DOPE Season 2 Episode 9 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
**Código 99 reloaded**
After series of preparations and hard training, Hugo got intelligence from John Killer concerning how to attack the Spiders and take over their territory. He revealed some of the secrets and tactics used by The Spiders’ to operate. He also revealed the day that Ignacio and his men were planning to attack to take over from Mistério Cartel and inherit the fortunes hidden by Octavio.
The long awaited war between The Spiders and The Mistério cartel took place on 17th March which was a day Hugo considered memorable because it was on that very date that he lost his dad through Stone’s betrayal and also the day for the celebration of the feast of Saint Patrick.
Notwithstanding the two celebrations, the major reason for choosing the said date was that Tessie Santiago (Octavio’s daughter) would be celebrating her 24th birthday. It was certain that the birthday celebrations would take over the attention and alertness of the people making it easier to strike because the soldiers would be busy with merriment.
Hugo took out time to undergo series of training with the help of John Killer and Andre Italo, making him have the combination of the killing tactics of the Spiders and the Mistério Cartel. In his training, he learned the best and easiest ways to kill an enemy during a face to face fight. His major targets on human’s body for easy murder are; the temple, Adam’s apple, spinal cord, testicles, and coccyx. Even though the girls gave him a special training too, they were not to participate in the fight but focus on the disarmament of Mortos Rio as they prepare for the war ahead to face Lucas and his men.
On the day scheduled for the fight, Ignacio and his men were celebrating both the feast of St. Patrick and Tessie’s 24th birthday, making them all drunk and occupied with merriment. Before Hugo took off with his soldiers using twenty different helicopters and other armoured vehicles, he warned them to desist from laying their hands on Tessie because he was bent on fulfilling the dead man’s wish by sparing his daughter so that he could have time to tell her everything. He even planned to present the letter that his dad wrote to her. His orders were well received.
Tessie’s photographs were distributed to each unit heads to make sure that they recognise her whenever they set their eyes on her. The major assignments for the day were two; taking over the Spiders’ cartel and saving Tessie.
Immediately they got closer, the entire aircraft landed safely at a secure distant location already set aside for the purpose. The entire soldiers were fully equipped with different kinds of sophisticated weapon like; Arquebus, blunderbuss, muskets, wall guns, grenade launchers, submachine guns, personal defence weapons, rifles, lever-action rifles, bolt-action rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles, carbines, service rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, combat shotguns, semi-automatic shotguns, automatic shotguns, RPG and lots of grenades. They all dressed in black and matched silently on foot to the enemies’ territory. Hugo named the war ‘Código 99 reloaded’.
As the celebration was going on, the first group of Hitmen known as ‘the planners’ headed by John Killer first found a way to break through the heavy securities of the fortress using both snipers and hand killings. Being that John knew a lot about the entire area, it was easier for them to create and easier access for others to join, making the workload less cumbersome.
The evening was cool and the wanton breeze kept the celebration going on while Hugo and his men infiltrated the fortress gradually.
Hugo headed the second group known as the ‘breakers’ while Andre led the third group known as the ‘annihilators’.
When they got to the final and more secured area known as A Barricada or the Barricade, the security alarm was triggered because that point was impervious to invaders. John Killer was prepared for that though because he knew that such would happen.
At this point, the war began fully, making Ignacio and his men scatter for regrouping, each getting himself equipped with sophisticated weapons. Meanwhile, the armoury had been blocked by a counter code used by Jose who broke into the spiders’ central server and tampered with the entrance code. Ignacio’s armies’ commander Vicente Paulo had to unlock the backup armoury where more weapons were loaded. They all tried as much as they could to protect Ignacio and his family.
Ignacio had a secret bunker where he took his wife and daughter in the company of few security guards and entered so that the war wouldn’t affect them. From the safe location, Ignacio observed everything the way it all played out using the Sophisticated CCTV.
As the fight progressed, many men were killed; both from Hugo’s side and Ignacio’s. The fight kept going on to the extent that the entire place was littered with blood.
Ignacio saw John Killer who was supposed to be the second in command of his army as he butchered his men without a second thought. Out of anger, he sent an order to Vicente Paulo to make sure that John is killed because once he is still alive; he could bring down more men.
