The hatch was opened.
A head popped out from the hatch it was the girl. She looked around; there were no people.
Aman was the one who lifted her up, and there was a retractable stair at the top.
"Okay, pull it," Aman ordered, and the girl did so. She was scared, honestly, but running was not an option.
She feared the outside, too.
"Ye… ye-yes!" she replied, her voice trembling with fear.
Aman forced her to go first. She actually didn't want to it wasn't hard before Aman literally threatened her, and she followed whatever he said, hoping being good would spare her.
Screaming wasn't an option. It was useless. She understood that.
...
After the stair finally came down, retracting to the floor.
"This actually a basement, huh?" Aman muttered.
He set the girl down and climbed up. There were no people.
Aman pulled out the pistol and looked around… There really were no soldiers or guards here.
"Huh, weird. This complex really actually a prison, huh?"
Aman looked down from the hatch. The girl was there, hesitant.
"Come on, get up here… You're not gonna survive down there alone," Aman said.
He had calmed down a little. He didn't need to use force and threats on the girl anymore. He was already out of that shitty place.
Basement prisons really were the worst.
"Come on!" Aman shouted.
"Yer… ya-yes!" the girl yelped, startled by his voice.
She climbed the stairs. She looked around nothing.
Aman looked at the girl. That was it.
Aman walked away. The girl was actually confused. That was it?
That was it? That man threatened her like that, and that was it? She had actually expected the worst.
"You're not British?" the girl finally asked, her voice returning to normal.
"No? What the hell, you think I'm a British soldier or something? They wouldn't put me inside that place," Aman replied, looking at her.
Then he finally realized, "Ahh… you probably thought I was one of Carter's men… Huh, worst of the worst… I really wanna kill Rahman now."
The girl tried to brave herself. She looked into Aman's eyes, noticing… there wasn't much behind them.
"You're not them, huh?... That uniform you wear gave me the wrong idea… Did… did you kill that guard?" she asked.
"That cop? Yeah, I killed him… Well, don't ask how," Aman said, showing the pistol. "This is his gun. Huh. Needed to take it."
The girl's eyes widened when she heard that. Yeah, he wasn't part of that terrible group, but still this man could kill, and he talked about it so casually.
"I… I understand, I guess…"
Aman walked around the prison complex. There were actually still people here prisoners. They were making sounds.
Lots of voices: "We're hungry!" or something. Aman didn't care to help them. That wasn't his problem.
Aman looked around. Had they abandoned all of it? There were no guards or wardens. They really left all these prisoners?
Aman moved carefully, but after a while, yeah, he didn't need to be careful anymore. They really had abandoned the place, even while there were still people here.
Aman looked at the door to the storage room.
He wanted one thing: that sling bag.
Aman looked behind.
He noticed.
The girl was following him around.
To be honest, she seemed like she didn't have anyone anymore… but actually, Aman wondered why she had been put inside that basement too.
What had she done? And who was she actually?
"Just ignore her…" Aman muttered to himself. This room was actually the fifth one he had checked, hoping his sling bag was still there and hadn't been taken by Carter.
Aman tried to open it… It was locked. So, the best thing now—
Aman just kicked the door, and it opened. "Perfect as usual."
Aman got inside, hoping the bag was there and finally, he found it.
"Thank God that bastard didn't take it away. Or worse, destroy it," Aman said, checking inside. Everything was still there. They probably wanted to act quick.
Aman actually didn't know where he was, actually… He knew this was a prison, and there was a high chance this was Kuala Lumpur.
Now Aman climbed to the rooftop.
He looked from the rooftops. Well, he had never come here before. It was different from the north of the peninsula. But Aman noticed something.
A plane? Aman looked it was a British plane.
Why was it here, flying? And suddenly, the plane dropped a bomb and hit a place.
Aman stared. What was going on?... They were bombing themselves?
And suddenly, there was also an explosion.
Aman didn't understand that explosion happened a bit farther away than where the plane dropped its bomb. Was that sabotage by KMM? Or… were the British just desperate now?
He didn't understand whatever was happening.
Aman looked behind the girl was watching. She smiled. The bomb dropped.
"They gave up," the girl muttered, and Aman heard it.
"Who are you actually?" Aman asked.
"You know… it'll take time… I still see you as a monster, though," the girl replied, looking at Aman. She actually turned timid again.
Aman pulled out the pistol and aimed near her head. "Tell me now."
The girl looked at Aman and slowly walked backwards. "Please don't shoot… Sorry, being suddenly like that…"
"Who are you?"
The girl finally explained. "Call me Melati… That's my name… I… well, they put me there… Actually…"
Aman listened carefully.
"Actually… I… I really don't know… They kept asking me questions and such… Then suddenly, bombs came… Made me feel satisfied a bit. Like, they gave up."
"They put you inside underground and locked you there and you don't know why?" Aman asked.
Melati shook her head. She slowly showed part of her body, unbuttoning her dress. There were scars and even bruises. "They hurt me every day… and kept asking, 'Where is Hitam? Where is Hitam?' I don't know. I used to… I gave up. I turned to prostitution… and well, Hitam used to be my customer. He came to me a lot."
"So, a usual customer, huh? Hitam… Well, I don't know who that is. They probably got pissed with him, and well, considering you were with him a lot, they used you for questioning. That's why they put you underground so nobody could confirm where you were," Aman said.
The girl nodded.
Actually, Aman felt bad… Huh, this girl another unfortunate soul. She had even prostituted herself.
Aman thought back. Yup, she had really fallen hard. And he looked at the effects of the bombing and explosion…
He was going to search for Carter and Rahman.
And, well, kill them. And hope Mei Lian… Mei Lian was okay.
Aman came here and didn't get to do anything instead, he got locked up. And now, here he was, feeling completely lost.
It really hurt, after all.
Too much.