The house in Bukit Timah

[Tai_zi21]

Yes I cried at this story by u again my fav writer....

[btblue8]

Lost for words...

[Giansex]

Wah .. more update pls

[madmen11]

had to stop reading several times and force myself to finish reading the update.

description so vivid, too much for my heart to take.

[Happyendingz]

As I got closer I could see a little girl running back to a waiting car while her father went on ahead to the childcare.

That's Eric and his daughter from The Beast Within

[HowsHappened]

Excellent updates bro, more please!!

[badboy]

was almost too painful to read..


Badboy

[ilikeoldchangke]

Hong : ok…. That solves half the problem…. Now we just need to get there….

Jackson : It’s quite near the castle….

Hong : well I can tell you for sure if we go back to the castle, no way will boss let us leave it….. especially not when she knows you want to go where she don’t want you to go…..


Jackson : We’ll take one step at a time…. we need a ride….

I opened the door and I saw the gate is secured with an additional padlock. 2 separate keys are needed to leave the place.
There’s a camera in the living room as well.

Looking at the hinges of the gate, it doesn’t look like your typical standard HDB gate either.

I know it’s to keep us safe, but right now, it’s stopping us from getting out.

The chances are slim that there will be a spare key around but I have to try.

Hong : Candy has the key…. I saw her keep it in her pocket…

Jackson : there might be a spare one lying around… or something we can use to break the lock… worse case scenario, we’ll have to grab the key from her…

Hong : hahha…. I like your sense of humour….

Jackson : we can take her together easily… even in current condition….



Hong : that don’t sound right to me right now hahah….. but she’s a feisty little chilli padi Jackson ….. the hard approach don’t work…

Jackson : then what.. you want me to beg… ?

Hong : no harm trying…

I went to the kitchen and opened the cabinets. It’s fully stocked with instant noodles and canned food. Several crates of bottled waters sat on the floor and there’s even a mean looking water filter connected to the tap.

The fridge is empty but the freezer compartment is full of microwaveable stuff.
There’s no alcohol.

There’s a knife by the sink but I cannot find any tool I could use to break the lock or gate.

Looking out the window from the 4th floor unit, it’s too high to jump and we’re not in any condition to do a bit of wall climbing either.

Hong groaned in pain as he orientated his body to lay down on the sofa. He increased the volume of the TV and every channel he switched to are covering the different incidents happening all over the country.

From explosions to incidents with mass injury, the scenes in which the reporters were reporting from is pure chaos.

Medical personnel rushed to help the injured and while many more residents chipped in to help in whatever way they can.
I walked over to the living room and I could see a table by the side with numbers in red.

A tally of the number of casualties.



12pm

Candy came back with lunch and she saw us eyeing the key she stuffed deep into her pants.

Candy : I spoke with Boss…. NO!... you both are not leaving this place….just stay here for the time being….

Hong : Jackson says he’ll take off your pants if he has to, ahhaha… for the keys I mean….

Candy gave Hong a death stare as she made the gesture of throwing the packet of noodles at him.

Hong : Just kidding… just kidding…. Hahah…

Candy looked at me and I said nothing. She gave me my share of the food and the 3 of us ate quietly while following the news on the TV.

Some of the victims gave interviews, some of their relatives told what happened. Many more are crying on screen.

There was a shaky footage of a mother fainting when she saw the bodies of both her kids lying motionless outside a childcare in woodlands.

News also covered videos that went viral, of a father who lost his son breaking through the police line to stab one of the arrested terrorist in his neck.

Another viral video at a centre in Jurong showed a grieving father who lost his wife and kids. The pregnant wife was sending their 3 year old daughter to school when the attackers struck.



The screams and chaos around the childcare have barely settled when he snatched the gun from a police officer, shot 2 of the arrested terrorist point blank in their faces before turning the gun on himself.

I put the packet of noodles down, and while Hong continued eating, I could see his eyes turn red and watery. He forced himself to wolf down the entire packet of noodles before he limped and staggered to the bathroom and vomited it all out.


Candy’s food remained suspended in mid air as her shaking hands holding the chopsticks grabbed onto a few strands of noodles.

3.00pm

By 3pm, it was official.
The defence ministry put out a notice and condemn the attack.

