The Obstacles

Bab 16 : Strange Men & Bandana

Pintu itu dibuka oleh seorang lelaki berkulit sawo matang. Chloe bergegas ke bilik itu. Lelaki itu lantas menutup semula pintu.

"Thank you!" ucap Chloe kepada lelaki itu.

Dia melihat di sudut lain bilik. Kelihatan dalam sepuluh orang yang menyembunyikan diri di dalam bilik itu termasuk seorang kanak-kanak perempuan arab.

"We should wait until the chaos is over, just like the officer asked us to." ujar lelaki itu kepada Chloe dan seluruh penghuni bilik itu.

Rata-rata penghuni bilik itu berkulit putih, hitam dan sawo matang.

"We need to get out of here!" ujar seorang lelaki British berkulit putih berumur dalam 30-an.

"No, we can't! It's too dangerous out there. Didn't you hear the gunshot?" balas seorang perempuan muda Pakistan yang bertudung.

"Then what should we do? Just sitting here while waiting for this building to be set on fire?" persoal lelaki itu kembali.

"If we don't leave now, those people are gonna crash into this room and kill all of us! Besides, we're in an archives room. A room that keeps millions of secret files and cases that happened in this town!" sambungnya.

"But there's no guarantee that we're not gonna get hurt while trying to get out of here!" ujar seorang lelaki British berkulit hitam.

"At least we try, it's better than us all being killed simultaneously!" balas lelaki putih itu.

"They're not gonna kill us, trust me." ujar Chloe sambil melihat segala kotak dan fail yang tersusun di rak bilik rekod itu.

"And what makes you so sure, young bird?" soal sinis lelaki putih itu pada Chloe.

Chloe terus memandang tajam lelaki itu. "We're not their targets. Besides, those gunshots you heard were not from them, it all came from the officers."

"Yeah, that's because they're the ones who started this bloody scene!" balas lelaki berang itu.

"So killing is the best way to settle down this riot?" Chloe persoalkan kembali lelaki tersebut.

"Bunch of Arab guys breaking into a building doesn't sound threatening to you, doesn't it? Defensive is red card, attacking is green now, ight? Is that what you think now, lady? Defending the terrorists!" hujah lelaki itu berang.

Rata-rata orang dalam bilik itu mengomel kerana agak terkejut dengan kenyataan berbaur kebencian lelaki itu. Chloe hanya mengeluh sambil mengusap kepalanya dan mula berpaling dari arah lelaki itu, tidak mahu membuang masa melayannya.

"Shut up, man you're so racist!" tegur berang seorang lelaki yang berloghat India.

"What racist? Just because I'm an English white man and telling the truth, you call me racist, eh?!" balas pantas lelaki putih itu lagi.

"Who started this war in the first place? Who made these people mad? Why are we here? Do you ever in your bloody mind have a thought about that, lad?!" balas seorang lagi lelaki British berkulit hitam kepada lelaki putih itu.

"It's because of YOUR PEOPLE! You kidnap our family for God only knows WHY?!" sambung lelaki India itu tadi kepada lelaki putih itu.

"Heh, we all know why they did what they did. Don't act like this has nothing to do with the last JIHAD ATTACK that happened in this town weeks ago that killed 13 innocent people!" balas lelaki putih itu lagi.

Sementara dua orang itu bertengkar, Chloe mengambil kesempatan untuk menyemak kertas-kertas kes yang berada di atas meja, kelihatan seperti dokumen kes baharu. Tarikhnya semua baharu.