Richa Chadha

Prakash, with his eyes wide in shock, murmured, “So that’s what Shahnawaz meant by ‘action’.”

Then, I remembered that scene--Shahnawaz leaving the interrogation room and saying “Tell him to be here exactly at six, or else he’ll miss the action.”

“Action…” I murmured and rubbed my chin. When I was thinking something, then suddenly, I saw Ms. Yashika Malhotra rushing towards us.

She came to our table and said, “Hey, you two!” We both stood up and closed our laptops.

“Jai Hind, ma’am!” We greeted.

“Jai Hind. Listen, this... this ain’t good. This is The Suiciders, and they-they have been spotted on their way to both The State Jail and Select City-walk mall. The mall is always packed with people, and Inspector Khandelwal is at The State Jail with Shahnawaz Khan. I guess that these terrorist are trying to spread fear among Delhitees by murdering the leader of your group and open fire at the most famous mall of the city.”

“We can’t let that happen, ma’am,” I replied. “We-We can--”

“It’s too late; their militia has already taken over the jail and has started firing at the mall.”

“Attack!” The leader screamed and the people took cover behind the black vans. Then, suddenly a dozen of people came out of their cover and started taking cover behind the trees and plants that were planted at the small area between the path towards the parking lot and the open space before the great mall. The mall and the plant-area also had stairs in between and an open ground which was composed for show-off. As they were settling on their positions, the guards, who were on-duty at the entrance, rushed in for some support. A dozen of old and middle-aged men came out with rifles in their hands. Their hands were loose and they were trembling too. It was too heavy for them to handle. A man fired at the guards, but no one was hurt. Then, the second bullet injured a guard’s right arm and his rifle fell from his hands. “They are not even taking any cover,” One of them said.

“It’s good for us,” Someone else replied. He suddenly got up on one of the vans with a megaphone and suddenly shouted, “SURRENDER, AND WE WON’T HURT YOU!” Some seven men ran in the meantime round the empty cemented area and reached at the sides of the stairs. “HANDS UP, AND GUNS DOWN!”

Suddenly, someone else shot another guard and he was hit on his leg. That man fell down on ground. He was old, and had white beard with half of his head hairless. “Ouch!” He said as he threw the rifle away and moved his hand towards the thigh where he was hit. It was a big wound and it was bleeding at a lot. “Argh!”

The other men looked at the two men and then turned their heads continuously at each other. Then, without any further discussions, they all took bent down and kept their rifles on the ground. A young lad, preferably twenty-five, looked disgustedly around him and his men surrendering. “Wait, you all gonna die without even trying?!”

“YOU ALL WON’T DIE IF YOU SURRENDER!”

“What proof do you have that we won’t?!” That young lad shouted at them as he corrected his long hairs which were interfering in his vision. “How the HELL CAN YOU GUARANTEE THAT SHIT?!”

“WE CAN’T!” The leader of the group replied. The young lad aimed his rifle towards the front and, while still struggling with its heavy weight, kept his face on the stock of the rifle, and when he was just about to pull the trigger, came three shots from all the sides. His left thigh, right elbow and right feet were shot and the rifle fell on the ground. He knelt down on the floor in front of the rifle and looked at it sympathetically. He raised his right hand again towards the rifle, and another bullet pierced through his belly. He coughed once, and then twice. At the third time, he put his hand in front, only to find that his mouth was full of blood and he was bleeding. “See, young lad! We don’t want to kill you or anyone here. We’re ready to provide you assistance and medical attention that we have with us.”

“No!” The young lad replied emotionally. “I ain’t losing this fight!”

“We don’t want to fight you, brother. We’re here to fight someone else, and we don’t want to take any innocent lives here. Your death will be useless and senseless. Just cooperate with us. Moreover, you’re surrounded by all the sides. It’s better to surrender for a minute to at least live afterwards rather than die senselessly.” That boy looked towards him--a man with a megaphone in his hands, standing atop a black van and wearing a black hoodie upon a black creepy mask, looking at him sympathetically. “I know how it is to lose a loved one, brother,” He added on a megaphone. “Please don’t give your loved ones to experience this too.”

There was a sparkle in his eyes. He looked at him with leaves blocking some of his view.

“Sir’s words sure can move people.”

He looked downwards and suddenly leaked a drop of tear from his eyes beside the rifle. “M-Mom…” He said. “It-It hurts!”

“So what are we supposed to do?” I asked Ms. Malhotra.

“I’ve contacted the Military Police of Delhi. It’s for the protection of the citizens of Delhi and they can handle them well. But, I want you all in the control bus with me.”

“But, why us?”

“You two are the ones who’re currently leading the investigation of this organization,” She replied. “So it’d be better for you two to be with us and provide any such information.”

“B-But we don’t have any such infor--”

“Just come with me!”

Kartik Khandelwal

“It’s useless, actually, to run from here,” The calm voice replied. “Moreover, it’s like wasting time and energy.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“If they wanted to kill us, they would have done so without any hesitation. But, in fact, no one even hurt anyone of us, even though they are literally controlling the whole jail for the time being.”

“So, you mean that they’d leave us unharmed?” I asked suspiciously.

He shrugged, as I saw his shoulders rising up by the small amount of light that was coming through the bottom opening of the door. “Just an intuition, you know.”