I almost threw the chair at the TV when I saw Teng delivering a prepared statement while trying to act emotional.


3.30pm

All of us remained glued to the TV screen as reporters ran along the streets of Geylang. Apparently, there is still a hostage situation going on there.
Shaky footages of men fighting in the rough neighbourhood flashed on the screen and I could not longer watch any of it.

Jackson : shut it off….please….

With the TV gone, the house descended into eerie silence.

No one spoke and we just stared blankly into the air.

Candy : get some rest guys….

Jackson : Candy….


Candy : yah ? ….

Jackson : we need to go to the lion’s den…

Candy shook her head.

Candy : No… Boss told me it’s being handled….it’s quite the castle… she has sent men there already….

Jackson : who ? ..

Candy : Aaron and 10 others are parked right outside the gate…. It’s fine…

Hong : Jesus… Aaron…

Candy : There’s 10 other men there besides him….. it’ll be ok…



I gestured to the TV and told Candy that base on the latest reporting, there are a total of 7 explosions and 11 hostage taking incidents, there might be more we do not know of or it’s not reported.

Jackson : There’s more than 10 men at the childcare at Tampines… and they were told to regroup and hit the lion’s den on the 15th….

Candy : but…

I put up a hand and asked Candy to let me finish.

I showed her the phone I took from one of the attackers.

Jackson : I don’t know how many of them are here…. I don’t know how many going to hit on the 15th…. But there is more than 10 that is supposed to regroup from 1 childcare alone…. Can you imagine if all of these men hitting that 1 childcare at once….

I could see Candy considering what I just said and I asked her what does she know about that Childcare.


Jackson : What is this place…. Why is it so special ?

Candy : I don’t know either….

Jackson : Have you been there before… ?

Candy : A couple of times… I went with Boss but I always stayed outside….she goes in alone….

Candy assumed Yiling knew the principal or something, maybe catching up with friends.

Candy : It’s always during lull period, or when she stops working…. Or … or… late in the evening…. It’s… it’s not work related… because if it is, Boss won’t go there dressed in her pyjamas… bringing a few cans of beer…

Jackson : that place opens into the night… ?

Candy nodded.

Candy : there’s always people there… sometimes I see people picking up their kids as late as 10pm… some kids sleep over when their parents work late too…. I think Boss knows some of the teachers there…..


Jackson : What else can you tell me about that place…. ?

Candy : Boss owes the property that the childcare operates from including the adjacent sites…. In fact, out of that plot with 5 properties, 4 belongs to La Bella Vita….

Jackson : What about the 5th.

Candy : That one you cannot buy….

Jackson : Why not… ?

Candy : That is the North Korean Embassy….

Jackson : You’re shitting me….

Candy : No I’m not… it’s a pretty big plot….they never bothered anyone…

Jackson : There must be a reason why they are going to hit the place….


Candy : Boss has people outside on the road already…. The units beside the childcare are left empty and sealed… no one stays there…. And you can be sure no one will try to trespass into North Korean Embassy ground….


Jackson : In normal times….maybe… but not when everything is going crazy… we have to go…

Candy : What can we do even if we go there Jackson ??

[ilikeoldchangke]

Jackson : It beats sitting here and watching TV….

Candy : It’s for your own safety…. Do you know what you guys have done… ?? You discharged a weapon in a childcare…. You killed people in front of kids…. The teachers saw your face…. The kids saw your face… the cameras in the childcare saw everything….. you should lay low for now until everything gets sorted out…..

Jackson : We can’t… and you know it….

Candy : aRGHHHH!!!

Candy stood up abruptly, obviously frustrated.

She walked into the bedroom and I called out after her.

Jackson : We don’t know what time they will strike….but 15th is less than 48 hours away….


…………………………………………………………….


14th March 2017
Tuesday

8am

I hardly slept.

I sat in front of the TV, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Rumours are awash all over the internet with several conspiracy theories popping up.


Some foreign media are calling it an inside job.
An attack of this scale is near impossible to pull off unless you have someone on the inside making it happen. Especially not with Singapore’s tight control on firearms, explosives and immigration.

More viral videos emerged overnight with residents witnessing soldiers storming police posts, and police officers engaged in firefights with other police officers.

