled when he tried to use his right hand for the fall, all of them basically rendered most of Pengkor’s right body useless, the only thing that got less injury is his right leg.
Looking at him, Ridwan think about how strong Pengkor actually is despite how weak he looks in normal situation, maybe his past actually made him strong, he must be much stronger than how he looks like.
“Hebat kan kita? Masih hidup, jangan pikir saya asal jatuhkan diri loh”
Hah?
“Ingat, kisah hidupku cukup keras, tubuhku terlatih….tapi tadi saya salah hitungan, seharusnya kau tidak terluka separah ini ha..ha”
Weak laugh, sounds like the way he cope with the pain. Ridwan forced himself to smile. Look away, he thought, deep inside he blame himself, why would Pengkor do that in, does he want to protect Ridwan? Does he knows that even if Ridwan gave up his Suitcase that those “assassin” looking for they still gonna kill him anyway, but at least even if they kill him he can make an arragment to let Pengkor live.
“Ridwan..kamu kenapa nangis? Masih sakit?”
Cry? Holy damn he didn’t even realize he was crying, but now he realized it he can’t hold it anymore, it was so stupid for an old man to cry in front of his friend like a baby.
“Maaf..kan…saya…harusnya..”
Before he can even continue his words, he can feel something warm around him. Pengkor, hugged him, patting his head, leaning Ridwan’s head to his chest, gentle strokes. He can hear Pengkor’s hearbeat, it was fast, but his breathing was steady, was it forced?
“Bukan salah kamu..sst, tenang, kamu boleh nangis tapi nafas kamu harus tetap diatur, nanti sakit”
It was warm, he feels relaxed, despite the fact that it almost night time, the sun start to dissapear with the orange lights, turning into dark blue sky with almost no cloud can be seen, but he felt warm.
“Saya sudah berusaha cari pertolongan, tadi beberapa menit sempat ada sinyal, untung saya sempat beri pesan SOS ke entah saya lupa nomor apa saja yang saya masukan”
Night come, they help should come within several hours, he hope…but let’s be real, there is literally nothing else they can do, they can’t run, even if they can they have no idea where to go, usual SOS message will tell the receiver the location the message was sent, it was better for them to stay in order to help the Rescue team to find them.
Ridwan can’t help but blame himself despite what Pengkor just said to him, if it was not because he decide to use that road, if he chose the main road the “assassin” wouldn’t show up because of how crowded the road is, he sobs, if it was not because of his own stupid choice Pengkor would be safe now in his house, he don’t care if those people will kill him in his house but why would he let Pengkor’s life in danger just like him.
“Ridwan..” He hugs Ridwan even tighter, it’s night time, the only thing pengkor can think is the coldness, Ridwan probably starting to feel the coldness, Pengkor don’t want to let that happen.
“Mungkin akan sulit, tapi…tolong jangan menyerah…”
That was the last thing Ridwan heard before he succumb to his exhaustion and fell asleep in Pengkor’s arm, he didn’t dream this night, but it was actually a blessing for him, he rather have a blank dream instead of Nightmare he supposedly experience now knowing how horrible the situation at this moment.
Ini bukan akhir untukmu, Ridwan, Jangan menyerah, bertarunglah sedikit lagi
Those words, it appear on his sleep, still no dream but he can heard those words, it was Pengkor’s voice, he recognize that clearly. What does that actually mean?
……..
Crack
Ridwan wokes up by the sound of something cracking, probably branch, was it the rescue team?
No
The rescue team supposedly came with at least one Helicopter, he can’t hear any of them. If they actually arrived before, the sound of the heli should have wake him up earlier, it was not them, oh no.
Serius? Masih dikejar juga?
It was them, the “Assassin” holy shit how much do Ghazul pays them in order to actually get that Suitcase to the point they literally climbed down the hill and spent their night to find it. Not gonna lie but even if they did desperate that much Ridwan still thought they will try to search it in the morning and assuming that both Ridwan and Pengkor are dead.
Shit, the only thing he can do is now hide, he don’t care where, at least pretend to die is also fine, just make sure they won’t hurt Pengkor more than this.
“Pak, pak ayo bangun! Mereka datang lagi, sembunyi- Pak?”
Pak!
Shit!
Tidak, Tidak, Tidak!
……..
That night, he should have know. While he cried due to massive guilt he felt, Pengkor was comforting him, in same time….he was bleeding out.
He tried to wake him up, he tried to help, he tried to revive him, everything, he tried everything he can think of, but there was no chance, he probably already died when Ridwan was asleep, heart already stopped for long times to the point he can’t be revived anymore.
What make it worse, day still night, no light except from the moon, that mean Pengkor pull his last remain energy in order to comfort Ridwan, he knews he was going to die, he knews that there is no chance for him to survive until the rescue arrived.
He was overwhelmed with guilt, to the point he can’t feel the guilt inside his heart anymore, the only thing he can feel, is rage, fury, everything. He tried to stay calm, but it was very difficult.
Bertarunglah sedikit lagi.
He knews what that mean, survive until the help came, stay alive and do what you can do with the years god gave to you, but “Fight”?
Lawan
Should he feels calm after everthing that happened? No. Those people killed him, no way. Rage was flooding his mind, he can’t think anymore, he was controled by one of the seven deadly sins, Wrath.
Lawan
Blood was spilled, heart beating extremely fast, gunshots everywhere.
Lawan
He can’t feel any pain, he can’t feel anything but wrath, even with just a sharp stick and his adrenaline, somehow he did it.
Lawan
Blood everywhere, they are suffering, they are not dead yet, but they will.
Slowly, he can feel the pain attacking his body, he manage to Fight back, but at what cost? He didn’t fulfilled Pengkor’s last wish.
As he fell to the ground, drowning on his own blood, he fight with his last energy to keep his eyes open, but he knew he there is no chance anymore, did he made a mistake?
Bapak…
Should he actually better to stay in the hiding spot and wait for the rescue to arrive?
Bapak..Maafkan saya…
But everything was already too late, he cried, he was in pain but his tears was not from it, it was from guilt, he felt the guilt once more.
Maafkan saya sudah melakukan hal bodoh…
Maafkan saya sudah menyerah…
Maaf saya sudah tidak bisa bertarung lagi…
………..
“Ridwan, bangun, lihat bulannya indah sekali”
Eh, bapak?
“Kamu tadi ketiduran, maaf ya kalau saya ganggu tidur kamu, tapi lihat deh bulannya, saya tidak mau kamu kelewatan”
Bapak? Begitu ya…
He didn’t say any word, but his eyes locked on the sight of the man beside him, the scar on his face is still there, it was really him.
Pengkor, he smiled, a faint but genuine smile, he looks at Ridwan and gave him a Tender kiss, his lips are locked by his kiss, it was very gentle…under the beautiful light of the moon, on top of a very beautiful hill.
“Ridwan”
A gentle, warm hug kept his body warm, Ridwan closes his eyes and hugs back, breath slowly, as Pengkor whispers to his ears.
Sudah tidak sakit kan? Maafkan saya tadi meninggalkanmu begitu saja
Dan semesta mempertemukan kita kembali
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