The Isle of Devils HOLY WAR

by R. C. Farrington

  Storm looked down at the grenade and yelled out, “Oh crap!” as he shoved Savage behind him. Meanwhile the terrorist who Storm had kicked down the stairs was beginning to stand up. Storm grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into the stairwell then hit the floor as quickly as he could. No sooner had he hit the floor than the grenade went off. The blast in the stairwell resonated throughout the barracks.

  Storm was stunned from the concussion of the explosion. The next thing that he knew, Savage was helping him to his feet. Savage said, “Thanks for saving my life, mate, but every terrorist on the Island just heard that bloody explosion. I think we better get Krack and find a hiding place.” The two ran down the long hallway making their way back to the holding cell where Krack was being held. Halfway down the hall a terrorist stepped out of one of the cells pointing an AK-47 directly at Savage. Savage yelled out, “Snake in the hallway.” He then dropped to his knees. The terrorist smiled thinking that Savage was begging for his life. He looked up from Savage for a split second before pulling his trigger only to see Storm pointing his AK-47 directly at him. Before he could react Storm fired off a dozen rounds knocking the terrorist back ten feet killing him before he hit the ground.

  Savage stood up and said, “Good shot, mate.” He jumped over the dead terrorist and continued down the hallway with Storm right behind him. They turned the corner and went to the holding cell.

  Storm said to Krack, “Well, I’m glad you waited for us this time.”

  Krack, in a bit of a panic yelled out, “Look, mon, get me the hell out of here before those terrorists blow me full of holes.”

  Storm yelled back, “Stand back!” He aimed the AK-47 at the lock on the door and blew it to pieces.

  Savage kicked the cell door open signaling Krack to get out of there. Krack wasted no time running by Savage and Storm. As he ran he yelled back, “Follow me”. The two didn’t ask any questions. They ran as fast as they could to catch up with Krack.

  Tunnels of Death

  The trio ran down the narrow corridor between the barracks and the massive stone wall on the south side of the fortress. About half way down the corridor Krack stopped dead in his tracks. In a split second he turned and ran into a dark stairwell inside of the massive stone wall. Stone and Savage hesitated for a moment, but they quickly realized their choices were limited. Both ran into the stairwell and proceeded down the dark narrow stairway. It was very eerie; the stairway was dark, musty- smelling and damp. Finally Storm grabbed Savage by the shoulder and asked, “Did we really see Krack go down this stairwell? I have the strange feeling we just got lost.”

  Before Savage could reply a voice from further down the stairwell said, “Hey mon, you better quit talking and get your butts down here before those terrorists blow you to pieces.”

  Savage turned to Storm and added, “I think our friend has a bloody good idea. Let’s get going.” They both made their way down to the bottom of the stairwell which led to a short hallway. To the surprise of all three the hallway was dimly lit with a string of light bulbs running down the centre of the ceiling of the hallway.

  Storm looked down the hallway and said, “Well, Krack, I don’t think we’re in an abandoned tunnel. I think we better get moving before our new found friends come down here looking for us.” The trio carefully moved down the long hallway hoping it was not a dead end. Savage knew that some of these hundred plus year old tunnels had been used to move ammunition from one end of the dockyard to the other end years ago. The tunnel came to a ninety degree bend which led to three separate rooms. All three rooms were crammed with supplies. One room appeared to be a weapons room; another room appeared to be an explosives room, and the third room had everything else in it from food to electronics.

  The three walked into the explosives room where there were hundreds of bags of ammonium nitrate which could be used as a key ingredient in explosives. There were plastic explosives and cartons of blasting caps, plus a host of what appeared to be other ingredients to make bombs. The explosives stored below Casemates were more than enough to destroy the entire Dockyard. After looking around the room for awhile Storm turned to Savage and said, “Well, my friend, I think we just found all the evidence we need to put an end to Cobra. Why don’t you give the Commissioner a call?”

  Savage replied, “That’s a bloody good idea.” He reached into his pocket and flipped open his cell phone. After tapping a few numbers on the phone he said, “Crap, the phone is dead.”

  Storm grabbed the phone and added, “You sure? Maybe we’re just too deep underground to get a clear signal.” Storm played with the cell phone for a minute and said, “What give’s with this, Savage?”

  Savage took back the phone. He was a little embarrassed then he said, “Damn it! I must have crushed it when I landed on the wall. It was in my pocket.” He threw it on the floor and turned to Krack saying, “Hey mon, let’s see your phone.”

  Krack snapped back, “Mon, don’t make fun of me.”

  Savage replied, “Ok, ok, sorry. Now give me your phone.”

  Krack still a little upset said, “I don’t got one. I sold them all to the stupid terrorist.”

  Storm interrupted the two by saying, “Alright, dudes, we’re not going to call anyone right now so we better figure out how to get the hell out of here. Anyone got any ideas?”