As Vicente was trying to pounce on John, Hugo joined the fight, making it a fight between Vicente against the duo. Vicente was a very tall and huge man; you can call him a giant because, no matter how tall his opponent is, none could reach his shoulder. He beat Hugo and John to a pulp, getting them badly injured to the extent that they were fighting hard to stay alive because of lots of injuries sustained.
In order to save his strength and face Ignacio, Hugo invited Andre to help John out because the aforementioned was already on the brink of death. Andre gave his best in the fight even though Vicente was taller and huger. They fought for a very long time before Andre could give him a punch at his weakest point which is his testicles.
Immediately he kicked him hard on the testicles, the giant staggered but still remained on his feet trying to take hold of Andre’s neck and that would have been the end of the guy who got suspended on Vicente’s shoulders.
John was already in a pool of blood and couldn’t stand but when he saw that Vicente was targeting to grab Andre’s neck, he used his last strength and grabbed the giant’s testicles and kept squeezing as hard as he could, making the giant lose concentration.
Vicente gave John several blows but John still got his hard grip on his testicles until Andre could pierce the giant’s eyes with his jack knife, making the man go blind instantly.
Andre used that opportunity to finish him up. He made sure that he butchered him until his head was cut and rolled on the floor. When other Spiders’ fighters saw that the commander had fallen, they lost their morale; but notwithstanding, they continued to fight to the death.
Andre rushed at John who was already gasping for air and tried to help him but he discovered that there was nothing he could do to help the dying man.
“Please, Please, Brother. Hang on,” Andre yelled as he tried to bandage the numerous spots where blood gushed out from but it wasn’t possible because he was already in the pool of blood which got him bedraggled.
Amid those gasps for air, John Killer smiled faintly and said: “at least we fought alongside each other and I am happy to finally unite with you before this day,” As he talked haltingly, he coughed repeatedly with tears in his eyes, “I’ll be happy to go home in peace,”
“But I’m beginning to enjoy that lasting brotherhood,” Andre said tearfully, “why will you die so soon?”
“Tell your boss that I fought a good fight. You saw that right?” John said as he pulsated, trying to say more before he dies, “The code has ten digits…co…code… for the bunker where Ignacio and his family locked themselves up is 299616299…” before he could mention the last digit, a bullet from the enemy’s snipper pierced through his head and he died instantly.
Andre quickly deepened his hand on John’s blood and used it to write down the numbers before they disappear from his memory. The entire soldiers had been trained to memorise long digits so it wasn’t too hard for him to remember amid the tension of the ongoing battle. He got some bullet wounds from the snipper but kept writing because their mission wouldn’t make sense if they don’t get the full combination and get Ignacio killed. After writing them down as well as dodging the snipper from the enemy, he angrily took his AR-15 and finished up the guy who shot John killer. He kept shooting with fury until the last man in the enemy’s camp dropped dead.
Hundreds of dead bodies were scattered everywhere; both Hugo’s Hitmen and those of Ignacio. Many of Hugo’s men were still alive while many that sustained different degrees of injuries were taken care of by the EMT.
In order to force his way into the bunker where Ignacio was, Hugo shot series of guns and used lots of grenades to open the bunker but his efforts proved abortive. He even invited most of his men to try all they could to open the door but all ended in futility. As he kept doing everything humanly possible to unlock the door, Andre came and patted him on the back.
“John Killer could have given us the complete code but he died before he could give me the last digit. For now, the only digits we have are 2, 9,9,6,1,6,2,9, and 9. Checking by the mathematics and probability, we have to try the last digit using a different combination of numbers beginning with zero to nine, but unfortunately, we have only three trials to make. If we miss the last digit, this bunker will never open again even if we use a nuclear weapon,”
Hugo angrily shot sporadically on the walls and kicked his legs many times against the wall until Andre forced him to stop.
