Two - Raging Bull

One by one the survivors stepped from the ladder, scanned the aftermath and the bloody mess. Three guards down and one defiant young woman grabbing an automatic weapon from the ground.

"I heard a tiger. Where's the tiger?" A man from the team pressed Jordan as he turned expecting the see it run from the forest.

"It has left. We have to move!" Jordan urged all to follow her back to the housing. "Quick as you can!"

With the group safely back to the housing Jordan pulled the satellite phone from her backpack. Seeing the condition of the team she called her father and explained what transpired.

"Any suggestions, Dad?" Jordan asked.

"Go with the blunt force trauma? You seem to be very good at that." Jimmy suggested believing this was her best option.

"Coming from the violence at last resort man, I find that very funny!" Jordan rolled her eyes not expecting what Jimmy had to say next.

"It is that time, Kiddo. You know it and I know it." Jimmy spoke clearly. "They played their cards by trying to kill our friends. It's time for a reality check for these guys. And Kiddo?" He wanted to make sure she was paying close attention.

"Uh-huh." Jordan was listening.

"This owner has torched his places before. It's not over until everyone is safe. Freedom is nothing if they are not alive. I will speak to the real policy makers to help you." Jimmy chuckled.

"Oh, NOW you're a diplomat!" Jordan taunted her father.

"Yeah well, can't be where you are but I can still help." Jimmy sounded disappointed.

"Wanna be here, old man? Join a gym and give up hot dogs!" Jordan let her father know she knew of his hot dog addiction. "The mustard breath gives you away every time!" She ended the call.

"Hey, Win! You tell Jordan about me enjoying the odd hot dog or two?" Jimmy looked to his old friend.

"Me, Mr. Mustard breath? This is the same woman who found you by your nasty body odor in Brussels. She could probably guess you ate a hot dog when you were on the phone." Windy shook her head. "Why are you wasting time speaking to me when you should be on the phone to the Indonesian government?"

"Yeah, you are right. I guess I better not piss them off this time, eh?" Jimmy gave a chagrined look.

"You do and you put Jordan and the whole team in danger. Brush up on your Bahasa language skill, Old man! Charm them a little." Windy snipped. "You do have a little of that left, I hope!"

"I guess we'll find out, eh?" Jimmy gave a nervous laugh.

Raging Bull

As Jimmy predicted with management finding the bodies of the guards and the prisoners gone they started a fire with the night shift workers slaving away. They barricaded the entry doors, poured fuel at the base of the timber factory and fled the area. The workers began to scream and everyone ran to watch the horror.

The flames from the factory fire motivated a few people to jump from the windows. The fired moved quickly floor by floor and time was running out for everyone inside. The night shift workers made their way to the fifth floor and were trapped.

The fire was raging like a bull fueled by the timbers used for the quick build. Over 300 souls work the twelve hour night shift. They were trapped, the stairways were engulfed in flames and the floor was hot and flexing under their weight.

The screaming was constant, with workers yelling at their trapped friends to jump. Only a few dared to trust others enough to accept the risk. The workers below felt helpless in their friends time of need.

The fire raged on sending flames into the night sky. The toxic fumes were overtaking the area and some workers grabbed their personal items and fled the area not wanting to witness the end.

But Jordan had a plan and hotwired the old truck used to haul the finished product to the closest city. There was little time to get everyone out. The Unlikely Assassin was changing gears trying to get enough speed to drive into the fireball that was about to consume the remaining workers.

It was a crazy plan, but it was a plan when there were no other options available. No sprinkler system, no fire hoses. Sure there was a river but not close enough to make a difference. So this was the plan. The plan was to lower the fifth floor closer to the ground so ladders could be used for the rescue.

The plan was going to be tricky but she had her team clear the onlooking co-workers from the base of the building. They were standing by with as many ladders as they could find. The truck's headlights appeared from the darkness and Jordan's target came into view. She was now traveling fifty miles an hour. "This better work!" She snugged the seatbelt, gritted her teeth and directed the nose of the truck at the corner of the building.

The moment of truth arrived with little more than faith and a two ton truck for hope. The employees and Jordan's team looked on as the tension mounted for all involved. Many could not bare to watch and turned completely from the inevitable. Jordan pressed the accelerator to the floor and watched the factory fill the windshield.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!" The truck made contact with the corner of the factor. There was little resistance with the timbers almost burnt completely through. Jordan continued to drive knocking out supporting walls, plowing machinery aside until she appeared exiting the factory. She only stopped when the truck hit a huge tree.

Without an airbag, Jordan's head hit the steering wheel knocking her out. The horn screamed and her team leader, Wing, ran to get to Jordan. Wing pulled the Unlikely Assassin away from the steering wheel.

Jordan's face was bloodied and Wing frantically called her friend "Yueeeeee!" She looked back to see the building slowly buckle, crumble then it kneeled down with the windows stopping about ten feet from the ground. Many of the courageous workers jumped while others rushed down the ladders quickly trying to give their friends time to escape.

