Chapter 8

Every night there were two guards on duty. For some reason, only one kept watch that night. Matthew had called the four of them and said, “Let’s do as we planned in case a time like this came. Avni and I will escape from the left side, Dae and Aroon from the right after we overpower the guard. Anshul meanwhile, will call the police and come back.”

The kids were kept like cattle in a pen. They were allowed out in the morning into a wider alley but at night they were crammed into the small alleyway. Once they overpowered the guard, the kids could go into the wider alley from where they had two escape routes, one from the left and one from the right.

“We’ll escape to find the police. Yeah, we are calling them but if we can escape and find them even more quickly, we can get the little kids out faster. Because if we don’t, the others will know by morning that the guard was knocked out so the police might have been called and they might just slaughter us all.

Anshul, one of us needs to stay back to take care of the kids. You seem to be loved the most,” The other four had sniggered a bit at that, “So, you should stay back. We’ll do our best.”

The five of them KOed the guard easily enough. They had parted ways then. Anshul had taken the guard’s phone and dialled 100. He informed the police and quickly went back inside the pen. Within five minutes, he heard shouting and cries.

A loud voice roused all the kids. As they were rubbing their eyes, Matthew walked into view. He stood outside the pen and was visible to everyone. He looked at Anshul, smiled and mouthed a “sorry”, before a bullet smacked into the side of his head. Anshul heard sniffles and then Avni was pushed into view. He could see tears in her eyes which she quickly wiped away before looking at the kids and mouthed “family” to Anshul before she met the same fate. Then Dae walked into view and finally Aroon.

The kids were howling. Anshul just sat there immobilised in shock. Even tears wouldn’t come.

Adheash then sauntered into view and looked over the kids, “Anyone else wants to escape? If you want, I can set you free...from this world, that is.” He had then called Anshul, “You are the oldest here, right? Come out.”

The youngster just sat there without moving or saying a word. He was incapable of doing anything but then Adheash suddenly trained his gun on Nia.

In that split-second, Anshul came back to his senses and stood up protectively in front of Nia.

He slowly walked out and Adheash beat the crap out of him, repeating again and again, “Make sure no one tries to escape or I will kill every single one. I can find other kids to replace you all. Got it?!”

Anshul had been lying on the ground when the man had raised his gun and shot him in the thigh. The pain had nearly knocked him out but somehow Anshul managed to crawl into the pen. Suddenly, the heard cries and gunshots very near to them.

The police. They are here.

Anshul had sighed in relief and looked back. He saw a look he had never expected to see on the gang leader’s face- fear.

The man looked towards the kids and Anshul managed to sit up and grabbed Nia tightly to be a shield for her in case the man shot at them but Nia not understanding what was happening pushed him and with his weak leg he couldn’t remain sitting any longer. He felt onto his back and saw Adheash aiming at him. He could see the barrel of the gun and Adheash’s finger tightening around it.

At the last moment, he pushed himself sideways and the bullet missed him by an inch. Pushing himself into a standing position, Anshul turned and ran but his leg failed him. He was close to a wall and almost cracked his head on it but swerved at the last second to avoid a head-on collision. Even so, the back of his head hit the wall and just before he lost consciousness he heard a gunshot.