Some claimed a coup is taking place with politicians trying to seize power during this period of chaos and uncertainty.


3pm

The overall death toll continued to climb throughout the day. Candy tried talking to Yiling about the lion’s den but it was a no go.

Yiling refused to let us near that place.

Candy : Boss is adamant that you stay here…. Kamal, Seven and Declan are hold up in the pantry as well….

Jackson : Candy… think about it…. Please… just think about it….

She finished changing the dressing on our wounds and said she would.




8pm

Candy came back with dinner and after much persuading by Hong, she relented and bought some beer from the supermarket.

I kept looking at Candy, and she avoided my eyes on purpose.

10pm

Candy : Fuck it…. Let’s go ….

Hong : hahaha… alright….


Candy gestured to the camera up by the ceiling and says Boss will know what we are up to the moment she logs in.

Hong pulled a stool, got up on it and yanked the camera out.

Hong : there… problem solve….

Candy : Boss is going to kill us after this…..


We left the unit at 11pm and we drove straight to the lion’s den.

True enough, small 2 way road is packed with 3 vehicles on one side.

The childcare is operated out of a refurbished 3 storey bungalow. There’s a playground and sand pit by the side of the porch.
The lights are off on the top 2 levels but there are still activities on the ground floor.


I saw a female teacher through the window. She appears to be sorting out some paperwork. I could see her sporting a cap and her hair which is tied into a pony tail sticks out from the back.

Candy pulled up to one of them and the men inside were surprised to see us there.

We asked for an update to the situation and he told us they were running 3 shifts.


Jackson : Where is Aaron …. ?

Man : He just went to grab some food at the cookhouse……. He hasn’t slept in 2 days man…. Always running around….trying to organise things…

Jackson : I see…. Thank you…

Candy drove off and Hong commented under his breath.

Hong : Well… I believed the running part…

Candy : Tsk…Hong… don’t be an ass… Aaron has been coordinating the castle’s defence and deploying men to the warehouses this couple of days….

Hong : okaaaayyyyyyy….



We circled the plot to familiarise the surrounding and we passed by the North Korean Embassy.

The embassy guards looked at us and their fingers were never far away from the trigger of their rifle.

Candy parked outside a unit that belonged to Yiling and ask what’s the plan.

Candy : We can’t possibly just sit here….

Jackson : No need for all of us to be here… let’s take turns….The castle is near….go back and rest Candy….

Candy : If we go back… Boss might not let us out again….


Jackson : Don’t go from the front… head to the cookhouse and take the path to the farmhouse…. Everyone’s busy at the castle….they won’t look there….

Candy : Ok….

Jackson : Hong.. you too….

Hong : Oh goody… I get to sleep with Candy at the farmhouse… ? hahah..

Candy : touch me and you’re dead…. !

Hong : hahhaha…


I sent both of them back before going back to the lion’s den.

I remained awake, my eyes kept scanning the surrounding area for signs of activity.

To my front about 50m away are the line of 3 cars with La Bella Vita’s men in it.
Behind me is the North Korean embassy and my rear mirror allows me to see any vehicles coming from the back.


15th March 2017

6.30am

A motorcycle approached me from the front. I tensed up and only relaxed when I saw it was Hong.

He cut the engine and removed his helmet.


Jackson : You’re early….shift change is at 8….

Hong : If they are going to hit in the morning… it should be around now…. here… I got you something…

Hong showed me one of the axe I kept in the farmhouse.

Jackson : haha… thank you…


8am

Nothing. Nothing happened. Just your average day of parents dropping kids off at the centre.

I waiting until 8.30 just to be sure before leaving.


Hong : Go and rest… I doubt it will happen in the day….

I got to the farmhouse and I saw Candy tying up her hair in the bathroom.

Candy : I’m going to grab breakfast with Cindy and Xiaoyu….

Jackson : Does Yiling know… ?

Candy : Yes… she’s fucking pissed but she has no time to deal with us at the moment…..

I slept and woke up at 4pm with a jolt.

Hong was in the farmhouse with me. Candy must have started her shift by the den.

Hong : You were shouting in your sleep Jackson …..

Jackson : I was… ?