  An answer came quickly, but not from where Storm had expected it. “Yes, infidels, the brotherhood of the Cobra has the answer to that question.” It was Imad. He was standing at the entrance to the room with four of his friends standing behind him. All were holding AK-47’s. Within seconds all four had cocked back the spring- loaded firing levers. He added, “Shall the Jihad or what you might know as the struggle start here?”

  Storm stepped up and cocked back his AK-47 replying, “The only struggle that’s going to happen here if any of these assault weapons are fired is who’s going to paradise first.”

  Imad snapped back, “You Westerners are all alike. You will all rot in hell.”

  Savage stepped forward reaching into his pocket to pull out his last grenade. He said, “I’ve had enough of you, bloody terrorists. You won’t be making any more bombs after this.” He bit the pin in the grenade with his teeth and pulled out the pin. Savage flipped the grenade over to the doorway just in front of Imad’s feet. He yelled out, “God save the Queen, you terrorist’s bastards.”

  Imad and his fellow terrorists turned and ran like dogs with their tails between their legs. Savage started laughing and turned back to say something to Storm and Krack, but to his surprise he was the only one left in the room. Savage walked over to the doorway and bent down and picked up the grenade still laughing to himself. He had never really pulled out the pin from the grenade. The pin in his teeth was the pin from the grenade he had used in Casemates barrack. After picking up the grenade he reached over and broke off a wooden slat from one of the blasting cap cases on the shelves. As he walked down the centre isle in the opposite direction from the terrorists he whacked and broke every light bulb out in the room as he walked under them. By the time he reached the other end of the room it was pitch black. Savage knew that this would slow down Imad once he figured out they had been duped. As Savage left the explosives room he entered another long hallway. This tunnel was poorly lit, but Savage could still see a couple of figures moving in his direction. As they got closer Savage yelled out, “Boy, I’m glad to see you guys. I thought you left me behind.”

  Storm stepped out of the shadows and headed straight for Savage, but before Savage had a chance to say another word Storm threw a hard right fist hitting Savage’s right jaw. The blow was so hard that Savage found himself lying flat on his back with Storm standing over him.

  Storm look down at Savage with his hand still in a fist and yelled, “What the hell is the matter with you? You scared the hell out of us with that fake grenade. “He grabbed the AK-47 from Krack and pointed it at Savage’s face then added, “I should just put you out of your misery right now, you bastard.”


  Savage, still shaking off the punch sat up and said, “I’m sorry, mate, but I didn’t exactly have the time to let you know what I was going to do. So shoot me or help me up.” Storm had calmed down by now. He tossed the AK-47 back to Krack and reached down with both hands to help Savage back to his feet.

  Krack added, “Hey mon, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Savage knocked down to the canvas in the first round.”

  Savage now up on his feet snapped back, “He bloody well hit me when I wasn’t looking.”

  Storm spoke up, “Alright, guys, those terrorists are going to be coming back soon. What’s our chances of getting out of here by going on down this tunnel?”

  Savage replied, “Beats me, mate, but that direction is our only choice.” The trio all started walking down the long dimly lit tunnel in hope of finding another way out.

  Meanwhile, back on the surface, Imad ran back into the barracks leaving two of his men guarding the stairway entrance. Imad found Hooda in the hallway. Hooda asked Imad, ‘Did you eliminate the intruders?”

  Imad replied, “No, Sheik Hooda, we had them trapped in the explosives tunnel. They had weapons. I was fearful if provoked they would blow us up.”

  Hooda replied, “Very well, Imad. I want nothing to interfere with our struggle with the West. These explosives will strike a blow to the US that they will never recover from. Go now, take your men back into the tunnel, and bring those infidels to me alive. We need to find out what they know and if they talked to anyone else.” Imad saluted Hooda with a Cobra salute. The salute looked like a Nazi salute with the right arm fully extended except with the fingers bent forward at a ninety degree angle. This represented a cobra in the strike position. Imad then turned and left the room.

  The Fangs of Cobra

  The trio had made their way down the tunnel until they came to an old massive rusty iron gate that blocked their progress. Savage turned to the other two and said, “Well, it’s not a dead-end, but this may be the end of the line if we can’t open this gate.”

  Storm cocked his AK-47 and said, “Not to worry. Step back and I’ll use my master key on this old gate.” Before he could fire he heard the cocking action of other AK-47’s on the other side of the gate, and a couple of seconds later the same sound was behind them.

  A voice from the other side of the gate said, “You should respect other people’s property. I’ll open the gate for you.” Imad stepped out of the shadows and added, “Drop your weapon before we kill you and your friends.”

  Savage looked at Storm and nodded his head to do what he was told to do. Storm, visibly upset, threw his weapon down on the ground.