“What kind of madness is this?” Hugo complained bitterly, “I want to crush his head and rescue the girl. We’ve surely taken over the cartel and forced him out of drug business, but leaving him alive is as good as losing the cartel because Ignacio is as deadly as a poison because he’s very tough and has connections all over the world,”
“I understand that,” Andre said and collected the gun from him, “instead of leaving without making any trials, it’s better we try for three times to know if we can force the door open. If it doesn’t work, then we have to leave because Ignacio could have called his contacts working for the government to come to his rescue,”
“I think you have a point,” Hugo concurred, “leaving without making a trial is as good as having a thrice trials without luck.
He dialled Jose’s number to know if he could help but that was impossible for him for the mean time except he’d have to spend about two days to decipher the code.
“Let’s give it a shot,” Hugo said and carefully made the first and second trial but failed.
As he was about to try the third one, a call from Jose made him stop. Hugo didn’t hesitate to take the call.
“Any quick luck?” Jose asked trying to know if they have started the trial.
“We have one more try, Sir,” Hugo replied panting and throbbing with anger for not getting it right.
“This is a sophisticated code. Target on the last four digits. The long numbers are all dummy numbers except the last four digits which are the main code. You can even add zeros to the first six, then target on the last four. That’s the main code. I wish you luck this last time,” he said and hung up.
With that clue, Hugo began to think deep. After taking a deep breath, Hugo then remembered Octavio’s letter which revealed the code of the bunker was the reverse of his birthday. Being that Octavio and Ignacio were childhood friends, they could be thinking alike. He then tried to reverse the digits and got 992 but it didn’t match with Ignacio’s date of birth if reversed. After deeper thoughts, he then calculated Tessie’s birthday and got 1992. At this juncture, he knew that he wasn’t far from getting the right digit.
His hands quivered as he tried to input the last digit. After taking a deep breath, he pressed 1 and the system displayed ‘access denied’ ‘number of trials reached’, making the door to lock up completely.
Hugo felt disappointed and decided to leave before security agents could arrive, but as he was about to leave, Jose’s call came immediately.
He took the call and said: “We lost him,”
“Wait a bit more. I know this modern cheats,” Jose informed, “it’s called the override and I’ll decipher it but it would be up to an hour,”
Hugo waited for about an hour but nothing happened. When he’d given up and turned to leave, the door was forced open by Jose’s override, making the bodyguards with Ignacio to start shooting sporadically at them, killing two of Hugo’s soldiers but they were later overpowered.
Andre and Hugo led the other remaining soldiers into the bunker and discovered that Ignacio had fled but they went after him but couldn’t locate any of them but when they were about to come back, they noticed that there was a basement inside the bunker which was locked with a code. Without a second guess, Hugo angrily used reverse digits of 1992 to unlock the bunker, and then discovered a tunnel. He ran as fast as he could until he sighted Ignacio running with his wife and daughter. After series of gunshots fired in the air, Tessie became afraid and started drawing back, which made it hard for the parents to continue with the run.
When it was obvious that the shivering girl would make them lose their lives, Ignacio handed over a pistol to her and disappeared with his wife.
Hugo went for Tessie while Andre and his men went for Ignacio.
When Hugo got closer to Tessie, the shivering girl pointed her gun at him but her hands were really shaking seriously and convulsively.
“Hey, Tessie,” Hugo called and came closer but the girl kept pointing the gun and searching for the trigger to shoot him, “I have something to show you but I can’t do that if you don’t give me an audience,”
“You’re a monster who…who…works with…with Octavio to destroy my father….,” she said stutteringly. “I’ll kill you and feed you to the dogs,”
“I have a letter from your dad,” Hugo said and put his hand into the breast pocket of his bulletproof vest. “The person you accuse me of working with is your dad, but your mom and Ignacio did anything humanly possible to make sure that you never knew about this secret,”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” she angrily asked, feeling more in control which made her shivering hands stop shaking, “don’t come any closer…I will kill you and I mean it,”
“Can you take a look at the letter, first?” He asked, trying to crave her indulgence.
“Your tactics to take the gun from me wouldn’t work,” she barked and clenched her teeth with anger, “I’m smarter than that,”
“I have my Daniel-Defence AR-15 gun with me and a bullet proof vest. So I can kill you even before you pull the trigger. Why not listen to me?”
She thought about what he said and acknowledged the fact that he was making sense but still found it hard to drop her gun.
