Kartik Khandelwal

“I actually doubt your intuition,” I replied.

“Actually, his instincts and intuition are very good,” Another man said. “Though I doubt it too this time.”

“Anyways, we see him as a figure which can be trusted.”

“But I still think we can get in trouble if we don’t do anything fast. I can’t guarantee about you all, but it’d be a big trouble for me obviously.”

“Why?”

“That’s because I’m the one who’s investigating the case of this organization. I’m the leader of The Suiciders Defense Group, and that’s the same reason why I was here interrogating Shahnawaz.”

“Well then,” The calm one said again. “I guess we can try for something.”

Richa Chadha

I was walking speedily towards the bus which was standing in front of the building of DPHQ. It was not a normal bus; it was silver and was kind of round and rounded-rectangular instead of the box-like rectangular bus. It was silver in color and had no windows or doors on its sides. It only had an opening back, which was currently opened. I walked towards the bus, looked at its shiny metal, and then slowly walked towards the back of the bus while glaring at my face on its metal. I reached the back and looked inside in awe. “Whoa!” I said in awe as I saw that the bus inside didn’t look like a bus. It had some five computer screens fitted side-by-side at one-fifty degree angles on the other end of the bus, just in front of me. The sides of the bus were surrounded by keyboards of various buttons and keys. I pulled my right leg upwards and stepped inside the bus. I saw Ms. Malhotra already inside. She was wearing a bullet-proof jacket upon her coat and was adjusting a microphone inside her ears. She looked at me and said, “First time, right? Enjoy the journey, because such chances don’t come every day.”

I smiled and nodded. Suddenly, I heard someone entering the bus. I looked behind, and saw Prakash getting up the bus. “Whoa,” He commented. “I didn’t even know we even got some Hollywood-type stuff.”

“Now you know,” Ms. Malhotra replied.

Three dozen of people marched forward over the cemented area and walked up the small stairs. They walked down the stairs and entered the mall, where everyone was watching them with fear in their eyes. Everyone was varying in clothes, color and while some were young and with their friends, others were with families hugging them closely. The army entered the mall and took up the rifles of the guards which were kept on the floors. The guards’ hands and legs were tied safely and in a few minutes, the medical team was there with the injured guards. The injured men were lying on the floor with a team of people putting on medicines and bandages on their wounds. There was even an ambulance where the young man, who was against the idea of surrendering, was being taken to with the help of the stretchers. A man, wearing a casual t-shirt upon a black pair of pants, was hugging his wife and his son, who were afraid. He was thinking in surprise, “They don’t seem to be bad guys, after all. But, if they ain’t the bad ones, why are they spreading fear in the minds of the citizens?”

Naina Sharma

I was sitting on the pizzeria of the Select City-walk with my little sister, who was eating the large pizza with her small hands. “Didi!” She said to me, “It was such a great picture!”

“Sure it was,” I replied with a smile on my face.

She took another bite of the pizza and, while eating it, said, “Why don’t such movies release every day?”

I smiled at her again. I stood up, rubbed my black Indian kurta which was touching my calf, and replied, “It’s because good movies are not easy to create. So, such movies release once in a year!”

“Ooh!” I saw a sparkle in her eyes. A small little girl, with her mouth white due to the cheese of the pizza, said in awe. “I wanna create a good movie too, didi!”

“Sure you will, my cute little director!” I chuckled. I corrected my belly while standing on one foot, and then walked towards the counter. She was still sitting on her seat, feasting on her favorite pizza happily. The pizzeria was a red room with a lot of tables and sitting services available. The part in front of the entrance was used as a counter for payments, whereas the other sides had large pictures of delicious pizzas on them. The wall with the entrance was made of glass so that other people outside can see inside easily. When I walked back from the counter towards our table, she had completed her pizza. She closed the box in which pizza is given and then said, “Let’s go home.”

I gave the eight year old girl my finger and replied, “Come, Rohini.” She held my finger when suddenly someone wearing black clothes upon a creepy mask entered the pizzeria. He had a rifle in his hands. He announced, “Everyone, turn off your phones!” Then, three more men came in. They all looked like twenty-three or four, or even young. Then, someone entered from behind with a megaphone. He looked elder and mature by his body style and structure. He looked at me, and then said, “Na-Naina?”

The little girl suddenly hugged me behind my back and said, “Sc-Scary, Naina didi.”

But, I didn’t notice. I was looking at that man in shock. “Wait, ar-are you--”

“Don’t say it out loud, Naina,” He told me, “… or else everyone will hear, which won’t be good.”