Chapter 25

Bloomie

@bloomie

Part 25 [MEMBERSONLY][NOCOPY]

News anchor:  aaj subah Dharavi ki basti aur Shastri chawl mein aaye hue sarkari tanks ke paani se log bimar pad rahe hai, hazaron ki taadat mein log hospital’s mein bharti ho rahe hai aur maut ka aakda ab tak 1500 ke paar ho chuka hai……………………

The team is stunned.

Arjun: itni jaldi asar kar raha hai ye?

Chotu: sir hume ise jaldi kabu karna hoga sir

Rathore comes out of his trance: pehle hospital! wahi batayenge ki ho kya raha hai, let’s move!

At the hospital-

The ETF meets the Dean.

Rathore: Doctor ye sab ho kaise raha hai

Doctor: is waqt humare paas bhi zyaada information nahi hai, ye ek kisam ka virus hai humne ise Xora 2 ka naam diya hai, paani se failta hai aur bahot hi aasani se insaan ko kamzor karke uski jaan le leta hai, humare shareer mein bhi 70% paani hota hai aur blood ke through spread ho jaata hai

Arjun: anti-dote?

Doctor: anti-dote banne ke liye kitna waqt lagega hum nahi keh sakte hai, we have never seen anything like this, logon ko iske contact se rokna hoga

Rathore: Logon Ko Paani Peene Se Kaise Roke Hum?!?!

Shree: Doctor, koi toh treatment hogi jo hum use kar sake, koi drug, koi antibiotic, aaj kal toh itne powerful antibiotics aa gaye hai, kisi ka kuch toh asar hoga

Doctor: antibiotics bacteria par asar karte hai, ye virus hai, dono alag cheezein hai, hum fir bhi alag-alag davaiyon se koshish kar rahe hai, body mein uske spread ko rokne ki koshish kar rahe hai

Rathore sighs: theek hai doctor, aap apni koshish kijiye, hum apni karenge

Doctor: aur ek baat, Dr. Rajat ek virologist hai, is tarah ke viruses ko unhone study kiya hai, government lab mein hi, unki team ne kaha hai ki woh humari madad karenge (giving them a card) ye lijiye unka contact

Rathore takes it.

They leave. Medical staff was running around, people were screaming and crying. A couple had just lost their child, another lost her spouse, yet another their mother. Riya tears up seeing them.

Rathore controls himself: team focus!

Outside-

Chotu: sir shuruwat kaise karenge?

Rathore: Rawte, Riya! tum dono Rajat se milkar aao ek baar, dekho woh kya kehta hai, Chotu apne admiyon se pata karo ki koi local gang, mafia, terrorist kahi se bhi koi hawala wagera hua hai kya, Shree, tum mere saath aao, water tankers ke watchman ki khabar lete hai

The team nods and they split in different directions.

Rajat was unable to give them any new information but promised the team complete support and that they were working tirelessly to try and find an anti-dote for the Xora.

The watchman knew nothing of what had happened in the night. In response to a punch, he confesses that he had slept off soundly after eating dinner. The lack of CCTV’s did not help the team’s cause.

ETF-

Rathore bangs the table in anger: Dammit!! Kahi se bhi koi lead nahi mil rahi hai!!

Riya enters the conference room with papers in her hand: Rathore sir! intelligence ke hissab se chaar din pehle kuch Russians shehar mein aaye hai, unke records fake hai, chances are ki woh kisi mafia ya terrorist organization se mile hue hai, Chotu ki information ke hissab se 4 automatic rifles unke aane ke ek din pehle black mein bechi gayi and! They are leaving tonight!

Rathore: kaha hai woh log?

Riya: sir, Hotel Sea Castle

Arjun and Rathore immediately grab their guns. The boys follow.

Riya: Woah hold on, aap log paagal ho gaye hai?