“I will shoot you and I mean it,” she threatened but weak-willed.
“Okay let me make it easier for you. At least for us to be on the same page,” he said and dropped the gun casually on the ground. He removed his vest and flung it away. “Right now, I’m vulnerable. You can now shoot me if you like. Target the temple or the neck if you’ve gone for shooting range,”
The pretty girl became convinced that he could be serious and sincere. So she heaved a sigh and said: “Hand over the letter to me,”
She collected the letter quickly from him while she still pointed the gun at him. With shivering hands, she opened the letter and read through it. The more she perused through Octavio’s letter, the more her hand quivered until the gun fell off from her grip. After reading the entire letter, she fell helplessly on the ground and remained tearful and confused. “No…no, this can’t be real,” she lamented, “This is staged,”
“It is real, and that is the reason why we’re here to rescue you,” Hugo said and went closer to her, held her shoulder and helped her to stand on her feet, “your real dad stole away the billion dollars worth of cocaine because he wanted to take a revenge against Ignacio who stole his joy from him. I’m sorry about the whole thing but I have to tell you the truth about who you are which you never knew all these while. He sent that letter to me when he was dying. I am here today because he urged me to make sure that I rescue you on your birthday. The reason why I lost many of my men is you,”
“I read everything,” she maundered sorrowfully, “where is Maxx?” she asked tearfully.
“He’s at home waiting for your arrival,” Hugo answered. “You can verify the information if you want but I couldn’t have fabricated this story,”
“I’m so…so…so sad right now,” she said stressing the ‘so’ to express her bitterness and disappointment in her mom, “how could my mom connive with a monster to hunt my real dad like an animal. I’ve lived in the dark all through my life, calling murderers and cheat my parents,”
“It is okay,” Hugo said, “I’ll make a family for you out of nothing. Let’s go home. With time you’ll forget. Your dad left a lot of things behind, even a house where I stay. You can inherit all if you wish,”
“You’re such a nice man,” she complimented and cried on his shoulders, “Many drug dealers would just take advantage of my dad’s trust and take possession of the entire fortunes but you didn’t. Instead, you still searched for me and found me. I can feel your pains losing lots of men and friends just because of me. I feel so honoured and happy too. Thanks for this altruism,”
“You’re most welcome, dear,” Hugo said and led her back to the bunker to find their way to meet others.
“You don’t behave life a drug dealer. I’m surprised that you’re not as greedy as the likes of Ignacio. I guess the blood of a drug dealer isn’t flowing in your veins,”
“Well, it’s still in my vein but can’t erode the nature I was born with,”
Hugo and Tessie waited for Andre to return with Ignacio, either dead or alive.
Andre and his men couldn’t capture Ignacio because he was rescued by a helicopter which made it hard for the men in pursuit to lay their hands on the drug baron.
Margarita Santiago (Tessie’s Mother) was nowhere to be found.
She couldn’t be found in the woods amid all the searches carried out to locate her using her footprints.
Hugo decided to take Tessie home to be the first to know the location of the bunkered apartment by Mina de Visitacao, Octavio Fontana, Santa Catarina, to make her the first to visit the bunkered house. But before then, she was subjected to strict check to ensure that Ignacio placed no bug on her.
They used the latest upgraded bug detector to check on her, and then found out that nothing was on her. Amid that, they still cleansed her completely in case they missed anything.
As they were about to leave the hospital facility where the wounded were being treated, Doctor Luiz, the chief medical consultant handed over a letter to him and said: “From Belle. She advised you read it when you get home,”
He didn’t have time to read immediately though, so he put it into his pocket as he left with Tessie. When they got to the Octavio’s bunker, Tessie was so surprised that thousands of her pictures were scattered all over the walls starting from her birth till when Octavio left to Netherlands to have a rest from the drug business. She realised that her dad was obsessed with her which made him hire a secret photographer to be taking her pictures at each stage of her life.
Tessie was filled with emotions that made her wish she could bring back her biological father to feel his fatherly love and company even for a second. It was nostalgic reminiscing on how her life could have been if her dad was to be alive but Maxx was there to keep her busy and playful, making her forget some of her sorrows.
