"Missus, we were pursued and had no choice but to jump into the river. Someone will come to pick us up tonight," Xavier explained beside her.
Deanna frowned. "Pursued? Why were we being chased?"
The others present were stunned by her question. They exchanged glances and then looked back at Deanna.
"Have you lost your memory again?" they asked in unison, though they hadn't discussed it beforehand.
Lance furrowed his brow. "No, that can't be right. If Deanna had lost her memory, she wouldn't have been able to call my name just now."
Gunner and Lionel also realized they might have been mistaken. Deanna, however, looked at them in confusion.
"What are you talking about? What memory loss?"
"Missus, do you remember what happened before you fell unconscious?" Xavier asked, sensing something amiss.
Deanna tried to recall the events before she lost consciousness. Her face changed as she looked down to check herself, realizing her clothes were different and she had no injuries. She was bewildered. "How can this be?"
"Missus, did you discover something?" Xavier asked again, with everyone else watching her closely.
Deanna said, "I remember being captured by Bella before I lost consciousness. I planned to escape by jumping into the sea but was shot by Bella. I was hit by a bullet. How come there are no injuries?"
"Missus, that happened three months ago," Xavier reminded her softly.
Deanna was stunned. "Three months ago?"
Why did she have no memory of anything after that?
Gunner and Lionel seemed to understand Deanna's current state. Lance also guessed what was going on and began to explain the situation to her.
After about ten minutes, Deanna finally understood what had happened and the current situation. She fell silent, unsure of what to say.
The others didn't disturb her, giving her space to process everything that had happened.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for Deanna to accept everything and start focusing on their current predicament.
"Don't worry, everything has been arranged. We'll leave here tonight," Lance comforted her gently, holding her close.
Indeed, despite Abla increasing their patrols, Lance and his team had chosen an excellent hiding spot under the bridge. Even a thorough search couldn't find them.
By nightfall, they emerged from under the bridge and carefully entered the water. Underwater, someone was already waiting for them.
With the help of these people, they donned diving gear and tied ropes around their waists, beginning their swim upstream where a speedboat awaited them.
After a night of effort, they finally boarded a helicopter heading back to their country at dawn.
Just as they were about to cross Abla's border, another unexpected event occurred.
"Stop the helicopter ahead!" Two fighter jets approached from the sides, surrounding Lance's helicopter.
The pilot reported the situation to Lance, who had already seen it through the window.
"Tell the pilot to ignore them. Once we cross Abla's border, we'll have support waiting for us."
"Yes!" Xavier nodded and walked to the cockpit.
The pilot received the order and ignored the fighter jets, pushing the throttle to its maximum and speeding towards the border.
The soldiers in the fighter jets issued another warning and even used weapons to hit the helicopter's tail as a warning shot.
Despite this, the helicopter did not stop and flew forward at top speed.
In less than five minutes, they crossed Abla's border.
The Abla soldiers reported this to their superiors and received orders to destroy the helicopter. However, just as they were about to act, several Chiaz fighter jets appeared in front of them.
"Damn it!" The Abla soldiers cursed angrily. They couldn't take action now without causing an international incident.
On the other side, Deanna and her companions breathed a sigh of relief.
"We're finally safe. I won't leave the country so easily again," Lionel remarked.
Gunner and Deanna shared his sentiment.
By evening, they finally returned to Cloudmere. The fighter jets escorting them left once they landed safely.
Outside the airport, a man in a suit approached Gunner and his group as soon as he saw them. "Mr. Martinez, you've had a tough journey."
"Jason! It wasn't too bad. We should thank you. If it weren't for your timely assistance, we might have been detained in Abla," Gunner replied gratefully.
During this exchange, Deanna and Lionel stood quietly by his side.
After a brief chat, Jason got to the point. "Mr. Martinez, the higher-ups are very concerned about the experiments in Abla. They want me to take you over for a debriefing."