Hong nodded as he sipped his beer.

I took a shower and went to grab some food with Hong at the cookhouse.

Aaron walked in while on his phone, he saw us and he made an about turn, pretending he has something to attend to.

Hong : Unbelievable…

Jackson : Leave him be….



7.30pm

I took Hong’s bike over to Candy and took over the shift at 8pm.

[ilikeoldchangke]

Candy : It might not happen Jackson …. They might have call it off…. My guess is most of them are hiding now…. Go and rest Jackson ….

Jackson : it’s only a few more hours….

Candy : ok.. Boss is pulling the guys out tomorrow morning… we need them at the warehouses…


Jackson : ok… hopefully it’s a false alarm.

I listened to the radio while keeping an eye on the road.

10.30pm


I saw the headlights of the cars parked outside the childcare light up.

They started to move and when they came close to me, I rolled down my window and ask them what is going on.

Man : I don’t know…. got the order to head back to the castle….

Jackson : what… ? order from who… ?

Man : Aaron asked us to head back to the castle….

Jackson : Why… ?

Man : No idea man…. We’re pulling out…. We’re told to head to the warehouse in Jurong to relief the men over there….


The 3 cars drove away back towards the castle and I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on it’s end.

This is not right. Something is wrong.

This don’t make sense at all.

10.45pm


I saw 2 goods Van approaching from the opposite direction. I started the car engine but I kept the headlights off.

One stopped before the childcare while the other parked in front of it.

My foot gently applied pressure on the accelerator and I released the hand brakes.

The side door of the van slid open and I saw several man emerge from the vehicle. They checked the surroundings before pulling out their weapons from inside the vehicle.

Machetes, clubs, crowbars and even a baseball bat.

I floored the accelerator and sped towards the men.


As I got closer, I saw the Van parked further away had even more men. Close to 10 of them.

The gate to the lion’s den was shut and many of them started scaling the fence.
Someone shouted to warn their friends of my approach as I rammed my vehicle into a man who was trying to unload a large canister of what looked like flammable liquid.


I sandwiched him against the side of the van and the crashed deployed the airbags in my car.

I could taste blood in my mouth as I staggered outside and grabbed my axe. I tried pulling it out but it’s stuck. More than half of the men already made it inside the den’s compound and I could hear the leader shouting for all of them to get in.

“ GO !!! GO!!! GO!!! Take the DEN!!! “


A guy rushed towards me with a machete and I avoided his mid air slash. Grabbing his arm and sliding my body in, I pulled his wrist down against my shoulder as I disarmed him. I wrestled him onto the floor and I grabbed his hair, using it as a handle, I rocked and smashed his face a few times against the road, painting the white directional arrow a dark shade of red.

One of his friend tackled me onto the floor and I blocked his attempt to knife me. Pushing my thumb into his eye, I got him to release the pressure he was putting on my body with his.

I got up and head butted him before grabbing the knife and plunging it into his stomach.

I pulled it out and plunge it under his armpit and pushed him away from me.

Most of the men have made it over the fence and are all heading into the childcare.
I jumped onto the fence and I started to climb.

The attack has already started. Anytime now the screams of the teachers and kids that were roused from their sleep will reach my ears.


There was plenty of shouting.

I ran into the ground floor living area. It was empty.

There’s no one there.

I grabbed an ornamental candlestick and ran up to level 2.


The staircase leading up to level 3 is at the other end of the corridor and I caught sight of one of the men running up.
Level 2 is flanked by doors on both sides of the corridor.

I pushed open doors to empty classrooms and play area, with each open door, my heart braced itself for a grotesque scene of blood and bodies but there were none.

All 6 doors I opened on level 2 were empty.

I could hear the shouts and commotions on level 3.


I flew up the dog leg staircase as fast as my legs could carry me.
I saw the terrorist closest to me and I smashed the candlestick into his back, snapping it into 2 before he could step through the glass door his friends just walked into.

I wrestled him down onto the floor and I struggled to put him in a submission lock. We grunted and tussled on the ground and I finally managed to get my arm around his neck.

With internal walls knocked down, level 3 is essentially a large hall about the size of a basketball court albeit with columns at regular spacing. A full height glass wall separated the staircase from the rest of the hall.