Rathore: Riya please abhi nahi

Riya : Sir ye bevkufi hai, hum bina taiyaari aur plan ke waha nahi jaa sakte

Chotu: Aur plan ka wait karenge toh woh log haath se nikal jeeyenge

Riya: Woh toh waise bhi hoga, you think humari ye 15 round 2 second delay waali service gun unke semi-automatic aur automatics ka saamna kar sakti hai? waha hum sab shaheed honge, woh bhaag jaayenge, Xora ka plan success hoga, media humari maut par keechad uchalegi aur humara department kaam karne ke bajay press conference mein lag jaayega

Arjun sits down: Woh sahi keh rahi hai, aise halla bolne se kuch haasil nahi hoga aur kuch nahi toh kam se kam dhanke hathiyaar toh lene hi padenge

Riya mutters to herself: Chalo kisi mein toh akal hai

Shree: sir humare paas abhi tak advanced weaponry nahi hai, hume headquarters jaana hoga aur usmein formalities…

Arjun: bullet proof jackets uthao! Main commissioner sir se weapons mangwata hun

The others nod. Rathore knew there was no time to waste, they needed Arjun’s illegal approach at the moment.

Sea Castle-

The team entered with rifles on the shoulders. After telling the staff to shut up and taking the appropriate details, they head up to the 15th floor.

Arjun and Rathore stand on either side of the door. Shree, Riya and Chotu behind them. Rathore glances at Arjun. He nods.

Arjun knocks the door.

A heavily accented voice answers: who is it?

Riya: sir, room service

Hearing a female voice, the man comes ahead. The team grip their rifles. The door handle turns. It had barely opened when Arjun kicked it open, firing straight in, instantly killing the man. The other three men inside grab their guns and start shooting. Rathore rolls in, hiding behind the table and shooting. The other three provide cover fire.

Within minutes, they all lay dead. They round up their possessions and regroup outside the hotel.

Arjun: kuch toh chut raha hai

Riya: itna bada plan aur itni weak planning?

Rathore: ye log sirf mohre hai, hume virus ka koi trace nahi mila, definitely yaha se jo support kar raha hai, uske paas aur bhi hoga, sirf do-teen slum areas mein milane ke baad itni tabahi mach gayi lekin aisa kuch banaya hai toh obviously unka aim bada hoga

Shree: use kaise dhundhenge?

Rathore: hawala

Shree: hawala?

Rathore: aise logon ki funding hawala ke through hoti hai Shree, koi paper trail ya bank transfers nahi aur is shehar mein itne high level ka hawala sirf ek admi karta hai… Mansoor

Arjun: use pakad kar koi faayda nahi Rathore, unhe aadhe time pata bhi nahi hota ki woh kab kiske liye kaam kar rahe hai

Rathore: risk nahi le sakte Rawte

He nods: tum aur Chotu use pakdo, Main Shree aur Riya ke saath yaha ki formalities nipta ta hun aur jaldi

Rathore: jaanta hun waqt kam hai, chalo Chotu!

The duo leave. The other three handover the crime scene to the local police. They were about to leave when Shree’s phone rings.

Shree: sir Rathore sir ka phone hai ek minute (answering) ji sir? …… theek hai sir

He disconnects the call and immediately opens his laptop on the bonnet of the car.

Shree: sir, Mansoor mil gaya, uske phone ke call records nikalta hun, uske hissab se….

Riya grabs her diary and stands beside him to note down numbers and divide the work.  

Shree: …jab-jab call aaya woh ek hi number se aaya

Riya: ek hi?

She fishes out her phone to access information.

Shree: ha, le uska naam

Riya looks onto the screen and then enters the name to search the database.

Riya: this is weird, ye admi mar chuka hai

Arjun: what’s weird? Obviously fake ID hai, expected hai

Riya scrolls the page: ha lekin iska government record hai…. he’s an accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy? Woh waha ka ek worker tha, us raat negligence ki wajah se gas leak ho gayi lekin woh aur uski family ne kaha ki woh waha nahi apne bete ke birthday par tha, unofficially duty exchange ki thi lekin koi nahi maana aur use jail aur faasi ho gayi….

Shree disapproves: Ri random sa..

Riya: uske bete ka naam Rajat hai!

Arjun: Dr. Rajat?

Riya: could be…. surname toh wahi hai (looking up) ye coincidence hai ya fir?

Arjun(thoughtfully): ye ittefaq nahi ho sakta, Rathore aur Chotu ko call karke bolo ki seedhe Rajat ke ghar par mile! Let’s go!

