Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 70- Scavenging For Clues

CHAPTER 70

SCAVENGING FOR CLUES

The crunch of the leaves broke the quietness of the forest underneath their feet. Karan walked slowly, with careless steps, glancing around. This was the location Siddharth had pinpointed. A little inaccuracies were all that was expected, so the warehouse must be somewhere close. That meant... they were in EFR's area now.

A noise made him glance up, finding Sanju gesture to the ground. He glanced around. A bear trap. Hidden perfectly by some leaves. That would leave to some serious injuries. He nodded in acknowledgement, walking deeper into the forest.

He paused, a faint hint peeking out from behind some leaves. He took a step closer. The warehouse.

He pressed the button on his ear comm. "Agents, come in", he said, hearing the confirmation. "Target in sight. Surround the area." He gestured to Sanju, who nodded, jogging a little away from him.

"In position, Sir", he heard several agents reporting.

He took a step closer, leaning down and inspecting the warehouse. Faizi's informer wasn't kidding. It was expertly hidden, almost camouflaged with the trees. The warehouse itself was a weird gradient shade of green which merged with the greenery around, but not enough that directly looking, it was unnoticeable.

"Agents, close in."

He ducked down the branches that extended from the thick trees, carefully walking closer. A shout made him look up and he drew his gun, cocking the safety off when he saw terrorists run out. His own agents duck for cover, and he watched for a moment as the terrorists opened fire, making his agents open fire in response.

"Sanju", he said, inspecting the scene. "Najjad par dhyaan rakhna. Woh bhaagna nahi chahiye, chaahe kuchh ho jaaye."

"Ji, Sir ji."

His eyes narrowed as a man ran up to one of his agents, his gun out. He raised his gun, pulling the trigger. The man fell down, a bullet in his neck. He made a face. That was a little lower than he had aimed for. But it got the job done. He ducked down when some men looked up, quietly jogging up sideways to another spot. Good thing about easily camouflagable locations, their side could camouflage too.

He watched quietly, raising his gun only when someone sneaked up on his agents before quickly switching to another spot, a tad bit closer but still perfectly hidden. There was silence after a moment, the stream of men coming finally halting.

"Go", he said into the ear comm. "But aaram se. Be careful."

There was a hustle from all around the warehouse and agents quietly walked out. He himself stepped out, his gun raised. Sanju, beside him, walked out too, her own gun drawn.

"Andar chalo", he said, walking closer to the door.

Sanju paused at one side of the front door and Karan paused at the other one. He nodded to the door and she stepped forward, slamming her foot into it.

It was quiet. Where was Najjad? Was he not here?

Karan stepped in, looking around. It was dark. Despite the fairly early morning, the warehouse was shrouded in almost pit darkness, thanks to the minimal windows and no lights.

"Spread out, agents. Search the warehouse. Ek bhi kona nahi chhootna chahiye."

It was still a base. And hence, must have important information. Were they wrong? Was Najjad not here? He stepped into a room, switching the light on. It was a bedroom. He walked around, his gun drawn as he inspected it.