  Imad continued, “Very good.” He signaled one of his men to unlock the gate. The gate swung open and Imad added, “You three are the guests of Cobra. Please follow me, and make sure you don’t try anything foolish.” Imad led the way closely followed by two of his fellow terrorists then Storm, Savage and Krack. Two more of the terrorists were following them with AK-47’s trained on their backs. The group wound their way through the poorly lit tunnels until they came to a spiral staircase. The stairwell was so narrow and steep each man had to go single file. Savage was behind Storm and Krack with two terrorists following up behind him. Savage knew if he was going to make a move he had better do it quickly before they reached the ground floor with the rest of the Cobra thugs waiting for them. He quickly turned sideways and kicked out his right leg with such force the terrorist behind him went flying down the stairs crashing into the other terrorist. Both men struck the bottom stair so hard that they would not be waking up for hours. Savage turned back around and quickly ran up the stairs to warn Storm and Krack. It was a good idea, but he was too late. The Cobra thugs were waiting for Savage when he reached the top of the stairs. With three AK-47’s aimed at him as he entered the ground floor all he could think to say was, “Your mates will be up soon. They had to go to the bathroom.”

  One of the Arabs yelled at Savage, “Shut up, you devil dog.” He then shoved the butt of his AK-47 into Savage’s stomach.

  Savage bent over in pain yelled back, “Why in hell does everyone think I’m their punching bag tonight?”

  Storm reached over to help Savage, but before he could one of the terrorists shoved the barrel of his AK-47 into his neck pushing him back. Imad spoke up, “I am losing patience with you infidels. You are lucky someone wants you kept alive, at least for now. One more outburst from any of you may not cost you your life, but I swear on Cobra it will cause you loads of pain and suffering.” Imad pulled out his shafra, an Arab knife with a seven inch blade that curves inward. He walked over to Storm and said, “I hate Americans. I would love nothing better that to slit your throat. Just remember you’ll be the first one to die.” Imad turned away and added, “Follow me.” He went down the hallway with the others following.

  Storm whispered back to Savage as they walked down the long hallway, “What’s wrong with this picture? You’re the one causing all the problems and this crazy Arab wants to kill me first.”

  Savage whispered back, “Don’t worry, mate, I’ll protect you.”

  Storm replied back, “Thanks, that’s a load off my mind.”

  They were now at the end of the hallway facing a closed rusty old steel door. Imad knocked on the door and waited. What seemed to be an eternity was actually only about ten seconds before the door opened. The room was amazingly dark and ominous. Imad shoved each of the captured trio through the doorway as they neared the open door. As soon as they were all in the room Imad signaled one of his thugs to lock the door. Imad turned to the trio and said, “Gentlemen, have a seat.” The three sat down in their chairs with one of Imad’s thugs standing behind each one of them pointing a AK-47 at each of them. From a doorway on the other side of the room a dark figure entered the room. Each of the terrorists simultaneously gave the cobra salute and chanted, “Cobra rules”.

  It was Sheik Hooda. Although he was one of the most wealthy men in the world his goal in life was to bring the West to its knees. His terrorist organization had been a secret organization until now. Hooda was just about ready to unveil Cobra to the world. Hooda walked over to where the trio sat and held out his hand at his side. One of his thugs walked over and placed a twenty two inch machete in his hand. Hooda smiled and said, “Tonight, infidels, we will make history. He swung the machete in the air and continued, “We are going to behead you with a Bermuda machete.” He laughed and added, “Bring me the Jamaican.” He turned to make sure one of his men was videotaping the execution. Hooda was going to introduce Cobra to the world with this triple execution.

  Krack was forced to his knees by two of the terrorists. Krack yelled out, “Wait a minute, mon. Why are you going to kill me?”

  Imad reached over and slapped Krack in the face as he said, “Shut up, infidel, and die like a man.”

  Hooda added, “Do you know the two men you were captured with?”

  Krack replied, “Yes, mon.”

  Hooda snapped back, “That’s why, you fool. Bow your head and die.” One of Hooda’s men reached over and pulled Krack’s head down to expose his neck. Hooda raised the machete over his head with both hands and as he was about to do the deed, Savage kicked his chair backwards knocking the terrorist down on the floor.

  Savage jumped to his feet and pulled his grenade from his pocket quickly pulling the pin out with his other hand. He yelled, “Mates, this is a live grenade! If you want to live, back away from my friend.”

  Imad yelled to Hooda, “The infidel lies! It’s a dud.” It appeared to be a standoff. No one was making any kind of move.

  Hooda said, “Well, my friend, if you’re going to kill us then please go ahead.”

  During the struggle Storm had grabbed the barrel of the weapon of the terrorist who was guarding him. Krack was now standing up on his feet not sure what was going on. Savage gave Storm a quick glance. Storm had seen a look like this before. He could see in the cold steel eyes of Savage that he was not playing games. This
was no bluff.