Hugo gave her unlimited access to the apartment including the location of the snow at the basement of the bunker. He left the choice of taking over the ownership of Octavio’s wealth in her hands without interference. He was willing to hand over everything to the girl and even park out from the abode just to ensure that the wishes of the dead man are fulfilled and more.
As Tessie was buys playing with Maxx, Hugo went to a closer location, sat and opened the letter and read:
“My love, I’m sorry to say this to you but let me go straight the point. By the time you’re reading this note, I must have gone away to a distant place to have a peaceful life devoid of drugs and anything associated with it. When you said that you’d show me the location of the bunker where you live, I know you were trying to take me to Niger drive where you bought a secret bunker to make it seem as if it was the main bunker. I knew you had been smart. My real employer isn’t Lucas but Lord Rodrigo. The mole in Misterio cartel is Doctor Luiz Ronaldo that handed this letter to you and he was still the one that connected you to the seller of the bunker in Niger Drive. It would interest you to know that Luiz was the one that trained Maxx before handing over to Octavio, so he gets any information he needs from the dog until you issued the code. Now the dog has nothing with Luiz anymore but you. Your good heart changed everything, making Dr. Luiz and me to decide to fled for our lives and not work as the moles anymore. Our lives are in danger because Lord Rodrigo may kill us since he’d known that we’re working against his plans. It was Dr. Luiz that informed Las Flakes about the bunker’s existence because he was afraid to let you know. Las Flakes is strictly by your side and she’d secretly sworn with the Falcon girls to work for you until they lose their last breaths. I have been in a secret relationship with the doctor. Even if all I did for you were faked, the lovemaking part wasn’t but I must have to choose someone who isn’t a drug dealer. I’m disappearing with the doctor to an unknown location. Don’t come for us because we’re better off without drugs. We appreciate your kind gestures and advise you to end this drug war and flee but not without killing Lord Rodrigo first. Find out who he is because he is so mean and wicked that he keeps his identity hidden. It’s only Lucas that knows him. I wish the bullets on Stone killed him because I’m suspecting that he could be the one but I’m not sure. We all have been guessing but no one could know who he is. Lord Rodrigo is your worst nightmare and you should be careful about the mean man. He killed Larissa and many people close to you. He is so wicked that you have to find a way to kill that puzzle and leave drug business for good. My life with Luiz is a perfect one, and I have to allow you move on. I still love you but I love Luiz more. I repeat, don’t find us because we’re safe without you. Continue with your goodness because it has turned many enemies to your friends but you wouldn’t know. You were born into drugs but you don’t belong there. Take care of yourself and try to keep yourself alive because there is nothing more important than that. Bye my Love.
_Belle Ramon_
Hugo cried when finished reading the letter. The last person he suspected as the mole was Doctor Luiz Ronaldo because he’d been his close friend and associate. He was at least glad that his benevolence made him change his heart.
Thinking about Belle got him so sad because he just thought that he’d ended up having a relationship even though he was being smart not to reveal the real location of the bunker to anyone except the daughter of the owner.
As he was reading the letter and shedding tears, Tessie who still felt both happy for being rescue from the monsters and vengeful for having being misled all her life came to Hugo and patted his back.
“I don’t know the contents of the letter but I’ve been watching you as you read it,” She said and sat beside him, “The best advice for you is to leave this business and have a peaceful life. I haven’t seen anyone peaceful in it. You have a heart of gold, therefore need to leave this country for good to a secure…”
“Not without killing Lord Rodrigo first,” Hugo murmured with a very angry face as he breathed fast and pulsated with anger and unquenchable fury.
“And who is Lord Rodrigo?” Tessie asked looking so innocent and confused.
“He’s someone who is a cowardly being invisible and decides to hide in the shadows of his mischief and treachery,” Hugo answered and hit his fist angrily on his palm, “I can even spare Ignacio but not Lord Rodrigo. Stone!” He called out smiling angrily, “If you ever turn out to be this mean coward, then I’ll kill you over and over again,”
After saying that, he got up and left into the inner chamber while Tessie kept looking at him with pity seeing a young guy of her age in such a mess because of drug business. After a while, she shrugged and continued playing with Maxx to forget her sorrows.
To be continued…
