Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

Raj and Naina were already sitting on a bus to Calcutta when the driver came on board to make an announcement.

"I'm sorry everybody, but the departure is going to be delayed by half an hour. Apparently there's some type of problem."

Naina glanced at Raj, they both knew exactly what the problem was. The police were heading towards the bus station, and they wanted to make sure that nobody got away before they arrived.

Carefully, calmly, Raj stood up. "Come on Begum, let's go and have some chai while we wait." He announced, and Naina stood up too, grabbing their bag as well. They walked slowly towards the chai stand, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.

"They're coming for us, Naina." Raj told her in a low voice, "And I don't know if we can escape this time."

Naina had been thinking the same thing. Was this really the end of the road for them? After everything they'd been through, would they finally be defeated?

"Listen to me carefully, Naina," Raj whispered, "Just put on your burqa and leave. They'll never be able to find you. Make sure that the evidence gets to the right people, at least that way you can save yourself."

"Are you crazy?" she whispers back to him, furiously. "I'm not leaving you, I won't leave you!"

"Don't you remember the promise that we made? That if one of us were caught, the other would continue the mission? Continue the mission, Naina!" Raj tells her desperately, "If you're on your own then you've got a chance to get away, I'll stay here and act as a distraction."

"I also remember the other promises we made." Naina tells him with tears in her eyes, "I'll never leave you."

Raj stared at her frustrated, he wanted her safe, he wanted her as far from him as possible so that he knew she wouldn't be in danger. "I wish you didn't love me so much," he tells her, knowing that there's nothing he can do to convince her. Taking her hand, they move through the crowd towards the exit of the bus station.

He has no plan anymore, and no idea of what they should do next. All Raj knows is that they have to avoid being captured. Leaving the bus station, they're just about to cross the road when a car screeches to a stop. Turning around, Raj looks past the windscreen to see Abhimanyu at the wheel.

"They're here." He yells at Naina, "Run!"

Holding her hand tightly, he begins running, pushing past pedestrians and finally onto the road dodging cars.

"Stop!" he can hear Abhimanyu calling out in the distance, "Stop or I'll shoot you!"

Abhimanyu raises his gun, and aims, but he can't do it. Even after everything that has happened, he still can't shoot either Raj or Naina. Cursing himself, he begins to run after them.

Huda and Priya's car pulls up behind Abhimanyu's and seeing him running across the road, Huda leaps out of the car even before it's stopped moving, following Captain Abhimanyu. He doesn't know what he's going to do, but all he knows is that he has to do something. He has to make sure that Naina and Captain Rajveer don't end up dying.

Raj and Naina run, he can tell that she's running out of breath, and his lungs are burning, and his legs are aching, but still they keep running. Naina glances behind and counts seven officers following them, she can hear Abhimanyu still screaming at them to stop somewhere in the distance but she can't think about anything except running.

Dashing out onto the road, they run past cars heading in the opposite direction, unaware of the car screeching up the street on the other side. It pulls up slightly in front of them, and the door opens, yet more officers stepping out.

It happens so fast and yet it occurs as if in slow motion. The officer steps out of his car and raises his gun. In the distance, Huda runs as if possessed, praying that by some miracle he can arrive on time, and he's screaming "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" as if he believes that someone will actually listen to him. Priya is running hard, trying to keep up with Huda, and Abhimanyu is still yelling at them to stop.

Naina turns and sees the officer aiming his gun but Raj is still running and he hasn't noticed, he's completely unaware of the danger. Working out the officer's target even from this distance, Naina screams and pushes Raj out of the way.

The officer fires.

Raj turns in horror to see Naina collapse to the ground, blood pouring out from the wound in her shoulder.

"Naina!" he screams, and bends to help her, but she tries to push him away.

"Run, Raj, just go!" She tells him, but there's no way that Raj will leave her. He binds her wound with her dupatta and then gathers her in his arms as if trying to shelter her from the world. "This is the end." Naina whispers, and rests her head tiredly against Raj's shoulder. They've both realized that there's no way they can escape from this.