The entrance is controlled by an electronic lock and it was snapped shut. One of the terrorist tried to hit the release button repeatly but it would not open. He tried smashing the glass with the bat he was holding but the glass refused to budge.

He could only look on helplessly as I slowly choke his struggling friend. Another guy came to try and open the door but it was no use.


Just before I wash myself in despair that I would not be able to help the kids and teacher inside the hall, I froze.

I could see the kids that were roused from their sleep and gathered in the hall during this ungodly hour. They varied in age, between 3 to 15 years old. There are almost dozen of them.


I could see the 2 female teachers standing in front of the children.

I held onto the struggling man as I realised something was wrong.

The kids at this childcare did not cry.

The teachers at this childcare did not scream.


Faced with almost a dozen armed men in front of them, they remained eerily still and calm. Like a portrait in a horror movie.

It was then I realised both the female teacher have their caps pulled down, covering most of their face.

The terrorist tried to advance but paused almost immediately.


A figure clad in black stepped out from behind a column. It’s a man.

He was dressed in the same manner with a mask similar to the 2 guys I saw on the roof at Rajah Holdings that day and he’s armed.

Not with a samurai sword. His built is different from the 2 lean man on Rajah’s rooftop. He’s beefier.


He stood upright with an imposing posture carrying the 2.1m long Kwandao in the same manner a general would in the battlefield.

A door at the back opened and I could feel my hand tremble when I saw a large heavy set man walk out slowly. He’s huge, and around his right wrist is a metal cuff that drags a 2m long chain.

On his left hand, he held a fucking meat cleaver with chipped and jagged edges.

He too wore a mask and was dressed in black but he has an apron around his body. He looked like a butcher in a fucking horror show.

He stood beside the man carrying the kwandao and you could literally see the terrorist trapped inside the room tremble in fear when faced with such abomination.


They are used to seeing kids cry and teachers scream in fear.

They are used to the intoxicating satisfaction from threatening helpless care givers and children.

Now, faced with teachers that don’t falter in front of danger and adversity, faced with young children and kids that don’t cry, don’t scream, don’t pee in their pants, they froze.

All of them froze.

The group of terrorists backed up against the glass and a few of them tried to unlock the glass door by hammering it. I could feel the life of the man I was strangling slowly slipping away.


One of the female teachers, with her head held low, switched on the large projector TV in the room with a remote.

I saw our Prime Minister’s face appear as he addressed the nation during this crisis.

The teacher kept increasing the volume.
And the more she did, the more frantic it got the men trapped inside the hall.

I could hear the prime minister speech from outside the glass door.

I could see his face projected on the large screen by the side.

Welly Chin looked tired, it’s like he hasn’t slept in days but look beyond that exhausted expression, you could see the fire in his eyes and the iron in his will.
He spoke with anger and conviction


PM : We shall fight them ………………we shall fight on the seas and oceans……

The teacher kept increasing the volume and I felt goosebumps all over my body as the kids slowly and calmly raised their hands and put it over their ears. It’s like all of them knew what to do.

PM : We shall fight them in the streets….. on the roads…. On the very path your kids take to school……



PM : We shall fight them on the beaches,…… we shall fight them in the streets of the CBD…… no matter where they may be….. we shall fight them


The younger kids turned and face the other direction, away from the terrorists


PM : We shall fight them in the hills, in our alleyways…………………we shall defend our island home…… no matter the cost…..

PM : We shall never surrender………..


There was a moment of pause as the prime minister gathered his emotions before wrapping his message up.

When he looked back up at the camera, he delivered a message to LFO.

The organisation responsible for this attack.


PM : And to the organisation responsible for this …………you did not cripple this country……


PM : You just woke a sleeping lion…


I felt the man I was strangling in my arm go limp as the older kids who remained facing the front closed all their eyes.


……………………………………………….

[feintz]

Great updates as usual!!

[Spud_Boy]

cliff hanger now....

[madmen11]

hope is here!

Thank you Bro Ilock for this story. It is hard for us to read and I am sure it is harder for you to write and go through the emotions again and again..

[SerajaPower]

So exciting, palms sweating ….

[btblue8]

Goosebumps. Literally goosebumps.