They jump into the car and rush to Rajat’s home. Arjun barely parks the car before getting out. They run up the porch steps. Arjun rings the doorbell repeatedly but no one opens it. He gets impatient. Arjun kicks open the door.

They barged in with the guns straight up but it was empty. They start searching.

Riya opens the fridge(shocked): Sir!!

He comes. The fridge was filled with various chemicals.

Riya: isme se koi Xora hai?

Arjun: pata nahi

By then Shree finds his laptop: sir laptop!... password protected! Dammit!

Riya sits next to him. She types in Xora 2 but an alert pops up, ‘Access Denied’. She glances at Arjun and shakes her head. Thinking something, he sits down. Arjun types in papa. The password is accepted. A map window was minimised. He opens it. They watch in horror as a location pinned on the City’s Dam shows up.

Shree: oh god! NO!

Arjun swipes his hand under the laptop. It was still hot from the previous use.

Arjun: thodi der pehle hi nikla hai, we can stop him!

Riya: main Rathore sir ko call karti hu!

The trio ran outside. Riya passes on the information to Rathore. He immediately changes direction and pushes the accelerator. The two ACP’s drove like their life depended on it. Technically, it did.

They had to reach before the insane man dropped the virus into the water. Thousands were already dead. Adding the virus to the entire municipal supply would make Mumbai a watery grave.

Two SUV’s screeched to a halt on the road leading to the Dam. They jumped out and ran into the woods.

Rathore: Spread out!!!

They split immediately. The area was huge. Each pair of eyes was searching for only one man. When their search yields no results even after 20 minutes, Riya dwindles. She runs a hand through her hair in frustration.

Riya: sir mujhe dar lag raha hai, agar usne hume dekh liya aur apna plan change karke, kisi aur dam ya lake par chala gaya toh? 

Shree: Riya yaar, aise mat bol, tabahi mach jaayegi

Riya: Possibility Hai Shree!!

Arjun and Rathore were listening to the conversation but they didn’t know what to say. She was right, all he needed was a good water source that was connected to the city.

Rathore: keep searching

Riya: hume baakhi s...

A hand grabs her mouth from behind.

Rathore: Riya?

She elbows him, twisting his hand. Rajat tries to punch her. She swerves and kicks him. He grabs her hand pulling her to him.

Riya tries to be free: Chodo!

She tries to kick him again. A bullet fires.

Riya: AAAHHH!!!

Chorus: Riya!!

The four men run in the direction of the shot.

Rajat grabs her in chokehold, putting the gun at her head: Chal chup-chap!!

Her bleeding leg refuses to cooperate but he drags her with him while fishing out the virus ball. They reach the top of the dam. She struggles, still trying to free herself.

Arjun runs in from the opposite direction: Rajat!!

The other three reach the lower platform.

Rajat: apni gun neeche karo ACP (looking down) ruko tum wahi par, warna tumhari ye officer gayi!

They stop but Arjun doesn’t lower his gun. Riya tries to push him off but her leg hurts terribly. Rajat tightens his grip on her.

Rajat: tum toh baat hi nahi maanti, apne senior ki toh sunogi? Isse kaho ki hilna band kare warna (gripping her neck) iski ek bhi boond tumhare aankh mein chali gayi toh pata hai kya hoga?

Rathore(worried): Riya Hilo Mat!

Arjun: Rajat, tumhara khel khatam ho chuka hai, apne aapko humare hawale kar do!

Rajat: mera khel toh shuru bhi nahi hua hai, mujhe nahi pata tum log yaha kaise pahunche lekin ab mera adhura kaam (glancing at Riya) tumhari ye officer pura karegi, kyun officer?

Arjun’s blood boiled. He lowers his gun and tries to reason with him.

Arjun: Rajat tumhare pita ke saath jo hua woh bura tha par in sabki jaan lekar tumhe kuch haasil nahi hoga, woh waapis nahi aayenge

Rajat: mujhe tumhare bhashan mein koi interest nahi ACP (jerking Riya) Dam Mein Daalo!!!

Riya and Arjun glance at each other. Their eyes met and locked with each other. A flicker passed through hers. Before Arjun could realise anything else, she gulps the ball, falling down. The others freeze.

Arjun’s gun goes straight up: RIYAAA!!!!.....................................