It takes a few moments after that for the officer who had fired the shot to reach them, still with his gun raised. "Don't move!" he calls out, and waits for the others to arrive. Slowly one by one, all of the officers stand in a circle around them, their guns aimed at the couple.

All of them that is, except Abhimanyu, Huda and Priya. Abhimanyu runs up quickly, but stands almost as if in shock, staring at the scene. Only one thought passes through his mind, he never thought that this was how he would feel when it happened.

Huda feels like crying, he refuses to raise his gun on his friends.

"Is this what you recruited me for, Sir?" he asks Abhimanyu angrily, "So that you could get your best friend's sister shot? So that you could make sure that the lies triumphed over the truth?" After months, Naina and Captain Rajveer are finally in front of him, and Huda wishes that he was anywhere but here.

Raj and Naina still haven't moved, they don't even look up as if it's unimportant that there's a circle of people standing around them with guns.

Priya stares at them in shock, she hadn't imagined that it would be like this. All of these months she's had a picture of them in her mind, but it wasn't this. She stares at them, seeing the way that Raj is trying to protect Naina by shielding her with his body, even when they've already lost. She tries to raise her gun and fails, her hands shaking far too much.

Finally Colonel Bakshi's car pulls up and he steps out to join them. In the distance, a crowd has gathered to watch.

"Excellent everybody," he tells the team from headquarters, "Finally after all these months our mission is accomplished. Arrest them both and take them in for questioning."

"Sir," Abhimanyu interrupts, "Ms Ahluwalia is injured and I believe she needs medical attention, it would be best if she was taken to a hospital."

"So much concern for a traitor?" Colonel Bakshi asked him cynically.

"Sir, if she dies then she won't be able to tell us much." Abhimanyu replies back without any emotion.

"Fine, take her to a hospital then. Lieutenants Huda and Kapoor, you're in charge of her security. Make sure she's watched around the clock. Captain Abhimanyu, bring Captain Rajveer into Lucknow Police Station, we'll transfer him to Delhi in the morning."

Various officers stepped forward to pull Raj and Naina apart, but Raj resisted, refusing to let her go. Finally Huda crouched down to their eye level.

"I'll take her to the hospital, Sir." He told Raj, "Trust me, I won't let anything happen to her."

Raj's eyes were filled with defeat and despair, but he nodded anyway. "Keep her safe for me." He whispered, and then letting go of Naina, he allowed himself to be led away.

"Raj!" Naina screamed, "Where are you taking him? Where are you taking him?" and struggled to follow him. Fearing for her safety, Huda grabbed hold of her to restrain her. Still struggling against him, Naina tried to break free, her arms flailing. It was then that Huda felt her hand brush against one of his pockets, and it suddenly became heavier.

Suddenly Naina became quiet and allowed herself to be led away, glancing back over her shoulder for one last look at Raj as he was shoved roughly into one of the police vans. They locked eyes, and she tried to memorise his image, not knowing how long it would be before they saw each other again.

Halfway to the hospital, Naina faints from blood loss. Priya applies pressure to her wound as Huda drives, hoping that it's not already too late. Pulling up the car in the hospital driveway, Huda lifts Naina out, carrying her to a stretcher, while shouting orders for the doctors to come and help. They wheel her away and Huda collapses into a chair, barely able to cope after the events of the past few hours. Understanding that he needs some time, Priya begins to fill out the forms.

Huda doesn't check his pocket until Naina has been taken to the operation theatre. Then he makes an excuse that he needs to use the bathroom and pulls out the object once he's safely inside one of the stalls.

It's a small key.

Huda has no idea what it opens, but for the first time all day he begins to feel some hope.

It could just be the key to his friends' salvation.


***


I hope none of you are going to kill me for this bit!! However, I had it planned almost since the very beginning, so there's no way they could get away now! I'll try to post the next part soon.