LAST MAN STANDING

CHAPTER-5

"Inaaya, are you sure he would do the job?". "trust me, Qasim. He works hard and is very innovative. No one else can do the job better than him. He is going to prove himself." Inaaya and her brother, Qasim, are sitting in the corner office and waiting for Aasim. Aasim comes running and dashes through the door in a helter-skelter. "I am sorry for being late. I was just roaming around the town and went into a deep slumber." Qasim gave him a red-eyed stare. "your reasons are not of any importance to me. Are you useful to me or not what matters. Sit down.", Qasim warned.

Inaaya got up from her chair and started explaining the presentation displayed on a whiteboard in front of both of them. "so our project name is KRYGON. We aim to create a Krygonium missile that is extremely powerful and can create damage up to a radius of 100 km. This missile will be launched by locking the coordinates. Inside the missile, the Krygonium we use will be activated by generating a nuclear fission reaction with uranium. This will soon start to expand rapidly but we will try to contain it for 3 mins. So we will ensure the reaction is activated before 2 and a half minutes. Then, in the span of 30 seconds, it will explode." Aasim just looked at the board awe-struck. Qasim said, "You understood the plan, Aasim. Now do your magic." "But I don't understand why you are creating such a dangerous nuclear weapon. I don't think it's right."

Qasim turned his head towards Inaaya with a sense of irritation. She nodded her head explaining she will handle it. "Aasim, we have been given this project as a government order. We cannot question the purpose of the general's requirements. Our expectation is the war crisis, we could have with the Chinese and Indian forces. We are doing this as an emergency alternative to prevent Pakistan from getting destructed." Inaaya explained calmly.

Aasim slowly agreed after hearing her soothing words and thought not to question further. "fine, then I would need a good weapon designer to create the blueprint, and then we will start working on it." "already got him. You have the meeting at 3:00 in the evening. Till then, go home and try to not e down whatever materials you need." Aasim took his bag and left the office with his head down. 

Inaaya didn't like how the meeting went. She looks Qasim in the eye and he just shrugs his shoulders. "how many times do I have to tell you to speak formally with the employees? If you do that they will leave." Inaaya explained. "I don't care there are so many people I have to care about and there are so many more to replace him. Plus the company is mine." "the company is ours. I gave it to you because I have a family to care for." "well, does he know that Inaaya?", Qasim asked. She just paused for a moment. She saw Aasim smiling and speaking with the other employees through the glass walls of the office as he walked out of the building. "I know he doesn't know, Qasim. But it's better to keep it that way. He just needs to get his talent out to the world."

In the middle of a forest, there lies a huge bungalow with muddy walls. A jeep stops right in front of the door and someone gets off. The door creaks open. He climbs the staircase next to the door and enters a dark storage room. There was one dim tube light switched on. Omar Faruq and Zoya were tied to the chair tightly with the rope around their hands and legs and their mouths bandaged with tape. Zoya was continuously trying to mumble something. The man went and took the bandage off Zoya's mouth. "what's your problem? Why have you kidnapped us? Who are you?", Zoya asked.

"I am Aasim and I got you here to provide you your first aid."

"then, take it off, now. I have work to do. I need to take this terrorist back to India." "Where terrorist? I just see an old bearded man." Aasim asked. "he is much more than an old man." Zoya pointed her head towards Omar. Omar started acting like he was clueless. Aasim went and pulled out the bandage from Omar's mouth to hear his explanation. "look, I am not a terrorist. I make and sell weapons for a living and get money for it. She is just taking me to India to make me work for them but I refused. I only sell my weapons for the country and I am loyal.", Omar explained. "No Aasim, he is lying. He is creating a nuclear missile out of krygonium to destroy the world." Aasim raised his eyebrows after hearing that. " what did you say? Krygonium missile? That is a classified government project. You aren't supposed to know about this.", Aasim asked. Omar interrupted, "This young lady is a RAW agent from India. She has been trying to infiltrate all the information about our Pakistan forces and leaking it to the Chinese. I am also a scientist. I could help you with your work." Aasim started to get scared now. He got stuck into a complete drama.

Then, someone rang the doorbell. Aasim quickly applied the bandage on both their mouths and locked the door. Another ring came. He dashed down the stairs immediately and opened the door. "hello sir, I was sent by Inaaya ma'am to discuss the design of the missile." "yes, please come in." Aasim led him to the hall and they sat on the sofa. "would you like anything? Coffee or tea?"." a cup of coffee will do." Aasim went to the kitchen and was making the coffee with the coffee maker. Just then, they heard a loud thud on the roof. The designer looked at Aasim with a sense of doubt. "oh that's just something I just put. I am struggling with reracking some things." Aasim smiled and replied. "Ohh! Okay". He sighs with a sense of relief. He gets the two cups of coffee and places them on the table next to the designer.

"yeah, so here is the blueprint. I tried to make the outer body lighter so that it's easier for the missile to be transported and launched. The inside vault for the reaction will be in the middle of the missile while the engine is at the top and the thrusters are at the bottom. The thrusters, metal, and engine need to be automatically controlled with a remote. While the rest of it is on you, how you are going to make the engine and contain the reaction.", the designer explained. "thank you, I will just look into this and call if I have any doubts." "Sure sir, I will take your leave. Bye.". "Bye". Suddenly, there was another huge bang. The designer stopped and Aasim started to panic. He looked back and started walking towards Aasim."if you need some help with arranging things, then call me. I could help." "Oh, no problem thanks."

Aasim quickly closed the door. He just went up the stairs and opened the room door again. He saw Zoya lying on the floor tied to the chair with the ropes intact. He went and picked her up. Then, he slapped her on the face. "both of you don't even try to mess with me. Nobody knows you both are here. I am trying to save you." he checked around the whole room. just one of the boxes had fallen with scrap. He took it and put it back on the top of his stack. "this evening, I am going to go to the station and file an FIR. Let the police handle.", Aasim said. Both started trying to speak all he could hear were their loud muffled voices. He locked the door and left.

He got down the steps. He walked to the hall and he jumped onto his sofa. He put his head back and tried to get some rest. In his whole life, he did not expect he would get into such a problematic situation. There was sweat all over his face and he was slowly losing air. His mind started going crazy thinking of all the negative ways of dying. He has handled the gun and weapons before but he didn't ever escalate into a situation where he would be with a terrorist. He finally decided he needs a break.

He took the remote and switched the TV on. There were different channels with cartoons, sports, and Movies. Then, he finally decided to watch the news. They were speaking on how Pakistan's Prime minister addressed the people for providing a better economy to the people of Pakistan by strengthening their business and trade relations. He hated watching these fake promises being given by political leaders. He switched to the next channel. The headlines read-

CAR CRASH FOUND ON THE KARACHI-HYDERABAD HIGHWAY. A

RAW AGENT CAPTURED IN ACCIDENT AND SENT FOR QUESTIONING

Aasim started panicking. The media had found out about the crash. Then, he saw the headlines changed-

"RAW AGENT ZOYA IS IN PAKISTAN. RETIRED ARMY VETERAN OMAR FARUQ IS CAPTURED BY THE AGENT. IT IS REQUESTED TO NOT ASSOCIATE WITH ANY FOREIGNERS."– GENERAL KADIR-UL-HAQ

Then, Omar Faruq's photo flashed on the screen.