Unpredictable Lives: Link to T2 Page 152 - Page 46

With Ayaan's permission and a lot of persuasion Zoya had convinced Humera to come with her, she really didn't want to look like the loser on this stupid trip. Najma and Rhea had finally decided on a destination they were going to go to Delhi, what was still to be decided was the mode of transport, was it going to be by road, air or rail? Aarav had managed to get everyone to agree to go by road arguing it would be more adventurous 'ok, so I will book our coach tickets and we should be good go...' Aarav said.

Humera met Zoya and her friends at the bus stand, Ayaan had come to drop her off 'you two be good, and call if you need anything' 'Ayaan we are not going round the corner, its Delhi' Humera said rolling her eyes all the same...keep calling in between, and if I don't answer leave a message' Humera hugged her over protective boyfriend 'you also be careful, I want you back in one piece you hear me...you and Bhaijaan' 'InshAllah'.

Zoya had already met Ayaan and taken her seat in the bus giving both her and Ayaan some privacy. Once all aboard the bus finally pulled out, it was going to take them a ridiculous eighteen hours by the time we get there I will have no behind left, so much for adventure, 'I swear we should have flown up' Zoya had started complaining already, she didn't mind travelling but sitting in a coach for nearly a whole day was in no way going to be a joy ride. The only thing she could think of to keep her brain cells going was to capture the trip on her little camcorder, like a mini documentary. Zoya and Humera sat in front of Rhea and Aarav and behind Najma and Rehan, making the most of her positioning she made sure she was going to irritate the hell out of them.

The bus was almost full as she looked over the faces that sat around her, there were a mixture of men and women, and there was also another small group of young people who sat towards the back, three guys and a girl. It had almost been two hours since they left Mumbai; the driver had announced that they were going to be making a pit stop for fifteen minutes to which everyone sighed in relief. There was a nice little caf and rest area, it reminded Zoya of the service stations they had on main highways in America.

Zoya walked around whilst everyone indulged in tea and coffee, looking through her camcorder she noticed the other young group standing further up, the girl that was with them looked like she was crying as one of the boys was pulling at her arm and shouting at her, instantly Zoya felt the urge to go up to him and tell him to back off, she even started walking towards them when she heard the bus driver asking for everyone to get on board again. Walking back to the bus Zoya kept looking back wondering what the hell was going on 'you ok?' Humera asked noticing she looked lost in thought 'huh...oh yeah am good, it's nothing'.

Zoya kept her eyes on the girl who walked past her then on the three boys that followed, there was definitely something up with them. As night fell Zoya tried to put her overactive brain to sleep, but her mind kept going back to the girl, she looked so scared, and the guy who was holding her looked so fierce 'Zoya, what is wrong, I know something is up' Humera asked 'it may be nothing but those guy at the back, when we stopped I saw one of them shouting at the girl who was crying...was just concerned that's all' 'hmmm am sure it was nothing but a lovers tiff, they all look ok now' she said peeking through the gap between their seats.

Along with everyone else Zoya fell asleep only to be woken up by a nudge to the shoulder and the sound of someone sniffling above her. When Zoya opened her eyes she saw the girl standing next to her 'are...you ok?' 'shhh keep your voice down... please help me...please you need to help me...I am...' as she had just started to talk she suddenly stopped, her eyes travelled to the back of the bus, when Zoya turned around one of the boys came up to her 'what are you doing...' 'Noth...nothing, I couldn't sleep...was just making conversation' the boy looked down to Zoya and gave her a polite smile 'well am sure she doesn't want to be disturbed any longer...come back' he said as he held on to her elbow and pulled her. Zoya's heart started to thud, she looked back and saw how the boy pushed the girl onto her seat, his grip on her arm must have been strong as she sat there wincing in pain trying to get him to let go. 'Ya Allah, what shall I do now?'

Where Zoya and co had another six hours ahead of them, Asad and his team had already reached Goa. 'I want that bas***d caught today' Asad said remembering back to how Tom Smith had managed to escape the last time don't worry we will get him, I have spoken to the ACP on duty here to let him know of our plans...he has agreed to co-operate in anyway' 'good, the last thing I want is another blasted police complaint against me' Asad debriefed his team once more before he disbursed them '.Ayaan, I don't want any of you to be hanging around one another, use your mobiles to maintain contact, I don't want any suspicions aroused. The minute anyone of you identifies Tom I want to be informed immediately' 'Yes sir' Ayaan said as he took his leave. 'Ayaan' Asad shouted out 'before you go...have you check up on Humi, is she ok?' 'Yes, spoke to her about half hour ago, she is ok...and so is Zoya' Asad farrowed his eyes at him 'I don't remember me asking you about Zoya' 'you didn't but I'm telling you anyway' giving him a big grin Ayaan left. He may not have asked but he did want to know if she was ok, it was just a little annoying that Ayaan was able to read him so much.

The bus pulled in to another service station for the last time. Zoya got off and stretched out her body 'next time someone mentions travelling by coach remind me to knock them out' she said looking at Aarav 'I really need to go loo...Zoya please come with me' Humera said jumping up and down not being able to contain her bladder. Zoya waited outside the toilet for Humera 'hurry up...how much fluid were you holding in?' 'One minute'. Zoya continued to wait patiently when she saw the girl walk towards her 'hi...are you ok now?' looking on edge and not giving any eye contact the girl spoke 'don't talk to me...if they see me talking to you...please look away now'. Zoya looked over her shoulder to see two out of the three boys standing a few yards behind. Zoya complied with what the girl had asked and as soon as Humera came out walked away.

Zoya knew there was something seriously wrong, she needed to do something, but without causing alarm. The first thing that Zoya did was take out her camcorder and on the pretence of filming her friends and the area around the service station she managed to capture footage of the three guys and the girl as she came out of the bathroom. 'Humera, when was the last time you spoke to Ayaan...it's just I needed to talk to him' 'a little while back, am sure you can give him a call...is everything ok?' 'Yeah just something I remembered about my project that's all'.

Zoya was about to call Ayaan but got side tracked by Rhea and Najma 'we are here on vacation so you can stop thinking about your project for a few days' Najma said pulling her phone out of her hand. For the last leg of the journey everyone swapped seats, Humera sat with Najma and Rhea with Zoya, whilst the boys sat with each other. 'One hour and twenty minutes to go and we are finally there, and what will be even more perfect is that we will get to see the sun rise as we enter the city of hearts' Najma said, the only part that registered with Zoya was that there was one hour and twenty minutes left, and she couldn't thank god enough.