Richa Chadha

“We’re ready to go!” Ms. Malhotra hollered on her radio as we two sat in the bus on two chairs beside each other. Ms. Malhotra was standing in front of the screens with her radio ready on her hands in front of her mouth.

“Have a seat, ma’am,” Prakash said while pointing at the black chair in front of the two of us.

“No, I’m more energetic when I’m on my foot,” She replied without even looking back towards us. The engine of the bus fired up, and suddenly all the lights which were present on the ceiling of the bus lightened up. The dazzling white light inside a shiny grey-colored bus gave it a more sci-fi look. The screens started working and started showing the videos and pictures and all. At the center-most screen, we can see the road from the front camera of the bus. The others showed the camera-footages which were probably from the various camera around the mall and the jail. We were able to see the various parts of the outside of the mall from the last from the left and the jail from the last of the right screens. She took up her radio and said, “The back parts of the target are currently empty. Leave its cams and show the footage of the cams at the entrance. Suddenly, some of the footage was changed and she was observing them all very carefully. I suddenly observed that a medical camp-like something was set up at the entrance. Some people were being treated there and the regular visitors were watching them do so. “Strange,” She said. “Why are The Suiciders treating the injured guards themselves?”

“The condition of the mall is, in fact, interesting,” Prakash commented. I turned my head and looked at him for a second, trying to say ‘what, bruh?’ through my eyes. “I mean, it’s kinda unusual, that’s why.”

“Yep,” Yashika agreed. “You two keep a watch on the cams too. Report anything unusual.”

“Ma’am,” I raised my hand as I stared at one of the cams suspiciously. “I’m having several questions. Firstly, why are The Suiciders letting the regular visitors even roaming freely and seeing at the treatment? Moreover, it doesn’t even look like a terrorist attack. See it on this cam,” I pointed at one of the video footage on the left-most screen. “No one is dead; everyone is alive and free. See, they are watching their movie quietly that nothing has happened. IT’s like that they have taken over the rule of the mall, but they don’t intend to disrupt its working.” I looked at her as she was observing at the footage.

“Strange,” She could afford to say just that word.

Naina Sharma

“D-Didi,” Rohini was constantly pulling my leg and asking me the same question again. “Why was brother here?” I replied nothing and continued walking seriously on the walkway of the mall with various The Suiciders men running continuously here and there. “Didi!” She angrily said. “Tell me!”

“What?” I asked in a low voice.

“Why was he here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Didi!” She angrily said again. “How did he know we were here?”

“I don’t know,” I replied again in a low voice, trying to run away from her questions.

But, she just won’t stop. “Didii!” She was irritated.

“What?!” I angrily shouted at her. “What the hell do you--” I stopped in the middle when I looked into her eyes. My anger suddenly turned into empathy as I looked at her eyes full of questions pouring down because they can’t find an answer yet. “She’s all of nine, and she’s already seen too much for her age,” I thought. My eyes were also full of tears.

“H-He’s left us six years ago, then why was he still here again?! Why did he even leave us alone?! H-He promised me that he wo-won’t leave me alone never ever again, th-then he left me alone too, just like m-my mom, dad, an-and everyone else.” She covered her eyes with her arm and started sobbing in her elbow. A drop of tear ran down my cheek too as I raised my hands at her and hugged her underneath me.

“D-Don’t cry, Rohini. You are not alone, are you? I’m here with you, right? Just don’t cry.”

Richa Chadha

“Teams Seven to Ten, attack at the backside of the mall. It goes to an empty underground parking lot in the basement. It’s empty for now and no enemy is spotted. Teams Eleven to Seventeen, turn right towards the State Jail. Make sure no one dies there too. Try entering from the front side with the wide gate; the backside must be locked because that’s where The Suiciders entered. Team Sixteen and Seventeen can still be sent to the back-side to capture the enemy from all the sides. Teams Four to Six, stop right behind the--” When she was continuously hollering towards her men at the radio, I continued glaring at the screen in front of me.

“It’s already out of our hands. The city is no longer ours, and if such a strong team should have come for an attack, I think we won’t be able to do anything,” Prakash commented.

“Yes, Prakash,” Yashika replied. “They’re strong, but they’re not planning to kill. It’s just like they’re treating us like infants, taking our toffee and playing with us, observing what we can do to take it back.”

I listened to them very carefully and said, “So, what if they plan on an all-out attack?”

The two looked at me as I rubbed my chin. Ms. Yashika said, “T-The whole city will break down into pieces, and the whole country will go back something like twenty years ago.”