Even the ladders were beginning to catch fire. Two lines of workers passed buckets of water to douse the flames nearest the windows. They worked feverishly until all who could make it out, did. Many of the employees gathered what they had and fled the factory towards the nearest village.

Jordan's team remained taking her into the employees lodgings. The Unlikely Assassin was knocked out for the first time in her life. Her nose was broken and glass shards from the windshield dotted her face.

Yue was a medical student and joined the fight after Wing's sister, Biyu was taken, beaten and raped by human traffickers. Biyu was Yue's best friend.

When Jordan arrived and brought the human traffickers to justice, Yue offered her services whenever needed. She was called upon regularly to help deal with similar traders of humans. There was a pride among those who fought for others and a bond that was unbreakable.

"Weidan? Weidan!" Yue called softly to the leader of the People. She gently wiped her face with a cool damp cloth collecting the droplets of blood from her face. "Jordan?"

Jordan's mind was elsewhere revisiting her past, as far back as her eighth birthday with her parents. She was unwrapping the drum kit Brad and her mother gave her. Then her mind switched to the hospital visit recalling the devastation when the doctor told the family she had leukemia.

Brad never let his daughter feel alone and was there whenever the pain was too much for her. Then memories of her mother, Dana holding her every night until she was cancer free filled her mind. Yue witnessed Jordan smile.

Jordan replayed that gut wrenching night when Brad chose to leave taking the happiness with each step he took. Darkness came blocking out love from her heart until Jimmy stepped into her life and her heart playing hero to a girl who had no hope of a future.

She remembered looking up to see her two fathers, Brad and Jimmy smiling down on her just before being wheeled into surgery. That memory seemed to bring Jordan all the way back as she opened her eyes and reached up for her two fathers. "Dad!"

"Jordan!" Yue's heart leapt from her chest! "Wing! She's awake!" She wiped the tears from her eyes as Jordan reached out to her friend.

"Hey, Yue." Jordan spoke softly. "Did we save the workers?" She was searching Yue's eyes as Wing walked into the sun lit room.

Wing knelt at Jordan's side and with a heavy heart she gave the grave news. "Three died in the fire."

Jordan hated losing anyone even when it was out of her control. She pressed her lips, "we should have moved earlier! I screwed up!"

"What are you talking about?" Wing rose from the floor. "We are not perfect! We are not here to be perfect! We are here to help!"

Jordan turned her head away. "Yeah? Three families will never be the same again."

"You saved over three hundred people's lives and almost lost your own. Take it and be happy because there are over 40 million more that need help!" Wing was fuming with her leader. "We will never save them all but we need to be happy for the ones we do!"

"I need time alone. Can you wait outside?" Wing left and Jordan looked at Yue who got up from the bed and joined Wing in the hallway.

Jordan slowly sat up with a huge headache. She pulled her legs up, crossed them and she began to meditate. The stress in her neck and shoulders began to subside and the headache eased.

Wing was watching the compound from a window. "The Owner!" Wing yelled and busted into the room. "Jordan, he is here!"

"Imagine that, well let's hope my father has been able to talk the President and really help these people!" Jordan looked at her friend.

"They will likely arrest us, beat us and you know!" Wing was brave and not about to feel sorry for herself. "I don't want Yue to go through what her sister did, Jordan!"

Jordan stood and Wing took a step back looking as though she wasn't expecting the Unlikely Assassin to be able to move let alone stand. "No one is going to be arrested, beaten or raped. Unless they wish to die!"

"Ah, Jordan, there are only five of us! I can fight but Yue is a medical student and you! You have a concussion and are definitely not thinking clearly!" Wing had an idea. "Let's just slip away. They will never know we were here!"

"I am not running. Locate the workers and tell them not to go far." Jordan walked to the door. These guys will be paying for a lot more than building a factory."

"You are crazy if you believe they will do anything for 700 workers who signed a contract." Wing shook her head and followed Jordan into the hallway.

"I don't see another outcome on this day." Jordan spoke with a certainty that had Wing confused.

"You are one person." Wing frowned.

"One person, one hundred. Does that really matter?" Jordan countered.

"They will never take a young woman seriously. They will simply take you away and we will never see you again!" Wing covered her face with both hands and yelled. "You are crazy!"

"I will go out the front door. You take Yue out the back and find the employees." Jordan asked her friend. "Please go and trust me."

"I guess this is goodbye!" Wing spoke with anger catching Yue's attention.

"Goodbye? What is going on?" Yue looked to both women.

"Just go! Before you can't get out of here." Jordan added. "Would you just trust me? Go!"

"Come on, Yue. Let's find the workers and see if they need help. Crazy has a name and it's Jordan!" Wing grabbed Yue's arm and pulled her to the back door.

"Jordan? Jordan?" Yue tried break free but Wing was strong and took her out the back of the building.

The leader of the People opened the front door to thirty people. The owner, the manager and several loyal workers who get paid to keep peace were waiting for a group of resistance but only one showed.